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Humans Are Far Dearer Than Gold, Richard Gorban

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The author of the article proves that the genocidal war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is aimed at the total destruction of both the Ukrainian nation and its culture, based on the methodological principle of actualizing biblical texts in the current circumstances and by selecting elements from the exhaustiveness of the content of the Book of Isaiah, the Prophet, which are able to reveal the ontological foundations of this war. It is the clash between the two incompatible experiences of existence: the existence of a human community in peace and that of a community in war. Ukraine has become …

Missions Upside Down, Aaron Baart

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"It was a missional epiphany for me—to realize that the effectiveness and stewardship of supporting indigenous leaders would be so much more effective than anything I could accomplish."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­re-igniting the church's passion for the Great Commission from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Missions Upside Down

A Virtual Group Counseling Study On The Effects Of Renewing The Mind, Spiritual Formation, And Engaging In Community On Women Suffering From Social Anxiety Through The Use Of The Flourish Curriculum, Jennifer L. Otero

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social anxiety impacts individuals from every walk of life, gender, and faith background. This project addresses the need for renewing the mind tools to address social anxiety for women. In addition, spiritual formation and the power of connection in community were assessed as essential tools in addressing and overcoming social anxiety. The available research on social anxiety confirms the impact that renewing the mind can have on successfully addressing anxiety at the root by changing one’s thought patterns and beliefs. Spiritual formation is central to this transformation. Nevertheless, biblical tools and curricula that are designed to address social anxiety are …

How Parents Participate In The Christian Education And Spiritual Formation Of Their Children: A Case Study Of Hybrid Schooling, Shannon O'Hearn Downing

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how parents participate in the Christian education and spiritual formation of their children who are enrolled in a classical Christian, hybrid-model school in the DC Metro Region. The theory that guided this case study was Christopher Watkin’s biblical critical theory, as it provides the proper framework for interpreting how parents enculturate their children in the Christian belief system of the family. The central research question was, “How do parents participate in the Christian education and spiritual formation of their children who are enrolled in a classical Christian, hybrid-model school in …

Carnival, Ritual, And Race-Thinking In The Bolivian Andes, Ximena Cordova, Adhemar Mercado

All Works

This paper explores the intersection of race, religion, and colonial legacies through the lens of the Oruro Carnival, examining its role in shaping Bolivian identity. Critical religion scholars argue that the entanglement of race and religion is a product of Western modernity and colonialism, which has influenced both historical and contemporary power relations. This framework is applied to analyse the Carnival, where religious practices and festive performances intersect, reflecting colonial efforts at religious conversion and racial categorisation. By focusing on the ethnography of Oruro’s embodied festive practices, this study investigates how the Carnival contributes to the construction of difference amid …

Encouraging Conversation: Sharing The Oral History Of Nepalese Refugees Through Dialogical Preaching To Inspire Intercultural Collaboration, Matthew Clark

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Clark, Matthew J. “Encouraging Conversation: Sharing the Oral History of Nepalese Refugees through Dialogical Preaching to Inspire Intercultural Collaboration.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2025. 286 pp.

The project attends to the context of Ascension Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri, where a minority group of church members are refugees from Nepal. As Ascension grows in ethnic diversity, however, much of the congregation has only a shallow multicultural level of engagement, where different cultural groups are only aware of each other as they exist parallel to one another with limited interaction.

The project seeks to answer the …

Antiphons Of Iron And Blood: The Inspirations Of Tolkien's Poetry, Patrick J. Lyon

Journal of Tolkien Research

The new book, The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, is a fascinating new look into a trove of previously unpublished Tolkien poetry. One of these new poems, “Ferrum et Sanguis,” includes an interesting series of addenda and subtitles written by Tolkien that give insight into the origins and inspirations for the poem. Furthermore, the interpretation given by the editors in their commentary on the poem misses the specific reference and applies it to a different source. The real source for the poem is very likely found in the Advent Vespers of the …

Buildings Of The Persian, Hellenistic And Early Roman Periods At Khirbat Kabar, In The Northern Hebron Hills (Hebrew, Pp. 49*–71*; English Summary, Pp. 205–207), Yuval Baruch

'Atiqot

Two buildings were exposed. The northern building comprised rooms surrounding a central courtyard; the pottery finds from this building date from the Persian period, and chiefly, to the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods (first century BCE). Only two rooms survived of the southern building, which apparently opened to a courtyard. Many storage-jar sherds were found, seemingly in situ. On two of them, Aramaic letters were incised before firing. An Achaemenid-style conical glass seal was unearthed, depicting a hero or a ruler holding flanking lions. This building may have had an administrative or storage function. Three tombs were uncovered in proximity …

Drinking Vessels (Rytha) From Tel Ya‘Oz (Hebrew, Pp. 25*–37*; English Summary, Pp. 203–204), Irit Ziffer, Raz Kletter, Orit Segal

'Atiqot

Three drinking vessels (rytha) were found in the Persian-period building at Tel Ya‘oz: an almost complete human-headed rython and two animal heads, of a ram and a lion. The anthropomorphic rython is undoubtedly the most extraordinary of the three. It is a local adaptation of an Achaemenid vessel that was used at royal banquets. Its Egyptian appearance might suggest that is was created by an Egyptian working on the Levantine coast, or by a Levantine trained in Egyptian iconography.

Petrographic Analysis Of The Persian-Period Ceramic Assemblage From Tel Ya‘Oz (Hebrew, Pp. 39*–44*; English Summary, Pp. 204–205), Amir Gorzalczany

'Atiqot

Thirty-nine samples of Persian-period wares were selected for analysis, and five petrographic groups were identified. The overwhelming majority of the assemblage was of non-local provenance. Several ranges of import were discerned, and it seems that the import-trade-exchange patterns at the site were oriented overseas or toward the Phoenician coast.

A Persian-Period Building From Tel Ya‘Oz (Tell Ghaza) (Hebrew, Pp. 1*–24*; English Summary, P. 203), Orit Segal, Raz Kletter, Irit Ziffer

'Atiqot

Thirty-nine samples of Persian-period wares were selected for analysis, and five petrographic groups were identified. The overwhelming majority of the assemblage was of non-local provenance. Several ranges of import were discerned, and it seems that the import-trade-exchange patterns at the site were oriented overseas or toward the Phoenician coast.

The Kurkar And Hamra Genesis Of The Northern Hill Of Tel Mikhal (Tel Michal) (Pp. 127–130), Eldad Barzilay

'Atiqot

The geological environment of the site is composed of mobile sand, kurkar, hamra and grumosols (swelling and cracking clay soils) sediments of the Quaternary Hefer formation.

Persian-Period Metal Finds From Tel Mikhal (Tel Michal) (Pp. 93–107), Sariel Shalev, Kamil Sari

'Atiqot

More than 100 metal objects dating to the Persian period (fifth–fourth centuries BCE) were unearthed in the excavations at Tel Mikhal. The assemblage included weapons (arrowheads); tools and implements (e.g., knives, needles, nails and tacks); weights; jewelry (bracelets, fibulae, pins and spatulae); a Tanit figurine; and an Egyptian amulet. The arrowheads were of the Irano-Scytic type, made of tin-bronze. All the arrowheads were left as cast, without mechanical treatment. Among the tools and implements, nails form the largest group; they were made of unalloyed copper and tin-bronze. The ten fibulae found at the site were made of tin-bronze; all underwent …

Petrographic Analysis Of The Tel Mikhal (Tel Michal) Pottery (Pp. 57–65), Amir Gorzalczany

'Atiqot

Thirty-six vessels were submitted for petrographic analysis, most of them from the Persian period and several from Middle Bronze Age II. Several wasters from the kilns were analyzed as well. The results point to a large variety of pottery types in the Persian period, which were divided into three main groups: local products; short- to medium-range distance imports; and long-distance imports. These finds parallel those identified at other southern coastal sites, which show an overwhelming amount of imported pottery.

The 1996 Excavations Along The Northern Hill At Tel Mikhal (Tel Michal) (Pp. 1–19), Amir Gorzalczany

'Atiqot

Excavations on the Northern Hill at Tel Mikhal revealed rich finds, in stark contrast with the poorly preserved and scant architectural remains. The earliest settlement here dates to prehistoric times, continuing into the Middle Bronze Age, when a ceramic industry operated at the site. In the Iron Age, settlement was sporadic, and mainly winepresses were unearthed. Toward the end of the Persian period, the area functioned as an industrial area for pottery production and a metal industry, as well as an area for storage and commerce. In the Hellenistic period, the site was also used for industry and storage. No …

Cultivating Millennial Engagement And Spiritual Formation In The Black Church For Leadership Development, Rufus Chambers Iii

Doctor of Ministry

The Black church has historically served as a cornerstone of African American life, transcending its role as a place of worship to become a multifaceted institution deeply embedded in the community’s cultural, social, and political fabric. However, the Black church has been unable to connect with teens, young adults, and young families due to its proclivity towards Black Baptist approaches towards worship, ministry, and community engagement. The rationale for conducting this study is to increase the number of millennial church leaders fully vested in the solvency of the Black church and positions of succession. Across the published literature, Black churches …

Marginalized, Secularized, And Popularized? The Prevalence And Patterns Of Paranormal Belief In The United Kingdom, Tom Clark, Joseph O. Baker, Christoper D. Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

There is growing recognition of the prevalence of paranormal beliefs in Western countries. However, most of this interest has been focused on the United States and robust, comparative data remain limited. This study extends this literature to report findings from a national survey of the United Kingdom designed to assess the prevalence and patterns of paranormal beliefs. Although there are many similarities to previous research, the results also suggest that there are significant differences in the scope, clustering, and patterns of paranormalism across contexts. The study makes four contributions to research on the paranormal by a) reiterating the continuing popularity …

Comentarios Nt-V Demás, Rodolfo Blank

Ayudas para sermones

COMENTARIOS NT-V demás

Deepening Relationships With God At Crosspoint Church Through Understanding Covenantal Heritage, David J. Ogurek

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project addressed the problem of Crosspoint Church’s members not understanding their heritage as God’s covenantal people, which impeded deep relationships with God. The project designed and delivered a six-week sermon series with small-group discussion guides to help participants deepen their relationships with God through understanding their covenantal heritage. The project utilized a multi-week sermon series that employed a teaching method involving biblical history to show how God’s story continually points toward Christ and is relevant to Christianity. Data were collected using surveys before and after the sermon series and a focus group of small-group leaders. The research …

The Canonical Development Of Zion Symbolism And Its Transformation In Jesus Christ, Jared Micah Blair

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Zion symbolism developed through the canon of Scripture primarily as a reflection of God’s presence among his people and was transformed in Jesus Christ as the Church becomes a reflection of the heavenly Zion on earth. Building upon the imagery of Eden, Israel’s experience at Sinai, and the temple in Jerusalem, Zion emerged as the primary symbol denoting God’s presence among his people and as a reflection of God’s covenant promises to King David. As the symbol developed through the Psalms and Prophets, an emerging image of the coming Messiah produces a hope that once again mankind will dwell in …

Financial Illiteracy Elimination Through The Development Of A Biblical Financial Literacy Curriculum For New Life Sda Church, Christopher L. Hughes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem at New Life SDA Church is biblical financial illiteracy, caused by a lack of scriptural understanding of stewardship; the existence of knowledge gaps pertaining to modern, personal financial management practices; and substandard education across generations. As a result, there is a cascading effect of sustained cross-generational scarcity, difficulties fulfilling daily commitments and responsibilities, problematic family landscapes, and non-fulfillment of church-related stewardship. Protection against financial illiteracy is for New Life Seventh-day Adventist congregants to study and utilize biblical stewardship principles, along with modern financial concepts and practices in their lives. Therefore, this research project’s purpose was to train this …

Child Sexual Abuse And Mental Health: The Role Of Intrusive Thoughts And Spiritual Warfare, Sheriese S. Sanchez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A number of psychological issues are experienced by individuals who have experienced CSA, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, as well as intrusive thoughts contribute to the perpetuation of the mental health problem. Studies have shown that spiritual practices, such as prayer, meditation, reading the Bible, and reciting scripture affirmations, can improve mental health, improving one’s psychological well-being. Further, intrusive thoughts may be initiated by dark spiritual influences. Despite ongoing research, there is a lack of integration between disciplines of science and biblical truth concerning the impact of immaterial spiritual dimensions on psychological states. To understand intrusive thoughts, one must …

Ontological Overtones Of Participatory Soteriology In Romans 8:1-17, Derek E. Wilder

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The burgeoning scholarly interest in the concepts of deification and Paul’s “in Christ” participatory soteriology necessitates a deeper exploration of their interrelation with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of the increase in recent scholarship, the connection between participation in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit remains underexplored. This study examines the relationship between deification, Pauline participatory soteriology, and pneumatology through an exegetical analysis of Romans 8:1–17. This exegetical framework posits that the believer’s union with Christ initiates a profound ontological metamorphosis, actualized through the Holy Spirit’s immanent indwelling and transcendent relational dynamic. The pneumatological dimension of …

Matthew For The Defense: Identifying The Rhetorical Purpose Of Matthew's Heptadic Γέγραπται Passages, Donald C. Mcintyre

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Heptadic formulations are common throughout ancient Near Eastern, Second Temple, and biblical literature. Frequently, heptadic formulations are debated due to the lack of consistent identification criteria. This study identifies a heptadic formulation of γέγραπται passages in Matthew’s Gospel and seeks to evaluate the legitimacy of that heptadic formulation through applying strict identification criteria. Through those criteria, it was discovered that the Gospel of Matthew invites the reader to take notice of numerological data through the genealogy and continues to employ numerology throughout the Gospel. That fact being established, Matthew then employed the γέγραπται formula a total of nine times with …

Messianic Judaism And The Church, Robert C. Greer

Liberty Theological Review

One of the more curious phenomena within the Protestant Evangelical Church is Messianic Judaism. Its gospel is essentially the same as Protestant evangelicalism since Messianic Jews worship Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord. Yet many shun the label "Christian," preferring such titles as "fulfilled" or "completed Jews." Messianic Jews typically worship on Saturdays and observe a kosher diet. The symbol of the cross, which is ubiquitous in Protestant Evangelicalism and regarded as its most sacred symbol,, is problematic with many Messianic Jews. Messianic Judaism therefore maintains an arm's distance from Gentile Christianity. This paper is an exploration of that separation …

Public Theology And Political Polarization: Environmental Policy, Jean Golicz, Leonard S. Momeny

Liberty Theological Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of public theology on potentially polarizing political views. Specifically, the historical and contemporary interpretations of the Lynn White Thesis (1966) are examined as well as the practical implications for developing environmental policies that align with a biblical worldview. The authors propose the application of multiple paradigms to the study of religiosity and environmental activism as a way of addressing the complexity and diversity of various viewpoints. Understanding the multiple ways Jesus operated in an equally contentious and polarized society creates a path forward for churches. By rejecting the supposition that …

Defending The Doctrine Of Hell, Jordan P. Ballard

Liberty Theological Review

The doctrine of hell, or the final state of the wicked, has become one of the most objectionable Christian doctrines because it depicts God as vengeful and wrathful, which is offensive to human sensibilities. As an extension of the problem of evil, where God is put on trial for allowing what may appear to be gratuitous pain and suffering in the world, many Christians and non-Christians alike wonder how a loving God could consign people to suffering in hell forever. After all, why didn’t God make a world where all would be saved if He is truly loving? Belief in …

"Restoration Under The Davidic Shepherd-King": An Exposition Of Ezekiel 37:15–28, Angela Gloria Erum

Liberty Theological Review

Considering what is happening to Israel in the Middle East these days, this exposition of Ezekiel 37:15–28 provides hope for the people of Israel as well as the Gentile believers in Christ. Ezekiel 37:15–28 exhibits Yahweh’s covenantal promise to gather His people (the people of Israel) from other nations, restore them to their land, and reunify them (both northern and southern kingdoms) as one nation under one king, the Davidic shepherd-king; thus, other nations would realize that Yahweh is God. By examining Ezekiel 37:15–28, this paper will attempt to demonstrate the exegesis and the theological implications of the passage through …

The Decalogue As A Transitional Model For Fear, Pamela Jensen Ikasalo

Liberty Theological Review

God’s original intention for relationships was disrupted by the fall of man as recorded in Genesis 3. From that point, fear of man played an intricate role in both interpersonal relationships and decision-making. The purpose of the Decalogue was to moderate relationships among the people and with their God. However, there is an additional purpose as well. The Decalogue serves as a transitional model from fear of man to fear of the Lord. When God’s people live according to the precedents found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 their lifestyle no longer follows the pattern set by fallen humanity. Both …

Manual Formación Facilitadores 2, Marcos Kempff

Matrimonio y familia

Manual formación facilitadores 2