Digital Commons Network^™

Letter To The Editor: Thoughts On Dr. A. J. Sikkema's Reaction To The Article "Science Vs. Faith: The Great Dichotomy," By Sacha Walicord And Ben Hayes, Jurgen-Burkhard Klautke

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Contribution Of Indonesian Journals Of Religious Studies Indexed By Scopus In The Field Of Islamic Economics, Luqman Hakim Handoko

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This research aims to review the current state of Indonesian Journals of religious studies indexed by Scopus. It also attempts to reveal the contribution of the religious studies journals in the publishing of Islamic economics and finance issues. This research uses content analysis. The data retrieved from Scopus, Google Scholar, and its journal’s website. The result showed as per March 2020, there are five journals indexed by Scopus. Based on SJR, the international journal of Indonesian Muslims and societies (IJIMS) is the best journal that ranked at the Q1 level. Nevertheless, based on google scholar, the Studia Islamika journal ranked …

Guest Editorial: Interreligious Encounter And Religious Change In Former Yugoslavia, Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this issue of OPREE, three case studies by Gašper Mithans, Evelyn Reuter, and Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović explore interreligious encounters in Yugoslavia and religious transformations that brought new dynamics in interreligious relations between majority and minority religions.

Thirty Years Of Religious Freedom In Russia: The Case Of Ekaterinburg, Elena Glavatskaya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The religious revival, which began nationwide during the USSR’s last decade, affected all religious denominations, including the so-called “traditional” religions, which had deep roots in Imperial Russia’s history, and new religions that appeared after the collapse of Soviet ideology. The religious renaissance manifested itself through the rapidly increasing number of religious communities, religion’s fast penetration into social and political life, and the church buildings that mushroomed all over the country. This article focuses on the history of the religious landscape in Russia since 1989, using the city of Ekaterinburg as a case study. We use the religious landscape concept to …

Religious Conversions And Religious Diversification In Interwar Yugoslavia And Slovenia, Gašper Mithans

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

With the foundation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the respective nationalities and ethnic communities were faced with the reality of a multi-confessional state. Internal migration and minority policy, in particular, set in motion a slow diversification in the religious sphere, even in the ethnically and religiously extremely homogeneous territory of Slovenia. This paper aims to analyze the role that religious converts—who were largely former Catholics—played during the interwar period in Slovenian regions in the phenomenon of the gradual transformation of the religious landscape over a long period of time. Converts were an important part of almost all …

The Socialist Impact On Christian-Muslim Shared St. Naum Monastery, Evelyn Reuter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Shared religious places may be provocative phenomena—for the members of the sharing communities as well as for uninvolved observers. An increasing number of research literature focusing on the contesting character of such places and the consequences for the identities of sharing communities serves as evidence for that thesis. The heads of the theoretical discussion regarding the influence of sharing religious and political identities are the anthropologists, Robert Hayden and Glenn Bowman. Due to the long-lasting Christian- Muslim contacts characterized by peaceful as well as conflicting interaction, both bring examples from Southeastern Europe, especially from the post-Yugoslavian context. It is obvious …

The Handmaid Of The Lord Redux: Constructing The New Orthodox Womanhood Between Cradle And Convert, Katherine Kelaidis

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"In an era when questions of sexuality and gender dominate much of the debate in theological circles, regardless of religious or confessional affiliation, the meaning of Orthodox Christian womanhood remains a simultaneously over-discussed and under-theorized aspect of these conversations. This article attempts to address this discrepancy by articulating and problematizing some of the myriad of forces that are shaping the construction of Orthodox Christian womanhood and the identity of Orthodox Christian women today. In particular, we explore how the “Culture Wars” (a once largely American political phenomenon) have internationalized and become a major force in the articulation of gender both …

'Converted Co-Ethnics': Romanian Migrants In The Northern Serbian Province Of Vojvodina, Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this paper, my case study highlights Romanian neo-Protestant migrants from Serbia who either returned to their “home country,” or work on different missionary activities among their co-ethnics after the fall of communism. To a large degree, members of the Romanian minority in Serbia belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is the dominant confession, then a smaller number to the Romanian Greek-Catholic church and various neo-Protestant communities, such as the Nazarene, the Adventist, the Baptist, and the Pentecostal community. Starting from the hypothesis that the conversion of the Romanians in Serbia to neo-Protestantism is closely related to issues of …

Ecojustice, Religious Folklife And A Sound Ecology, Jeff Todd Titon

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Folk, traditional, and indigenous ecological knowledges have a significant role to play in ecojustice. A case study in the traditional ecological knowledge among one of the religious communities with whom I have spent several decades illustrates how they embody the main principle and three fields of an ecological rationality: the community of inter-related beings; the ways the beings participate in that community or place; and the relations of nature and the nonhuman world to humans and human nature. Ecological rationality stands in contrast to economic rationality, a branch of instrumental reason exemplified by what economists call rational choice theory. An …

Taking Care Of The Forgotten: A Pastoral Response To The Hospice Care Professional, Constance Friebohle

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

No abstract provided.

A Global Church In The Local Parish: Fostering Intercultural Competency For Indonesian Catholic Ministry In The United States, Janice Kristanti

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

No abstract provided.

New Directions In Sacred Journeys Research, Ian S. Mcintosh, Claudia Schlee, Dane Munro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Farmer, Priest, And Poet: Knowledge Transmission And Wisdom In Works And Days And Gelimu, Duoduo Xu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper aims at a comparison between a classic poem from ancient Greek literature, the Works and Days by Hesiod, and ancestral records of hemerology from Daba Culture, entitled Gelimu, collected during my fieldwork in South-West China. Both traditions use constellations to mark important dates throughout the year, providing similar instructions on how to deal with daily work in the fields. Moreover, their mnemonic strategies and formulaic verses reflect their origins from oral traditions passed down from generation to generation. Starting from these basic similarities, the author analyzed the roles of Daba priests, the calendars authors, and Hesiod, the …

Nature And The Spirit: Ritual, Environment, And The Subak In Bali, Hao Huang

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Return To Me: Lenten Reflections From Holy Cross (2020), Office Of Mission

Office of Mission Publications

This reflection booklet was prepared by the Office of Mission at the College of the Holy Cross to serve as a prayer aid throughout the liturgical season of Lent. Within these pages are the unique voices of many people from the Holy Cross community: faculty, staff, students, alumni, administrators, members of the Board of Trustees, benefactors of the College and Jesuits. Each contributor reflects on the readings prescribed for the Mass of the day and while we hope that their own prayers help you to pray, we hope, too, that the reflections contained herein might also help to serve as …

Afterthoughts: Nature, Culture, And Shamanism In Inner Mongolia, Prc, Hao Huang

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Faith, Doubt, And Reason - Conclusion And Epilogue, Brent Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Courtesy of Wipf and Stock Publishers:

Faith, doubt, and reason are universal human faculties, yet they are frequently misunderstood, denigrated, and even abused. What does it mean to have faith, and what distinguishes faith from belief? Can someone have faith without religious commitments? What is doubt, and what is its relationship to faith and belief? How do we make sense of evil and suffering? What roles does reason play in our lives? What do we do when we have the sneaking suspicion that life is absurd? What do we love, and what do we fear? How do faith, doubt, and …

The Commodification Of The Table: The Journey Toward The Forgotten Body And Blood Of Jesus, Guy L. Taylor

Doctor of Ministry

Bread and wine are metaphors for the broken body and spilled blood of Jesus the Christ. Jesus himself stated that these two metaphors are to represent his sacrifice for humans, yet these metaphors have lost much of their importance in present-day Christianity. Pentecostal churches specifically seem to have forgotten what the bread and wine symbolize. Due to cultural influences, these churches no longer place emphasis on celebrating what they call Communion.

Many Pentecostal Christians today attend a service that is convenient, efficient, and that meets all their spiritual needs at one stop—like a Super Walmart of Worship due to the …

Scriptural Contextualization: Understanding Chinese Philosophical Narratives, Gregory Appleby

Doctor of Ministry

Whether one is overseas or within their own home culture, when working cross-culturally scriptural contextualization is necessary to reduce confusion. When developing Chinese leaders, differing world views have caused conflict and confusion especially concerning an understanding of Scripture and the person of Christ. Westerners teaching, working, and living in a Chinese context participate in either widening or narrowing the philosophical gap between the East and the West concerning their understanding of Scripture. My hope is that Western leaders will see the value in alternative interpretations and understanding of the Scripture based on Chinese foundational narratives. Misunderstandings of cultural differences have …

Demographic Changes And Faithful Response: Helping Presbyterian Churches Flourish Into The Future, David G. Watermulder

Doctor of Ministry

The problem that this dissertation seeks to address is that in an increasingly diverse society, Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA) churches do not reflect the true racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the changing context in which they are located. This paper explores how PCUSA churches in American suburban areas can better understand themselves in order to be equipped to engage with an increasingly multicultural and globalized environment. The future health and witness of PCUSA churches will be enhanced and deepened through actively learning about cultural differences and preparing members and leaders to do ministry faithfully into the years ahead.

Section …

Book Review: Russia Abroad: An Anthology Of Modern Philosophical Thought, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Chumakov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

“In September and November 1922, two ‘philosophical steamboats-‘ – the “Oberburgomaster Haken” and the “Prussia”- transported about 160 people from the Soviet city of Petrograd to the German city of Stettin. ‘Outstanding figures of Russian philosophy, culture and science’ were forced to emigrate including Nikolai Berdyaev, Semyon Frank, Ivan Ilyin, Lev Karsavin, Nikolai Lossky and many others. ” This is how Mikhail Sergeev, Doctor of Philosophy of the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, USA), and the initiator and compiler of Russia Abroad: An Anthology of Modern Philosophical Thought begins his preface.

A Heavy Rain Has Fallen Upon My People: Sindhi Sufi Poetry Performance, Emotion, And Islamic Knowledge In Kachchh, Gujarat, Brian E. Bond

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a study of the use and contestation of Sindhi-language Sufi poetry performance as a means of Islamic knowledge transmission and ethical self-formation in rural Muslim communities in Kachchh, a border district in the western Indian state of Gujarat adjacent to Sindh, Pakistan. Drawing on eighteen months of ethnographic research with Muslim performers and enthusiasts of Sindhi poetry between 2014-2018, I first examine an ecology of performative and interpretive practices revolving around the musico-poetic repertoire of the poet-saint Shāh ʿAbdul Lat̤īf Bhiṭā’ī (1689-1752 CE). I argue that the pedagogical efficacy of Sufi poetry performance is undergirded by its …

Revealed History As Prophetic Rivalry: John’S Apocalypse, The Sibylline Oracles, And The Prophecy Of Apollo, Olivia Stewart Lester

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In dealing with the demand of Stephan Palmié, Charles Stewart and Dipesh Chakrabarty to extend the understanding of "history" to the intervention of gods, spirits or superhuman beings, the present article deals with two ancient texts, Revelation 12 and Sibling 4, which speak of the past through divine revelation. These two texts present the past in such a way that their rhetorical means at least potentially call into question the prophecies of Apollo. They refer to certain traditions that are connected with Apollo - in particular the founding myth of the Shrine of Delphi and the legends about the inspiration …

Magic, Alchemy, And The Spiritual But Not Religious, John C. Marshell Jr.

The Hilltop Review

In this paper, I identify a problem within the growing phenomenon of the "spiritual but not religious" community based on the particular experiences of German pilgrims attending a retreat at a Chinese Daoist monastery. Despite interests and affirmations in Daoism, the German pilgrims reacted negatively to Daoist supernatural attitudes and practices. Their SBNR beliefs clashed with Daoist orthodoxy. My research is largely based on a historical examination that contextualizes the problems the German pilgrims experienced and offers a possible remedy to their trans-cultural spiritual dilemma in alchemy and Jungian psychology.

Found In Translation: Collaborative Contemplations Of Tibetan Buddhism And Western Science, Kelsey M. Gray, Dadul Namgyal, Jeremy Purcell, Tsondue Samphel, Tenzin Sonam, Karma Tenzin, Dawa Tsering, Carol M. Worthman, Arri Eisen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Development of an inclusive scientific community necessitates doing more than simply bringing science to diverse groups of people. Ideally, the sciences evolve through incorporation of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and worldviews. Efforts to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, and socioeconomic groups among science scholars are currently underway. Examination of these efforts yields valuable lessons to inform next steps in engaging diverse audiences with science. The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative may serve as one example of such efforts. The Dalai Lama invited Emory University to develop and teach a curriculum in Western science to Tibetan Buddhist monks and …

The Catholic Church And The Turn Of The 20th Century: An Anthropology Of Human Flourishing And A Church For Peace, Maria Siebels

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper will explore the connections between the 20th century’s unsurpassed violence and the Catholic Church’s adoption of anthropology of human dignity and flourishing, resulting in a call and commission for peace as seen in Pacem et Terris, Gaudium et Spes, and the Catholic Worker Movement.

Introducing Queer Theology, Cole Epping

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

The paper works through the sources of queer theology, giving special attention to how these sources are used in published works. Further, the paper explores the doctrine of the Trinity as a model of “radical friendship”, a relational model that is inclusive to LGBTQ+ folks, as well as the inadvertent queerness of Von Balthasar’s writings on the Trinity.

Investigating The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ-A New Transdisciplinary Approach, Andrew Loke

Ebooks

This book offers a new contribution by addressing issues using a transdisciplinary approach, that is, one which integrates different disciplines—in this case, historical-critical studies of the Bible, psychology, comparative religion, analytic philosophy, and theology—to create a new methodology that moves beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a problem. Utilizing an original analytical framework, I shall demonstrate that a logically exhaustive list of categories of hypotheses in relation to the claims of Jesus’ post-mortem appearances and the outcome of Jesus’ body can be formulated—indeed, this would be the first monograph on Jesus’ resurrection to demonstrate a comprehensive coverage of all the categories …

Perennialism Through The Lens Of Otherness, Gabriel Fernandez-Borsot

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Otherness has been a subject of the utmost relevance for continental philosophy since the beginning of the 20th century, constituting what might be characterized as an otherness turn. Otherness is here understood as the awareness that one has that other beings or things have their own separate beingness that is not subsumed within oneself. Its essential role in human relations permits the creation of a critical perspective of analysis, a “lens of otherness.” Applying this lens to perennialism up through its latest iterations reveals some problematic aspects of this approach. By contrast, participatory thought may be a more “otherness compliant” …

Preaching The Law With The Gospel, Jonathan Saur

Doctor of Ministry Theses

Preaching tools like the Revised Common Lectionary infrequently draw preachers to the legal texts of the Pentateuch, even though the New Testament, and especially the four Gospels, are heavily influenced by the legal texts of the Pentateuch. Congregations are at a disadvantage in understanding the New Testament message when one of the primary sources that shaped the New Testament is ignored. This study addresses this problem by utilizing relevant scholarship focused on New Testament interpretation of the legal texts to develop suggestions for preaching these texts. The four gospels are surveyed to glean insights into how they interpret the legal …