Digital Commons Network^™

Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the practice of missionaries creating cover businesses solely for visa purposes, which brings a dishonest presence and harms the ministry. In contrast, Business as Mission (BAM) is a strategic business model to bring the gospel overseas through social, economic, and spiritual impact. Through a literature review, best practices for legitimate BAM ventures are explored based on studies done by BAM professionals and experts. Research shows that Christian businesspeople can establish an authentic image and credible witness through BAM businesses that are integrated into the local community, generate a profit, and incorporate biblical principles into business operations. BAM …

The Apocalyptic Character Of The Ethnic Identity Argument In Galatians, Benjamin J. Nickodemus

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Nickodemus, Benjamin J. “The Apocalyptic Character of the Ethnic Identity Argument in Galatians.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2023. 281 pp.

The relationship between Paul’s ethnic identity argument to bring Gentiles into the line of Abraham and the apocalyptic inbreaking of Christ into the present has been poorly defined. The new creation seems to relativize all difference in ethnic identity, yet the importance of Gentiles being heirs of Abraham remains a fundamental component of Paul’s argument. This dissertation argues that the tension between these two identity arguments arises because they are not in fact two arguments, but one reality. The ethnic …

Transformative Learning Theory As Applied To Worship Studies, Loueda B. Bleiler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite extensive research regarding the application of Transformative Learning Theory in adult education, there is very little literature promoting applying these principles and practices within Christian Worship Studies. Transformative Learning Theory is an educational theory that researches and promotes perspective-changing teaching and learning. Structured educational opportunities and spiritual development through Christian worship both have the potential to be life-altering events in human experience. In each of these dimensions of learning, the final result may include a change in perspective which then leads to modified behaviors. Transformative change occurs in the life of the learner. This qualitative research study explores the …

Sex In Church: The Christian Vocation Of Sexuality Within The Ecclesial Community, Sarah Talena Rusche

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Rusche, Sarah Talena. “Sex in Church: The Christian Vocation of Sexuality Within the Ecclesial Community.” Master’s thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2023. 71 pp.

Sex is characterized as an individualistic endeavor by both Christian and non-Christian thinkers. The culture of the world gives license to every individual to choose what kind of sexual experiences they would like to give and receive, while the culture of Christianity isolates individuals navigating the complexities of sexuality. In response to this individualism, this thesis argues that a faithful sexual ethic orders itself according to God’s will for His creation by considering the needs of the ecclesial …

The Mass Exodus Of Black Millennials From The Black Church: In Search Of Biblical Blackness, Jacqueline A. Trim

Doctor of Ministry

A mass exodus of Black millennials away from the Black churches of the African diaspora has taken place in recent years. There is a plethora of reasons for this given by the Black millennials, spiritual authors/researchers, and the spiritual leadership of the Black church. The most important of these reasons has been put forward by Black millennials that the Bible and Christianity are irrelevant to the social, economic, and political issues of their lives and they want no part of it. This research is undertaken to investigate the real cause(s) of this exodus and to determine where the responsibility lies …

Gathered Together: The Impact Of In-Person Experiences In A Virtual Age, Consuela Knox

DMin Project Theses

This February 2024 Doctor of Ministry project thesis at Lipscomb University analyzes how following the height of a global health pandemic which required that individuals quarantine, in-person attendance at West Harpeth Church worship services has not reached the pre-pandemic level. The goal of this project was to enhance West Harpeth members’ theological understanding of the importance of in-person corporate gatherings as compared to virtual gatherings. The key research question was: Can awareness of the value of in-person corporate gatherings at West Harpeth, in comparison to virtual gatherings, be raised among members by them engaging in theological reflection? Related questions were: …

Do Modern Christians Know God Differently?: A Review Of Chapters 4-5 Of Neo-Calvinism, Geoffrey Fulkerson

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Brock and Sutanto synthesize wide bodies of content and an array of rather complex concepts and arguments into succinct summary chapters."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book Neo-Calvinism from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/do-modern-christians-know-god-differently-a-review-of-chapters-4-5-of-neo-calvinism/

John's Canonical Portrait Of Christ: A Biblical-Theological Approach To The Depiction Of The Glorified Christ In Revelation 1, Christopher Matthew Carpenter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Throughout the history of evangelical scholarship, a significant lacuna has formed in Apocalyptic studies. Many theologians have expressed fear or uncertainty concerning the text of Revelation as numerous ambiguous aspects exist within the Apocalypse. A proposed path forward into the gap in scholarship is to return the focus to the intent of the author of Revelation, John the apostle, and examine the definitive truths of the text. John’s priority is revealed in the initial chapter as he depicts the subject of his Apocalypse, Jesus Christ. This intent is revealed in John’s use of allusions, metaphors, and other rhetorical devices through …

The Liminal Church: Why Navigating Thresholds Between Us Leads To Thriving, Andrew Hale

Doctor of Leadership

Through the discovery, design, and delivery stages of the doctoral project, I centered my work on the following NPO: Churches can thrive when they understand, navigate, and leverage the liminality existing between people, the community, and where God is leading. Despite the myriad of different contexts among local churches, whether polity, worship style, belief statements, and geographical locality, congregations are still composed of people living in relationship to one another and the community around them. Relationships, no matter their nature, are complicated. For the relationships within a local church to thrive, they require intentionality, coaching, effort, openness, and vulnerability. My …

A Seat At The Table: Why The Seat You've Been Entrusted With Is More Vital Than The Position You're Entitled To, Donna Pisani

Doctor of Ministry

My NPO (The lack of understanding and framework of Biblical leadership as entrustment rather than an entitlement that empowers both genders to lead together has created a lack of female representation in strategic influence and leadership roles) was birthed out of my experience as a female in ministry for four decades leading with men, coupled with the lack of resources available to an upcoming generation of leaders. Through extensive research and interviews, the most viable solution that emerged was a published book written to empower a new generation of female leaders—one that addresses the theology of women in leadership with …

Strengths-Based African Leadership Training: A Comprehensive Guide For Empowering Grassroots Communities, Henry Gwani

Doctor of Leadership

This project portfolio addresses the following need, problem or opportunity (NPO): Hopelessness within African low-income communities highlights the need for equipping local agents with a Christian gospel that integrates discipleship with leadership development, vocational training, mental health and asset-based community development if we wish to see Shalom. Several insights emerged from this research. First, to foster holistic transformation within low-income communities, it is imperative for discipleship to include basic mental health and practical interventions such as vocational training. Second, each community, regardless of how impoverished, is blessed with assets (skills, experiences and relationships), that need to be leveraged for the …

Ideas Explosion! How Church Can Create More Ideas, Scott M. Shelton

Doctor of Ministry

In this project, I am addressing my NPO: A healthy church nurtures a culture of humble exploration and responsive innovation. One of the key findings is that there is not enough material focused on how a healthy church can process and explore ideas. In addition, church leaders often feel ill-equipped for a process that requires creativity. Believing that God made everyone creative, especially the church, this project is a book that details a system to explore ideas, properly discern strengths and weaknesses, and prepare leaders to make informed decisions. I created the Gather-Discern-Decide (GDD) Process from research findings, personal experiences, …

Infobesity: How Does Information Overload From Digital Technologies Affect Our Relationship With Jesus, Andy Gabruch

Doctor of Ministry

My research project is based on the NPO of how information overload from digital technologies affects our relationship with Jesus, according to Mark 12:30-31, and how followers of Jesus can redeem digital spaces. My key insights of the research led me to the conclusion digital information overload is based on the lack of moderation and regulation of digital technologies as followers of Jesus. Furthermore, my research led me to the effects of information overload to five categories Jesus speaks of in Mark 12:30-31 of our hearts (emotions), soul (identity), mind (cognitive reasoning), strength (physical), and relationships (social skills) according to …

The Wise Professor: The Skillful Art Of Living In God's Mission, Aaron Badenhop

Doctor of Ministry

Today’s Christian professor in the secular university setting is likely an expert in their academic field. Likewise, many Christian faculty are sincere in their faith and devout in their practice. The Christian professor’s expert knowledge is impressive and their heart for God is admirable. Yet, today’s Christian professor is simultaneously likely to be ill-equipped and disconnected from having a missional impact in their secular university context. In my work with Cru at The Ohio State University, this challenge is complex; there are no easy answers. Christian faculty are typically educated and trained in environments that assume the irrelevance of God …

No Lack Of Gain: A Biblical Theology Of Feminine Generosity, Jenny Zoë Huelsman

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This thesis traces a biblical theology of feminine generosity. The capable wife of Prov. 31:10–31 sets an Old Testament paradigm, which is inhabited and enlarged by women in the New Testament. The thesis considers the women who supported Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8:1–3); the widow and her mites (Luke 21:1–4); Mary’s anointing of Jesus (John 12:1–8); and Tabitha caring for the widows (Acts 9:36–42). Throughout these profiles, a picture emerges of women who make essential contributions to the mission and work of Christ as agents of generosity that is derivative, expressive, contextual, intemperate, and Christocentric, always flowing from and returning to …

The Body Of Christ Has Always Been A Virtual Body, Deanna A. Thompson

Consensus

No abstract provided.

On God’S Side Of History: Time And Apocalyptic History In Paul’S Speech To The Areopagus, Keldie Paroschi

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This paper considers Paul’s speech to the Areopagus from the framework of Jewish apocalyptic historiography in order to determine the degree of overlap between Paul’s conceptual background on history and time and Stoic philosophy. The main facets of Jewish apocalyptic historiography include unique conceptions of God, time, and human existence with unique existential implications, all of which are found in Acts 17:22–31. The added element of the Christ event (vv. 30–31) heightens the urgency of Paul’s message of repentance. Despite some proximity between Paul and Stoicism, the Jewish apocalyptic worldview of Acts 17 differs significantly from the pantheistic and deterministic …

Ethical Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of Administrators' Principles For Ethical Decision-Making, Janice Marie Holmes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology research study was to examine the administrator’s ethical leadership principles and decision-making significance. The desired outcome of the study provided educator leaders in Christian universities and theology seminaries with information to improve their strategies when making ethical decisions and better safeguard their organizations against unethical behavior. The ability of a leader to make sound decision-making is essential to their ability to run any organization. The guiding theory of Kitchener’s five-model ethical leadership paradigm, which served as the basis for this investigation, was relevant based on the four research questions. The study utilized purposeful and …

Renewing A Nation: The Impact Of The African Diaspora On The African American Family, Culture And The Black Church, Lolita R. Gilmore-Randall

Doctor of Ministry

Despite the notion the past can never be removed, disassembled or altered, variant versions of African American history continue to serve as a fluid document in time without accountability, acknowledgement, or consciousness of the liabilities associated with the African diaspora. Studies show an estimated 12.5 million African men, women, and children were forcibly transported as part of the transatlantic slave trade, an egregious act that remains impactful to this day. African Americans represent 12% of the American population, but constitute 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million in correctional facilities. Though African American children make up 14% of …

Increasing Parental Participation In The Spiritual Formation Of Children At Spencer Baptist Church In Spindale, North Carolina, Kelly Settlemyre

Doctor of Ministry Projects

A program was created at Spencer Baptist Church in Spindale, NC to increase parental involvement in spiritual formation in the home. The 5-week program sought to connect spiritual identity with parental actions and confidence. The project focused on spiritual formation and then examined biblical mandates of family discipleship as well as examples of biblical family formation. Resources were given to participants for use within the family. Surveys measured the quantitative effectiveness of the program, while group participation provided qualitative insights. At the conclusion, there was a significant increase in participation in the spiritual formation of children in the home.

John Woolman's Aesthetics Of The Stranger, Jay David Miller

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Language about strangers, including ‘the heart of a stranger’ specifically, appears with frequency throughout the writings of John Woolman. This article argues that the stranger, inspired to a great extent by passages from the Bible, was a central philosophical and theological concept around which Woolman’s thought was gathered. For Woolman the stranger also functioned as a literary figure that united various parts of his work in what I refer to comprehensively as an aesthetics of the stranger. Ultimately, Woolman writing about strangers reflected his understanding of Jesus Christ as a stranger, which was the ground from which all his thinking …

Learning To Cope With Grief Through The Use Of Biblical Creativity With The Community Of First Saints Community Church, Patricia Watson

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Supporting those who are grieving has long been a complicated process for church communities and pastors. This project investigated whether introducing a creative activity to a grief support group could help participants view their loss through a lens of faith and clinical aspects of grief. Although further studies will strengthen this hypothesis, a four-week curriculum was conducted with five participants at First Saints Community Church in Leonardtown, MD. Results from quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that there was a benefit to those participants.

Chains Shall He Break: A Vision For Reconciling Worship, Kyle Joseph Harmon

Seattle Pacific Seminary Projects

In the Evangelical church, there is a disparity between the worship of the church and a lack of care for the marginalized and oppressed in American society. Though their worship proclaims freedom, chains being broken, and captives set free, the church does little to advocate for the actual poor and disenfranchised. Because of these and other reasons, the American evangelical church has come to resemble something other than both its heritage and the Body of Christ described in Scripture. Instead, it has become a cloistered, segregated, echo chamber for those who agree on orthodoxy to retreat into and sense the …

Moses As Midwife: What The Exodus Birth Story Teaches About Motherhood And Christ, Becky Holderness Tilton

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This work explores an alternative interpretation of the Exodus narrative as a metaphor for childbirth. Gleaning from Old Testament and Judaic sources, we find rich female birth and salvific imagery in the saga of the migration of the children of Israel and the Passover itself. This perspective of sacred childbirth, when coupled with traditional Christian interpretations of the first Passover, ultimately paints an enhanced picture of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

#Choosetochallenge: Covid-19, Community Research, And The Canaanite Woman, Ma. Marilou S. Ibita, Maricel S. Ibita

Theology Department Faculty Publications

This study theologises on the Urban Poor Women and Children with Academics for Reaching and Delivering on UNSDGs in the Philippines (UPWARD-UP) Project research team’s collaboration with the Alliance of Peoples’ Organisation Along the Manggahan Floodway (Alliance), Philippines. We posit that the theological process of see-judge-act, enhanced with evaluate-celebrate/ritualise, using feminist biblical characterisation in interpreting Matthew 15:21-28, serves as a spiritual resource for Christians working for the urban poor realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Canaanite woman challenged Jesus’ identity and mission impacting on Christology and ecclesiology. This characterisation makes her …

Imago Dei, Shalom, And Success In Christian Leadership, Alice A. Obare

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

The conversation regarding worldviews and Christian leadership is a significant one because these ideas can greatly influence social and organizational interactions, actions, and decision-making processes. Just because a leader identifies as a Christian does not necessarily mean that their leadership is Christian-based. Christian leadership is only considered to be so when it is anchored on biblical faith. Furthermore, faith must influence the leader’s actions and decisions on issues such as policy, organizational structure, or the development of programs and how they are implemented. The understanding of Imago Dei and Shalom can greatly impact one’s leadership by shaping their actions, behaviors, …

Centered On Christ: The Book Of Enos Possibly Structured Chiastically, Stephen Kent Ehat

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The book of Enos is considered to be a short, one-chapter treatise on prayer, yet it is more. Close examination of its text reveals it to be a text structurally centered on Christ and the divine covenant. Enos seeks and obtains from Him a covenant to preserve the records of the Nephites for the salvation of the Lamanites. Enos prays not only for his own remission of sins but also for the salvation both of his own people, the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites. He yearns in faith that the Lord will preserve the records of his people for …

The Calvin Forum: Summer 2023, Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

CONTENTS - Vol. 32., Summer 2023

Main Features: 5 - Letter from the President

8 - Engaging scripture in Uganda: A cross-cultural context

12- The fifth gospel

16- The Bible Core and the New Curriculum at Calvin Theological Seminary

20 - Reading scripture in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world

22 - Hearing the book of revelation with "Teo Ears"

Calvin Seminary News: 28 - CTS Faculty Mary Vanden Berg publishes book on Human Uniqueness

30 - Responding to a critical need: Calvin Seminary launches MA in Clinical Mental Health Counselling

32 - CTS …

Calvin Theological Seminary Academic Catalog 2023-2024, Calvin Theological Seminary

Seminary Academic Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Studying Abroad On The Intercultural Spiritual Formation Of Harding University Latin America Students, Jeremy Daggett

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.