Digital Commons Network^™

Ensuring Careful Interpretation And Application Of The Bible Through The Lens Of The Covenants, James Kenneth Rainwater

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For centuries, believers in Jesus Christ have turned to the Bible to discover His will for their life. For the most part, this discovery has resulted in joy and significance and has benefited the journeys of millions. However, there have been many examples where the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible has brought about devastating consequences. Wolves have crept in and used the Bible for their own nefarious purposes. This paper offers a bridge for believers to navigate many of the difficult passages of the Bible and their behavioral application. Specifically, this is achieved through a closer look at how …

Epiphany - 7 January 2024, Joe Tedesco

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Full Journal

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Third Sunday Of Advent - 15 December 2024, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Mary, Mother Of God - 1 January 2025, Andrew Doohan

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

The Interplay Of Covid 19, Organized Religion, And Social Media: “How Can I Be The Person I Feel I Need To Be?”, White Dove Bryant Beethoven Keith Short

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Young adults are disaffiliating themselves from organized religion (Hout & Fischer, 2014). This study investigates the impact of social media use on religious identity, teaching, and learning. Social media use is changing young adults as individuals in worldview and perspective, spirituality, religion, and personal lifestyle (Schaeffer, 2019). Messages devised for young adults by Christian ministers for discipleship in teaching and instruction are inharmonious with young adults and their personal views of the world, how to live, and religion (Pew Research Center, 2019). The continued existence of religious teaching, congregant replenishment, and practice of the organized institutional Christian church within society …

Christmas Day - 25 December 2024, Errol Lobo

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Incorporating Families Experiencing Disabilities Into The Rhythm Of Small Groups At Saturn Road Church Of Christ, Robby John

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the critical gap in the inclusion of families experiencing disabilities within small groups at Saturn Road Church of Christ. The primary aim is to develop a curriculum that raises awareness among small group leaders about this significant issue. To provide a theological reflection on the necessity of such a venture, I explored the topic through the lens of four theological pillars: the image of God, the incarnation, ecclesiology, and eschatological hope. This exploration revealed several key themes that serve as foundational building blocks for the awareness curriculum. Ultimately, the final artifact is an awareness curriculum designed to …

Redefining Religion: Challenging Eurocentric Narratives Through Conjure, Naomi Love

Undergraduate Student Research Fellowship

No abstract provided.

“Tormented By Difficulties Of Every Kind”: Catholic Teaching On Contraception In Social Context, Kathleen Cavender-Mccoy, Conor M. Kelly

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The Catholic Church notably condemns all forms of artificial birth control and advocates natural family planning as the only morally licit means of spacing births. This teaching is presented as the quintessential pathway to the fullness of human sexuality, but many Catholics struggle with it, and the magisterium itself recognizes that this path is not an easy one to follow. This article uses recent developments in Catholic moral theology around the notion of structural sin to examine the structural constraints complicating ordinary Catholics’ pursuit of their tradition’s vision for marital sexuality, demonstrating that larger structural forces can considerably affect the …

Apocalyptic Vision: A Disturbing One?, Jake Van Wyk, David Platter

Pro Rege

This article is preceded by a photo of the Gallery Exhibition of Dordt University (2023), and followed by photos of several other works of Van Wyk, as well as his studio picture.

Liberty To The Captive: The Two Definitions Of Equality In The Abolitionist Movement, Justin Searls

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The matter of the debate on equality’s definition between black Christian ministers and white Christian ministers is an understudied topic of discourse that merits attention in the historical profession. In recent years, there has been discussion surrounding the general racial divide within abolitionism. However, the religious perspective on this matter has received little to no attention. How did black ministers and white ministers address the question of emancipation and enfranchisement for African Americans in the abolitionist movement from the 1830s through the Civil War and beyond? There is a significant disparity in the discussion of equal rights for African Americans …

Adam And The Names, Saqib Hussain

Theological Studies Faculty Works

This paper examines the naming episode in the Quran's Adam story, in which God teaches Adam “the names, all of them”, to counter the angels' objection to the creation of the human creature on the basis that he will “spread corruption … and will shed blood”. I try to show that the traditional understanding of this narrative in Western scholarship, which connects it ultimately to the Genesis 2 episode in which Adam names all the creatures of the land and sky, fails to do justice to a close reading of the quranic text itself. Instead, I argue for an alternative …

Transatlantic Sermonizing: The Influence Of Changing Sermon Styles In Britain On Anglican Clergy In Colonial Philadelphia, Barry Levis

Sermon Studies

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a significant change emerged in the style and content of sermons in the Church of England. Sermons focused less on sin and the threat of eternal punishment, features of the seventeenth century, and more on how to live a rational and agreeable life. These alterations occurred both because of political changes following the Hanoverian succession accompanied by the rise of the Whigs and also from the influence of the Enlightenment. These transformations arose not only in England but in her American colonies as well, primarily in the Middle Atlantic colonies. Large numbers of …

Rehoboth Columbia Church Council 2007, Rehoboth United Methodist Church, Columbia

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

Responding To The Global Crisis: Jacques Maritain, World War Ii, And New York's École Libre, Jacob Saliba

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article offers an interdisciplinary study of the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain during World War II in order to provide an historical resource for understanding the global dimensions and possibilities at work in modern Catholicism. In 1941, while living in New York City, Maritain helped to cofound and lead the École Libre des Hautes Études (the “Free French University”). An initiative primarily created by American and French intellectuals, the university became an important hub for rescuing and employing nearly two hundred individuals from across the world. Elected president in late-1942, Maritain worked closely with the New School for Social …

The Ministries Of New Communities In The Ivory Coast Scrutinised Under The Lens Of The Theological And Magisterial Vision Of The Church, Joseph Loïc Mben Sj

Journal of Global Catholicism

The goal of this article is to show that the ministries of new communities are in conformity with the theological and magisterial vision of the Church and that, in many cases, they contribute to its enrichment. Following some lexical clarifications, it makes particular use of the schema of the threefold offices of Christ in which the members of new communities partake as the baptized, to show how the ministries realize each of the dimensions of Christ’s office.

The Meanings Of The Hospital De San Lázaro In Seventeenth-Century Manila, Francis Galasi

Journal of Global Catholicism

The Hospital de San Lázaro was a specialized health facility in the early modern Philippines, dedicated to the care of lepers and sufferers of other contagious diseases. While it was established for this specific purpose, its role in colonial society varied. This versatility reflected the distinct priorities and commitments of the groups pulled into its orbit, as each charged San Lázaro with a unique meaning. This article explores how and why these groups—the indigenous Filipinos, the Spanish residents and the Discalced Franciscans—understood San Lázaro in their own way. It highlights the ability of fixed institutions, such as a hospital, to …

Pro-Choice Legalism Vs Pro-Life Grace: How Soteriology Informs Our Idea Of Personhood, Stephen Bauer

Achieve

This paper was presented in the Bioethics Section of the Evangelical Theological Society. It explores how arguments for elective abortion and also for some forms of euthanasia treat personhood (and thus the sanctity and sacredness of that individual life) as something that is merited by possessing certain functional capabilities and behaviors. By contrast, this paper argues that in the Bible this personhood is conferred by grace apart from meritorious capacities. Thus the first mimics legalism while the second reflects the principles of Gospel salvation. A brief exploration of end of life limitations that allows for conceding defeat without intentionally killing …

The Role Of Creation On Mediating Grace For The Purpose Of Spiritual Formation, Pam H. Zolczer

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

During a very difficult time in my life I found emotional and spiritual healing during time spent immersed in creation. My guide on this journey, other than the human companions who were concerned for me during my loss, has been a horse. While I thought I was learning to care for and ride a horse, I learned something much more significant: I learned how to give my pain away and I rushed breathlessly into a new phase of my love for God. I also rushed into a new vocation. And all of this is because I ride Cooper.[1] This …

The Nature Of Self-Evident Equality In The Declaration Of Independence And Its Implications For Jeffersonian Federalism, Thomas T. Cook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The foundation for human equality is central to the question of political discourse, and the basis for self-government, consent, and consensus. On what basis can two people enter into contract or agree to be governed if they are not equal? The Declaration of Independence with its appeal to Nature’s God and its establishment of “rights” as coming from that God firmly establishes human equality in a metaphysical reality outside of human decision to change that reality. The lack of human acknowledgement of that reality, historically, does not change that reality. Philosophers and political theorists might reason that it is based …

Finding The Sacred In The Profane: The Mardi Gras In Basile, Louisiana, Luc Guglielmi

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In Basile, a small community in Southwest Louisiana, there would not be any Mardi Gras without Ash Wednesday and vice-versa. Most of the people in Basile speak of Ash Wednesday when defining the Mardi Gras as there is a reciprocal spiritual relationship between Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday. The people from Basile, therefore, in giving equal spiritual value to these two feasts, assign a liturgical value to Mardi Gras because they need, and will admit this freely, to have a good Mardi Gras in order to enter into the sacred season of Lent.

Mardi Gras performs a function that is …

The Reformed Reasoning Behind Think Christian, Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Islam In The Prevention Of Suicide: An Analytical Study Of The Reasons Behind Suicide Prevention In Islam, Hamza Hammad

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to extrapolate and analyze the causes leading to suicide prevention in the Islamic religion, by deducing the relationship between the level of Islamic religiosity and mental health, specifically suicide, then extrapolating the factors or components that lead to suicide prevention in the Islamic religion, as well as analyzing the Islamic faith’s position on Suicide, then inferring the effect of belief in fate and destiny on psychological security and in reducing suicide. Methods: This study follows the inductive and analytical approach, based on extrapolating studies and statistics about suicide rates in the world as …

Where Did The Time Go?: Against Aktionsart In The Exegesis Of The Greek Verb, Caleb Scott Alons

Theology Undergraduate Work

This paper seeks to argue against the use of Aktionsart in the exegesis of the Greek verb. The four hotly debated components of the Greek verb in exegesis today are time, tense, aspect, and Aktionsart. The first section addresses necessary linguistic preliminaries concerning the literature on time, tense, and aspect from the perspective of biblical scholarship and from the camp of general linguistics. This discussion leads into the second section, which constructs a fourfold exegetical system (FES) consisting of four postulates that (a) explicitly define how significant linguistic terminology is used in the paper and (b) provide a testable method …

Eb-Navidad, Henry Witte, Marcos Kempff

Estudios Bíblicos

ES-Navidad

Eb-Creciendo En Gratitud, Marcos Kempff

Estudios Bíblicos

ES-Creciendo en gratitud

Persecuted Or Protected: The Role Of Iranian Baha'is In The International Community, Nika Mazloom

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Religious persecution is, and always has been, rampant, and this is especially the case for the Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet, little research has been done on how this persecution has led to improvements in protections for different religious minorities, including the Baha’i Faith. This thesis will aim to address that gap and understand whether and how the persecution of Iranian Baha’is advances protections for different religious minorities. In this research I attempt to locate instances of Baha’i persecution-informed religious protection through extensive research of the Baha’i International Community and interviews of religious persecution experts to understand …

Mount Holly Administrative Council Minutes 2020-24, Mount Holly United Methodist Church, Rock Hill

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

Nazareth Leesville Church Council Minutes 2021-24, Nazareth United Methodist Church, Leesville

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.