Digital Commons Network^™

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

Obligations Of Grace, Mark E. Roberts

Empowered21 Global Network of Spirit-Empowered Scholars

Grace obliges recipients to respond in gratitude and obedience to God, the giver of grace. While the New Testament emphasizes God's grace given through Jesus Christ in a New Covenant with believers, the Old Testament emphasizes grace more than many Christians recognize. Grace is expressed in the Old Testament especially through God's free choosing of Abraham as the "father of the faithful," through divine covenants with Abraham, with the divinely constituted nation of Israel, and with the governing house of David. Such grace abounds when God's covenanted people fail to keep their covenant, yet God, after disciplining the covenant people …

Book Of Mormon Costume Resource Guide, Rory R. Scanlon

Faculty Publications

This report offers visual costume research support for artists working on Book of Mormon projects, with an historical overview of Mesoamerica and how to understand its historical clothing pieces, an annotated listing of the best research sources, a list of garment and fabric terms for the 2000 BC to 600 AD period, and sample sketches from historical artifacts to suggest how to interpret the original research images the artist will encounter.

Occupy Judaism: Religion, Digital Media, And The Public Sphere, Ayala Fader, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides an analysis of Occupy Judaism, an explicitly religious expression of Jewish protest, which occurred simultaneously with Occupy Wall Street, the direct-democracy movement of 2011. Occupy Judaism, like Occupy Wall Street, took place both in physical spaces of protest in New York City and digitally, through mobilizing and circulating debate. The article focuses on the words and actions of Daniel Sieradski, the public face and one of the key founders of Occupy Judaism, supplemented by the experiences of others in Occupy Judaism, Occupy Wall Street, and Occupy Faith (a Protestant clergy-led initiative). We investigate what qualified as religion …

Social Welfare And The Liquor Problem, Harry S. Warner

Books

No abstract provided.

The American Mainline Protestant Church: Being The Body Of Christ In Context Without Christendom, Jessica G. Putland

Departmental Honors Projects

In recent years, a phenomenon has begun surrounding the fear of the death of the church in America. In 2008, the Pew Forum on Public Life conducted comprehensive survey of religiosity in America. This survey found that the number of those who identify as Protestant in America now stands at 51% of the population. According to the survey this number is poised to continue declining, especially given that the survey found that one fifth of US citizens, and one third of those under 30, are now unaffiliated with religion. Out of these statistics, in combination with other research across the …

The Future Of The Vincentian Charism In The United States: Challenges, Trends, And Opportunities, Scott Kelley, Jessica Werner

Mission and Ministry Publications

With declining membership in many branches of the Vincentian Family looming in the background, a key question emerges: how will the Vincentian mission continue in the United States in the twenty-first century? In 2005, Rev. Edward R. Udovic, C.M., Senior Executive for University Mission at DePaul University, argued that “by 2023 the Vincentians may well have no physical presence, canonical sponsorship role, or governance role at DePaul University.” His conclusion is based on careful observation of the historical membership trends in the Congregation of the Mission in the United States, going all the way back to their arrival in 1816. …

Roosevelt, Boy Scouts, And The Formation Of Muscular Christian Character, Gordon J. Christen

Religious Studies Honors Projects

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many prominent Christians and political leaders saw a degenerative influence in industrializing America. For them, urban culture had eroded gender roles, personal strength, and moral fiber. So-called “Muscular Christians” prescribed physical exertion and wilderness experience to cure these ills. I argue that these values were embodied in idealized characters such as Theodore Roosevelt, Jesus, and the Boy Scout to give a form to cultural remedies. In the process, they became the terms upon which proper Americanism, and proper Christianity, were constructed.

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …

Christian Navy Chaplains And The Challenge Of Expanding Religious Pluralism, Timothy Oswald

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Oswald, Timothy J. “Christian Navy Chaplains and the Challenge of Expanding Religious Pluralism.” D.Min. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary – St. Louis. 2013. 245 pp.

Navy chaplains are expected to facilitate for the religious needs of those from other faiths. For chaplains who believe in the exclusivity of the Christian religion, this can create theological and even personal tensions about support for religious practices which the chaplain believes to be false.

This project explores those tensions and proposes ways to help exclusivist Navy chaplains navigate them. The final ministry product is a Power Point® brief. It draws from bibliographic research, …

Creating A Millennial Generation Contextualized Church Culture, Christopher Deitsch

Masters Theses

The Millennial generation, or Generation Y as some people know them, is the biggest generation in the United States of America history. As they flood schools, universities, and the job market it is easy to see that there are major differences between them and previous generations. Simultaneously, the church in America has hundreds of individual churches each year closing and tens of thousands each year declining; most churches are ceasing to grow. The inability to reach Millennials is one of the reasons for this decline. This thesis purposes to give a snapshot of the Millennial generation, overview a few of …

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 …

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, …

Shall Thou Reincarnate Or Not? A Quest For Spirituality Among Czech "Irreligious" People, Petr A. Činčala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cho Yonggi’S Charismatic Leadership And Church Growth, David S. Lim

Journal of the American Society for Church Growth

As the founding and senior pastor of the largest megachurch in the world so far, it is quite obvious that Rev. Dr. Cho Yonggi (hereafter, Cho) has been an effective leader of church growth (CG) in Korea and the world. How was he able to lead the Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC) to achieve such phenomenal growth? I am greatly honored to have been invited to present this paper that will focus on his personal charisma as one of the key factors that brought about such a development in church history.

Complete Issue, Gary L. Mcintosh

Journal of the American Society for Church Growth

No abstract provided.

A Historically And Culturally Contextualized Proposal For Health Evangelism In Latvia, Anna Galeniece

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Seventh-day Adventist church leaders in Latvia have used several approaches and methods for reaching people with the gospel, but proclamation evangelism has served as the main program. However, this method has lost its effectiveness since the middle-1990s. Therefore, today the necessity of discovering and developing new ways and strategies has become crucial. One approach to reach the Latvian population could be health evangelism, which has achieved immense success in many parts of the world since the beginning of the Adventist health message in the 1860s.

Method

The research utilized pertinent materials from books, periodicals, and the Internet. The purpose …

Barriers In Traditional Ashanti Religion To Membership In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Amofah-Anane Asamoah

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The persistence of traditional belief and practice among about 30 percent of Ashanti traditionalists presents a great challenge to the Ashanti SDA Church on how to engage the traditionalists' with the gospel. The darker side of the Ashanti world is characterized by fear and insecurity. While Christianity presents an attractive doctrine of salvation in a transcendent sense, its emissaries have failed to provide satisfying ways of dealing with the forces of the spirit world. In addition, the Ashanti institution of chieftaincy involves closely connected socio-political and religious rites. The chief is both the central officiant in rituals of tendence …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 23 No 1 - April 1988), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

Articles: Calvin's Exegesis of Romans 12:8—Social, Accidental, or Theological? by Elsie Anne McKee - 6 / The Identity of Resurrected Persons: Fatal Flaw of Monistic Anthropology by John W. Cooper - 19 / The Threeness/Oneness Problem of the Trinity by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. - 37 / Scholia: Notes and Comments for the Minister. The CRC on the "Congregational Way"? by Henry De Moor - 54 / Book Reviews: Paul J. Achtemeir, ed. Harper's Bible Dictionary, reviewed by John H. Stek - 61 / Charles Bell, Calvin and Scottish Theology: The Doctrine of Assurance, reviewed by …

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

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.

Ministry, Management, And The Ecumenical Movement, Gary M. Simpson

Faculty Publications

The ecumenical movement in contemporary America should not be surprised to find itself in a quandary of questions regarding the "ministry” of the gospel. From the first decades following the ascension of Jesus until the present the whole complex of emerging questions of ministry have been intimately bound up with society-wide crises of authority. While it is nearly impossible to sort out the myriad questions regarding ministry that have arisen in the American context, one factor in particular has and, if left unchecked, will continue to subvert the ministry of the gospel: a society-wide managerial mode of authority. It has …

Mission: Vol. 3, No. 12

Mission

Mission: Vol. 3, No. 12. This issue contains the following articles: "What Did You Say?" by William J. Cook, Jr., "Is Anybody Listening?" by Wendell Willis, "Who is a Minister?" by John Allen Chalk, "Transcience, a poem" by Bob Rieder, "The Prophets and External Religion" by John T. Willis, "The Misfit, a poem" by Paul A. Parrish, "Grandeur and Misery" by Hubert G. Locke, and "The Great Pretender" by Frank Jones.

El Movimiento Ecumenico De Dios, La Voz Eterna

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Book Review. - Literatur, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Book Review. - Literatur

Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches, F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Theological Observer. – Klrchllch Zeitgeschichtliches (Theological Observer. – Of course contemporary history)

Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Theological Observer. – Klrchllch Zeitgeschichtliches (Theological Observer. – Of course contemporary history)

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.

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

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.