Digital Commons Network^™

Explaining The Obvious: Privileged Hermeneutics And The Irony Of Explicitly Literal Interpretation, Joshua Alkire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine why so many uses of the word literal (whether taken from everyday contemporary speech or the works of well-respected ancient writers) seem at odds with the word’s theoretical definition and to explore the implications of this disparity for those who privilege a literal interpretation of Scripture. The examples will show that the meaning of literal was not altered at a particular point in time, nor is it altered on an ongoing basis by a small subset of particularly idiosyncratic individuals. Rather, the word is predisposed to behave strangely the moment it is …

Jean-Luc Marion And Gianni Vattimo’S Contributions For The Postmodern Faith, Michael Mcgravey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic theology in the postmodern era has encountered various cultural or narrative shifts—both negative and positive—which have helped shape the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity at large. Negatively, the Church has been affected by external factors (e.g., globalization, immigration/emigration, increased access to technology, etc.) and internal struggles (e.g., reduced church attendance, an aging population, etc.). Positively, as others have suggested, postmodernity has ushered in a return to religion through new philosophical and theological ideas (e.g., phenomenology, existentialism, post-metaphysics, etc.). This dissertation aims to contribute to the ongoing postmodern concerns addressed in the cultural and narrative shifts, by focusing on the …

The Core Relation Between Hospitality (Philoxenia), Dignity And Vulnerability In Orthodox Christian Bioethics: A Contribution To Global Bioethics, Rabee Toumi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a pluralistic world, reaching consensus in matters of bioethics has proved to be difficult, especially with the political polarization that nurtures inimical differences. This dissertation argues that a middle ground can be identified between the plurality of value systems in contemporary bioethics based on an anthropological approach. This middle ground that reflects commonalities of the human condition can be explored in relation to the foundational principles of Orthodox Christian anthropology. To identify this middle ground the analysis discusses the core relation between hospitality, dignity, and vulnerability as a contribution to global bioethics.

In general, based on Orthodox Christian theology …

Overcoming Ineffability Through Discourse On Hindu Self And Buddhist Non-Self: Tensions Between The Study Of Religion And Religious Experience, Christina Brown

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Given that the study of religion relies on discourse as a basis, the inherent ineffability of religious experience poses a challenge to it, yet it is simultaneously a defining characteristic of religion. For scholars of religion, discourse and other conceptual components can be discussed, but when critically and comparatively exploring what defines ultimate reality, such as ātman in Hinduism and anātman in Buddhism, experience is at the foundation and cannot be dismissed.

“‘Bere We Þe Cros’: The Persistence Of The Cross In English Ritual And Religious Practices From Bede To The Reformation”, David Black

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Long before Christian missionaries arrived in England in the 7^th century, the pagan population recognized the cross as a potent magical symbol. As a result, proselytizers shrewdly used the population’s familiarity with the cross, and their understandings of its power, to encourage converts to the new religion. Over the ensuing centuries of English Christian dominance, the magical aspects of the cross continued to develop both mythologically and theologically, without ever losing connection to their pagan origins. The Crusades, both through the propaganda of preachers and the massive influx of True Cross Relics, contributed in a substantial way to new …

The Devil In Cartagena: Slavery, Religion And Resistance In Seventeenth-Century Caribbean Colombia, Daniel James Dawson

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis examines the role of religion in African communities in seventeenth-century Caribbean Colombia, and the tensions between the system of racial and religious hierarchy imposed by the Catholic Church and Spanish authorities and the everyday religious life of free and enslaved Africans and their descendants. It will examine interactions between African religion and Christianity and African resistance to Spanish Catholic authority. It will examine Spanish-Catholic thought on African spirituality, and investigate the relationship between African subjects and Catholic authorities in the Spanish Atlantic. It explores the goals of Catholic authorities in relation to African subjects, and the various methods …

A Holistic Approach To Jesus The Nazarene In Matthew 2:23, Dylan West

Senior Honors Theses

In Matthew 2:23 Jesus is said to have fulfilled what the prophets spoke when he and his family moved to Nazareth, that he shall be called a Nazarene. Due to the uniqueness of this term and the town of Nazareth being found nowhere in the Old Testament, multiple views have been proposed. These views include Jesus of the despised town of Nazareth, Jesus as a Nazirite, and Jesus as the branch from Isaiah 11:1. Each of these views propose their own interpretation of this Old Testament citation. However, these views often do not acknowledge the possibility of multiple meanings intended …

Ruth: A Spiritual Role Model For The Religious Women Of Southwest China, Xiaoqiong Chen

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Aware of the need to address the existing challenges of the religious women of southwest China, I find inspiration and guidance in the Book of Ruth. This thesis suggests that the main challenge to women‘s religious life in southwest China is the lack of foundational religious formation and a vital spirituality of religious life. It argues that the character of Ruth embodies the spiritual principles of solidarity, initiative, and integration, and can therefore provide the religious women of southwest China with a model of holistic spirituality which fosters a formational renewal of spiritual and communal life and confirms religious identity. …

Medieval Japanese Zen: Catalyst For Symbol System Formation, Kendall Ann Roper

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Post-modernism asserts that the world as we know it does not exist independently from the symbolic interpretations we formulate about it. This symbolic and ever unfolding interpretation of reality applies to our understanding of science as well as philosophy, to religion as well as art. In striving to describe religious experiences, various cultures have developed complex symbolic languages whose purpose is to reference a culturally understood version of sacred reality as presented through religion. Religions contribute to shaping these cultural perceptions of reality by utilizing symbolic acts, objects, events, qualities, or concepts to express otherwise inexpressible elements of a culture’s …

Jesus For Jews : Comparing C&Ma Perspectives, Harry B. Stephenson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Biblical Community : Moving From Multicultural Congregation To An Intimate Spiritual Family, Anand Varghese Abraham

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Christian Missions In China And The Chinese Term Controversy, Christopher Vossler

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Vossler, Christopher, P. “A Survey of Christian Missions in China.” S.T.M. thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2018. 121 pp.

This thesis surveys the history of Christian mission work in China from the (legendary) mission of the Apostle Thomas up to the present day, including the upheavals resulting from the Communist Revolution. The lens through which this history is presented is the Chinese Term Controversy, a centuries-long conflict regarding the proper translation of the term “God” in the Chinese language. Every major missionary effort in China wrestled with this question to some extent, and many found themselves torn apart due to their different …

Translating Pun And Play - Wordplay And Soundplay In Hosea, Eric Fudge

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Fudge, Eric, J. Translating Pun and Play: Wordplay and Soundplay in Hosea. Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 312 pp.

Puns and plays of sound are distinguishing features of poetry and proclamation. Poetry uses these phonetic devices to structure passages, create euphony, or evoke emotional responses from audiences. Proclamation, particularly in a live setting, also uses sound to emphasize words or lines that encourage audiences to feel, respond, or memorize. Puns arrive in the form of wordplay, which uses similarity of sounds that create ambiguity. Soundplay also uses similarity of sounds but to establish euphony or aural tagging. These phonetic plays …

On The Politics And Conceptualization Of Gender Non-Conformity : Exploring Thailand’S Kathoey Population., Macey E. Mayes

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the politics and conceptualization of gender in Thailand, drawing specifically on the Thai understanding of sex and gender with regard to the kathoey population. This work considers the solidification of a third-gender category and looks to the ways this solidification can inhibit the fluidity of gender and sexuality. It also analyzes the dangers of transnational advocacy and the superimposition of Western queer advocacy and theory on Thai gender identities. I approach this issue from an interdisciplinary framework that seeks to include historical, cultural, and theoretical perspectives. In examining anthropological research, critiques of …

Historicizing Muslim American Literature: Studies On Literature By African American And South Asian American Muslim Writers, Wawan Eko Yulianto

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to the challenge of understanding Muslim Americans in a way that highlights their integral role in the United States through literature, this research starts with two questions: 1) how should we read Muslim American literature in relation to the lived experiences of Islam in America? and 2) how does Muslim American literature contribute to the more mainstream American literature.

To answer those questions, this research takes as its foundations the theories by Stuart Hall and Satya Mohanty on, firstly, the evolving nature of diaspora identity and on the epistemic status of identity. Following Hall’s argument that every expression …

Grammars Of Transformation: Saving Evangelical Cultural Engagement, William Watts

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Watts, William J. “Grammars of Transformation: Saving Evangelical Cultural Engagement.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 137 pp.

Evangelical Christians have been struggling to offer a thorough and unified account of cultural engagement for the last several decades. H. Richard Niebuhr’s “Christ the Transformer of Culture” type has supplied evangelicals with the most influential rhetoric on the proper relationship of Christians and the church to the culture at large. However, this consensus is collapsing in the wake of new ways of speaking of cultural engagement that largely downplay or altogether avoid the language of transformation. The emergence of these new ways …

Alive Inside Out : Challenges And Patterns Of Spiritual Formation Of Christian Professionals In A Creative Access Context, Matthew Gh Koh

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Missional Fidelity Of Movein : An Intentional Christian Mission Movement To Unreached Immigrants To North American, Micah Kim

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Kingdom Of Priests And Gods: Angelic And Participatory Deification In John's Apocalypse, David A. Armstrong

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature contains soteriological narratives of human transformation that qualify as examples of deification in antiquity. One widely exemplified type of deification in ancient Jewish apocalypses and apocalyptic literature focuses first on the analogy between priests and angels, and then the gradual assimilation of the former to the identity of the latter. In much apocalyptic thought, God resides in a celestial sanctuary in heaven where angels serve a heavenly liturgy of worship and praise, and it is this reality which the earthly priesthood, temple, and cult mimic and extend into the human world, which led to …

Faces Of Bg: Diverse Backgrounds, Many Stories, One Community, Holly Shively

Honors Projects

If you ask people who have been around Bowling Green State University for at least a decade, they’ll tell you the university seems more diverse, but some people find that, based on statistics, the university isn’t diverse enough. Despite BGSU having roughly 77 percent of students being between the ages of 18 and 21 years old and 78 percent being white, smaller communities flourish within the larger BGSU community. FacesofBG.com is a website that explores diversity at Bowling Green State University through the motto “Diverse backgrounds. Many stories. One community.” Through educational components like diversity in the local news and …

Spiritual Gifts Or Ministry Roles? Helping Church Members Embrace Their Places In God's Kingdom, Matthew R. Carter

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Spiritual Conversation: An Important Tool For Discernment Of One’S Vocation In The Diverse Context Of India, Francis Joseph Fernandes

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The Indian youth of today, including Christian youth, are deeply impacted by the values and culture of the modern world, a phenomenon which has adversely affected the Church of India in general and vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life in particular. Though at present, the Church in India is enjoying a springtime of vocations to the priestly and religious life, we cannot ignore the challenges posed by the present culture to the young people discerning their vocation and also to those who are in formation. This thesis argues that, given the gravity of today’s challenges to vocational promotion and …

Bringing Christ To The Neighbor Introduction- Session 01, Robert Kolb

Bringing Christ to the Neighbor

Dr. Kolb introduces the nine part Christian Witness workshop.

Included in this session is a link to download the Study Guide.

Book Reviews, Arden C. Autry Phd, Edward E. Decker Jr, Christopher G. Foster, Robert W. Graves, Daniel D. Isgrigg, Jeffrey S. Lamp, Wonsuk Ma, Peter A. Reynolds, James B. Shelton, Andrew R. Williams

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Sexuality, Gender, And Marriage: Pentecostal Theology Of Sexuality And Empowering The Girl-Child In India, Brainerd Prince, Atula Walling

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Th e focus of the article arises from a case study of an Indian woman and her adopted child, Sunita and Komal. Th ere are three key issues that can be abstracted from the story of Sunita and Komal. Th e abandoned “girl-child” Komal raises the question of sex—what am I? What does it mean to be biologically female? What consequences are there for being born female? Sunita’s and Komal’s rejection from their families has led them to ask the question about their gender—who am I? What does it mean to be a girl or woman in a predominantly Hindu …

Avoiding Pastoral Malpractice: Implications Of The Study Of Biblical Languages For Spiritual Care, Kevin Youngblood

Faculty Research and Publications

The study of Biblical languages is in decline in theological curricula across the nation if not around the globe. While this streamlined approach to ministerial training may be desirable for attracting students to programs and hastening degree completion, its long term effects on the spiritual health of the church could be catastrophic. This presentation addresses ministerial candidates in a major North American seminary to warn of some of the potential dangers of neglecting this aspect of pastoral training and practice.

C.S. Lewis And Christian Postmodernism: Word, Image, And Beyond. Kyoko Yuasa, Peter G. Epps

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In C. S. Lewis and Christian Postmodernism, Kyoko Yuasa has managed to advance the cause of careful reading and discussion of Lewis’s novels as contemporary cultural artifacts, rather than mere ciphers for apologetics or mere fluff for children, for both Japanese and American audiences. This is no mean feat, not only in terms of translation but also in terms of trans-Pacific discourse, and Yuasa deserves great credit for the accomplishment. Her close reading of several of Lewis’s major fiction works in a comparative frame she derives from works by Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, and John Fowles yields …

Rabbi Eliezer Of Beaugency, Commentaries On Amos And Jonah (With Selections From Isaiah And Ezekiel), Robert A. Harris

TEAMS Commentary Series

Rabbi Eliezer of Beaugency represents the pinnacle of twelfth-century rabbinic exegesis of the Bible. A proponent of the literal school, Eliezer completely abandoned traditional rabbinic midrash in his explication of biblical texts and innovated a literary approach that anticipated the fruits of modern scholarship in virtually every paragraph. This volume presents, for the first time in English translation, an extended window into the oeuvre of this master interpreter.

الاستدلال بالحديث النبوي الشريف في المعاجم العربية Evidence With The Prophet's Hadithin The Arabic Dictionaries Study In The Lesan Arabs Dictionary For Ibn Manthour, Muhammad Mukhtar Al-Mufti

Jordan Journal of Islamic Studies

The research dealt with the position of the linguists and the grammar of the Hadith, and the importance of the lisan of the Arabic among the Arabic dictionaries. And shows the sections of the Hadith in the lisan of the Arabs, and explained the purposes of the quoting of Ibn Manthuor and the extent of his evidence. And how ibn manthuor deal with it addressed in explaining the Hadith within the linguistic material in his dictionary.

"Come Unto Me" As A Technical Gospel Term, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

In this paper I have reconciled the well established six-element gospel of salvation taught by Christ and his prophets throughout the Book of Mormon with the recurring invitation to come unto Christ and be saved. Once we can understand that most statements of the gospel in the Book of Mormon are formulated meristically—that where only a few or even just two of the gospel elements are mentioned explicitly, the full set of six is implied—the door is opened for a more precise account for the invitation to come unto him. In this detailed survey, I have shown that in almost …