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Bias As A Worldview Engine, The Terminus A Quo Of The Problem Of Evil, Eric Spencer Mccrickard

Masters Theses

Evidential evil is an encompassing title for moral evil, natural disasters, disease, famine, divorce, suffering, or other calamities in life that yield dissatisfaction or discernable discomfort. This area of evidential evil is the focus of this paper generally, including the argument posed by William Rowe from evidential evil and contemporary treatments offered by Bruce Russell. The argumentation is God’s nonexistence from the platform, or derivative of no greater good observed or known, of the justification or allowance of evil. It is not a refutation of the premises, per se, but instead, the biases associated with them are de facto statements …

Islamic Bioethics: National Regulations And Guidelines Of Human Stem Cell Research In The Muslim World, Azza Mahmoud

International Studies (MA) Theses

The utilization of human stem cells emerged recently in the Muslim world as one of the essential valuable areas of medicine for their vital role in developing regenerative medicine and treating chronic and incurable diseases. Existing studies indicate that most human stem cell researchers rely on varying schools of thought in Islamic law or on an individual base to define legitimate practices. From a policy perspective, the different Islamic religious decrees do not constitute a unified legal framework to promote essential international collaborations. The existing literature exhibits a limitation in comprehensive studies on human stem cell research (HSCR) in the …

Motiochihuanih : Catechists And Prayer Specialists As Religious Leaders Brokering 'El Costumbre' Nahua In Chicontepec, Veracruz, Abelardo De La Cruz De La Cruz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

El presente proyecto examina la religiosidad que se practica en el municipio de Chicontepec, ubicado en el norte del estado de Veracruz, en la región de la huasteca veracruzana. A partir de 1980 hasta la fecha actual y partir de una perspectiva emic, el estudio se enfoca en cuatro historias de caso, procedentes de una comunidad nahua conocida como Chapictlan. A través de la etnografía se analizan las opiniones de los catequistas y rezanderos conocidos como motiochihuanih, resaltando la historia personal individual, la formación católica recibida, la experticia del trabajo religioso, y de sus inconformidades con el catolicismo. Los catequistas …

An Integrated Preaching Design : A Methodological Framework For Preaching In The Indian Context, Ancy John

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Metaphor And Atonement : A Conceptual Metaphor Study Of The Sacrificial Prescriptions In Lev 1-16, Bradley James Haggard

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Progressive Christianity: The Postmodern Mutation Of Theological Liberalism, Lisa Dundov

Masters Theses

The intention of this thesis is to historically track Liberal Christianity, distinguishing its different shapes, dissecting its current form of Progressive Christianity, and then refute its tenets by holding them to the standard of orthodox Christianity. This project is organized into a chronological, historical approach to Liberal Christianity followed by a comparative approach to Progressive Christianity and orthodox Christianity. The historical research aims to identify and connect common, theologically liberal elements, a distinct man-centered theology, across different historical horizons, including the delineation of modernity, postmodernism, secularism, and humanism, which are influenced and shaped by theological liberalism. Focusing on the current …

The Blanqueamiento Of Ecuador: Liberation In The Black Christ Of Daule, Jessica Leu

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The dominance of the White Christ in Latin America has been used to lend “theological” support for social, racial, and colonial hierarchies of the Spanish in Ecuador. The rhetoric used to justify the blanqueamiento process continues to play an enormous role in Ecuadorian social mobility, and also determines how various ethnicities in Ecuador are governed and treated. The Indigenous and Afroecuadorian populations of Ecuador are subjected to significantly higher rates of violence, poverty, and disease than their Mestizo and White counterparts. Against the tide of this theological distortion, I will argue that the Black Christ of Daule subverts the dominant …

"Is He Not A Maker Of Parables?": Restorative Poetics And Magical Realism In Ezekiel 40–48, Matthew Wells Sapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis demonstrates that Ezek 40–48 functions as a unified narrative of restoration and that it is profitable to understand its fantastic realism and postcolonial rhetoric as early precursors to the modern magical realism genre. The tools of narrative criticism are utilized to exegete the literary features of Ezek 40–48 and uncover its poetic elements and rhetorical thrust. After this analysis, Ezek 40–48 is viewed as a precursor to modern magical realist texts in a comparative study with Gabriel García Márquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude and Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children, paying special attention to the thematic emphases …

Traumatic Themes In Genesis 17 And 23, Troy M. Larue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I explore how Gen 17 and 23 contain themes of trauma. For the purpose of this research, I am combining the disciplines of historical criticism, literary criticism, and trauma theory. Genesis 17 and 23 are narratives of non-typical length in the Priestly source of Genesis. I explain how these narratives fit into the larger Priestly strand in Genesis through a combination of diachronic and synchronic readings. In Gen 17, God reveals himself as El Shaddai to Abraham and enters into a covenant with him promising progeny, land, and blessing. These promises are themes that are particularly meaningful …

Paul's Personification Of Hope A Historical-Rhetorical Approach To Romans 5:5, David V. Lott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Recognized allegory has existed from antiquity to the current times and withstood the vicissitudes of scholarly research. Embedded beneath the realm of the overarching rhetorical device of allegory exists the often recognized yet readily overlooked literary device of personification, the “giving of face” to a concept or an abstract. Once considered the tool of the simple and naïve, it lay in the shadows of rhetorical criticism through the years and is only starting to elicit credible academic research. However, even within the purview of this research, there is a bifurcation of focus between what critics assert is literary personification (giving …

An Analysis Of The –Μός Suffix In The New Testament, Ryan Kendall Phelps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation describes and analyzes the –μός suffix in the New Testament. This suffix indicates a noun derived from a verbal stem, i.e., a deverbal noun. Due to the lack of an in-depth analysis of this suffix, some incomplete ideas about this suffix have appeared in Greek grammars. Along with scholarship in Greek grammar, this dissertation employs terms from the field of linguistics, as well as patterns suggested from studies of deverbal nouns in other languages. This method will reveal two groups of conclusions. First, it will reveal that the suffix and nouns in which it occurs follow traditional expectations, …

Shakespeare’S The Merchant Of Venice, Qanon And Blood Libel, Georga Hackworth

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, QAnon, and Blood Libel explores the contemporary relevance of the work of Shakespeare. The Jewish blood libel was first mentioned by Socrates. Whether Socrates was literal or using an allegory is unknown. What is known, is the story was repeated and used as the basis for a conspiracy theory targeting Jews stating they kill Christian Children to make unleavened Passover bread. This idea has resulted in stereotypes and Jews being the scapegoats for all the ills of the world. William Shakespeare played on this idea in The Merchant of Venice, using a blood libel to …

Eucharist, Kenosis & Ignatius Of Antioch's Johannine Ecclesiology, Jayan Koshy

Obsculta

An anti-hierarchical ethos has been assumed in John’s Gospel by much modern biblical scholarship. The Johannine community functions, especially for non-episcopal communions, as an emblem of “flat” ecclesiology in the early Church, defying the Synoptic emphasis on apostolic ministry. However, recent scholarship destabilizes this consensus, drawing on figures associated with John in early tradition to present alternative Johannine ecclesiologies. Andrew Byers, for instance, seeks to harmonize Ignatius of Antioch’s high theology of the episcopacy with the theology of John’s Gospel. Building on Byers’ work, this essay argues that the Johannine tradition is not only compatible with Ignatius, but even supplies …

Prosodic And Deictic Features As Performance Markers In Southern Baptist Sermons, Matt Nelson

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines sermons taken from Southern Baptist churches in Virginia to study how the forms of sermons contribute to the message of the sermons. The data for the study comes from publicly posted recordings of sermons on websites of churches registered with the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia. I took five sermons, transcribed, and analyzed them using methods of discourse analysis. I find that Southern Baptist pastors change their tempo mid-utterance, pause often, change pronouns between themselves and the congregation, and refer to the weekly sermon as a reference point in time. I argue that these discourse features mark …

Everyone Wants A Revolution, No One Wants To Do The Dishes, Henry O. Widdicombe

Obsculta

This piece is a reflection on climate despair, filtered through the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, the Catholic Worker Movement, and Benedictine spirituality to imagine what the response of a faithful Catholic might be. It posits that the only adequate response to, seemingly, insurmountable challenges is to hope against hope.

Language As Communion, James C. Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Language is a profound and almost magical gift of God, a gift of mystery and deep human importance."

Posting about the complexity of language from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/language-as-communion/

Songs Of The Son: Exegetical Method, Christology, And Piety In Reformation And Post-Reformation Interpretations Of Select Messianic Psalms, Maarten Kuivenhoven

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

The case for continuity between the Reformation and Reformed Orthodoxy receives a significant contribution from the examination of select Messianic Psalms in the commentaries of Wolfgang Musculus, William Ames, Johannes Cocceius, and Matthew Henry. This contribution is found through the examination of three lines of thought— exegetical method, Christological development, and the formulation of piety.

The consistent employment of prophecy in order to understand the sensus literalis as the Christological reading of the text seems to indicate continuity. The usage of typology also furthers this argument as these interpreters identified various persons or objects as types of Christ. By using …

Grapho 2022, Kendall Davis

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The Light from Generation to Generation

Impassioned Wonder: Theosis And The Place Of Reason In Gregory Nazianzen’S Theological Orations, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The theologian is situated between two realities: the revelation of God and the transcendence of God. It would seem that all of theology should be a matter of reckoning with these two extremities. Without transcendence, we have no God. Without revelation we have neither starting point, nor guide, nor aim; theology becomes pointless speculation. We must know God, and yet, not know him. He must remain far beyond any language to describe or any image to depict, and yet, we must describe him. Theology lives in the middle of these, neither putting God into a box nor holding God above, …

Letter From The Chairman: Over One Hundred Years Of Student Publications At Concordia Seminary, Kendall Davis

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

For this year’s issue of Grapho we are focusing on the theme, “The Light from Generation to Generation.” Obviously, this echoes the motto of our seminary, “Ἄνωθεν τὸ φῶς” or “The light from above.” But the student publications committee also felt that this theme captures well what we do here at this seminary: prepare men and women to teach present and future generations about the light, the Lord Jesus. In exegetical classes we learn how the writers of the Scriptures pointed their original hearers to this light. In historical classes we learn how Christians in the past taught and thought …

Light: Recovering An Ancient Perspective, Hayden Lukas

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

As John the Baptist bore witness to the Light of the World, so too must the Church today. But there are many ways to talk about light. How should we speak about light when bearing witness to Christ? On which understanding of light should we draw? Light can refer to daylight or the light in a room—the physical phenomenon we perceive through sight. But light can also refer to objects that produce light, such as a floor lamp; we “turn on the lights.” We are familiar with scientific descriptions of light, such as its speed or its wavelength. Light can …

Ancient Near East Background To The Book Of Jonah, Andy Chang

Liberty University Research Week

Doctoral

Textual or Investigative

The Death And Rebirth(?) Of The Biblical Languages, Seth Pryor

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

Lost In Translation: A Linguistic Understanding Of The Use Of The Middle Voice In The Septuagint Of Esther, Abigail Prejean

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

We Are All Eve: Rescuing The Mother Of All Things From Patriarchal Interpretation And Its Implications For Modern Christian Women, Maeve Pioli

Senior Theses

For centuries, the traditional Christian understanding of the Genesis narrative has relied heavily on the patriarchal biases of historic church figures to enforce a gendered hierarchy where women are deprived of authority, voice, and agency. My thesis deconstructs these misogynistic interpretations to provide liberating, alternative readings for the Garden of Eden as well as New Testament verses that utilize Eve’s transgression to justify women’s secondary status. As a former Christian, I have witnessed the persistence of this oppressive theology, often repackaged as a “complementary” relationship between sexes where women must dutifully submit to the headship of men. Therefore, by building …

Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson

Senior Honors Theses

Business as Mission (BAM) is the operation of a for-profit business located in a cross-cultural setting and aimed toward the fulfillment of the great commission. This definition reveals four key success factors for BAM: support, financial and otherwise, for both the business and the missionaries; the ability to gain access to cross-cultural settings; the opportunity to advance the gospel; and the requirement of managing both missional and business goals. Examining each of these areas, along with the historical effectiveness of BAM, reveals that BAM is an efficient and effective missional strategy, which should be used to see the Great Commission …

"The Tree Of Life" [Review]/Estes, Douglas, Ed., Flavio Prestes Iii

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review by Flavio Prestes III.

Editorial - Vol 59:1, Martin Hanna, Oliver Glanz

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is the Editorial for Vol 59:1 by Co Editors Dr. Martin Hanna and Dr. Oliver Glanz.

"Discourse Analysis Of The New Testament Writings"[Review]/Scacewater, Todd A., Ed., Johnathan Campbell

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review by Jonathan Campbell.

Missiological Intelligence: Taking Cultural Intelligence To A New Level In Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Adam Vaughan

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Many people thrive on the mission field while others seem to flounder. This includes some missionaries who must return to their home country prematurely. The correlation between flourishing and floundering for missionaries on the field is not necessarily limited to a lack of passion, biblical knowledge, effort, or even language proficiency. All missionaries need a comprehensive set of tools, and one that has been seriously neglected in missiological training is Cultural Intelligence (CQ). CQ is a modality of intelligence within the umbrella of Social Intelligence, as categorized under the Multiple Intelligence Theory. With the rapid increase of globalization, those who …