Digital Commons Network^™

What God Has Joined Together: The One Threefold Purpose Of Marriage, David Frayne Shudy

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Modern married couples and marriage-minded individuals are often left awash in a sea of confusion aimlessly groping about for a purpose for their marriage, with disastrous societal results. Whereas long-standing Christian tradition has taught a unified threefold marital purpose of three equal elements—procreation, mutual help, and remedy for sin—Enlightenment thinkers and their ideological descendants have introduced a hierarchical marriage teleology with a self-chosen purpose (usually companionship) at the top in order to correct for an alleged countervailing overemphasis on procreation in premodern marital teleology.

This thesis will challenge the claim of a relative deficiency in the companionate aspect of premodern …

Educating A Denomination: Albert C. Outler And American Theological Education, 1925 - 1974, Lane Davis

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides a critical biography of Albert C. Outler, a prominent historian and theologian in modern Methodism and analyzes three significant emphases in his work: ecumenism, theology and psychology, and Methodist doctrine. The study begins with Outler's formative education and his ministry as a Methodist pastor in Georgia. Outler's doctoral education at Yale focused his work on discovering the connections of the "common history" of all Christians. The study then considers Outler’s extensive work in three interconnected disciplines: ecumenical studies, the study of religion and psychology, and Methodist theology and doctrine. The connection between these diverse subjects lies in …

Cultivating Reproductive Small Group Leaders Within Southwest Church, Springboro, Ohio, Roger D. Hendricks

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This project was designed to address an ongoing challenge within the Southwest Church (SWC) in Springboro, Ohio. The specific challenge that SWC leaders have faced throughout the twenty-five-year history of the church is to continually increase the number of small group options within a growing congregation. Small groups have been identified as the primary vehicle for SWC members to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. This congregational emphasis has led to the good dilemma of having more individuals willing to participate than lead weekly small groups. In the past few years, SWC leaders have identified the need for the …

Alec Vidler’S Permanent Opposition: C. S. Lewis, Joel Heck

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Alexander Roper “Alec” Vidler was born on December 27, 1899, a little more than a year after C. S. Lewis. His career encompassed that of an Anglican priest, theologian, and historian. This essay will explore the relationship between C. S. Lewis and Alec Vidler, their views on theology and related writings, and the reasons their correspondence ceased after nine years.

Redeeming Theodicy In Job: Moving From A Classical To A Christological Framework, Jaime L. Riddle

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

This thesis analyzes existing interpretations of theodicy in the book of Job, in order to suggest an alternative approach informed by the nature and mission of Christ. Much of biblical scholarship in Job has focused on a classical approach to theodicy or, in recent years, deconstructed anti-theodicy. This thesis offers an alternative approach that focuses on the Christological overtones in Job and a modern synthesis of Old and New Testament theodicy.

Chapter 1 introduces the problem of theodicy in Job, and a taxonomy of lenses traditionally used to examine Old Testament theodicy. Chapter 2 analyzes classical perspectives of Job derived …

The Ethical Domain Of The Chalcedonian Christological Confession, Jesse Gerard Alker

Yale Divinity School Theses

No abstract provided.

Mirroring Jesus’S Prayerful Approach To Interactions With Dissatisfied Followers Through The Lens Of The Modern Worship Pastor, Bryant Timothy William West

Masters Theses

This study shows the life and mission of Jesus through His interactions with conflict and will show how worship pastors can apply these lessons to the church. Detailing Jesus's prayer life and His approach to interacting with others, examining the approach worship leaders should have when interacting with similar people. The report will concentrate on three areas of study, including Jesus's prayer life, his ministry, and how the worship pastor can create a church that parallels Christ. Jesus' ministry and discussions with the Pharisees show worship pastors how they should approach church members. This discussion is due to the struggles …

Did Jesus Survive The Cross?, Christopher Dwayne Banks

Masters Theses

This study explored whether it was possible for Jesus to survive the crucifixion from a medical and historical perspective. The scope of this thesis is based purely on what is evidentially plausible and more likely. Therefore, the data must reflect whether it was possible for Jesus to survive being crucified. Medical examination and ancient Roman sources were utilized to determine the nature and effectiveness of a Roman crucifixion. Furthermore, several theories concerning how one expires by the crucifixion were included to provide a rounded conclusion. Contrasting hypotheses offered greater insight into refining the question for which this thesis was designed. …

Deploying Secular Historian's Rules As An Apologetic Method To Persuade Secular Naturalists/Humanists That Demons Exist, Mark P. Ragsdale

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Secular Humanists/Naturalists presuppose a priori that the existence and activity of non-material, incorporeal, spirit beings are not possible. Like a First Order Skeptic argues that one cannot be sure of anything beyond perception, the Secularist accepts existence of all that is material while rejecting any spiritual realm. The dissertation qualitatively ties together themes arguing that the same standards secularists apply to vetting any commonly accepted historical event whatever also inductively supports the existence and activity of demons.

Reading (In) A Quadriform Cosmos:Gospel Books In The Early Christian Bibliographic Imagination, Jeremiah Coogan

Jesuit School of Theology

Early Christian thinkers developed the widespread linguistic cosmology of the Roman Mediterranean in a novel way in order to advance a specific bibliographic project: aligning the emergent fourfold Gospel with the structure of the physical cosmos. Employing interlocking concepts from the disciplines of meteorology, geography, music, mathematics, and astronomy, a number of figures—including Irenaeus, Origen, Ephrem, Eusebius, Fortunatianus, Augustine, and Maximus—imagined a Gospel corpus consisting of precisely four texts. Number provided a way to articulate the coherence of the fourfold Gospel—both with itself and with the rest of the world. By situating both familiar and neglected evidence in the context …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of The Great Commission Research Journal 2009-2019, Glenn R. Wittig

Great Commission Research Journal

The Great Commission Research Journal, the subject of this investigation, is a relatively new journal with roots in the past. It is a successor to two previous publications from the American Society for Church Growth. A bibliometric analysis of the journal’s first ten volumes is presented on two levels. The first is a content analysis of the surface features of the publication such as the authors’ education, academic credentials, and employment, the number of full-length articles published, the subjects covered in each article, and other features such as the average length of articles, number of footnote references, and number of …

Liturgical Items In The Churches Of The Pyriatyn Protopopy In The Second Half Of The 18th Century, Oleksandr Lukyanenko, Vitaly Dmytrenko, Vita Dmytrenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article, based on descriptions of church property, analyzes the state of provision of liturgical items in the parish churches of the Pyriatyn Protopopy (Archdiocese) as an ecclesiastical-administrative district of the Kyiv Metropolitanate. During the second half of the 18th century, there were 87 churches in 81 settlements under the rule of the Archpriest of Pyriatyn. The research found 19 names of things for worship described as church property of the churches of the Pyriatyn Archdiocese. We divide them into three categories. The first includes the clothes in which the priest was dressed during the liturgy, the second unites items …

The Apocalyptic Character Of The Ethnic Identity Argument In Galatians, Benjamin J. Nickodemus

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Nickodemus, Benjamin J. “The Apocalyptic Character of the Ethnic Identity Argument in Galatians.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2023. 281 pp.

The relationship between Paul’s ethnic identity argument to bring Gentiles into the line of Abraham and the apocalyptic inbreaking of Christ into the present has been poorly defined. The new creation seems to relativize all difference in ethnic identity, yet the importance of Gentiles being heirs of Abraham remains a fundamental component of Paul’s argument. This dissertation argues that the tension between these two identity arguments arises because they are not in fact two arguments, but one reality. The ethnic …

Displacement Of The Rohingyas Of Myanmar, Land Grabbing, And Extractive Capital, Afroza Anwary

The Journal of Social Encounters

Research on the displacement of the Rohingya from their property has paid little attention to how the government’s land policies encourage various actors to seize that land and extract resources. This research is based on interviews with Rohingya refugees, reports from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies, and published academic work. Economic, social, and political factors are responsible for the displacement of Rohingyas. To argue that a single factor is responsible for their displacement would be incorrect, as research reveals a more complicated interaction of social forces. However, this paper considers the unique dynamics of land grabbing, land laws, ethnic …

Misusing Books: Material Texts And Lived Religion In The Roman Mediterranean, Jeremiah Coogan

Jesuit School of Theology

Books are more than vehicles for textual content. They are objects of economic value and social significance, embedded in complex networks of production and use. Recent historical scholarship on lived religion in the Roman Mediterranean has expanded beyond traditional conversations about theological concepts and scriptural interpretations, but this critical turn sometimes neglects material texts as sacred and powerful objects. Addressing this lacuna in light of Roman book culture, the present article re-reads several ancient reports about the misuse of textual objects. Accounts of the burned books of Numa Pompilius, of the powerful codex of Elchasai, and of the writings destroyed …

Faith And Reason And The Reformations (Book Review), Keith C. Sewell

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Faith and Reason and the Reformations by Terence J. Kleven. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, Lexington Books, 2022. ISBN: 978179360688-4, 252 pp.

The Soldier, The Parliamentarian, The Statesman, And The Historian, Keith C. Sewell

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

From The Alps To The Pampas: The Missionary Work Of Jean Vuilleumier In South America (1895-1901), Eric E. Richter

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

A Guide To Secondary Scholarship For Pure Land Buddhism Using Japanese Periodicals, Rebecca A. Stover

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This paper presents the process of locating Japanese language periodicals relating to Pure Land Buddhism and compiles a bibliography of open-access Japanese language sources for students in the process of Japanese Language acquisition. The paper attempts to scaffold the research process for students in the process of language acquisition and function as a guide to finding information.

Book Review On Sculpting The Self: Islam, Selfhood And Human Flourishing (By Muhammad Faruque), Mohammad Azadpur

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Airplane Hangars And Triple Hills: Renovation, Demolition, And The Architectural Politics Of Local Belonging At The Our Lady Of Csíksomlyó Hungarian National Shrine, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

In 2019, Pope Francis, leader of the global Catholic Church, celebrated an outdoor Mass at the Our Lady of Csíksomlyó Hungarian national shrine in Romania. When the Franciscan Order that runs the shrine published renovation plans for the altar where the pope would appear, the Facebook post received over 800 outraged comments, including one man who asked, “How can such a beautiful Hungarian symbol, so perfectly integrated into the landscape, be humiliated like this?” By situating these expressions of outrage in the history of Eastern European material politics, I argue that the aesthetic value the commentators were defending – a …

First Christian Voices: Practices Of The Apostolic Fathers, Michael T. Cooper

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

What were the most important practices in the early church? In this volume, Michael Cooper arranges the writings of the Apostolic Fathers into eight themes that provide deeper understanding about the subjects important to the disciples of the New Testament apostles.

First Christian Voices examines the written testimonies of the late first and second centuries to discover what animated the church in the face of internal and external struggles and growth as the gospel extended to the boundaries of the Roman Empire.

Books Received

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Ruth Duvall Crawford’S Wonderful Career In Music And Evangelism, Dan D. Crawford

Zea E-Books Collection

This book is a study of the career and ministry of Ruth Duvall Crawford (1916–1986), the wife of prominent evangelist Percy Crawford (1902–1960). As pianist for Percy’s evangelistic team and director of music for his various evangelistic enterprises, Ruth put together an ensemble of 40–50 musicians, and produced hundreds of high-quality music programs, geared to Percy’s nationwide radio and television audiences. These programs set a new standard of performance in evangelical circles in the Northeast and Central United States in the 1930s and 40s. In the process of building this musical program, Ruth developed a format and an original style …

Brief Sermons On Controversial Topics, Scott Gambrill Sinclair

The Scott Sinclair Lecture Notes Collection

Lecture notes on a series of talks by Scott G. Sinclair's on his version of the Historical Jesus.

Review Of Michael Birkil, Quakers Reading Mystics (Brill, 2018), Mark Bredin

Quaker Religious Thought

Birkel’s book, at one level, is a searching historical enquiry establishing the possible direct influence of John Cassian on Robert Barclay, Jeanne Guyon on Sarah Lynes Grubb, Johannes Tauler on Caroline Stephen, Jacob Boehme on Rufus Jones, and Buddhist mysticism on Teresina Rowell Havens. He emphasizes his study to be “strongly shaped by…the principles of historical study” (8). His conclusion is, indeed, rooted in the language of historical probabilities, such as “based on incontestably solid ground” (100) or “are more tentative” (100).

Review Of R. Gordon Shepherd, A. Gary Shepherd, And Ryan T. Cragun, Eds. The Palgrave Handbook Of Global Mormonism. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2020., Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye

Mormon Studies Review

At 868 pages, this volume is more comprehensive than any that have come before, with thirty-one chapters written by forty-two authors on three restoration traditions, discussing over forty countries and even more ethnic and cultural groupings. The editors have brought together not only scholars from the fields already well represented within Mormon studies (history, religious studies, sociology, anthropology, studies of gender, race, and culture) but also scholars with provocative perspectives from geography, demography, and corporate research. There is a pleasing mix of new and familiar names.

Reviewing a book such as this one could easily consume the allotted space with …

The Effectiveness Of Theological Education To Grow Disciples In The Unorganized Territory, Chung Yin Mak

Dissertations DIS

Problem

In the past three decades, China has imposed serious restrictions on theological education in the Unorganized Territory (UT). The Adventist Church has endeavored to address this challenge by seeking various means of equipping its leaders through both formal and informal theological education. This study is needed because these attempts have never been reviewed in light of advancing the church’s mission especially in the area of discipleship.

Methods

Duce and Cameron (2013, 16-143) proposed the use of questionnaires, participant observation, interviews, focus groups, and documentary analysis in order to conduct theological research. Multiple research methods were utilized (Creswell 2014, 16; …

Immigrant Muslim Women’S Belief And Practice Of The Veil In Southern California, Fatimah Alsuhaibani

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The literature lacks a thorough examination of why a Muslim woman decides to veil or not. Thus, utilizing interviews and the theoretical frameworks developed by Tweed, Vasquez, and others, my study investigated the practice and beliefs of Sunni immigrant Muslim women in the Inland Empire in terms of the veil. Because of the global nature of Islam and the transnational Muslim community, their framework may be utilized to evaluate immigrant Muslim women in the United States, who exemplify principles of transnationalism and globalization. Furthermore, my research found that once Muslim women relocate to the Inland Empire and adjust to life …

Christian Denominations On The Territory Of Ukraine In The First Half Of The 20th Century (1900-1939), Fedir Prodanyuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the state of Christian denominations in the territory of Ukraine in the first half of the 20th century. It has been established that the Christian religion occupied an important place in the life of Ukrainian society. However, the period of prosperity and oppression simultaneously fell in the first 40 years of the 20th century. The confessional policy of the Soviet Union, which came to replace the tsarist authorities, gave a limited privileged position for some Christian churches while creating harsh conditions for other denominations. As a rule, these were Protestant movements, but the Orthodox Church also experienced …