Digital Commons Network^™

The Pharisees: Their History, Character, And New Testament Portrait, Kent T. Maitland

Liberty Theological Review

Yinger, Kent L. The Pharisees: Their History, Character, and New Testament Portrait. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022. ISBN 978-1666723786. $29.00.

The Theological Method Of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Jordan P. Ballard

Liberty Theological Review

What Friedrich Schleiermacher is most known for is his theological method of deriving doctrine from religious experience. He believed that religious piety is to be found in the “feeling of absolute dependence”, and all subsequent doctrines must be discovered through reflection upon religious experience. Understanding and critiquing Schleiermacher’s theological method requires examining his theological influences, his “feeling of absolute dependence,” and a few examples from his systematic theology. In the end, Schleiermacher’s theological method is ingenious but misguided because it is based on a faulty religious epistemology of human experience. What is needed instead is an objective standard of truth …

The "Write" Stuff: The Plausible Capability Of Jesus’ Followers To Author The Gospels, Charles D. T. Miller

Liberty Theological Review

It is common for critics of the New Testament to cite William Harris’ 10% literacy rate for first-century Greco-Romans as evidence for the implausibility of Jesus’ followers to write, publish, and circulate the New Testament. This “evidence” is often used to dismiss the entire New Testament as a second-century fabrication that cannot accurately represent the true teachings of Jesus. Is this an accurate portrayal of Galilee during the time of Jesus? The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Jesus’ followers possessed the “‘Write’ Stuff”—the ability to read, write, and memorize, as well as, access to the technology needed …

Apologetics At The Cross: A Collaborative Article Review, Matthew H. Hamilton

Liberty Theological Review

Apologetics at the Cross is a guidebook designed for contemporary times. It teaches students how to perform apologetics in a respectful manner while orienting them to an others-centered approach developed in cruciform communities. Chatraw and Allen’s central conviction is that “Christian [apologetics] must arise from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Otherwise it could not be Chrsitian [apologetics]” (318). It explores the biblical and historical foundations of apologetics, practical guidance concerning engagement, and various methods/theological structures for apologetics. Ultimately, the authors put forth their very own inside/out approach to apologetics, which seeks to engage unbelievers in their cultural frameworks while drawing …

The History Of Apologetics: A Collaborative Article Review, Isaiah B. Parker

Liberty Theological Review

In The History of Apologetics, the authors examine a variety of noteworthy Western apologists throughout seven distinct historical eras: Patristic, Medieval, Early Modern, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century (American), Twentieth Century (European), and Contemporary. Each chapter presents four essential elements relating to the life and work of one apologist: historical background, theological context, apologetic methodology and response, and critical contribution(s) to apologetics. They aim to provide an overview of influential apologists within their unique cultural contexts. This review structures its content in the same manner, albeit with some necessary minor changes to the elements for ease of reading. The historical …

Finding Hope In A Bleak Midwinter, Bruce Kuiper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"... only God could provide life in the middle of winter. But he does it in such a gentle, quiet way... "

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the essence of the Christmas season 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/finding-hope-in-a-bleak-midwinter/

Hell, And The Savior Of The World, Michael Anthony Bahry

Theology Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

The Final Amen: Designing And Implementing A Christlike System For The Closure Of Waypointe Christian Fellowship, Christopher E. Sherwood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Like a myriad of other churches across the country, WayPointe Christian Fellowship (WCF) experienced a long decline leading to a critical question: Should the church permanently close? In the case of WCF, the answer was yes, which led to other questions about how to accomplish the task while maximizing God's glory, minimizing the pain felt by those involved, and preparing the congregation to migrate to another body of believers. This thesis project was designed to enable the leaders of WCF and other church leaders to answer these questions. In this pursuit, a comprehensive closure plan was created and implemented at …

The Worship Leadership Model At Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lead Pastor And Worship Leader Relationship, 1961–2013, David L. Ream

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

By 2050, it has been estimated that 1 billion people will be Pentecostals in the broadest sense of the term. Today, one person in twelve globally is a part of this fastest-growing segment of Christianity. The ministry model of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa as served by Pastor Chuck Smith is a paradigmatic model that houses and stabilizes the ministry of the Holy Spirit as it reproduces. This phenomenological qualitative study explores the experiences of Worship Leaders who led worship during Sunday Morning services from 1985–2013 and sought to discover the essential characteristics of the Lead Pastor and Worship Leader interactions …

Non-Christian, Japanese College Students’ Perspectives Of Engaging With God Through The Participatory Components Of Christian Worship, Jacqueline Leigh Bencke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study seeks to examine the extent to which non-Christian college students in Japan perceive their engagement with the biblical God while participating in daily chapel services at Kyūshū Lutheran College. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, analyzing survey and focus group data to explore whether a relationship exists between students’ participation in chapel committee activities and their perceived spiritual engagement. Responses to Lynn Underwood’s Daily Spiritual Experience Survey, the Centrality of Religiosity Scale, and the Centrality of Buddhist Religiosity Scale are combined to create a general spiritual profile of respondents. Worship leaders and missionaries who are in positions of …

Through The Looking Glass: Worship Music With Indigenous Sounds In Los Angeles And Manila, Maria Rica Bartolome Silbol

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the Philippines’ wonderful indigenous music and talents, Manila Baptist and Los Angeles Baptist churches do not utilize indigenous sounds in typical worship practices. This paper contends that the untapped resources of cultural sounds may contribute to a dynamic worship experience that resonates more effectively as Filipino. This study investigates the absence of indigenous sound in two Filipino Baptist churches from Los Angeles and Manila (QC). It analyzes relevant ethnic music components and each church’s response to the fusion of indigenous and traditional music in the worship experience. The explanatory sequential mixed method will focus on an artistic-creative study to …

Communicating The Gospel Authentically: Message Transmission Between The Christian Music Artist And The Audience, Lindsey Montez Graham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study seeks to establish that congruence between the Christian artist and the piece directly affects the process of Message Transmission. Artist authenticity and perceived artist authenticity are central to this study. Authentic expression must be believed in the heart and then confessed with the mouth (Romans 10:9–10; Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:18). In the secular space there is an expectation for the artist to embody or emulate the performance piece temporarily while performing the song, but to not “be” the piece in life. In the Christian setting, however, the artist is communicating the means by which people should live their …

A Training Program For Adult Mentors Working With Teenagers To Enhance Their Spiritual Health And Church Life, Mark Damon Albertino

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A major problem facing the church is that a significant number of teenagers leave after high school. The researcher addressed the problem of teenagers leaving Taylorsville Church of God after high school by training adult members to mentor the church’s teenagers. In the program, seven adult mentors, which included six females and one male, and six teen mentees, which included four females and two males, participated. The training program included the following topics: mentor spiritual health, servanthood, church life, active listening, parents, empathy, compassion, spiritual health of teenagers, and current teen issues. Through a series of interviews with the adult …

The Effectiveness Of Praying And Fasting, Vanessa Lynn Estes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem is that members of a small church were not praying and fasting often. When asked to pray in a congregational setting, they were hesitant. Therefore, the researcher invited fourteen God's Chosen Generation Church members to volunteer for a six-week prayer and fasting research study. The study sought to demonstrate that when praying and fasting are applied together, Christians can hear from God and better understand His will for their life. However, three participants decided to leave the research for personal obligations. Those who continued received a prayer and fasting schedule to pray three times a day and information …

A Phenomenological Study On Church Leaders' Perspective Of Internet Church As A Biblical Community, Jason Lavon Rankin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current events and relatively recent technological developments have caused and significantly increased the use of digital technology in most aspects of life. The digital revolution, as some have termed it, has permeated all organizations, from businesses to institutions of higher learning, including religious institutions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine Christian church leaders’ perspectives on whether the internet church fulfills the biblical and theological definitions of the church or biblical community. At this stage in the research internet church, also known as online church, e-church, virtual church, etc., is defined as a group of people with shared …

Fasting And Prayer As A Mean Of Strengthening The Spiritual Bases Of An Interdenominational Ministry For Great Commission Effectiveness, Jerome Anicet Onguene

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem identified by the researcher and addressed in this study is associated with the nature and the structure of the ministry for which the work is done. The ministry has two branches, a religious community and a philanthropic organization. This latter is actually the original one. It is composed by believers from different congregations who are united to make disciples for Christ. The problem is that communication and fellowship among ministry leaders is very slow and that negatively affects the implementation of the Great Commission. Otherwise, the purpose of this DMin Thesis Project is the improvement of the quality …

Regresando De Narnia: Entre La Encrucijada De Armarios Y Templos, Hugo Córdova Quero, Saúl Serna Segura, Jorge A. Aquino Ph.D., Miguel H. Diaz

Conexión Queer: Revista Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Teologías Queer

This issue of Queer Connection presents the work of authors who have left the infancy of Narnia, covering topics ranging from queer poetics, honest conversations about sexuality in the Roman Catholic Church, and online Eucharists to the deconstruction of Islamic texts for the acceptance of queer people. All of these studies point toward liberation and societal transformation. In Christianity, the TLL has made reflecting on oppression and liberation possible. Still, its novelty lies in reflecting faith elaborated within a practice of liberation done by oppressed people through their movements. In this sense, liberation is transformation and change, a new world …

Send Your Holy Spirit: Reflections On The Theology Of Virtual Eucharist In Times Of Covid-19, Hugo Córdova Quero, Alan Robert Young

Conexión Queer: Revista Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Teologías Queer

This article explores the issues concerning the intersection of spirituality, sacramentality, proximity, and health safety in light of extreme circumstances such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. We begin by tracing the origins of the sacrament of the Eucharist, including the Eucharistic agency in the lives of the community. The second part of the analysis discusses the nature of community and how it relates to breaking bread and sharing wine. The last part of the article centers on community practice within the context of queering ecclesiology and rites through two examples, one in Latin America and the other in Asia.

Raj Karega Khalsa! - The Evolution Of The Sikh Identity, Vineet Mehmi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Generally, religion has served as a method of creating a unique identity and history for many groups across history. This concept is especially true for the Sikh community, to the point that they have carved their own niche across the different places they inhabit in the world, whether that be their homeland of Panjab or their extensive population in places like Canada or the United Kingdom. However, this expansion and development of their culture did not come without a cost, formed through countless battles, martyrdom, and revolutions. Chardi Kala, a foundational idea in Sikhi that refers to eternal optimism even …

Covenant-Apocalyptic Soteriology: N. T. Wright’S Apocalyptic Jesus In Conversation With The Liberationist Critique Of Atonement, Joseph Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops a theory of atonement in accordance with N. T. Wright’s covenant-apocalyptic interpretation of the ministry and message of the historical Jesus. A covenant-apocalyptic atonement theory, in opposition to the trajectory of contemporary soteriology, prioritizes divine causality in the means of salvation, because, as is generally expected from an apocalyptic hermeneutic, it peers behind systems of violence and oppression to the intangible powers that underlie them. Unlike other strands of apocalyptic theology, though, a covenant-apocalyptic soteriology can stand up to a liberationist critique of the escapism and the divine sadism of a certain popular form of Christian soteriology, …

Finding “A Self To Speak Of”: Affective Enactments Of The Self In Black And White Victorian Women’S Elegies, Kellie-Sue Martinucci

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the genre of sentimental elegy within Antebellum Victorian America, drawing on affect studies, American religious history, and Black critical theory in order to contextualize the particular socio-political and religious influences that shaped the medium of the sentimental elegy and its role within Victorian America. This is punctuated by a close reading of six personal elegies written by Black and white women in the years 1855-1865. By attending to the differential application of sentimental norms about human bodies and their capacities for thought and feeling, this paper identifies the personal sentimental elegy as a technology of the self …

Pastoral Care For National Guard And Reserve: Using Bible Study To Equip National Guard And Reserve To Navigate Through The Blessings And Burdens Of Civilian-Military Vocations, David Schleusener

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Schleusener, David, S. "Pastoral Care for National Guard and Reserve: Using Bible Study to Equip National Guard and Reserve to Navigate through the Blessings and Burdens of Civilian Military Vocations" Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 267 pp.

The researcher is a U.S. Navy Reserves chaplain and student at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the Doctor of Ministry program. The researcher focused on the unique challenges, burdens, and significant stress our nation's reserve components face due to dual responsibilities in civilian and military sectors. National Guard and Reserve (NGR) is the term adopted for those …

Scientology's Faq: Sciencing, Tech-Romancing, Simulacra, & Simulation An Estranged Content Analysis, David Scott Morrill

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines how the practice of sciencing, tech-romancing, simulacra, and simulation manifests in both the text and symbols used on audiences of the Church of Scientology’s outreach materials. It specifically examines its official FAQ page. Self-framing was observed that satisfied the definition of sciencing and tech-romancing. Under an Estranged approach, Morrill examined selections of the Church’s FAQ pages, coding for instances of sciencing, tech-romancing, simulacra, and simulation. The data indicate that the Church frequently adopts simulacra and engages in simulation. The Church was seen frequently adopting technological and scientific symbols and jargon. The degree of sciencing, tech-romancing, simulacra, and …

Book Review: God Is, Jeanene Reese

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

God Is, by Mallory Wyckoff. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2022. 158 pages, $21.99.

Three Approaches To The Greater Inclusion Of Women In Public Worship, Jennifer M. Dabbs, Shannon Clarkson Rains, Kaley D. Ihfe

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

In the spring of 2022, elders and ministers from three West Texas Churches of Christ convened for a discussion of how their congregations expanded the roles of women in public worship. Tradition within the Churches of Christ dictates that men fill all visible roles during worship services. Since these practices are based in commonly accepted interpretations of the scripture, women’s active participation in worship represents a momentous change in both practice and belief. The ninety-minute discussion covered the initial decision-making process, the implementation of new roles, problems encountered, and advice for others wanting to make a similar change. The transcript …

Pastor As Poet Of The Soul, Zachary J. Luben

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The church finds itself in a culture that challenges the idea of divine action in the world—one of the results of living in a secular age. We are more likely to talk about “good luck” or “coincidence” than we are about God acting in history. Charles Taylor calls this the immanent frame—that we have constructed a social view that frames our lives without the supernatural. In addition, Hartmut Rosa describes modernity as social acceleration, which puts us out-of-sync in our relationships to others and the world. For the pastor, these cultural and social forces at work often lead …

Saint Jude's, December 11, 2022

Saint Jude's

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Waltham, MA

Saint Jude's Finding Aid

Holistic Community: The Key To Real-Life Discipleship, Petr Činčala

Faculty Publications

The word “discipleship” carries different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Holistic community provides a natural environment in which people can learn cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally. In this way, discipling in the context of community (small groups) enhances and strengthens behaving and believing, as well as belonging. Additionally, a deeper understanding of the three-fold revelation of God (i.e., the Triune God, who is by nature a communal, relational God) helps us better understand how holistic small groups foster the growth and support of believers, encouraging them to bring others into God’s family. The way the members …

Minds And Hearts And Digital Data. Collaborative Learning With Jesuit Manuscripts & Databases, Elisa Frei

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

In a conversation with Emanuele Colombo, John O’Malley explained his historical method in eight points. In describing them, he noticed how “sources are mute” and how “to make them speak I must ask them questions”,[1] “the continuities are stronger and deeper than the discontinuities,”[2] and “if I really understand what is going on, I can explain it to an intelligent ten-year-old.”[3]This article aims at presenting the strategies and outcomes of a Public History project that involves on the one hand Jesuit sources of the early modern period, and on the other, non-professional historians who never studied …

John O’Malley And Jesuit Education: A Journey Into Humanism, Cristiano Casalini, Alessandro Corsi

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article reflects upon the impact of the work of John W. O’Malley, S.J. (1927–2022), on the field of the history of Jesuit education. In The First Jesuits (1993), O’Malley provided an innovative approach to the subject that refuted some long-standing preconceptions about the way Jesuit schools and universities had originally developed. The approach that he took to to the topic throughout the 1990s and 2000s allowed him to identify two intertwined educational traditions at the heart of the Jesuit pedagogical model: the humanistic tradition of the Renaissance period, based on the Isocratic concept of pietas, and the scholastic …