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The Emerging Church Part 1: Historical Background, Fernando Canale

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

2010 Empowered21 Global Congress On The Holy Spirit Program, Empowered21 Committee

Empowered21 Global Council

The program for the first Empowered21 conference on the Holy Spirit held on the campus of Oral Roberts University April 8-10, 2010. Led by Dr. Billy Wilson, the executive director and char for E21, the conference included five general, learning conversations from next-gen leaders from around the world. Speakers included

• Jack Hayford
• Mark Rutland
• Tommy Barnett
• Claudio Freidzon
• A.E. Adeboye
• Ulf Ekman
• Niko Njotorahardjo
• Margaret Court
• Billy Joe Daughtery

A scholars track was hosted by Dr. Vinson Synan with 30 papers presented by Spirit-empowered scholars on a variety of topics. These were compiled into the book Spirit-empowered Christianity in the …

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 …

Towards An African Inculturation Biblical Pneumatology: A Response To The Rise Of Neo-Pentecostalism In Tanzanian Christianity, Faith Lugazia

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

In this dissertation, 1 seek to lay the groundwork for developing an African inculturation of biblical pneumatology relevant to the Tanzanian context. The Neo- Pentecostal phenomenon is a strong reality in Tanzania today. Neo-Pentecostal churches and groups are mushrooming, emphasizing the work of the Holy Spirit and drawing on the heritage of African spirituality and worldview. Many mainline Protestants, including Lutherans, participate and worship in these churches and groups, yet they maintain their formal membership in their mother churches. This could be due, in part, to the fact that Lutheran theology and teaching in Tanzania has tended to pay little …

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 …

Empowered21 Conversation Executive Summary, Empowered21 Committee

Empowered21 Global Council

The executive summary from the Conversation Process in preparation for the 2010 Global Congress on the Holy Spirit Empowerment in the 21st Century.

Empowered21 was formed by the Commission on Holy Spirit Empowerment in the 21st Century, which is a broad Kingdom coalition facilitated by the International Center for Spiritual Renewal in partnership with Oral Roberts University. Three ongoing conversations were established through the Commission and included a leadership track, a scholar track and a next generation track. These groups incorporated leaders from around the world in addressing questions and solutions for the future of the Spirit-empowered movement. Their findings …

Empowered21 Conversation Leadership Participants, Empowered21 Committee

Empowered21 Global Council

A list of participants in the three conversations: Leadership, Scholars, Next Gen, Student, Asian.

A New Age Of Goddess Worship In New Wave Feminism : Witch Way Forward? : A Qualitative Study, Joanne Kostopoulos-Riganello

Theses : Honours

This research investigates the question: Are women who are currently engaged in a Goddess religion, such as Wicca, practising a new wave of feminism, one that has its roots in a uniquely female order? This is grounded in a qualitative interpretive paradigm, using a feminist poststructuralist methodology. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken, drawing on relevant material from the areas related to the topics of the Goddess, feminism, thealogy, witches and Wicca. Five High Priestesses of Wicca were interviewed using one-on-one unstructured interview techniques. All five interviews were guided by open-ended questions focussed on participants' experiences and perceptions of Goddess …

"Pilgrimage Into Pentecost: The Pneumatological Legacy Of Howard M. Ervin", Daniel D. Isgrigg

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

Howard M. Ervin, a Baptist and Pentecostal scholar, paved the way for other scholars to defend the Pentecostal faith in the academic world. During the last half of the twentieth century, charismatics, evangelicals and Pentecostals scholars have debated the nature and function of Spirit baptism. This paper explores the life and legacy of Dr. Howard Ervin and his impact on the Pentecostal-charismatic community.

Oru Commission On Holy Spirit Empowerment In The 21st Century, Holy Spirit Research Center Oru Library

Empowered21 Global Council

The Commission on Spirit-Empowered Living in the 21st Century was an initiative of the Oral Roberts University Board of Trustees. The University Board Chair appointed a small number of trustees for the commission to develop the parameters of the plan and work with University administration on future implications. The Board initiated this conversation to ascertain the macro-environment in which ORU presently exists. It also utilized this process to inform the University’s future environment in which the ‘whole person’ educational process will be experienced.

It was during this process that the idea for a Global Congress on Spirit-Empowered Christianity was birthed …

Meet The Mormons: From The Margins To The Mainstream, Mathew N. Schmalz

Religious Studies Faculty Scholarship

A reflection on the relationship between Catholicism and Mormonism, specifically focusing on the Sunstone symposium.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 7, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Problematic Issues Concerning The Freedom Of Association And Group/Collective Rights In The Republic Of Armenia, Shavarsh Khachatryan

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Terrorism, Millenarianism, And Death: A Study Of Hezbollah And Aum Shinrikyo, Steven Nicholls

Theses : Honours

The relationship ·between death and the millennium is not an area of scholarship that has received adequate attention. Millenarian groups desire the creation of a paradise in the temporal world. The world is seen as corrupt and evil without hope of reform. This viewpoint leads millenarians to conclude that the temporal world must be completely destroyed and created a new, eliminating the corrupt and providing a utopia where the faithful can exist in peace. Hezbollah and Aum Shinrikyo are two terrorist groups which share this worldview, and believe that they can hasten the millennium by eliminating their enemies. This thesis …

Key Leadership Roles In The 9/11 Terrorist Attack, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Personality assessment of three al-Qaida leaders in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States – Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mohamed Atta – provides evidence for a rudimentary model of the leadership roles required for a global-reach terrorist operation: (1) a narcissistic, charismatic leader devoid of core values beyond personal self-interest, adept at exploiting others in pursuit of his grandiose ambitions (e.g., bin Laden); (2) a strategic-thinking “true believer” without constraints of conscience regarding the level of violence he is willing to employ in his single-minded pursuit of mission (e.g., al-Zawahiri); and (3) unobtrusive, disciplined operatives …

Folk Healing In The Tradition Of The Fidencista Movement, Katherine Brittain

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Fidencista Movement is a religion in process . Like in many other medico-religions whose primary ministry is healing, women hold the highest positions of authority. The shamanic channeling of the spirit of the folk saint, Niño Fidencio , plies Fidencistas' belief in the spirit world and ameliorates physical and emotional healing. Fidencistas are concentrated in the Texas/Mexico borderland region where they are facing a passing of traditionalism, the social matrix in which folk healing thrives. However, the signature of the Movement, the penitential trek up the Vía de Dolores in Espinazo, is a cohering bi-annual ritual that fortifies devotion …

New Religious Movements And The Problem Of Extremism In Modern Russia, Veronika V. Kravchouk

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Bin Laden’S Brain”: The Abrasively Negativistic Personality Of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Aubrey Immelman, Kathryn Kuhlmann

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States and allegedly chief strategist for al-Qaida operations and personal physician to Osama bin Laden.

Al-Zawahiri’s primary personality patterns were found to be Contentious/oppositional and Dominant/controlling, with secondary features of the Dauntless/dissenting and Ambitious/self-serving patterns.

The amalgam of Contentious (negativistic, or passive-aggressive) and Dominant (aggressive, or sadistic) patterns in al-Zawahiri’s profile suggests the presence of the “abrasive negativist” syndrome. For these personalities, minor frictions easily …

Protestantism And Fundamentalism, William Vance Trollinger

History Faculty Publications

The term "fundamentalism" has been used to describe a host of religious movements across the globe that are militantly antimodernist, aggressively patriarchal, literalist in their reading of sacred texts, and assiduous in their efforts to draw boundaries between themselves and outsiders. While "Islamic fundamentalism" has received the most attention, particularly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, scholars and journalists have also applied the term to movements within such disparate traditions as Judaism, Sikhism, and Hinduism, as well as to various Christian groups.

There are benefits to understanding fundamentalism as a global movement that grows out of deep-seated and intense …

The Personality Profile Of Al-Qaida Leader Osama Bin Laden, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Osama bin Laden, founder and leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States.

Bin Laden’s primary personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/exploitative and Dauntless/dissenting, with a secondary Distrusting/suspicious orientation, and subsidiary Dominant/controlling and Conscientious/dutiful features.

Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and often act as though entitled. Dauntless individuals are bold, courageous, and tough; minimally constrained by the norms of society; routinely engage …

The Personality Profile Of September 11 Hijack Ringleader Mohamed Atta, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a posthumous, indirect assessment of the personality of Mohamed Atta, apparent ringleader in the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon.

Information concerning Mohamed Atta was collected from media reports in the one-month period following the attack and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the …

The Attitude Of Belgian Authorities Toward New Religious Movements, Adelbert Denaux

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Normal Church Can’T Take Us”: Re-Creating A Pentecostal Identity Among The Men And Women Of Victory Outreach, Arlene M. Sánchez Walsh

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

This article examines the re-creation of Pentecostal identity among the men and women of a drug rehabilitation ministry called Victory Outreach. It considers how that identity changes when members reinforce traditional gender roles commonly found in Latino culture, while defining Pentecostalism as a religious salve to soothe social ills. The author considers how Victory Outreach members work from a theological pedagogy that affirms the image of their church as marginalized, and proclaims educational attainment as a force for empowerment.

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 Emergence Of An Ethnic Millenarian Thinking And The Development Of Nationalism In Tahiti, Bruno Saura

Pacific Studies

This article analyzes the emergence in Tahiti of a body of theological and philosophical works written in Tahitian by Duro Raapoto, the leading intellectual of the Protestant Church and one of the best poets of French Polynesia. They constitute a new syncretic and millennialistic rewriting of Tahitian history as well as a rereading of anthropological ideas relative to pre-European society through a reinterpretation of some essential concepts of Polynesian culture. Their author’s objective is to restore the golden age of innocence presented as “the authentic Tahitian religion” and to establish the Kingdom of God within the Tahitian people, “God’s chosen.” …

History, Opposition, And Salvation In Agarabi Adventism, George Westermark

Pacific Studies

Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was particularly strong in the Papua New Guinea Eastern Highlands in the last decade. This article discusses a variety of reasons for this change, emphasizing Adventist beliefs that create a distinct historical consciousness among church members. In the face of a rapidly changing society, it is argued, these beliefs structure an appealing ideological framework that facilitates both individual and collective transformation. Significant for Eastern Highland Adventists is a doctrine of opposition toward other Christian groups and a sense of their own unique role in the prophetic events that make up their historical model.

Evangelization Or Proselytism Of Hispanics? A Pentecostal Perspective, Cecil M. Robeck Jr.

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

In this essay, based on an address to the US. National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Directors, the author reviews the history of U.S. Hispanic involvement in the Pentecostal movement, underscoring the need for sustained dialogue in arriving at common understandings and in working toward the sort of genuine koinōnia that promotes authentic witness to the Gospel.

To Stay Or To Go: Social Identity And Self-Categorization Theories, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some psychological factors affecting whether members remain in a cult or leave.

Controlling Control In The Cult: Big Brother, Little Brothers, And "Turning In", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

A previous article (IBPP, Vol. 1, No. 9, "The Psychology of Controlling Control") described the psychological challenges that must be surmounted by political leaders desiring to control others. The present article describes psychological phenomena w

Heaven's Gate: Gateway To The Soul, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the cult Heaven's Gate and the mass suicide of its members.