Digital Commons Network^™

Uncertainty Before And After Faith: The Dynamics Of Belief In Theology And Literature, Brent Little

Dissertations

Although there has been much interdisciplinary scholarship surrounding the influence of various novelists' Catholic beliefs upon their work, there has been relatively little discussion about the nature of faith that emerges in their novels. For instance, is faith portrayed primarily as assent to conceptual statements of belief?

This dissertation will argue that faith, as portrayed by various Catholic novelists, is fundamentally a person's imaginative orientation to trust and hope in the presence of God's grace in creation and human life. I will approach this issue through the category of uncertainty, specifically uncertainty's relationship to faith, as this relationship emerges in …

Social Justice And Ecological Responsibility: A Moral Case For International Collaborative Action On Environmental Degradation And Climate-Induced Displacement, James Stephen Mastaler

Dissertations

The contemporary ecological crisis, manifest in human-induced climate change, is a powerful form of structural violence against the poorest communities on the planet. As such, my research resides at the nexus of structural poverty, gender disparity, ecological degradation, and climate-induced displacement. The social justice implications emerging from this nexus require responsible moral deliberation and discernment over the international community's role in minimizing the human tragedies accompanying forced displacement and migration. While asserting the interconnectedness and dependency of all life upon mutual flourishing, responsible decision-making expands the range of felt moral concern to include ecological flourishing. Social justice is only possible …

Ritual And Practice, M Therese Lysaught

Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Masjids, Ashrams And Mazars: Transnational Sufism And The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, Merin Shobhana Xavier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship is a community that formed in relation to the Tamil teacher Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (d. 1986). Bawa’s teachings attracted diverse followers- those with Islamic inclinations, those from Jewish, Hindu and Christian backgrounds, and those seeking to transcend religious creeds. With his passing and no appointed successor, the communities that developed during Bawa Muhaiyaddeen’s lifetime rely now on the institutions and spaces established by him. These include a mosque and burial shrine (mazar) in Pennsylvania and an ashram and shrine in Sri Lanka. This case study of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship and its parallel …

Brazilian Adventist Women And Their Needs: Toward Theological-Missiological Education With An Initial Curriculum Proposal, Hanny Brcic Guzman

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Brazilian Adventist women have had limited access to theological-missiological education, partly because of a hierarchical, male-centered biblical interpretation of gender relations as applied to female teaching and learning experiences within the community of faith. Although the church intends to involve women in a kind of ministry that assumes a hierarchical paradigm, this remediative action is limited to motivation, outreach, and Christian piety.

Method

This theological-missiological non-formal curricular intervention provides access to theological education as well as role models for women in the church. It attempts to transform this restrictive scenario by the interpretation of the perspective and values of …

Moving Past: Making Space For Memory After The Boston Marathon Bombing, Austin Thomas Jacobs

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, visitors from across the US and the world descended on Boston to pay their respects to the three people who were killed and the more than 260 who were injured at the race's finish line. The public commemorated the tragedy in multiple and diffuse spaces, both physical and virtual. In recognition of this fact, I use the changing location of the spontaneous shrine as an organizing structure for this study, analyzing the memorialization in three "movements,” each of which corresponds to a physical relocation of the shrine itself in the weeks …

Utah’S Role In Protecting The Mormon Trail During The Civil War, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This chapter (from the 2015 book “Far Away in the West: Reflections on the Mormon Pioneer Trail” published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center) sets the stage for Utah Territory’s role protecting the Mormon Trail during the Civil War by outlining the Utah War (1857-1858). This essay begins by comparing and contracting Washington, DC’s wartime interest in the trail with that of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah Territory. The essay then outlines the changing parties who were responsible for the trail between 1861 and 1865 – the U.S. Army (spring-summer 1861), no one …

Volunteers: Their Role In The Management Of The Visitor And Pilgrimage Experience, Peter Wiltshier

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper examines the key conditions and parameters for management under which volunteers perform a valuable service to visitors in the context of sacred or secular visits to specific key sites. The paper considers consumers as visitors for sacred and secular purposes; it is situated at the CathedralchurchofAll SaintsinDerby,England. It is based on the premise that satisfied consumers will spread the word of how well expectations were exceeded by perceptions. It is further based on the premise that resources provided for tour guiding, visitor support and explanation and information provision by volunteers are exceptionally well located and an integral part …

The Museumification Of Rumi’S Tomb: Deconstructing Sacred Space At The Mevlana Museum, Rose Aslan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourists and pilgrims from across Turkey and around the world flock to the tomb of Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273), one of the greatest poets and Sufi masters in Islam. Since 1925, the Turkish government has relentlessly struggled to control Islamic influences in society and to channel people’s devotion to the memory of Kemal Ataturk (d. 1938) and his secular ideology. This article argues that by restructuring the layout and presentation of the tomb complex of Rumi, and putting the sacred space through the process of museumification, the Turkish state has attempted to regulate the place in order to control …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Mapping The Umbrella Movement: Uncovering Grounded Theologies In Hong Kong, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As this Syndicate forum on the Umbrella Movement and theology winds to a close, the physical occupations in Hong Kong seem to be nearing their end stage. With court injunctions, police clearances, statements of support from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the Hong Kong government, the attempted voluntary surrender of Occupy Central leaders to the police, and a student hunger strike after over seventy days of street occupations, it might seem late in the game to call for the mapping of “grounded theologies,” “performative practices of placemaking informed by understandings of the transcendent,” woven into the political constitution …

Educating He Women Of The Nation: Priscilla Wakefield And The Construction Of National Identity, 1798, Camilla Leach, Joyce Goodman

Quaker Studies

This article examines the views of the Quaker educationist, Priscilla Wakefield, on the role of women in the construction of British national identity at the end of the eighteenth century. Priscilla Wakefield wrote children's texts in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century England, was interested in the question of women and science and published on the education of women. This article analyses the way in which in Reflections on the Present Condition of the Female Sex, with Suggestions for its Improvement (1798) , she based her arguments for a 'useful' education for women on her views of what constituted the virtues and …

Religion, Public Life And The State In Putin's Russia, Alexey D. Krindatch

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Being Hindu In The American South: Hindu Nationalist Discourse In A Diaspora Community, Daniel J. Shouse

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

According to a recent Pew poll approximately 97% of all Hindus live in the countries of India and Nepal. However, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Hindus living in other parts of the world. Across the United States, Hindu temples are joining the religious landscape of the country. They are often greeted as signifiers of a “model minority” by the mainstream because of Asian American economic success. However, as religious and racial minorities, Indian immigrants and Indian Americans just as frequently face ignorance and discrimination. This rejection by mainstream society, combined with a desire to reconnect with …

Tradition And Change: Two Buddhisms In The Bible Belt Sharing Common Ground Through Adaptation, Jonathan Spence

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines how some American and Burmese forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt today share common ground through a process of adaptation. Exploring tradition and change, I reveal how change often requires adaptation. Utilizing ethnographic research conducted in south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee, I argue that some Burmese and American forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt experience change through three aspects of adaptation. These consist of reduction, syncretism, and preservation. I explore these three aspects through interviews and observations of immigrant Burmese Buddhist monks and American Buddhist meditation leaders. In doing so, I also examine the …

Shelamzion Alexander, Hyrcanus Ii, And Aristobulus Ii In The Dead Sea Scrolls, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

The reign of Queen Shelamzion Alexandra (ca. 79-67 B.C.E.), commonly known as Salome Alexandra, marks a unique period in the history of the Hasmonean dynasty. She is not only the sole Hasmonean queen regnant, but a person whose reign is difficult to reconstruct. Josephus’ two accounts of her time in power in his War and Antiquities often differ. The latter of the two, moreover, is consistently more negative than the former work. Although the Rabbinic literature generally describes her in a favorable light, this material is quite late and is therefore of dubious historical value. Although some scholars have tried …

The Sacrality Of The Mountain, Manuel Rivera Espinoza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I explore the conception of the mountain as a "sacred space" based on the definition provided by Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and The Profane and other works. I recognize three major elements in Eliadean sacral spatiality: a) order and orientation b) liminality and c) reality. Using various sources but mainly the oracle bones inscriptions, the Yugong ("Tributes of Yu") of the Shujing ("Book of Documents") and the Shanjing ("Classic of Mountains") of the Shanhaijing ("Classic of Mountains and Seas"), I demonstrate how the three basic components of sacrality are to be found in each of the …

Mormonism In Europe: A Bibliographic Essay, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

“Mormonism in Europe: A Bibliographic Essay,” surveys studies useful to serious students and researchers interested in Mormonism in Europe. It focuses on scholarly books, articles, theses, and dissertations published prior to 2010 about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Europe. Out of necessity it is selective. Works of a more popular nature are included only when they contain information valuable to researchers not found in other publications. The studies listed herein are generally categorized by region and country and fall in a somewhat chronological order by topic within those geographic regions.

Bacon's "Abby Hopper Gibbons: Prison Reformer And Social Activist" - Book Review, Elizabeth A. O'Donnell

Quaker Studies

No abstract provided.

Walter And Emma Malone: Friends Of Sinners And The Poor, John Oliver

Quaker Studies

The Malones, leaders of Holiness Quakerism, were presented in The Transformation of American Quakerism: Orthodox Friends 1800-1907, an otherwise excellent early work by historian Thomas Hamm, as leaders of a movement whose ' dominant note ...was opposition to any type of reform activity'. If too strong, it is fair to suggest that numbers of Holiness Friends, including the Malones, were relatively indifferent to political, economic and social reform. But seeing them in this light, or as mere obstructionists to 'modern thought', does not quite capture who they were or what they were about. This article contends the Mal ones had …

Chalk, Cheese, And Cloth: The Settling Of Quaker Communities In Seventeenth-Century Wiltshire, Kay S. Taylor

Quaker Studies

The underlying geology of Wiltshire was responsible for the county's contrasting farming and settlement patterns of the seventeenth century, and gave rise to its distinctive north-south 'chalk and cheese' divide. These particular characteristics, which also shaped the road networks and the location of the cloth-producing industry, played a significant role in determining the way in which the early Quaker movement developed within the county. This paper not only places the development of Wiltshire Quakerism within the context of the county's topography but also identifies the influence of other factors, such as patronage and the presence of other religious groups, on …

Victorian Philanthropy And The Rowntrees: The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Mark Freeman

Quaker Studies

Through an examination of the establishment and early grant-making priorities of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, this article explores the development of Quaker philanthropy in Britain in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, especially in the context of the long-standing Quaker interest in adult education. It locates Joseph Rowntree's view of philanthropy in the wider contexts of the changing patterns of Victorian and Edwardian philanthropic theory and practice, the nineteenth-century growth of Quaker social concern, and the changing perceptions of the problem of poverty during Rowntree's lifetime. It argues that the motives underlying the establishment of the Charitable Trust were predicated …

America's Learning About Foreign Places Through The Eyes Of Missionaries: Writings In The Friends' Missionary Advocate, 1885-1933, Stanley D. Brunn, Elizabeth J. Leppman

Quaker Studies

Missionaries were among the travelers who supplied American adults and children with information about foreign places. Because they enjoyed a high status and respect with their home congregations and because they lived among peoples in foreign, often exotic, lands, missionaries and their writings enjoyed a wide and attentive audience. Materials in The Friends' Missionary Advocate between 1885 and 1933 report that information on foreign regions reached American audiences through presentations at monthly and quarterly meetings and at yearly conferences. Articles, letters, reports, maps, and pictures were also a medium for influencing Americans' impressions of the world.

Quaker Families And Business Networks In Nineteenth-Century Darlington, Gillian Cookson

Quaker Studies

This article investigates the central role played by Quakers in the industrial and urban growth of Darlington, focusing in particular upon family and business connections with Friends in the City of London. From the launch of the town's famous first railway, to the ensuing arrival of heavy industry in the 1850s and 1860s, Quakers were at the forefront of industrial and urban developments. While Quaker entrepreneurs possessed advantages in business deriving from their access to finance and advice, and from their reputation for probity, the idea that they also had special talents for foresight, innovation and management, is not borne …

The First George Richardson Lecture, Delivered By Professor Grigor Mcclelland At The University Of Sunderland, October 22, 1996: What Is Quaker Studies?, Grigor Mcclelland

Quaker Studies

No abstract provided.

Transhumanism And Catholic Natural Law: Changing Human Nature And Changing Moral Norms?, Brian Patrick Green

Staff Publications and Research

In this chapter I propose a preliminary response to the transhumanist challenge to natural law by investigating six basic questions: ( 1) Is human nature relevant to morality? (2) Is human nature mutable? (3) How would we know if human nature had changed? ( 4) Could cultural evolution replace biological evolution? (5) How would human nature and human will relate to each other under these new transhuman conditions? (6) Is it possible to construct a dynamic ethic to fit a dynamic nature, and if so, what might that ethic be?

Overall, I argue that it is possible to maintain a …

Difference And The Establishment: An Asian Canadian Senior Pastor's Evangelical Spatiality At Tenth Avenue Alliance Church In Vancouver, Bc, Justin K. H. Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores how the evangelical spatiality of an Asian Canadian senior pastor at a historically Anglo-Saxon congregation has transformed it from an ethnically homogeneous, aging church to a heterogeneously-constituted gathering in an evangelical Protestant tradition. This piece challenges the conventional wisdom of the church growth movement and the new religious economics in the sociology of religion, both of which advise religious groups to construct homogeneity and consensus in efforts for numerical growth over against secularizing forces. The paper argues instead that Pastor Ken Shigematsu’s evangelical spatiality from the mid-1990s to the present must be understood as a theological embrace …

Can American Christians Care About Hong Kong’S Umbrella Movement?, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It’s a delicate task to write about how American Christians, especially evangelicals, can care about Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement.

Attempted Ukrainian Catholic Ecclesicide: A Brief History, A Historical Exhibition And Its Book (Book Review Of To The Light Of The Resurrection Through The Thorns Of Catacombs: The Underground Activity And Reemergence Of The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), Joseph A. Loya O.S.A

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Keeping The Light Shining? The End Of British Quakerism Revisited, Paul F. Burton

Quaker Studies

This paper follows on from two earlier articles in Quaker Studies on the predicted end-point for the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and presents analyses of the membership data for individual General Meetings (GMs) within Britain Yearly Meeting which suggest that the picture is not as straightforward as initially presented in the earlier articles. Based on an analysis of membership numbers since 1899, some GMs are predicted to increase over the next 30 years, although most will apparently decline. The data are also analysed on a regional basis and three models of the changing membership are presented.