Digital Commons Network^™

A Strategy To Transition A Traditional Church Educational System To A Small Group System: A Case Study Of Eternal Life Baptist Church, Kyoung Gil Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to research the avenues in which to have Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church transition to a small group system. This thesis was done through field analysis and literature research, as well as the case study of Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church (ELBBC). The case study was totally focused on the process of changing to a small group system at Eternal Life. The author was a minister at Eternal Life for 8 years, and an associate pastor for a year. In a few years the author will become the next senior pastor of Eternal life …

Hypostatic Union And The Subtle Body: An Analysis Of Christian Yogic Practice, Mathew N. Schmalz

Religious Studies Faculty Scholarship

An analysis of the appropriation of yoga by Catholic ashrams in India. Specifically, the article examines the use of the Twin Heart Meditation and how it is imbued with Christian meaning. The article was published in Asian Horizons, a peer reviewed journal published by Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bangalore, India

Insights From Charles Spurgeon's Preaching For A Changing Culture, John Lewis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project has been done in order to increase the amount of literature available that demonstrates how to preach to a 21st century culture and to enlighten preachers to the timeless truths that transcend from the great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon. A close evaluation of Charles Spurgeon's biblical preaching reveals a model for pastors to emulate in a post-modern context in the local church. Spurgeon was a master communicator and a survey of his mid to late 1800's preaching reveals those areas of his ministry that are still useful in the New Millennium. By reviewing Spurgeon's sermons and writings, …

Authoring Authority: The Apostle Paul And The Prophet Joseph Smith--A Critical Comparison Of Texts And Power In The Generation Of Religious Community, Alonzo Huntsman

CGU Theses & Dissertations

. . . believe in God, believe also in me . . . --John 14.1

"Authoring Authority" analyzes the ways texts function to generate social cohesion while at the same time advancing the power interests of their authors. The study is a comparative, critical, and interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary excavation of the religion-making efforts of the first-century Christian Apostle Paul and the nineteenth-century Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith.

This comparison defamiliarizes and recharacterizes the heroes and origin-stories of the dominant (and my own) tradition to force important questions about scholarly perspectives, interests and deferences (protection, exceptionalization), self-reflexivity, and politics. The project's critical orientation deploys …

The Pursuit Of Tangible Happiness: Religion And Politics In A Japanese New, New Religion, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

The decline of traditional religions in Japan in the past century, and especially since the end of World War Two, has led to an explosion of so-called “new religions” (shin shūkyō 新宗教), many of which have made forays into the political realm. The best known—and most controversial—example of a “political” new religion is Sōka Gakkai 創価学会, a lay Buddhist movement originally associated with the Nichiren sect that in the 1960s gave birth to a new political party, Komeitō 公明党 (lit., Clean Government Party), which in the past several decades has emerged as the third most popular party in Japan (as …

Introduction To America's Four Gods: What We Say About God And What That Says About Us, Paul Froese, Christoper Bader

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives.

America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of …

The Religious Divide: Why Religion Seems To Be Thriving In The United States And Waning In Europe, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In the decades following the Second World War, most social scientists expected convergence among the Western industrial democracies. Modernization was expected to bring prosperity and opportunity, initiating a “culture shift” to posttraditional values and lifestyles.

However, in recent years observers have remarked on a growing divide between Europeans and Americans. This divergence may be nowhere greater than in the religious sphere. While faith is loudly proclaimed and a bustling diversity of religious organizations jostles for attention in all arenas of public life in the United States, the European Union (EU) is described as thoroughly secularized, comprised of societies in which …

Beyond Belief: Japanese Approaches To The Meaning Of Religion, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

For several centuries, Japanese scholars have argued that their nation’s culture—including its language, religion and ways of thinking—is somehow unique. The darker side of this rhetoric, sometimes known by the English term “Japanism” (nihon-jinron), played no small role in the nationalist fervor of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While much of the so-called “ideology of Japanese uniqueness” can be dismissed, in terms of the Japanese approach to “religion,” there may be something to it. This paper highlights some distinctive—if not entirely unique—features of the way religion has been categorized and understood in Japanese tradition, contrasting these with Western (i.e., …

Memorials 2006, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Sociological Exploration Of Schisms In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints: 1830-1985, Krista Lynn Smith

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examined schisms in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1830-1985, concentrating on the relationship of religious organizational development and propensity to schism. It was hypothesized that as a religious group institutionalizes, it experiences crises that increase the likelihood for schism. This study used the LDS Church as a case study to analyze how organizational development correlates with schismatic activity.

It was found that a church is most safe from schismatic movements when the church is organizationally stable, but before major accommodation has taken place. For the LDS Church, this occurred from 1850-1890 when the church …

The Challenge Of The Sects In Latin America, Francisco Sampedro Nieto C.M.

Vincentiana

No abstract provided.

1988 - 70th Annual Bible Lectureship, "Missions In Crisis: Challenge And Oppurtunity," Abilene Christian University, Abilene Christian University

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.

A Descriptive Analysis Of The Current Status Of Paid Religious Broadcasting On National Television, Wayne R. Bills

Theses and Dissertations

In examining the use of paid television by various evangelical organizations (the "Electronic Church") as contrasted with its use by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), several important differences were discovered. First, the programs of the electronic church are usually designed much like a normal Sunday service with a "preacher" and "congregation" (the T.V. viewers). The LDS approach has been to communicate religious principles through the use of a story. Their productions are attractive to a large audience because they often feature a well-known television or motion picture celebrity, and are aired during prime-time viewing hours.

The …

El Movimiento Ecumenico De Dios, La Voz Eterna

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

2. John Wesley And Evangelical Methodism, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XII: The Post-Enlightenment Period

The Enlightenment had, it is true, appeared to solve many problems by ridding Western Civilization of medieval superstitions of all sorts. It disproved miracles. It denied the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. It denounced intolerance and persecution. But it did not,immediately answer the question of what was to be put in the place of the things it had thrown out. The ideas and institutions it denounced had given society certain ideals of conduct, standards of thought, and objects of belief, inadequate as they may have been. The immediate problem was: What was to reglace them? [excerpt]

Mormonism: Can It Stand Investigation?, Christian Tract Society

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Mormon Doctrine: True Or False: A Study Of The Books, Doctrines, And Practices Of "Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints" - Utah Branch, Roy H. Lanier

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Open Letters On Religion And Democracy, Science, Industry, Technocracy, And Leisure., Edward Scribner Ames

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Chile Pentecostal, Vol 2, No 17; Aug 1934, Editor La Revista

Chile Pentecostal (1934–1936)

El Chile Evangélico fue la primera publicación que apareció en Chile. Su primera edición salió en el mismo día del evento que inició la rupture en el seno de la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal en Chile y se cumplió en febrero de 1910. Relata los eventos paso por paso que resultaron en la expulsion definitive de los nuevos Pentecostales de esa organización. Empezó publicando semenalmente, dando numerosos testimonies y anécdotas que presentan al lector de manera clara lo que sucedía cuando caía al principio el fuego Pentecostal en Chile. En noviembre de 1910, se cambió su título al de Chile Pentecostal …

Trends Of Modern Religion, Edward Scribner Ames, William Clayton Bower, Jesse Allen Jacobs, Wayne A.R. Levs

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.