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Fratelli Tutti: Pope Francis And The Catholic Response To Human Rights, Tiffany Hunsinger

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

On October 4, 2020, Pope Francis issued a letter to the world entitled Fratelli Tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship.

The document served as a culmination of the Church’s response to the global pandemic, as well as the more considerable perils of throwaway culture. This presentation will explore the specific response of the Catholic Church as it attempts to counter destructive boundaries and structure of its institution.

Pope Francis continues a tradition in pastoral response to the “signs of the times.” However, can the Church respond effectively in this current world?

Or do the needed changes surpass the capability …

Book Review: Die Mehrdeutigkeit Geteilter Religiöse Orte: Eine Ethnografische Fallstudie Zum Kloster Sveti Naum In Ohrid (Mazedonien), Dejan Aždajić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Evelyn Reuter, DieMehrdeutigkeit Geteilter Religiöse Orte: Eine Ethnografische Fallstudie zum Kloster Sveti Naum in Ohrid (Mazedonien). Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2021, 410 pp. €45,00, ISBN 978-3-8376-5519-3.

Women In Kingly Genealogies: The Queens, Widows, And Prostitutes That Changed The Story, Lydia Dowdell

Senior Honors Theses

While there are creative pieces theorizing about Tamar and her inclusion in both David and Jesus’ genealogies, there is a lack of research comparing King David’s genealogy in I Chronicles 2 with the kingly genealogies of the same time. Comparing the two shows that genealogies in the surrounding nations—Assyria, Babylonia, etc.—are lacking women. In contrast, the Old Testament is filled with kingly genealogical records that list and name women.

This thesis will touch on the differences and similarities between the kingly records/genealogies, theorize and explore the levirate marriage custom and matrilinear descent, and attempt to provide a better understanding of …

Dissonance Between Christian Beliefs And Eating Habits In The South, Karli Dianne Stringer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to initiate understanding of how obesity in the South is still so prevalent even though the majority of inhabitants subscribe to a faith that discourages unhealthy lifestyles. Furthermore, the information presented in this research sought to fill the knowledge gap for communicators and educators concerning the dissonance between Christianity in the South and the unhealthy eating habits of Southerners. Grounded in the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, this study comprised of a semi-structured interview route in which Protestant evangelical Christians in the South (N = 11) participated in a descriptive study conducted by a committee …

The King’S Care For The Poor In The Book Of Psalms, Ian J. Vaillancourt

2021 Evangelical Theological Society

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study Of Leader-Observed And Student Experienced Behavioral Transformations Associated With Christian Released Time Programs, Steven Louis Rathers Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of instructional leaders and high school graduates associated with a released time education (RTE) learning center in northern Georgia. The study sought to understand the perceived contribution of released time on behavioral transformation and the construct of a biblical worldview. The phenomenological method was chosen as the qualitative design for this research since it involves how the participants made sense of their experience. Data collection in this phenomenological study consisted of interviews with nine instructional leaders, and a focus group of eight alumni, all of whom were purposively …

Chaplaincy For The Prisoners And The Penitentiary System In Ukraine (1991-2021), Valentyna Kuryliak, Ivan Ostashchuk, Mariia Ovchar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the quality of work of religious organizations in places of deprivation of liberty, as well as their interaction with the penitentiary service of Ukraine. It was revealed that the chaplaincy ministry occupies an important place in the Christian churches of Ukraine. In the early 1990s, ministry in Ukrainian prisons was allowed, but most of the churches were at the stage of survival, so they were not able to carry out active work in prisons. At the legislative level, prisoners have ensured freedom of religion, and the penitentiary service was obliged to provide access to representatives of each …

Blindspotting And Covid: The Gentrification Of Racism, Ashley Starr-Morris

Journal of Religion & Film

The novel Coronavirus is not only exposing old patterns of racism and systemic inequalities, but deepening them as well. The notion of blindspotting, as described in the film by the same name, is used to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the “spiritual emergency” or crisis of racism in America. "Blindspotting" is an image or situation that can be interpreted in two ways but is understood by some in only one way, thereby producing a blind spot. In 2020 and 2021, we see segments of American society, from politics to white Christian nationalism, upholding a sacred canopy of exceptionalism by …

The Influence Of Atheist Propaganda Of The Communist Regime On The Lives Of Believers And Their Children (1946-1991), Oksana Vysoven, Nina Brehunets, Yuriy Figurnyi, Elena Zham

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the antireligious policy of the Soviet government, which was carried out by the communist regime in Ukraine in the cultural and educational spheres to completely eradicate religion from the lives of the Soviet people. The main purpose of atheistic propaganda was to convince ordinary people that religion and its bearers were enemies of the communist state. Atheistic propaganda was carried out in the form of lectures on natural science and atheistic topics, atheistic evenings of questions and answers, and demonstrations of scientific and feature films. Punitive and repressive methods of atheistic propaganda …

Sacrality In Modern Ukrainian Poetics: Metamorphoses Of Values, Iryna Lazorevych

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is a study of the influence of religious sacrality on modern Ukrainian literature, particularly poetry, analyzing those sacred meanings that the current Ukrainian mentality actively uses. So far, it eclectically synthesizes the ideological impulses of traditional Christian religiosity (which even in the times of Communism retained its natural strength, especially in the Western regions of Ukraine), and elements of Soviet ideologemes and pragmatism of the modern transitional period. At the same time, it uses certain inclinations to new communication with sacred, which is felt by some of the important creators of modern Ukrainian culture. In this article, the author …

Book Review: Microchurches: A Smaller Way By Brian Sanders, Jason L. Lalonde

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The End Of The World According To Q, Francisco G. Mendoza Iii

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

The expansion of information networks and of paranoia in the West following the turn of the new century in 2000 created the nesting ground for a new politically focused conspiracy movement in QAnon which, like many before it, conceives of their liberation in the either explicit or implicit terms of the end of the world as they know it. QAnon is broadly maligned by popular conceptions as of late, and that same popular conception has accused their prophetic predictions of being wrong over the years, and yet the movement continues on with a strong base of support. Since its formal …

Review Of The Theology Of Louis Massignon: Islam, Christ, And The Church, Jon Armajani

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Is God Responsible For Sin?, John Wesley Holmes

Masters Theses

Does sin actually exist without the presence of divine commands? Without a rule can there be a violation? If sin results from violating a divine command, then the assignment of responsibility must fall on the one issuing the commands. However, if God is responsible for sin, then the core of Christianity must be questioned. This thesis confronts the accusation that God is responsible for sin by establishing commands that are foreknown to be violated. This paper will demonstrate that God is not responsible for sin and show humanity to be accountable for individual choices. Demonstrating human responsibility for sin will …

Pentecostalism: A Comparative Study Of African And African American Churches In Springfield, Emmanuel Kumah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis is a comparative ethnography of two forms of black Pentecostalism, an African American congregation and an African immigrant congregation. The goal of this project is to show the similarities and differences between these Pentecostal groups. By observing members and interviewing them about worship practices, glossolalic utterances, and gender, the project reveals that although these two groups historically have a common root, there are both real parallels and differences between them because they developed independently from each other. This fieldwork at the African American Deliverance Temple Ministries and the African immigrant Redeemed Christian Church of God revealed that women …

Women In Religio-Cultural History: A Reflection On Their Representation In Hugo Hinfelaar’S Scholarly Work In Zambia,1960s To 1990s, Nelly Mwale, Joseph Chita

Zambia Social Science Journal

Although Catholic missionary historians have contributed to the writing of Zambia’s many histories, the attempt at documenting women’s place in religio-cultural history in the country has been overshadowed by the prominence of masculine histories. Using the example of Hugo Hinfelaar who captures women’s histories in his scholarly work, this article explores the representation of the place of women in the religio-cultural history of Zambia in order to highlight Hinfelaar’s contributions to the study of women and to Zambia’s religio-cultural history. Informed by African feminist theory, it draws on a historical study which utilises document review and analyses the data through …

Book Review: Democratization In Christian Orthodox Europe: Comparing Greece, Serbia And Russia, Regina Elsner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Marko Veković, Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe: Comparing Greece, Serbia and Russia (New York & London, Routledge, 2020) 176 p. ISBN 9780367420833.

Use Of Invented Religions In Ukrainian Protest Movements Against Russian Orthodoxy 2018-2021, Vyacheslav Ageyev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2018, three projects operating in the framework of “invented or parody religions” and aimed against the Russian Orthodox Church have arisen in Ukraine. The article describes their invention, practices, “belief systems,” political acts, and tries to predict whether any of these or similar projects have any future in predominantly conservative Christian Ukraine.

Young Brazilian Catholics Reaffiliating: A Case Study In The City Of Campos, Rj, Brazil, Cecilia L. Mariz, Wânia Amélia Belchior Mesquita, Michelle Piraciaba Araújo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Through a case study in Campos, a northern city of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, this article analyzes reports from young people who state that they have undergone a process of revival or reactivation of their Catholic faith. They all declared to have participated in the “St Andrew’s School of Evangelization.” They also mentioned having experienced an "encounter with God." Their narratives were similar to conversion accounts reported by practitioners of other religious traditions. The interviewees describe faith as a personal choice, and emphasize the need for religious study and the value of religious knowledge. To what extent these values …

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

A Renewed Christian Sabbath, After Supersessionism And After Christendom, Abigail Woolley Cutter

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This project works toward a contemporary understanding of what the Sabbath commandment can mean for Christians, in light of both the post-supersessionist developments in Christian theology since the Holocaust and a declining (Protestant) Christian hegemony in the United States. It claims that a Christian theology of Sabbath must be developed through a serious engagement with the theology of Jewish-Christian relations. It proposes the Sabbath framework as a model for cultural engagement reminiscent of the “synthesis” type laid out in H. R. Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture, but less susceptible to the alleged pitfalls of that type.

The approach to a …

Jesus Christ, Revelation Of Love: A Christology Of The Disabled Christ, Lisa Hancock

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Though Nancy Eiesland’s The Disabled God first introduced the identification of Jesus as disabled in 1994, sustained reflection on the person and work of Christ as disabled remains a mostly untapped wellspring for theological reflection in disability theology. Sitting with Christ’s disabled performativity, I identify Christ as disabled in both person and work, noting that recognizing disability in Christ’s person influences understandings of Christ’s work and vice versa. Establishing my use of the cultural model of disability, which I expand for use in constructive theology with Judith Butler’s notion of performativity, I examine resonances of the Disabled Christ in disability …

The Humanity Of Christ As Instrument Of Salvation In The Theology Of Thomas Aquinas, J. David Moser

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Interpreters of Thomas Aquinas’s Christology have long observed the uniqueness of his claim that Christ’s human nature is “an instrument of the divinity.” For Aquinas, the mysteries of Christ’s life, the actions and sufferings he underwent in the flesh (acta et passa Christi in carne), cause our salvation in the present. And they have this effect because Christ’s humanity is a “conjoined instrument” of the divinity, united to the Logos, the second person of the Trinity, in person. By contrast, nearly all of Aquinas’s medieval contemporaries, like Bonaventure (1224-1274) as well as Aquinas himself, argued that the humanity …

Deliver Us: The New Eve, Coredemption, And The Motherhood Of God, William Glass

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

In what follows, I try to develop a speculative and constructive account of what Christians should say regarding whether and how Mary is a coredemptress, that is, a partner in the redemptive work of her Son. My goal is to clarify what it might mean to say Mary is a coredeemer, why anyone should say that, and what the consequences would be for Christian theology if they did. I take this doctrine to have critical importance not only for the individual loci of Christian theology (many of which are treated within) but for a meta-theological understanding of the God-world relation.

Melchizedek: Exposing His Character And Its Biblical-Theological Implications, Wesley Nottingham

Liberty Theological Review

Commentators have long recognized the mystery of Melchizedek, noting “that Melchizedek appears in the narrative out of nowhere and just as quickly is gone.” In light of the nature of this Melchizedek figure, the task for a deep reader of Scripture becomes not only identifying who this figure is as he appears in Genesis, but also drawing out the biblical-theological implications of his presence. To determine how to best understand Melchizedek as well as his presence within the canon, the most effective approach is to examine the text in which he first appears—Genesis 14:18-20—and examine its interplay with another key …

Acedia And The Evagrian Antidotes To Pastoral Burnout, Thomas Daniel Irving

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

At its core, pastoral burnout is a spiritual malady and only a spiritual solution will cure. By attaining a clear understanding of acedia, the spiritual condition first introduced by fourth century monk Evagrius Ponticus, pastors will gain an awareness of their condition, find relief from its symptoms, find meaning in their vocation, and joy for life-long ministry. This work will explore the manifestations of and antidotes to acedia in both the original fourth century desert monastic context and its application to modern ministry.

The Attitude Of The Protestant Community To Disabled People In Ukraine, Olga Polumysna

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this article, we research those publications that show examples of Protestant social service to people in need, including people with disabilities. Ukrainian scientific studies have not considered this issue but only briefly mentioned their charitable deeds. This article demonstrations that Protestant denominations in Ukraine--whether Baptists, Pentecostals or Adventists--are sympathetic to people with disabilities. They establish various organizations, foundations, and volunteer actions to care for them. Protestants rely on their religious teachings that call them to help those who need it. They help both morally and materially. The assistance is provided selectively, in those places where a certain community operates, …

Activity Of Evangelical Baptist Christians In Ukraine (1991-2021), Hnat Mierienkov, Mykhailo Fedorenko, Serhii Makarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The religious movement of Evangelical Baptists is the largest in terms of the number of believers in the Ukrainian Protestant community. The review of missionary activity and social projects of this denomination presented is an outline of the key areas of work of Evangelical Baptists in Ukraine. The largest number of Protestant educational institutions in Ukraine belong to the Baptists. All Baptist educational institutions can be divided into two types: 1) general preparatory programs of state institutions (kindergartens, schools, institutes, educational centers), and 2) theological seminaries, which aim to train ministers to meet the spiritual needs of the church. Baptist …

Scientific Review, Yurii Chornomorets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Protestant Pentecostals In The Post-War Repression In Southern Ukraine 1945 – 1953, Mykhailo Fedorenko, Serhii Makarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines one of the most dramatic pages in the history of the Pentecostal religious movement, which is related to the repression against them in the postwar years of 1945-1953 (the period of late Stalinism). The object of the study involves the communities of Pentecostals in the South of Ukraine, which operated in the territory of modern Mykolayiv and Odessa regions. After presenting the historiography of the question, it is shown that despite thorough scientific research on the activities of Protestant movements in Ukraine during the Soviet era, there are not enough separate studies related to the Pentecostals. Pentecostals …