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Exodus 14–15 As An Anti-Baal Polemic And Its Implications For Interpreting Exodus 15:17 And Dating These Chapters, Brent Olson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Olson, Brent, M. “Exodus 14–15 as an Anti-Baal Polemic and Its Implications for Interpreting and Dating These Chapters.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2020. 257 pp.

This dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What is the relationship of Baal-zephon worship and its governing narrative, the Baal Myth, to the accounts of the Sea Event in Exodus 14–15? Secondly, what are the implications of this relationship for interpreting and dating these chapters? Building upon scholarship’s engagement with these questions since the Ras Shamra discoveries, the dissertation makes the case that Exodus 14–15 function in part as an anti-Baal polemic. Four pieces …

She Who Was: Scriptural Linguistics And The Absent Image Of God, Angela Marquis

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Re-Conceptualizing Inclusive Pedagogy In Practice In Higher Education, Marcia P. Livingston-Galloway, Andree Robinson-Neal

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

Twenty-first-century classrooms are becoming increasingly culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse and are looking more and more like microcosms. Consequently, students and some educational stakeholders are demanding the inclusion of race, culture, justice, and equality in the curricula and pushing the envelope for more inclusive pedagogy. Central to the concept of inclusive pedagogy are the values of fairness and equity. Proponents of inclusive pedagogy have indicated that numerous variables influence pedagogy, particularly inclusive pedagogy. These values have elicited concerns throughout the educational system regarding how instructors and facilitators serve all learners academic needs in their academies. However, there is no consensus …

Crucifixion In The Ancient World: A Historical Analysis, Gary Habermas, Benjamin C. F. Shaw

Liberty Theological Review

Cook, John Granger. Crucifixion in the Mediterranean World. 2nd ed. Vol. 327. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019. Pp 549 pp. 79,00 €.

Could It Be Reasonable To Conclude That Jesus Did It And John Wrote It Down? An Enquiry Into The Veracity Of John 7:53-8:11, The Pericope Adulterae, Thomas J. Gentry Ii

Liberty Theological Review

Broadly speaking, two types of answers to the question of whether John 7:53-8:11, the Pericope Adulterae (PA) should be considered part of the authentic biblical text have been offered by scholars. The first type includes those who conclude the PA does not report an actual account in the life of Jesus and should not be in the Bible. The second type comes from those who argue that the PA does present an account from the life of Jesus and should be in the Bible (although not all in the last group agree that the account is of Johannine origin). For …

The Glory Of The Lord Whose Likeness Is As The Appearance Of A Human Being/Adam: A Study Of Ezekiel’S Son Of Man/Adam Anthropology, Timothy R. Schmeling

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Ezekiel has often been criticized as a dehumanizing book. Still it is alternative humanisms that have done so much to dehumanize mankind with the totalitarianism of self-deifying individualism or the totalitarianism of collectively-imposed manmade metanarratives. Far from being a dehumanizing book, the objective of the son of man/Adam is certainly to purge his hearers of all anthropologies of autonomy and license, but this Adamic priestly prophet does this to eschatologically resurrect in them an anthropology of dependence and true freedom. Reasserting the creation theology and anthropology of Genesis, Ezekiel insists that authentic humanism, Edenic humanism (i.e., the original humanism), is …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

Istbat Of Marriage Implementation For Marriage After Enactment Of Law No. 1 Of 1974, Baidhowi Baidhowi, Dian Latifiani

Journal of Islamic Law Studies

Itsbat of marriage reserved for marriage have not been recorded and the case before Law No. 1 of 1974 (Marriage Law). The problem arises when many marriages that have been performed and are not listed that under the Act including marriage under hand, confirmed that happened after Marriage Law, then how is marriage legitimacy? Statement of problems is how is Judge Consideration in the Religious Court Judgment No. 0011/Pdt.P/2016/PA.Mkd granted that itsbat marriage happened after enactment of Law No. 1 of 1974? This study uses normative legal research, critical and ana- lytical and many library research. The data collection method …

Natural Law And Latinx Social Ethics: A Narrative Approach, Mathew D. Scruggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will argue concepts rooted in Latinx social ethics provides a corrective to acontextual and ahistorical, Euroamerican natural law frameworks by positing natural law as a type of moral reasoning rooted in the contexts, histories, and narratives of particular communities. Rooting natural law in the narrative practices of Latinx communities not only reveals the need for justice for oppression against Latinx bodies from the wider community, but also offers a corrective to ahistorical and acontextual Euroamerican natural law frameworks. A Latinx natural law functions as a radical and prophetic critique against systems of oppression that destroy the lives of …

Eastern European Orthodox Christian Immigrant Women: A Pilot Study And Needs Assessment, Kimberly A. Babich-Speck

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

The healthcare perceptions of the Eastern European Orthodox Christian immigrant women (EEOCIW) to the United States (U.S.) are under-represented in the literature. Although they appear similar to Americans, their cultural and religious traditions are outside the mainstream American culture. This pilot study and health needs assessment examines the women’s healthcare perceptions of 14 EEOCIW and identifies similarities and differences with 25 U.S. born Orthodox Christian women (USOCW). Between September and November 2020, interviews were conducted with Orthodox Christian immigrant women from Eastern Europe and Orthodox Christian women born in the U.S. Questions covered the perceptions of women’s healthcare, factors influencing …

Popular Ritual As Liberating Pedagogy, Christopher D. Tirres

Religious Studies

This chapter is divided into four sections. In the first section, I examine some of the challenges that contextual theologies presently face in connecting their contextualist focus with liberationist aims. In the second section, I look specifically at the ways in which some prominent U.S. Latino/a theologians have broached popular ritual as an embodied and enculturated site of liberation. A pressing question has been: In what ways is Latino/a popular ritual liberating? The third section then considers how a pedagogical approach to popular ritual helps us better answer this question. I argue that a renewed focus on pedagogy underscores a …

"In Christ:" Participation Language In Paul, Sean Cavender

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Discursive Body: A Theological Account Of Language And Revelation In Conversation With John Webster And Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Aaron Parker

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Ukrainian Protestants And Digital Culture, Maksym Balaklytskyi, Аndrii Shevchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Ukrainian Protestantism in recent decades has found fertile ground on the Internet. Activities through the Internet environment proved to be more successful than actual activities, as it was possible to cover larger areas and scales. Although the Internet is an additional option to the offline reality, it is also perceived by Ukrainian Protestants more as a marketing tool. This study examines two aspects of Protestant dialogue with digital culture: educational and applied. The educational direction is represented by the ecumenical curriculum in digital theology, initiated by Protestants. This educational center seeks to overcome confessional differences by establishing a common Christian …

Greater El Paso Jewish Demographic Study, Karla Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Although the history of the Jewish community in Greater El Paso has been documented, there is a lack of understanding of the basic demographic structure of the Jewish population in this region. This study aims to develop a demographic portrait of the local Jewish community through an online survey (n=448). The results show that the Jewish community in Greater El Paso (El Paso TX, and Las Cruces, NM) is experiencing population aging, and many community members have resided in the region for over twenty years. More than half of respondents self-identify as Reform. The Jewish community in Greater El Paso …

Remembering Jacob: The Literary Representation Of Memory In The Jacob Narrative, Isaac Borbon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to describe the Jacob narrative through the lens of memory. Taking Gen 28:10-22 as a case study, the objective is to place Jacob’s visit to Bethel alongside other ancient referential claims, analyzing it for authentic memories. However, the complex nature of memory is susceptible to preservation and revision. That is to say, having no desire to comport to modern historical-critical sensibilities, memory’s epistemological underpinnings are concerned primarily with reconstructing a remembered past for subsequent generations of Israelite tradents. In order to understand the historical background to the Jacob narrative in its entirety, a formal analysis of Iron …

Warrior Dialogue In Samuel: Honor, Shame, And Divine Proxy, Robert A. Kranz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discourse between warriors plays a role in several battle scenes within the books of Samuel. The repartee is a way for the narrator to add color and depth to the narrative and develop essential themes. Social-scientific criticism has often examined these interactions through the cultural lenses of honor and shame. Peristiany, Bourdieu, and Pitt-Rivers are just some scholars who developed cultural frameworks based upon the importance of honor and shame in the Mediterranean region. Malina, extrapolating from North African cultural studies by Bourdieu, developed a challenge and response model for the acquisition of honor as depicted in the Bible. However, …

A Theology Built On Meritocracy: A Theological And Sociological Examination Of The Prosperity Gospel And The American Dream, T.E. Starman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In American megachurch Christianity there lies a paradox in the concept of wealth and blessings; many megachurch leaders take deliberate steps to distance themselves from the defamed and heretical label of prosperity gospel, while simultaneously using many of its theological tenets as foundational to their own theology of wealth, money, and success. This thesis examines the nature of this paradox from both a theological and sociological lens. Through content analysis and case study examples, this thesis assesses the theological tenets of American megachurch prosperity theology as well as the sociological reality of stratification and the ideology that buttresses it. This …

A Correlational Study Of Emotional Competence And Christian Practices Among Millennials, Nancy Watkins Flanagan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While emotions management is critical to effective leadership, literature describes present and emerging leaders in the millennial generation as not being proficient at managing their emotions. If this is true, how could the Christian community promote leadership development for millennials? Toward determining if a connection exists between emotions management and faith, this non-experimental quantitative correlational study explored the relationship, if any, between millennials’ emotional competence and Christian practices. Survey instrumentation was employed. The survey included two validated instruments, one for emotional competence and the other for spiritual growth. Study invitations were emailed to 395 millennials at a church in VA’s …

Intellectual Access And Spirituality: The Twin Urgencies Of Responsible American Education, Matthew Schmitz

Educational Studies Honors Papers

America is increasingly, and perhaps overwhelmingly, becoming a society characterized by political divisiveness. At its most extreme form, Hannah Arendt argues such a division can make us vulnerable to a loneliness that destroys our confidence and leaves us dependent on ideologies. A renewed sense of spirituality and intellect are prime candidates for helping us develop a healthy relationship with ourselves that can help counteract this loneliness. Not only that, but fully accessing our intellectual and spiritual sides can give us the confidence to tackle democratic republican citizenship the way Thomas Jefferson envisioned it. Here, Jacques Rancière helps us to construct …

Skepticism Of God's Justice And Ways In The World In Job And Ecclesiastes, Andrew O'Neill

Undergraduate Theses

The biblical books of Job and Ecclesiastes have mystified and entranced readers of Hebrew and Christian scripture for thousands of years. This is done almost effortlessly due to their exploration of the themes of justice, fairness, and God’s relationship with human beings. These topics were relevant at the time they were written and are still relevant in the twenty first century. This thesis presentation will discuss how these two books represent a shift in biblical thinking towards God’s justice and ways in the world and will discern what implications the text’s conclusions pose for people reading these texts as scripture …

Hybridized Spirituality In Singaporean Christians, John Lim

Honors Theses

Background: The doctrine of the incarnation and the “scandal of particularity” are central to Christian theology – that the transcendent God became immanent within time and space. Likewise, the church, being the contemporary expression of God, incarnates within and reflects the culture around it. How this incarnation happens is not always clear or acknowledged.

Purpose: I conceptualize the process of incarnation as the hybridization of various streams of influence. I examined the lived experiences of hybridized spirituality among Singaporean Christians.

Method: I conducted semi-structured interviews with six Singaporean Christians from the same congregation in Singapore. I used thematic analysis, informed …

Towards A Pentecostal Conscientizing Praxis Of Mass Culture Engagement: Contrasting Pneumatologies Of Amos Yong And Simon Chan, Monte Lee Rice

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This essay notes promises and problems with Pentecostal cultural engagement through its dualistic “spiritual warfare” cosmology. I propose a promising foray by forging Amos Yong’s and Simon Chan’s theologies of cultural engagement. For both employ their Asian particularities towards addressing cultural phenomena in manners that distinguish their contrasting yet I shall argue, complementary pneumatologically themed theologies of culture. Yet neither have engaged methodological disciplines of cultural analysis and critique. In response this essay suggests a Pentecostal conscientizing praxis of mass culture engagement, in conversation with Amos Yong and Simon Chan. This essay concludes by suggesting need for discerning possible prophetic …

Investigating The Prevailing Worldviews Of American Public Education: A Brief Analysis And History, Chester Walker

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis investigates whether the philosophies and worldviews underlying U.S. public education contradict or purposefully undermine Biblical Christianity. It provides readers with an understanding of the Biblical Christian worldview to enable them to analyze and contrast prominent worldviews of public education. Pragmatism and Marxism run rampant in public education today. Both strongly oppose fundamental tenets of the Biblical Christian worldview. To determine any purposeful anti-Christian agenda, the author examines the men behind the worldviews. Christianity maintains that ideas and practices in education originate from deeply-held, personal beliefs, which are passed on to students. Education is a means of discipleship to …

Symbols Of Sacred Filling Of Religious Musical Art Of Ukraine, Maksym Melnychuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In the spectrum of the research of this paper lies the sacred essence of religious musical art and the symbolic component of spiritual music of Ukraine. This scholarly research is aimed to reflect the content essence of spiritual art in the sphere of the Ukrainian musical culture. This phenomenon is analyzed both as a result of a creative (figurative) thinking in generalization, and the spiritual inner necessity of comprehension of the metaphysical. Symbol is represented as a component of the sacred content of religious art, which reflects the irrationality of the constituent forms of spiritual music. A retrospective analysis of …

Songs For The Journey: The Music Of Pilgrimage, Joshua Taylor

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Pilgrimage has been a part of Christian experience since biblical times. Creating new stories, pilgrimage affords sacred travelers experiences that transcend nationalism, denominational identity, and cultural borders melding their individual constructs of meaning with communal experiences to create new insights. On these pilgrimages, music has played a significant role in the development of community. While pilgrimage is an independent act, it is also a shared existence with other pilgrims with music serving as a bridge between these two realities. With an estimated 100 million people undertaking pilgrimages at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the rediscovery of pilgrimage, and the …

“Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born”: An Egyptian Context For The Election Of Abraham, Stephen O. Smoot

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Arguably the most important doctrinal contribution of the Book of Abraham is its teaching about the premortal existence of humankind. As John Gee has recognized, “The largest effect that the Book of Abraham has had on Latter-day Saint thought is its concept of the premortal existence and the purpose of life. Although other Latter-day Saint scriptures discuss the premortal existence, the Book of Abraham provides the clearest explanation of this key Latter-day Saint doctrine.” The importance of the Book of Abraham’s teaching about the premortal existence is confirmed by surveying the LDS Scripture Citation Index, which reveals that General Authorities …

Historical-Critical Methods, James W. Barker

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Historical criticism attempts to understand NT texts in their original contexts, free of later dogmatic presuppositions. This essay describes its traditional inquiries and methods as well as recent trends. The discussion divides into four sections: textual criticism, the Gospels and Jesus, Paul and his letters, and the limits of canon.

An Analysis Of The Roles And Responsibilities Of The Music Ministry In The African American Church, Jeffrey Leonta Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The perfect church does not exist. All churches have issues, and Church of Faith and Deliverance in Kinston, North Carolina, is no exception. The church has a problem within the music ministry. The purpose of this DMIN action research thesis is to teach and provide adequate training on the roles and responsibilities of the music ministry at Church of Faith and Deliverance. If the roles and responsibilities of individuals in the music ministry are taught at Church of Faith and Deliverance, then unity of worship may result. The church is a living and breathing organism. When parishioners gather in the …

Creation Costs: Hermeneutical And Scientific Repercussions Through The Lens Of The Day Age And Young Earth Views, Mark Alan Langner

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Genesis’s creation narrative is crystal clear: God is eternal and preeminent, humankind is made in his image, and all nature results from God’s spoken word. Christocentric truth bursts forth from the opening words of creation, reality transcended by the Son of God. However, particularly in the years following the beginnings of Darwinian theory, questioning of the biblical creation narrative and variant versions of that narrative has exponentially expanded. This project is intended to biblically and systematically underscore the supernatural attributes of the Creator and the inerrancy of the Bible that God inspired, to determine hermeneutical and scientific costs associated with …