Digital Commons Network^™

Esther And The Maccabees: The Creation Of A Hellenist Jewish Heroine, Nolan Lebovitz

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The Book of Esther maintains many enigmatic qualities when compared against the other books within the canon of the Hebrew Bible. These unique characteristics stretch through its characters, its developed literary style, and the ideology it espouses. Academics often address individual issues in isolation such as its various scriptural forms in Greek and Hebrew, its absence from Qumran, and the many factors considered in its authorship and dating. Scholarly consideration for the book’s authorship spans from the 5 th Century through the 2nd Century BCE. This period in question saw a transition between the Persian Period to the Hellenistic Period, …

Book Review: Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves' The Sacred Architecture Of Irving J. Gill, Molly Mcclain

History: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Strategy For Developing A Mentoring Ministry At Mount Olive Baptist Church In Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Charles Leon Webber

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Mentoring within the community of faith is a disciple-making process. Yet, research reveals bringing people together for shared learning experiences is a rarity. A four-week mentor training project at Mount Olive Baptist Church was developed to address the perceived need. Senior adult leaders received mentorship and training to engage with young adults. Although the statistical analysis was inconclusive, the project training sessions and qualitative feedback revealed positively a quest for other efforts in this direction.

Mystery At Silvery Falls: A Novel Approach To Christian Moral Development: Leader’S Guide, Marlin Miller

Books

No abstract provided.

Mystery At Silvery Falls: A Novel Approach To Christian Moral Development, Marlin Miller

Books

No abstract provided.

Project Portfolio: Conflict Devotional-Journal, Keith Lashawn Garrett Sr

Doctor of Ministry

The following is the NPO statement which undergirds this doctoral project: Unresolved conflicts give rise to relational injury among the families who subscribe to the faith of Jesus Christ. The problem identified through biblical research, extra-biblical research, as well as the anecdotal data of pastoral-counseling sessions and workshops affirms the presence of suffering within the context of unresolved conflict. Any work, therefore, which offers aid, for the purpose of assisting the people of faith to resolve conflict, might bring an end to the relative suffering.

A key insight that emerged from my research is the presence of a biblical and …

Theology On A Plate: A Gamified Discipleship Experience, Silas Sham

Doctor of Ministry

“Theology on a Plate: A Gamified Discipleship Experience" reimagines spiritual development by merging communal dining with theological exploration and gamification. Unlike traditional groups curriculums and Bible studies, this innovative project offers a fresh approach to cultivating spiritual growth through semiotic readings of food in Scripture, coupled with unique learning mechanisms. By employing a platform-based pedagogical approach, this project is not primarily about receiving information from an expert source using a pipeline-based approach. Instead, this project is designed so that participants will predominantly learn from each other as they elevate each other’s stories.

Drawing from my ministry experience in a large …

Overview, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Immigration Ministry Implications Of Hallyu: Exploration Of The Potential Impact Of South Korean Popular Cultural Flow On Ministry By And To Immigrants, David Kim

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

The phenomenon of Hallyu—Korean popular culture—is globally extensive in its influence and reception. Hallyu has transformed how South Koreans and Korean American immigrants perceive their identity and cultural esteem. Coupled with the Korean American immigrant church’s central role in establishing and growing its communities, Hallyu conditions present an opportunity to impact the immigrant ministry in North America. This study suggests that Hallyu lowers barriers to cross-cultural engagement and connection which can positively impact ministry conducted by immigrants and to immigrants.

The Next Big Thing: What's Coming Next In Youth Ministry

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Embracing The New Samaria Opening Our Eyes To Our Multicultural Future, By Alejandro Mandes, Nelson Silva

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

A Sociolinguistic View Of Cultural Influences In Conversations About Religion, Rachael Merrill

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

My research project deals with intercultural communication issues in religious conversations among American English speakers and Japanese speakers. Much research has been done to examine how miscommunications occur across cultures, and that understanding cultural contexts can help us be more successful in linguistic endeavors. This paper specifically examines how the different sociocultural meanings attached to individual lexical items associated with religious topics (e.g., ‘God’ and ‘prayer’) differ between English and Japanese. This is a qualitative study using data from publicly available corpora of Japanese and English, as well as sociolinguistic interviews. I will not present the analysis of the interviews …

Tradition And Transformation, On Worship Among Kenyan Friends: Reconsidering Fox's Rejection Of Rituals, George Busolo Lukalo

Quaker Religious Thought

From the centrality of the Bible, to baptism, to holy commu- nion, to simplicity and plain dress, to the nomination of leaders, to the use of alcohol and not swearing oaths, in his essay “Tradition and Transformation, on Worship among Kenyan Friends: Reconsidering Fox’s Rejection of Rituals,” George Busolo Lukalo examines the evolving ways in which the Kenyan Quaker church continues to consider the importance and meaning for their own context of George Fox’s rejection of rituals—sometimes complying with Fox’s precedent, but often reinstating certain ritualistic practices precisely as a way of preserving their Quaker convictions.

Rationality, Silence, And The Numinous: Exploring The Mystical Theology Of Otto, Thurman, And Panikkar, Welling Hall

Quaker Religious Thought

In her essay “Rationality, Silence, and the Numinous: Exploring the Mystical Theology of Otto, Thurman, and Panikkar,” Welling Hall traces out the thought of these three important advocates of mysticism as they struggle with the relationship between rea- son and that which transcends rational comprehension, an issue of ongoing interest and concern to Quaker theology. In light of this essay, we might ask ourselves whether our rituals or lack thereof are an impediment to a deeper connection with God, or a means thereunto?

How To Believe In Immortality, Carol Zaleski

Religion: Faculty Publications

All the cards seem to be stacked against belief in immortality. Nonetheless, the resources of particular religious traditions may avail where generic philosophical solutions fall short. With attention to the boredom and narcissism critiques, intimations of deathlessness in Śāntideva’s radical altruism, and recent Christian debates on the soul and the intermediate state, I propose two criteria for a coherent religion-specific belief in immortality: (1) the belief is supported by a fully realized religious tradition, (2) the belief satisfies the demand for self-transcendence as well as for self-preservation. Where self-transcendence and self-preservation are kept in balance, and where the whole idea …

From Biology Major To Religion Professor: Personal Reflections On Evolution, Joshua M. Sears

BYU Studies

When I arrived at Brigham Young University as an excited freshman, my plan was to major in biology. I had really enjoyed biology in high school and scored a perfect 5 on the AP exam, so I figured this was something I could be good at. That first year I took courses in general biology, biodiversity, chemistry, and physical science.

Translation And The World Order, Richard Lyman Bushman

BYU Studies

Joseph Smith published three books he called translations: his masterwork, the Book of Mormon, translated from gold plates when he was twenty-four and published in March 1830; the eight chapters of the book of Moses based on Genesis in the Bible, begun in June 1830 and completed by February of the following year; and the book of Abraham, translated from scrolls that the Church purchased from Michael Chandler in 1835 and published in 1842. It is hard to think of any prophetic figure in religious history who relied as extensively on translations to spread his message as did Joseph Smith.

Book Of Mormon Grammar And Translation, Stanford Carmack

BYU Studies

This paper discusses some of the Book of Mormon’s nonstandard grammar, showing how in many cases it was not the kind of grammar that Joseph Smith would have been expected to produce, since it was neither his native usage nor a presumed biblically influenced English. In these contexts, if he had been in control of the wording of the text, it is highly likely that he would have expressed things differently. Quite a few examples are provided in support of this claim, along with additional matching examples found in early modern texts.

Tasting God’S Light: Saints And The Spiritual Senses, Philip Abbott

BYU Studies

While many Westerners once assumed that sensory perception is more or less constant and universal, scholarship in the area of sensory studies has shown how volatile and diverse sensory discernment can be. For instance, though Western epistemology categorizes sensory knowledge into five senses, people across world cultures do not agree on the number of human senses that exist (some enumerate two, four, six, or seven senses), nor do they agree on how the senses function. As anthropologists have illuminated, these various notions of sensory perception lead people to translate sensory experience into vastly different worldviews. Thus, researchers have concluded that …

All One People, Susan Elizabeth Howe

BYU Studies

In his BYU Studies article “Building an Innovative ‘Latter-day Saints without Borders’ Organization,” Warner Woodworth recounts both his own and his students’ extensive work to better the lives of the poor, but he gives credit to many other Latter-day Saint groups who are carrying out similar efforts. All One People, an organization located in Manti, Utah, is one of these groups. Woodworth says that these groups “[act] as ‘social entrepreneurial’ Christians who draw on their faith, rely on scriptural values, harness their educations, and call forth their business skills in designing and launching effective humanitarian services.” These are exactly the …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Religion And Perfectionism, Michael A. Goodman

BYU Studies

Perfectionism has been a frequent topic of interest to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In official Church material and in other sources aimed at a Latter-day Saint audience (such as podcasts and blogs), the problems of toxic perfectionism have continued to receive attention in scholarly and clinical literature. The concept has been addressed several times in general conference addresses, including by members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.1 The Church has produced official videos and articles for youth,2 young adults,3 and adults.4

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

A Plain Account Of Christian Purity: Berlin Walls, Dean G. Blevins, Marie Gregg

The Asbury Journal

While theological definitions of holiness incorporate purity terminology among several metaphors, the challenges resident in using this language may well impede opportunities of engaging difference and reconciliation. Wesleyans need a “Plain Account” of Christian purity to guide both ecclesial discussions that stress not only strengths, but also limits, in purity thinking. Using an example involving the Church of the Nazarene and Pentecostalism, the writing reveals how purity thinking risks creating “Berlin walls” when engaging differences. The analysis argues that a moral fear of degradation, rather than an acknowledgment of difference, often pushes purity thinkers to oppose certain issues.

Book Reviews, Glen O'Brien, Zachariah S. Motts, Roderick T. Leupp, Jonathan Tysick, Duane F. Watson, William B. Bowes

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The Hispanics: The Legacy From The Past And The Claim On The Future, Roberto Escamilla

The Asbury Journal

This article is a transcript from a chapel given at Asbury Theological Seminary on April 28, 1981 in Estes Chapel as part of the Freitas lecture series on Ministry Among the Hispanic People. This was one of the earliest lecture series devoted to the potential future of Hispanic ministry in the United States, and Escamilla lays out in a brief and engaging way, both the history and the potential influence of the Hispanic community on the culture and faith of the United States. Such an insightful review of the situation of Hispanic ministry from over 40 years ago, allows for …

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

An Approach To The History Of Missions In The Church Of The Nazarene In Cuba, Mirelys Correoso Calzadilla

The Asbury Journal

The history of a church is impossible to tell if the chronicles of its missions are ignored. It is the latter that give it life and continuity. This article aims to present a brief historical review of the development of the missions in the Church of the Nazarene in Cuba. We begin with Miss Leona Gardner, a North American missionary, who arrived on the island in 1902. She preached the gospel in the area of Casilda, Trinidad, in the former province of Santi Espíritus, for 25 years. The merit lies in the fact that although she did not manage to …

Santidad Y Misiones Pentecostales En El Salvador: El Ejemplo De Federico Ernesto Mebius, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

A Federico Mebius se le atribuye el mérito de ser el primer misionero pentecostal en El Salvador, pero su historia es más complicada. Como misionero de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera en Bolivia, Mebius formó parte del Movimiento de Santidad. El seguimiento de su historia revela una brecha de información desde 1903 hasta 1908, desde Los Ángeles, California, hasta El Paso, Texas. Mientras tanto, la historia oral sitúa a Mebius como fundador de iglesias alrededor de 1904 en El Salvador. Esta historia crea un espacio para explorar las misiones de Santidad que surgieron de Los Ángeles y especular sobre cómo …