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American Unitarians And The George B. English Controversy, Bradley Kime

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

In late September 1813, a Harvard graduate named George Bethune English published an attack on the historical evidences of Christianity titled The Grounds of Christianity Examined, by Comparing the New Testament with the Old. English denied the relevance of miracles and argued that Jesus's claims to divine authority hinged solely on his fulfillment of Messianic prophecies. Only by twisting such prophecies beyond their obvious meanings, English argued, could Christians conceivably claim that Jesus fulfilled them. In their own day, the apostles and Evangelists did just that-misapplying the prophecies to Jesus either out of ignorance or dishonesty. In either case, …

Slavery, Agriculture, And Malaria In The Arabian Peninsula, Benjamin Reilly

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

In Slavery, Agriculture, and Malaria in the Arabian Peninsula, Benjamin Reilly illuminates a previously unstudied phenomenon: the large-scale employment of people of African ancestry as slaves in agricultural oases within the Arabian Peninsula. The key to understanding this unusual system, Reilly argues, is the prevalence of malaria within Arabian Peninsula oases and drainage basins, which rendered agricultural lands in Arabia extremely unhealthy for people without genetic or acquired resistance to malarial fevers. In this way, Arabian slave agriculture had unexpected similarities to slavery as practiced in the Caribbean and Brazil.

This book synthesizes for the first time a body of …

“Did Jesus Die In Outer Space? Evaluating A Key Claim In Richard Carrier’S On The Historicity Of Jesus, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The attempt to use later sources, interpreted in ways that are at best open to dispute, in an attempt to argue against what generations of skeptical scholars have concluded to be likely with respect to the early Christian sources, is never going to make mythicism seem more probable than the hard-earned and intensely-researched consensus of historians and scholars, namely that there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth.

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 039, Number 05, September 22, 2014, Grand Valley State University

2014-2015, Volume 39

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

2014 Printed Program

Colloquium Schedules

No abstract provided.

Integrated Relationships: The Impact Of European Integration On The Special Relationship, 1969-1973, Benjamin Jared Pack

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The special relationship has long been a topic of interest to historians of US foreign relations. The general consensus has been that the years 1969-1973 were a low point for Anglo-American relations, and have therefore been dismissed as largely insignificant. Rejecting this interpretation, this thesis contends that while certainly one of the lowest moments in the history of the special relationship, the Heath-Nixon relationship reveals much about the nature of the special relationship and America's relations with its allies more broadly. Focusing on the question of European integration (and the corresponding British entry into the European Community in 1973) and …

The Most Godless Region Of The World: Atheism In East Germany, Sophie L. Goddyn

Young Historians Conference

With a population of 52.1% presently identifying as atheists, East Germany ranks as the most atheistic region of the world. This anomaly can be explained through the economic lenses of supply-side theory and demand-side theory when analyzing the changes instated by the Communist Party during the life of the German Democratic Republic, from 1945 to 1989. Through a process of secularization and religious oppression, the Communist Party lessened the supply of religious goods in East Germany. On the other hand, it also minimized religious demand by providing secular alternatives to traditional religious practices, and institutionalizing anti-religious sentiment. These actions combined …

Correspondence Between The Spartans And The Jews In 1 Maccabees, Carl Griffin

Journal of Undergraduate Research

On December 9, 1993, I was informed by letter that I had been chosen as a recipient of the Research and Creative Work Scholarship. I was delighted at the time at the prospect of exploring my proposed research topic, and am now pleased to report the results of that research. Perhaps a brief review of my topic is in order.

A Period Of Transition: Early Islamic And Umayyad Coinage, Anna Tiner

Featured Research

A study of four coins from 620 to 680 AD provides a meager yet insightful glimpse into the coinage minted by Islamic rulers during their conquest over the Holy Land and the transition of rule from the Byzantine Empire to the Islamic Caliphate. With the help of an innovative technology called Reflective Transference Image (RTI), on loan from USC, I created high-resolution images that can be adjusted with respect to light and reflectivity. Creating RTI images of the coins administers a deeper alternate perspective giving light to aspects of the coin that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Using …

Grafting Onto `The Jew': The Importance Of Being Jew-Ish To Early Modern English Christian Identity, Joan Blackwell Wedes

Wayne State University Dissertations

The dissertation examines how Jewish figures in early modern plays, prose, and poetry moved beyond the uncomplicated medieval image of murderous villain and towards a more reasoned consideration of the Jew's position in Christianity as well as in English life. While there has been significant scholarship on early modern representations of Jews, particularly in drama, these studies have not examined how Paul's Letter to the Romans, in forming much of Reformation doctrine, was also crucial in forming attitudes towards and representations of literary and living Jews. My project uniquely combines history, biblical studies, and literary analysis to reveal how early …

Judea Captured, Jessica Baity, Jimmy Yang

Featured Research

This coin is a part of the “Judea Captured” collection minted in Caesarea. Through thorough imaging and the decoding of Greek inscriptions we believe that we can prove the significance of the coin in correlation to the First Jewish War in battle against the Romans. We believe that it celebrates the victory of the Romans during the First Jewish War (66 – 69 AD) , under the Emperor Vespasian (68 – 79 AD). But the question does arise about the significance of certain symbols; especially the palm tree and crown made of palm leaves and how they relate to the …

Coinage During The Bar Kochba Rebellion, Jonathan Allen, Robbie Robles

Featured Research

This is a coin that Jews used during the Bar Kochba Rebellion, The dates of the
Bar Kochba are from 132-135 A.D. The rebellion was started in response to the
rule of Emperor Hadrian, who was insensitive to Jewish Traditions and started
banning Jewish religious practices. In response, Jews began minting their own
coins to honor their religious rituals and the leaders of the rebellion.

Ancient Marcus Aurelius Coin, Tawni Gurney, Andrew Hirsch

Featured Research

Upon glancing at coins, people generally overlook their historical aspect of the coins and simply look at their monetary value. In our seminar class, however, we were interested in so much more than money when it came to studying our particular coin. We wanted to know what this particular coin could tell us about the history of the time when it was minted. We deciphered what was on the coin and researched the significance of each aspect. We also studied similar coins to confirm our interpretations. We compared the writings on the coins and the images themselves. Additionally, we photographed …

The Use Of Propaganda On An Augustan Denarius, Jens Ibsen, Melissa Miller

Featured Research

This coin is a silver denarius minted in Lugdunum (now Lyon), most likely under the reign of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. There are factors which point to a possibility of the coin being a restitution issue minted under either Trajan or Hadrian, such as its pristine condition, which implies a lack of use, and the similarity of symbols employed on this denarius and denarii of Trajan’s era. The coin is a prime example of Augustus’ use of propaganda inserted into Roman daily life to sell the idea of empire to a Roman people who ardently defended a long-standing …

Herod The Great's Message Through Year 3 Coin, Elizabeth Chau

Featured Research

King Herod the Great was a half Jewish client king who struggled with appeasing Roman rulers and yet avoiding conflict with the Jews. In the investigation of a coin from year 3 of King Herod’s reign I have found that Herod was aware of Jewish customs and respected their customs through the lack of Pagan symbols. Additionally, the Greek lettering and the symbolism on the coin illustrates Herod’s Hellenistic reign. In my observations of the coin King Herod’s Hellenistic reign was characterized by his great value of power and yet respect of Jewish culture while at the same time pleasing …

History Through A Coin: Valerian, Dido, And The Founding Of Carthage, Jack Miller, Brittany Piwowar

Featured Research

The coin dating from 270 AD depicts on its obverse side the Roman Emperor Valerian, the first Emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war. On the reverse side is a unique scene of the goddess Dido sacrificing at the Temple of Hercules before setting off to found Carthage from Tyre, the city in which the coin was minted. Like all individually minted coins, this piece is very unique and may be a re-strike of a previously issued coin.

Late Hasmonean Coinage: A Snapshot Of Alexander Jannaeus's Rule, Timothy Schaefer, Christopher Huang

Featured Research

Like other late Hasmonean rulers, Alexander walked the line between outright Hellenization and traditional Judaism. He did this to please other powerful rulers while keeping his power over his domestic people. We can see this clash of Hebrew and Greek influences in his coinage.

Eastern Beads, Western Applications Wampum Among Plains Tribes, Jordan Keagle

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

In the seventeenth century, when Europeans first arrived in what are now the New England and mid-Atlantic states, they encountered a wide array of indigenous tribes already calling the land home. The new setrlers soon realized the importance of shell beads called wampum. Manufactured primarily along Long Island Sound, these beads, shaped from marine shells, could be made into belts or grouped as strings.¹ Though whites failed to grasp the nuances of wampum culture, leading to the generalization of wampum as "Indian money," they nevertheless recognized its significance in Native American trade and diplomacy. Eventually, wampum came to be …

To The Jew First: A Socio-Historical And Biblical-Theological Analysis Of The Pauline Teaching Of `Election' In Light Of Second Temple Jewish Patterns Of Thought, Anthony Thornhill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Paul's "doctrine" of election has remained a controversial and enigmatic topic for centuries. Few studies, however, have approached Paul's doctrine through the context of Second Temple Judaism. This study examines Paul's view of election through the lens of Second Temple Jewish texts written prior to 70 CE. In doing so, it is argued that the best framework through which to view Paul's discussion of election is through a primarily corporate model of election. While such a model is rooted in Judaism, Paul departs from his Jewish contemporaries in arguing that the locus of election is in God's Messiah, Jesus.

Googol-Part Fugue: Another Imagination Of Divine Providence And Game Theory, Gideon Lee

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2013

The problem of evil presents an intellectual hurdle for some to believe in a good and omnipotent God. The emergence of open theism could be seen as an attempt to make a stronger case for the free will defense. However, in denying divine foreknowledge as traditionally understood, open theism contradicts biblical revelation not only in its direct claims, but also when its logical implications for divine providence are worked out. The open theist Alan Rhoda has sought to explain through game theory how some degree of divine providence is possible under open theism. That explanation is astonishing since the open …

An Investigation Of Ancient Hebrew Music During The Time Of The Old Testament: Especially The Role Of Music In The Lives Of Israel's First Two Kings, Saul And David, Holly J. Delcamp

Senior Honors Theses

Music has always been an inextricable component of Jewish culture from its beginnings. Even before the construction of the Temple, music was used for worship, feasts, festivals, and various other cultural activities. Since much of this music involves the singing of texts, poetry was also a central part of the Jewish music culture. Singing in ancient Israel often involved instrumental accompaniment. The Bible records the texts of much musical activity. Instrumental music, vocal music, and accompanied vocal music are found throughout the Bible. Instrumental music is found in 1 Samuel 16 when David played his harp to soothe Saul and …

Clay-Potter Imagery In The Bible: Theological And Practical Implications For Daily Christian Life, Karl Stelzer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

God, the Master Potter, uses clay-potter imagery to explain spiritual truth. These passages are ignored, explained superficially, or misinterpreted and have not had the divinely intended impact. Theologically, doctrines of Theology Proper, Bibliology, and Anthropology have been compromised. Practically, the Holy Spirit has been hindered. To demonstrate the need for clay-potter instruction, research will include a comparative analysis of information gathered through questionnaires to churches that have held a clay-potter conference and those that have not, and an examination of written material and popular presentations. This author combines professional pottery expertise and biblical training to present accurate exposition. This thesis …

Lincoln Scholar To Speak At Founders’ Day Convocation, Katherine Filippo

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Ugarit, Melissa Ramos

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

In 1928 a Syrian peasant farmer stumbled by chance onto a funerary vault of ancient provenance about half a mile from the Mediterranean coastline of Syria and about six miles north of the modern-day city of Latakia. This unforeseen discovery led to an archaeological excavation ofTell Ras Shamra (Cape Fennel) by the eminent French excavator Claude Schaeffer. What Schaeffer's team unearthed was not merely an ancient tomb, but a city complete with palaces, private homes, temples, and streets paved with stone.

Scripturalization And The Aaronide Dynasties, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

Priests claiming descent from Aaron controlled the high priesthood of temples in Jerusalem and on Mount Gerizim in the Second Temple period. These Aaronides were in a position to influence religious developments in this period, especially the scripturalization of the Torah. The priests’ dynastic claims were probably a significant factor in the elevation of the Pentateuch to scriptural status. This claim can be tested by correlating what little we know about the Aaronide dynasties with what little we know about the scripturalization of two different portions of the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch and Ezra-Nehemiah.

The Political And Legal Uses Of Scripture, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Strengthening Biblical Historicity Vis-À-Vis Minimalism, 1992-2008 And Beyond, Part 2.1: The Literature Of Perspective, Critique, And Methodology, First Half, Lawrence J. Mykytiuk

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This series of articles covers scholarly works in English which can, at least potentially, be associated with a positive view of biblical historicity regarding the periods preceding the Israelites’ return from exile. Part 2 covers works that treat the concepts and methodological issues at the center of the maximalist-minimalist debate. (Parts 3–5 will cover works on evidences.)

This article, the first half of Part 2, focuses on works that provide a framework in which there exists the realistic possibility for large amounts of Hebrew Scripture to stand as valid historical source material— while still subject to comparison with other sources. …

By This They Will Know: Discipleship Principles To Transform The Church, Mark R. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current research indicates that ninety-five million individuals in America do not attend church. Nearly forty percent, of this group, have a negative impression of Christianity. The purpose of this project is to study the forces that that are transforming the American culture, and the dynamics that are perpetuating a bad image of Christianity. The author will evaluate the current state of spiritual formation in the Christian community, and make recommendations for developing an effective discipleship strategy for the church. The impetus for this paper is the Great commission issued by Jesus as recorded in Matthew 28:19. The paper will incorporate …

The Dilemma Of Genocide In The Old Testament, Daryl Neipp

Masters Theses

The Old Testament command to destroy every breathing thing within the cities of the Promised Land has long been a problem for those who seek to understand God. In some cases this has become welcome fodder for those who desire to question the credibility of Scripture, while for others it just creates an ethical gap that is simply too far to cross. This thesis will address the challenging issue by demonstrating how God's command to destroy the Canaanites was an essential component of his redemptive plan in that it brought to fruition the goals of the Abrahamic Covenant and established …

Correlating The Nevius Method With Church Planting Movements: Early Korean Revivals As A Case Study, Wesley L. Handy

Liberty Theological Review

John Nevius served as a missionary to China in the late nineteenth-century. From his field experience, Nevius argued for radical changes in missionary methodology. His greatest influence may have been on the mission to Korea beginning in the 1890s. David Garrison, currently serving in South Asia, served for several years in influential administrative roles within the International (formerly Foreign) Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He studied and advocated Church Planting Movements [CPM], necessitating a change in contemporary missionary methodology. Both men have made major contributions to the practice of missions. This article endeavors to show the similarities between …