Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Black Male Undergraduate Degree Completion At A Pwi Examining Single Indicators Of Religiosity, Anxiety, And Depression., Nickolas Spears Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Religiosity is a well-known protective factor for mental health as a coping and resilience source, which positively affects Black male college students' academic success. However, less is known about whether religiosity predicts degree completion and buffers Black males' mental health from a quantitative research approach. Black males have one of the lowest degree completion rates at four-year institutions. Students who experience poor mental health outcomes have lower degree completion. This study utilized logistic regression to investigate whether religiosity: (1) predicted degree completion among Black male undergraduate students and (2) moderated anxiety and depression. The results suggest Black males identify high …

Theodramatic Themes And Showtime In Nassim Soleimanpour’S White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Charles A. Gillespie

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

This essay engages the experimental playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit alongside the theological dramatic theory of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Every Soleimanpour play can only happen once. Actors receive the script as they begin the show; any given actor must perform Soleimanpour’s drama as a cold reading unique in history. I propose “Showtime” to theorize this theatrical temporality, exemplified by White Rabbit Red Rabbit and shared by von Balthasar’s theology, on analogy to stage space. This article further examines the play’s themes of identity, self-sacrifice, free obedience, and writing about time through a “theodramatic structural analysis” keyed to …

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Grace, Legalism, And Mental Health Among The Latter-Day Saints, Daniel K. Judd, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

Martin Luther (1483–1546), a central figure of the Protestant Reformation, is one of many who have experienced tension between the perceived necessity of their own good works and the grace of God in the process of salvation. Soon after the young Luther entered the monastery in preparation to become a priest, he began to experience the consequences of his legalistic beliefs. Reflecting on this experience later in life, he wrote:

The Strengths And Challenges Of Contemporary Marriages Of Members Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Dean M. Busby, David C. Dollahite

BYU Studies

Many people follow religious beliefs, principles, and practices because they believe these will lead to a higher quality of marriage and family life.¹ It is clear from the extant research that belonging to and practicing a religion can lead to improved outcomes that benefit couples and families. A large body of social science research indicates that religion has salutary influence on a number of personal and relational outcomes, including greater physical and mental health,² positive psychological outcomes in adolescence,³ better marital relationships and higher fidelity,⁴ transformation in marital relationships,⁵ reduced anxiety,⁶ marital stability,^{7 …}

Gay Rights And The Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

In this book, Gregory Prince compiles and examines available records of how individual leaders within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Church as an institution have approached issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The compilation is most welcome as it provides many useful sources to understand how the Church and its leaders have discussed and acted on these issues. The book is an important reference, and I have gone back to it again and again to reference its timelines and sources.

The Impact Of Presence And Touch On Church Growth, William Charles Berg

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the problem of discovering whether, when churches move to be physically present in their communities and engage in appropriate touch through serving, there is a corresponding impact in confession of faith and church growth. To answer this problem, the researcher began with the incarnation and trinity as a model of presence and touch. The researcher reviewed the Gospels to identify Jesus’ use of physical presence and touch in His ministry. The researcher also looked at the impact of presence and touch on the early church in the Book of Acts. He reviewed literature that focused on the …

Cultivating Relational, Developmental And Missional Discipleship Within A Lutheran Mega-Church, Richard Michael Webb

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, many Lutheran mega-churches have become stagnant or have begun to decline in worship attendance. Some have even closed their doors, not surviving past their founding leadership. Furthermore, few of these mega-churches offer any kind of intentional growth pathway for their members. What is called discipleship often appears instead to be a classroom-driven assimilation process. This project addressed the problem Lutheran mega-churches have in making disciples by exploring the relational, developmental and missional aspects of discipleship and how they might be integrated into an effective discipleship strategy for use in these mega-churches. This project began with …

Old Colony Mennonite Women's Lives In Mexico From The 1920s To The 1940s, Rebecca Janzen

Faculty Publications

This article explores documents and photographs that record the migration of two Old Colony Mennonite women from Canada to Mexico in the 1920s. It focuses on the lives of two women, Sara Wiebe and Anna Enns, and their families. The archival materials document their arrival and travel companions. This study illustrates a researcher’s ability to analyze a limited archival record to broaden our understanding of Mennonite immigration to Mexico and the role of women in the Mennonite community at this time. Not only do these archival documents help us understand how women helped establish villages and schools in ways that …

Reflections On Jewish And American Disability Law And On The God Who Makes All Things Good, Randy Lee

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unless The Lord Build The House, Alicia L. Maimone

Honors Theses and Capstones

"Unless the Lord Builds the House" is a work of creative nonfiction about two years of my life as my chronic Lyme disease altered how I had to live and how I thought about my life . There are three major threads that I explore.

The first theme is about losing my old self. There was an old Alicia and a new Alicia, and I explore my frustration at losing the old Alicia. I explore this by talking about building. I see myself as a house under renovation, and I write about my struggle to let go of my past …

Changing The Subject Of Sati, Deepa Das Acevedo

Faculty Articles

Charan Shah's 1999 death was widely considered to be the first sati, or widow immolation, to have occurred in India in over twenty years. Media coverage of the event focused on procedural minutiae-her sari, her demeanor-and ultimately, several progressive commentators came to the counterintuitive conclusion that the ritually anomalous nature of Charan's death confirmed its voluntary, secular, and noncriminal nature. This article argues that the "unlabeling" of Charan's death, like those of other women between 1999 and 2006, reflects a tension between the nonindividuated, impervious model of personhood exemplified by sati and the particularized citizen-subject of liberal-democratic politics in India.

Known To God Alone: Reflections On The Trappists Of Gethsemani And Father Louis, Emilie Grosvenor

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Influence Of Racial Diversity On Church Growth: A Case Study Of Buffalo Suburban Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Lancaster, New York, Luis A. Mancebo

Dissertations

There is a growing phenomenon in the United States of America: multiracial churches. While earlier research indicates that church growth typically happens in more homogenous congregations, more and more churches are growing that are multiracial. This case study focused on the growth of Buffalo Suburban Seventh-day Adventist Church (BSSDAC), a multiracial church in Lancaster, New York. Data collection was done through focus groups of church leaders and members, and a review of any available church and membership records.

BSSDAC started as a White congregation in Buffalo in 1885 and moved to the suburbs in the 1980s where the initial transition …

The Psychosomatic Journey Of Trauma And Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific And Psycho-Spiritual Perspectives, Isabel Kelly

Pomona Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to create a comparative synthesis between scientific perspectives and spiritual perspectives of understanding the psychosomatic (mind-body) nature of trauma. In order to do so we will consider the works of Dr.Bessel van der Kolk, a world-leading psychiatrist in the field of trauma therapy who advocates for the use of body-oriented approaches to healing, and the works of Carl Jung and Donald Kalsched. Jung is considered one of the founding fathers of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, while Kalsched is a Jungian psychoanalyst who specializes in working with trauma patients. We will see that while …

Hee Won Choi, "A Study Of Granville Oral Roberts’S Whole Person Healing Mission/그랜빌 오랄 로버츠(Granville Oral Roberts)의 전인치유선교 연구," Phd Dissertation, Juan International University, (In Korean), Hee Won Choi

Books and Other Holy Spirit Artifacts

A thesis written in Korean for PhD in Intercultural Studies at Juan International University in South Korea.

English Abstract:

The thesis proposes Whole-Person healing mission as an effective for pastoral ministry and mission to respond to the challenge of the ineffective evangelistic mission as the critical hindrance to Christian ministry and mission. The study argues that the whole-person healing mission and evangelization of Granville Oral Roberts(1918-2009) through revival meetings, broadcasting, education, and medical service in the twentieth century would serve as a new theological breakthrough. His whole-person healing mission became a significant ideological foundation of holistic mission, faith mission, mission …

Envisioning Catholicism: Popular Practice Of A Traditional Faith In The Post-Wwii Us, Christy A. Bohl

Theses and Dissertations--History

Marian apparitions in the United States have occurred in ever-increasing numbers since World War Two, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. These apparitions occupy a unique space in religious life, as they provide opportunities for Catholics to practice their faith outside of the Church hierarchy while still maintaining their status as faithful Catholics, often placing women in prominent positions. Although apparitions are an important part of faith for thousands of American Catholics, most Americans and Catholics are unaware of how widespread this movement is. This dissertation takes a comparative approach to examine a selection of apparition events, illuminating the pilgrimage …

Prophetic Peace In The Epistle To The Romans: Intertextuality, Isaianic Discourse, And Romans 14:17, Dain Alexander Smith

The Asbury Journal

Interpreters of Romans have not recognized the Isaianic character of Paul’s description of the kingdom in Rom 14:17. Therefore, in this paper I demonstrate that there is an intertextual relationship between multiple Isaianic texts and Rom 14:17. First, I identify key texts in Isaiah that depict kings or kingdoms and share terms found in Romans: righteousness, peace, joy, good, and spirit. Second, I conclude by rereading Romans 14:17 in dialogue with Isaianic kingdom texts. This reading reveals that Romans presents the kingdom of God—and the church community

From The Archives: John Haywood Paul And Iva Durham Vennard- Holiness In Education

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Evil As Privation Justifying Restorative Justice, Josh Shrader-Perry

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Christian Bioethical Approaches To Gender Reassignment Surgery: Understanding Opposition And Retrieving The Body-Soul Complex, Stephanie Roy

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Advent Devotional Guide 2020, Belmont University

Advent Devotional Guides

No abstract provided.

Liturgy As Ethicizer: Cultivating Ecological Consciousness Through A Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Ethos, Stephen M. Meawad

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

This project will examine the liturgical ethos of the Coptic Orthodox Church and how this ethos is effective in creating self-sustaining, ecologically aware communities.

Immigrants, The Bible, And You (Calvin Shorts), Amanda W. Benckhuysen

Calvin Press

How does our Christian faith affect the way we think about immigration? What does the Bible say about immigrants that can help Christians respond faithfully to the current refugee and asylee crises? What does it look like to love our migrant neighbors? This book explores biblical perspectives on immigration in order to help Christians reflect theologically on issues related to immigration today.

Hoping To Die Well: An Exploration Of The Good Death, Emily Folse, Thomas Smith, Phd

Phase 1

Introduction: Many healthcare providers are uncomfortable and ill-equipped to talk about death with terminally ill patients and their families. This often results in unnecessary, aggressive medical interventions at the end of life and deaths discordant with patients’ wishes. In order to help patients die better deaths, it is first necessary to determine the character of a good death.

Methods: The good death was considered from secular and Catholic perspectives because religion is personally important to the author and many patients in the US. Features of a good death were elucidated by careful reading of scientific and humanistic literature and conversing …

Renewing Hearts: Catholic Perspectives In Valve Replacement Surgery For Those Who Use Intravenous Drugs, Kimberly Feeney, Robert Perkel, Md

Phase 1

Introduction: The incidence of infectious endocarditis has been increasing, particularly among those with a history of intravenous drug use (IVDU). Although current bioethics literature supports valve surgery as treatment for this patient population, clinical guidelines and literature continues to provide unclear recommendations for physicians. Catholic bioethics may provide a different perspective to re-contextualize the recommendations of secular ethics.

Methods: A PubMed search was used to gain background information regarding the incidence of infectious endocarditis and current treatment guidelines, as well as historical and current ethical considerations. Search terms included: “infectious endocarditis,” “IE,” “intravenous drug use,” “IVDU,” “ethics.” Related citations were …

The Rise And Fall Of Qigong, William J. Cramer

Honors Papers

This capstone engages the history qigong, a Chinese method of spiritual and bodily cultivation. Although similar Daoist practices have existed for thousands of years, the term qigong was invented by the Chinese military in the 1950s. Qigong exploded in popularity in China from the early 1980s to the late 90s. The Chinese state promoted, appropriated, regulated, and ultimately suppressed qigong. On one hand, the Chinese Communist Party wanted to measure and order qigong according to orthodox scientific and political principles, thus processing and controlling the explosion of spirituality known as “Qigong Fever.” Yet on the other hand, both within and …

1968 Journal Of The Kentucky Conference The Proceedings Of Session One Hundred And Forty-Eight, The Methodist Church

Journal of the Kentucky Conference

No abstract provided.

Wealthy Hyperagency In The Throwaway Culture: Inequality And Environmental Death, Kate Ward

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Faith Leaders Strategies For Increasing Millennial Engagement, Jessica Hayley Schafer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Faith based organizations (FBOs) have failed to engage their millennial members at the same level they have engaged the previous generations. FBO leaders who fail to engage millennials are at risk of not fulfilling their mission. Grounded in the value cocreation model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies FBO leaders used to engage millennials successfully. The participants comprised 7 leaders from 3 Western U.S. FBOs who have implemented successful strategies to engage millennials. Data were collected from interviews, observations, and online and offline documentation. The data were analyzed using Miller's guide to thematic analysis, …