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St. Augustine’S Journey To Faith, Bridget Hughes

Writing Across the Curriculum

Augustine’s Confessions detail the Catholic philosopher’s reflection on his faith journey, a journey that would encompass much of his youth and early adulthood. Despite being raised by a devout mother, Augustine struggled to balance faith and purpose in his life. He practiced several different philosophies and religions throughout his life. Through his writings, Augustine elaborates on several of the Four Claims of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His introspection on his own relationship with the divine relates to the first claim that states the Catholic belief in the relationship between mankind and a Triune God. In addition, his contemplations of life, …

Cultivating Contemplative Availability, Ronald Charles Coward Jr.

Doctor of Ministry

People, in their depths of being, long to escape the noise, pain, confusion, and emptiness that pervade life. Beyond the internal wars of an individual are the wars between neighbors, families, cultures, and nations; even within and between congregations and denominations. There is an extensive need to cultivate the human capacity to bring relational depth to the whole of life, including one’s own self. The thesis of this dissertation maintains that to cultivate contemplative availability in loving union with God nurtures loving availability to self and others. Section 1 defines the problem as it is displayed, throughout society and the …

The Restoration-Focused Church, David Ralph

Doctor of Ministry

Statistical research indicates an increase in brokenness among North Americans over the past fifty years. Despite this increase, people seeking help for mental health issues, relational dysfunction, addictive behaviors, and other forms of brokenness are not often turning to the church for restoration, recovery, and healing. Many of those struggling with brokenness more often turn to therapeutic practitioners and other healing sources absent of any genuine spiritual parameters. Others turn to mutual support recovery groups where behavior modification and cognitive therapies lead to abstinence but not restoration. They stop giving into their addictions and compulsive behaviors, but they do not …

1853-1854 Minutes Of The Annual Conferences Of The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, For The Years 1853-1854, Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Conference Journals

No abstract provided.

1884 Minutes Of The Sixty-Fourth Session Of The Kentucky Annual Conference Of The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Minutes of the Kentucky Annual Conference

No abstract provided.

1867 Minutes Of The Forty-Seventh Session Of The Kentucky Annual Conference Of The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Minutes of the Kentucky Annual Conference

No abstract provided.

1880 Minutes Of The Sixtieth Session Of The Kentucky Annual Conference Of The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Minutes of the Kentucky Annual Conference

No abstract provided.

1929 Official Journal Of The Kentucky Annual Conference Of The Methodist Episcopal Church: The One Hundred And Third Session, Methodist Episcopal Church

Official Journal of the Kentucky Annual Conference

No abstract provided.

Issues In Christian Encounters With Yoga: Exploring 3ho/Kundalini Yoga, Michael Stoeber

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The paper begins by drawing out current issues that have been raised by critics concerning the contemporary practice of Hindu postural types of yoga in western and specifically western Christian contexts, with some illustrative reference to contemporary movements and schools, especially to Bikram Yoga. These are: cultural misappropriation; commodification; lack of moral pre-requisites; narcissistic attachment to bodily effects; occult influences; and doctrinal differences. The paper then explores specific aspects of the theory and practice of 3HO/Kundalini Yoga (3HO/KY) by Christians in light of these possible issues, showing how this tradition of Kundalini Yoga seems to skirt or side-step most of …

Devotion And Discipline: Christian Yoga And The Yoga Of T. Krishnamacharya, Stephanie Corigliano

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

SA tu dīrgha-kāla-nairantarya-satkārāsevito dṛḍha-bhūṃiḥ, Yogasūtra 1.14 states, “Practice becomes firmly established when it has been cultivated uninterruptedly and with devotion over a prolonged period of time.”¹

As a student of the late Pattabhi Jois, I heard this sūtra countless times during Jois’s afternoon conferences with his students. In the context of practice in Mysore with Jois, I understood the concept of discipline. However, the concept of devotion, satkārā, was more ambiguous. Questions about God and devotion were usually met with a simple, “God is one.”

Yoga, Christians Practicing Yoga, And God: On Theological Compatibility, Or Is There A Better Question?, Andrea R. Jain

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Houston is a wildly diverse city; nonetheless it should come as no surprise that the Houston Chronicle “Belief” section frequently features stories about church expansions or declines, pastoral developments, and other reports on Christian communities. Christians, after all, make up over 70% of the city’s population. A provocative cover of a 2011 Belief section, however, shed light on a very different face of religion in Houston. The cover featured an image of local yoga teacher and entrepreneur Jennifer Buergermeister donning fashionable yoga attire and in the posture of a South Asian goddess, complete (thanks to clever photography) with six arms. …

Buddha, Bhakti, And Brahman: Sebastian Kappen S.J.’S Dialogue With Indian Religions, Mathew Thekkemuriyil Antony, Idesbald Goddeeris

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This article analyzes how Sebastian Kappen S.J. (1924-1993), a social thinker and one of the most radical Indian liberation theologians, related to Indian religions. It argues that Kappen, in spite of his criticism of the caste system, also found inspiration in Hinduism. He especially appreciated the ontic and cosmic understandings of transcendence and immanence, the inclusive interpretation of the divine, and the religious approach to nature. In addition, Kappen also valued other Asian religious traditions, such as Buddhism and the Bhakti movement. Being an anti-institutional and anti-hierarchical progressive theologian, Kappen used Indian religions as a challenge to his own Christian …

Viewpoint: Fight Or Flight: Thomas Merton And The Bhagavad Gītā1, Steven J. Rosen

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Two commemorative events of landmark stature inspired the essay you are about to read: First, the year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s abrupt departure from our material vision. Second, 2018 is also the semicentennial celebration of a consequential publication: It was in 1968 that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda released his unprecedentedly influential Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. As we shall see, the trailblazing Western visionary, Merton, and this particular edition of the Gītā engaged in productive conversation with each other.

Book Review: To Be Cared For: The Power Of Conversion And Foreignness Of Belonging In An Indian Slum, James Elisha Taneti

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum. By Nathaniel Roberts. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2016, xv + 312 pages.

Reproducing The Capitalist Patriarchy In The Evangelical Christian Sexual Purity Movement: A Feminist Christian’S Concern And Hope, Hannah K. Griggs

Audre Lorde Prize

Through a feminist lens, this essay will explore modern expressions of the conservative evangelical Christian purity movement, including Christian sex manuals, abstinence-only education programs, and purity balls. To begin, I will explain the most important facets of my own feminist theory, which draws from existentialist, socialist, and postmodern feminisms. Using this unique combination of theories, I will attempt to reconcile my deeply held Christian and feminist beliefs about sex. Finally, I will propose a solution that honors both of these important parts of my identity. I assert that the Christian purity movement Others women reinforcing a gender binary, bending to …

Ellen White, Health, And The Third Angel’S Message: Part 1–Improving Health Through Reducing Transmissible Diseases, Warren A. Shipton

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"A systematic approach to Ellen White’s statements on health, particularly in the physical realm, has shown that her words need not be misunderstood and are as sound today as when they were given. She conveyed a profound sense of reverence for God’s word and His instructions on health. Her statements were meant to amplify the principles contained in the Scriptures. I could find no evidence of deficiency in either source. The claim that modern science has discounted her views on such things as leprosy114 is inaccurate. White was more aware of things happening in her day than some modern-day writers …

Week 9: Amos, Calvin University

Campus Ministries Resources

No abstract provided.

The Amoy China Mission Of The Reformed Church In America, 1937-1951, Jame E. Bell

Grand Valley Journal of History

This article analyzes how successful the Reformed missionaries operating in Amoy and the surrounding region were in accomplishing their objectives of evangelism and the establishment of an indigenous Chinese Church from 1937 to 1951. Through a combination of evangelism, education, and medical work the missionaries sought to spread their faith to the lay population of Fujian province. The missionaries’ work became much more difficult in the late 1930s with the Japanese invasion, World War II, and the eventual Communist takeover. In spite of this, their efforts, in conjunction with other missions, built a dedicated Chinese Christian community that proved hardy …

The Relationship Between Involvement In Religious Student Organizations And The Development Of Socially Responsible Leadership Capacity, William J. Black

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This study of 76,365 students from 82 U.S. institutions explored the relationship between involvement in a religious student organization and student capacities for socially responsible leadership, based on the Social Change Model of Leadership (SCM). Results from t-tests found students involved in both religious and secular student organizations reported statistically significantly higher scores on all eight measures of socially responsible leadership than students involved in only religious student organizations.

Hierarchical multiple regression models explained between 26% and 29% of the variance in student reported levels of overall socially responsible leadership. Compared to students involved in no organizations, involvement in …

Early Christianity: Introduction To Chapter 4 Of Essential Readings In Medicine And Religion, Ekaterina Lomperis, Gary Ferngren

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

No abstract provided.

"Get On The Cart!" Wesleyan Discipleship In An Age Of Endemic (Chapter 15 Of Thinking Theologically About Mass Incarceration), Benjamin Hartley, Glen Alton Messer Ii, Kirsten Sonkyo Oh

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said that the so,ul of society "can be measured by its prisons."1 If that is true, then the soul of society in the United States is sick. The statistics on mass incarceration provided elsewhere in this volume illustrate the endemic nature of the problem much like epidemiological data shows the occurrence of a disease, but the stories from prisoners and their families-which the three of us have heard and told-show even more poignantly the depth of the wounds caused by the tragedy of incarceration that defies Christian virtues in this country. We pray this chapter will …

Today's Challenges To Religious Liberty In Historical Perspective, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

From the Introduction

Many people say that religious liberty in our country is now under attack more than ever before. That's true as far as it goes, and in what follows I shall supply some reasons why I think so. But the chief aim of this Article is not to try to establish that religious liberty is in its most parlous state ever, as if some common threat-level metric is higher today than it was, say, a hundred or fifty years ago. As a matter of fact, Mormons and Native Americans in the late-nineteenth century faced government actions more hostile …

God Cannot Do Without America: Matthew Simpson And The Apotheosis Of Protestant Nationalism, Darius Salter

Academic Books

No abstract provided.

Teaching Christian Mission In An Age Of World Christianity, Robert A. Danielson, Linda Whitmer

Academic Books

No abstract provided.

Ethnographic Action Research In Missiological Research Design: A Pilot Proposal, E. P.

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"As an integrant part of practical theology, missiology has an advantage of not being confined within the boundaries of social science methods. Although, as an academic discipline missiological research makes use of some social science methods, its interdisciplinary nature and theological perspective should allow for innovative methodologies that not only contribute to academic research but also fulfills the mission of God even while doing research. The pilot proposal introduced in this article presented a suggestion for an innovative methodology in missiological research. The proposed method combined methodologies from two main fields, ethnography and action research, combining their elements in a …

A Biblical Training Model To Improve The Financial Literacy Of The Members Of The Roundup-Lewistown District Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Andrew Raduly

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Pastoral observation suggested that one third of the Roundup-Lewistown Seventh-day Adventist district membership struggled with personal financial management issues. It was suggested that the root causes for the inability to manage financial resources was a lack of financial literacy and education and a lack of understanding of basic financial concepts, including misunderstandings about biblical concepts about wealth, borrowing, and stewardship of resources.

Method

In order to assess, improve, and observe the basic knowledge of the financial literacy and education of the Roundup-Lewistown Seventh-day Adventist church membership, a pre-financial literacy seminar assessment survey (PREFLAS) was administered. The PREFLAS was followed …

Reducing Pastor-Dependency In The New Market Seventh-Day Adventist Church Through Self-Managed Ministry Teams, Shane N. Anderson

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Between 2004 and 2015, members of the New Market Seventh-day Adventist Church independently—that is, apart from the pastoral staff—initiated only a handful of new ministries (either for in-reach or outreach) and only occasionally attempted to substantially improve existing ministries. This stunted the church’s ability to reach, baptize, and mature new members. Two professional assessments of the church indicated that this problem was caused largely by an unhealthy dependence on the pastoral staff to make the majority of substantive ministry decisions.

Method

Self-managed ministry teams were implemented into a significant portion of the church over a period of 18 months …

Training Volunteer And Non-Professional Health Educators In The Context Of The Milwaukee Seventh-Day Adventist Community, Glenn Cassimy

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Sharon SDA Church is a prominent faith based organization (FBO) in the Milwaukee district. Like many other churches in the community, the Sharon SDA Church continually seeks to adopt innovative strategies to assist in improving the health status of their congregants. Although the Sharon SDA Church and various faith-based organizations implement health program initiatives as a part of their mission, at the end of any program effort, there is still the need for ongoing member support to assist congregants in fully achieving the goals they set during their health initiative. This study, therefore, is an attempt to provide …

The Relationship Of Law And Grace In The Hermeneutics Of New Covenant Theology, Carlos J. Cruz Pacheco

Master's Theses

Problem

This thesis evaluates the offer by New Covenant Theology of an interpretation of salvation history that stands in criticism of interpretations offered by Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. Does New Covenant Theology demonstrate a distinctive view of the law-grace relationship that brings new perspectives on important theological and hermeneutical issues such as the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, and the Sabbath. Are New Covenant theologians correct in their claim that their system presents the best interpretation of salvation history, and of the law-grace relationship?

Purpose

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate New Covenant Theology’s hermeneutics by …

Lideranca Servidora: Um Estudo De Saude Organizacional, Dos Estilos E Praticas Da Lideranca E Da Satisfacao Do Trabalho Segundo A Percepcao Do Ministerio Pastoral Da Associacao Mineira Sul Da Igreja Adventista Do Setimo Dia, Luis Gustavo Cava Sa

Master's Theses

Problem

Considering that Southern Minas Conference (AMS) growth rate is lower than other fields within the Brazilian Southeast Union (USEB) an investigation was conducted regarding the organizational health, the practices and styles of leadership, as well as the job satisfaction level among AMS pastors.

Method

The study was conducted among 46 pastors who represent three levels of leadership: Top Leadership, Management and Work Force as established by the research instrument Organizational Leadership Assessment (OLA) that analyses the perception of the participants regarding six key areas of leadership, six levels of organizational health, and job satisfaction level of the Work Force, …