Digital Commons Network^™

"The Season Of Eric" At Plan-B Theatre: A Milestone In Mormon Drama, Callie Oppedisano

BYU Studies

When I learned that Plan-B was considering an entire season devoted to my work, I think I was outwardly composed. I may have said something like “Well, that’s very flattering. Thank you.” Or something equally bland. Inside, though, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was playing.

—Eric Samuelsen

New Perspectives On 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only, David J. Larsen

BYU Studies

This book contains the proceedings of the Fifth Enoch Seminar, held in Naples, Italy, on June 14–18, 2009. The theme of the conference was “Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek: Mediatorial Figures in 2 Enoch and Second Temple Judaism,” covering topics of intrinsic interest for biblical scholars generally, as well as for Latter-day Saints. The book’s subtitle, No Longer Slavonic Only, refers to an important discovery announced at the seminar. The book of 2 Enoch is also commonly referred to as “Slavonic Enoch” because the text has been known only in its Slavonic translation; now Coptic fragments of the text have been …

Resiliency And Self-Care For Pastors In Japan Facing A Disaster, John G. Houlette

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For Japanese pastors facing a disaster, exercising resiliency and self-care is an enormous task as clergy deal with varying disaster-related attitudes, impact within the church and overwhelming need and opportunity in the community. In addition to surveying seminary students, pastors who experienced the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake as well as pastors who lived through the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and seminary professors who train next generation pastors were interviewed using co-inquiry and a 360-degree data gathering approach. Results showed that managing stress, loss, relationships, compassion fatigue and burnout were common challenges. The data indicated that practicing resilient leadership entails …

Rediscovering The Urgency Of Intentional Discipleship In The Naga Churches In Nagaland, Orenvungo Ngullie

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem this research addressed was the lack of intentional discipleship which has resulted in spiritual apathy and has hampered the development of leadership in the local churches in Nagaland, rendering Christians ineffective to impact the community. The study involved evangelical churches in Nagaland from various denominations, such as Baptist, Pentecostal, Revival and a couple of independent churches. In response to this problem, the researcher drew important lessons from the Great Commission passage (Matt. 28:19-20) highlighting the importance of discipleship as an intentional pursuit instead of an accidental venture. The literature review dealt with the current and relevant issues that …

A Qualitative Study Of Doubt In The Evangelical Tradition, Benjamin B. Young

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explored the difference between evangelicals who doubted and stayed in the evangelical Christian faith and those who left the fold. Grounded theory was the primary research methodology and data was gathered from interviews with people who struggled with doubt. This data was used to develop a strategy for people going through doubt and for pastors helping others process doubt. Pastors need to provide a safe a place to doubt by listening and being patient, and by waiting to see how God will work in the lives of the people who are struggling with doubt.

The Social Conscience Of The Saint John's Bible Ii -- On Syrian Refugees And The Reversals Of Christmas, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Emerging Adulthood And Faith (Calvin Shorts), Jonathan P. Hill

Calvin Press

Is the Church losing the next generation of young people? Jonathan P. Hill critically examines this question, interpreting sociological data that takes into account the broader cultural and historical context. He challenges common assumptions and draws conclusions that are counterintuitive, complex, and encouraging.

Mapping Neo-Atheist And Other Recent Attacks On The Character Of God: A Case Of Theodicy, Jiří Moskala

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Desarrollo E Implementacion De Un Seminario De Mayordomia Biblica Para Pastores Adventistas Del Septimo Dia De La Asociacion Colombiana Centro Occidental, Mario Nino

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Administrators of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) in the West Central Colombian Conference (WCCC) have requested a seminar on stewardship to facilitate the preaching, teaching, and better understanding of the biblical stewardship. The Conference is interested in fulfilling the command “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). However, the lack of financial resources has become a challenge to fulfill this mission. Due to this situation, the WCCC reduced the number of pastors between 2005-2009, …

Creation And Covenant - A Hermeneutical Approach To The Correlation Of The Seventh-Day And The Biblical Sabbath, Sergio L. Silva

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

For centuries, scholars have debated the nature of the relationship between the seventh day (Gen 2:1-3) and the biblical Sabbath (Exod 20:8-11). While Covenant Theologians insist that the seventh day works as the theological foundation of the biblical Sabbath, New Covenant Theologians reject this relationship and insist the Sabbath is an institution given exclusively to the Israelites. This article argues that according to an exegetical-historical and theological reading of selected texts on the Sabbath, one must regard the seventh day as the theological foundation of the biblical Sabbath to sustain a consistent and coherent theological system that uses Scripture as …

A Biblical And Missiological Framework For Cross-Cultural Mission: A Case Study Of The Lobi Funeral Rites In Burkina Faso, Boubakar Sanou

Dissertations

Problem

Converts to Christianity in traditional contexts often face pressure to continue traditional rituals and practices which sometimes contain unbiblical elements. Non-selective performance of traditional practices can produce dual allegiance and syncretism. Such is the case with Lobi Seventh-day Adventists concerning their traditional funeral rites of passage. Some core elements of these traditional funeral rites, in which all community members are expected to fully participate, conflict with biblical teachings on the human condition after death.

Method

This dissertation starts by laying the theoretical and theological basis for addressing the problem. The dissertation then uses ethnographic research of funeral rites among …

Preaching As A Cultural Formation Tool, Jason P. Esposito

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed by this project is a lack of awareness some pastors have of the power their preaching has to shape their church culture. In response to this problem the researcher explored the biblical foundations of preaching with a special interest in the Hebrew understanding of learning and its role as a culture creator. He reviewed literature related to homiletics and communication theory with special attention to cultural formation in organizations and churches. He conducted case studies by way of interviews to determine whether members of his church, Crossway, perceived this connection between preaching and cultural formation. He interviewed …

A Petition For God's Forgiveness In Gambella Ethiopia, Omot Olopk Aganya

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project explored the root causes of the ethnic conflicts in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. It examined the issues of ethnic, social, political, and historical conflict occurring at the regional level, which are vital to comprehensively understanding the nature and outcome of the local conflicts. These are embedded in geopolitics, the politics of established administrative agencies established in Gambella by different empires and governments, militarization, ethnicity, socio-economics, deprivation, inequality, marginalization, discrimination, racism, and the undemocratic institutions of the region, as well as the absence of effective mechanisms for national and sub-regional dispute resolution. The lack of implementation and …

Are Religion And Environmentalism Complements Or Substitutes?: A Club-Based Approach, Feler Bose, Timothy M. Komarek

Economics Faculty Publications

In this article, we analyze the causal link between membership in environmental groups and active participation and membership in religious groups. We use a club-based model and employ OLS and spatial econometrics with controls to test for whether membership and participation in a religious group is a substitute or complement for membership in environmental groups. Instrumental variables estimation was used as a robustness check. We found that religious participation and religious membership in evangelical groups are a substitute for environmental membership. Much of the work on environmental concerns has focused on answers to survey questions, not on membership. We used …

2015 Bethsaida Field Report, Rami Arav, Carl Savage, Nicolae Roddy, Gregory C. Jenks, Vanessa Workman, Kenneth M. Bensimon

Field Reports

The 2015 excavation season at Bethsaida took place during May 28th to July 3rd, 2015. Seventy six faculty, students and volunteers joined this season. The expedition was hosted in Ginosar Village, Kibbutz Ginosar. We are very grateful for the kind and efficient hospitality Ginosar team and members, provides us for more than 20 years.

Robot Saints, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

In the Middle Ages, articulating religious figures like wooden Deposition crucifixes and ambulatory saints were tools for devotion, techno-mythological objects that distilled the wonders of engineering and holiness. Robots are gestures toward immortality, created in the face of the undeniable fact and experience of the ongoing decay of our fleshy bodies. Both like and unlike human beings, robots and androids occupy a nebulous perceptual realm between life and death, animation and inanimation. Masahiro Mori called this in-between space the “uncanny valley.” In this essay I argue that unlike a modern person apprehending an android (the uncanny human-like object that resides …

A Biblical And Relevant Way To Reach Young Adults, Matthew Costner

Great Commission Research Journal

The church’s influence in America and the world is decreasing, yet America and the world’s population is on the rise. What is the church to do? Church planting is not fixing the problem, and neither are the currently existing model churches. The only way to turn around America’s church is the only method the Bible recommends—discipleship. In this article, you will see that the best way to reach young adults is not by flashy programs, the best worship, or by dropping a denomination’s name from the church title. The best way to reach young adults is by using the younger …

Learning Love From A Tiger: Approaches To Nature In An American Buddhist Monastery, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

In current debates about Buddhist approaches to the non-human natural world, studies describe Buddhism variously as anthropocentric, biocentric or ecocentric. These perspectives derive for the most part from examinations of philosophical and normative aspects of the tradition without much attention to moments when embodied practice diverges from religious ideals. Responding to the need for narrative thick descriptions of lived Buddhist attitudes toward nature, I ethnographically explore a Vietnamese monastery in the United States. There I find multifaceted Buddhist approaches to nature which sometimes disclose disunity between theory and practice. Philosophically and normatively, this monastery embraces ecocentrism through notions of interconnectedness, …

The Millennial Who Planted Trees, Trevien Stanger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this work of creative non-fiction essays and stories, the author explores ecological restoration through a variety of contexts, settings, and conditions.

Reproduction, Gwynn Kessler

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A Trickster In Disguise: Reading A New Type Of Satan In 2 Corinthians, Miranda Julia Rutherford

Honors Papers

This paper examines three brief mentions of Satan in 2 Corinthians by comparing them with representations in two longer pseudepigraphal texts: the Testament of Job and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve. Although the Satan of 2 Corinthians is often read in tandem with other mentions of an apocalyptic evil figure, I argue that this Satan bears a greater resemblance to the Satan portrayed in the Testament and the Life. In these three texts, Satan's moral alignment is ambiguous: although he often acts for nefarious purposes, he does not oppose God on a cosmic scale as apocalyptic Satan figures …

Junior Topics Outlined 1904, Ella N. Wood

Books

No abstract provided.

In Christ's Own Country, Rev. Francis E. Clark

Books

No abstract provided.

Sola Gratia: Grace In The Engineering Curriculum And Profession, Ethan Brue

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Integral Christian higher education is in vogue. Most Christian institutions of higher education who take their mission seriously make the claim that the education offered to students is one where faith and learning are not separate. It is a belief that their entire educational enterprise is inexorably tied in some way, shape, or form to our new life in Christ. Most engineering programs on Christian campuses are the outgrowth of this perspective. Over the last fifty years, numerous philosophers, writers, scientists, and engineers have developed a solid foundation from which engineering can be understood as an essential calling in the …

Profit Maximization And The Death Of God: Theology And Economics In Benedict Xvi's Charity In Truth, D. Stephen Long

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Good Shepherd: Lessons For Teacher Education, Scott Key

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Across the continent, the demand for increased student achievement dominates conversation. Teacher education programs are under pressure to ensure that pre-service teachers are able to step into classrooms and improve student achievement. This pressure can invite programs to focus on subject-specific and pedagogical competencies while minimizing ethical and relational aspects of teacher preparation. Yet caring relationships are central to more positive learning experiences. What should these relationships look like? For Christian teachers and teacher educators, the answer to this question lays, in part, in an examination of Jesus. This paper focuses on Jesus the Good Shepherd as seen in the …

Truth, Goodness And Beauty: Revisiting The Classic Common Core Standards, Gary Gramenz

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

As the educational community works to simultaneously understand and implement the Common Core standards and its emphasis on the development of various intellectual traits and capacities, it is worth pausing to consider this most recent educational reform in light of the classical understanding of the educational task. This article highlights three elements from the “classic” common core educational standards as understood by classical educational theorists: truth, goodness, and beauty and the role each plays in developing an educated person. These classic standards place the development and elevation of the human spirit as the foundation of all learning. Although truth, goodness, …

Teachers’ Understanding Of Imago Dei, Beverley Norsworthy, Christina Belcher

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Often education is viewed pragmatically as that of preparing students for life as employees. Another view is that education is about enabling human beings to flourish. The pragmatic and flourishing paradox has consequences for national citizenship. For Christian teachers, critical to such an approach would be the manner in which their teaching practice is informed and shaped by a Christian worldview. Such shaping involves an applied knowledge with reference to understanding people, and particularly students as “Imago Dei.” This research presents a pilot study in which 120 teachers in Christian schools in New Zealand and Canada were invited, via an …

Unknowing, Knowing: And The Link With Scripture In Pseudo-Dionysius’S Mystical Theology, Cleran Hollancid

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Narrative Structure Of Daniel 8: A Text Linguistic Approach, Samuel Nuñez

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.