Digital Commons Network^™

Five Steps To Successfully Make Social Engagement Happen In Your Church, Sung Kun Kwon, Bordes Henry Saturne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lived Religion In A Digital Age: Technology, Affect And The Pervasive Space-Times Of “New” Religious Praxis, Quan Gao, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong, Siew Ying Shee

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper explores how Christian practices of prayer are being reconfigured through digital media in Singapore. Although digital technologies are an area of burgeoning interest amongst social and cultural geographers, the ways in which these technologies reconfigure the space-times of religious praxis and engender new affective relations or subjectivities of religion have not yet been embraced. This paper fills the lacuna by bringing existing studies on religion, technology and affect into constructive conversation with each other. By elaborating on digital prayer as an affective assemblage of religious practice, we show how digital technologies blur institutional boundaries and create new affordances …

Love Your Neighbor: The Church's Response To Individualism's Impact On Interpersonal Engagement, Anna Herman

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Theoretical Frameworks And Christian Engineering, Douglas De Boer

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing Australian Muslims’ Attitudes Toward Christian-Muslim Dialogue: The Case Of Sunni Muslims Of Adelaide And Uniting Church Christians, Gregory Macdonald, Mohamad Abdalla, Nahid Afrose Kabir

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Since the implementation of a multicultural policy in the 1970s, religious diversity in Australia has increased. Research has demonstrated that intergroup contact is essential for managing diverse multicultural societies. This is because, given the right conditions, intergroup contact will reduce prejudice and build trust between groups. Given the importance of intergroup contact, policy makers and researchers have identified interfaith dialogue’s importance to the success of multicultural societies. However, there is very limited research that explores interfaith dialogue from the perspectives of adherents, in this case Christians and Muslims in the Australian context. This paper focuses on interfaith dialogue between Christians …

Commissioned To The Nations: Using Graphic Design To Mobilize Millennials For God's Strategic Mission, Victoria Dissmore

Masters Theses

All over the world, billions of people are walking throughout their entire lives without ever hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they never will unless someone crosses into their culture to share it with them. Giving Gospel access to all people groups is a huge mission for the Church to tackle, but this mission is often not even known among the Millennial generation. Initial investigation for this thesis found that although some Millennials are engaging in missions, there is still a huge need for people to give, go, pray, and send, especially as older missions workers age out. Existing …

Engaging Millennials In Missions, Annell Adams James

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The millennial members of the Power of God Church have shown a lack of interest in participating in the local church's mission ministry. This lack of interest has caused the Missions Department and the church concern because fulfilling the mission of God is the mission of the church. The mission statement of the church is the focus of the ministry programs. Suppose the mission department creates a missions training program designed to focus on a technological learning style in which millennials thrive. Could it attract, involve, and engage millennials in future mission trips while educating them? It is this question …

A Step Toward An Interfaith Visitation Ministry To Provide Spiritual, Social, And Emotional Support To The Seriously Ill And Elderly At Their Homes In The Community Served By Good Samaritan Medical Center Lafayette, Colorado, Grant Gill Kirksey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this Doctor of Ministry action research thesis is to identify the support offered to the seriously ill and elderly by local faith-based communities, to compare the identified interventions provided, to discuss the population’s needs and satisfaction with their local hospitals, and to discuss the results in the context of the population of seriously ill and elderly community members, and explore opportunities for Good Samaritan Medical Center (GSMC), Lafayette, Colorado, to partner with local religious communities to improve the well-being of the seriously ill and elderly in their community. This project will include the analysis of needs and …

Apologetic Properties Of Archaeology, Scott Christopher Reynolds

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Scholars are divided over the idea of archaeology providing more information than anthropomorphic data about people groups. In the Levant, biblical archaeology used the Bible to connect artifacts with biblical accounts; however, scholars began to believe that interpretation was being forced to fit the biblical accounts. Apologists began to embrace more technical results and archaeology and different schools of apologetics began to see a place for archaeology in the study of apologetics. The most accepting form of apologetics is the Cumulative Case Apologetic, as it blends into its apologetic argument anything needed to further the argument. However, the ability of …

Defending The Resurrection Of Jesus Through The Reliability Of The Credible Witnesses, Gregory K. Cherven

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the fact that there is sufficient evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ through the reliability of the credible witnesses. Although physical evidence is lacking, it does not mean there is not sufficient evidence. Is it necessary to have physical evidence to secure a conviction? Criminal cases will be explored in which murder convictions were secured without the recovery of a dead body, physical evidence, or a confession. The convictions were secured based solely on witness testimony. The eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus are evaluated through a modern lens and there …

The Kindness And Severity Of God: A Defense Of The Conquest Of Canaan, Jordan Peter Ballard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Conquest of Canaan has become a hot-button issue in Christian apologetics because of the moral dilemma it poses. Would an all-loving God command the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite men, women, and children? Christians throughout the centuries have grappled with this problem and have offered many interpretations to alleviate the tension between God’s love and God’s wrath displayed in the Conquest. This dissertation defends a straightforward reading of the account: God really did command the destruction of the Canaanites, and the Israelites carried it out as described in the pages of the Old Testament. When understood in its biblical, …

Reckoning With Status And Realigning Our Hearts: A Review Of Celebrities For Jesus, Ruth C. Clark

Staff Work

"Where... dynamic pastors and a church’s ‘good intentions’ begin, celebrity status can quickly overwhelm."

Posting about the book Celebrities for Jesus 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/reckoning-with-status-and-realigning-our-hearts-a-review-of-celebrities-for-jesus/

Symposium Review: The Teacher's Manual—Jennifer Anderson, Keri Yoder, Caleb Yoder, Jonathan Erb

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

A compilation of an experienced teacher’s advice and wisdom, The Teacher’s Manual conveys tons of information in a methodical, serious tone. The author, Jennifer Anderson, has taught in a variety of settings including parochial schools, Christian day schools, and public schools. Her pupils came from a range of Conservative Mennonites, Old Order Mennonites, Amish, Amish-Mennonites, Dunkard Brethren, and non-Anabaptists. She has taught every grade level.Her book is directed at Amish and Mennonite teachers and tackles not only the oft-heard problems and misunderstandings but also wades into the sticky stuff teachers face. She not only lists potential problems but also provides …

The Gravamen Of Wisconsin V. Yoder At Fifty, 1972-2022, Benjamin King

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

After an arduous journey of more than four years that Wallace Miller, Jonas Yoder, and Adin Yutzy began in New Glarus, WI, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder , 406 U.S. 205 on May 15, 1972. In affirming the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s decision reversing the convictions of Miller, Yoder, and Yutzy (Respondents) for violating the compulsory school attendance statute, the U.S. Supreme Court found that enforcement of the statute violated the Respondents’ rights pursuant to the free exercise of religion clause conferred by the First Amendment and made applicable to the states …

Mitchell's "American Awakening: Identity Politics And Other Afflictions Of Our Time" (Book Review), Jaclyn Lee Parrott

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

“It's So Normal, And … Meaningful.” Playing With Narrative, Artifacts, And Cultural Difference In Florence, Dheepa Sundaram, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article considers how player interactions with religious and ethnic markers, create

a globalized game space in the mobile game Florence (2018). Florence is a multiaward-

winning interactive novella game with story-integrated minigames that weave

play experiences into the narrative. The game, in part, explores love, loss, and

rejuvenation as relatable experiences. Simultaneously, the game produces a unique

experience for each player, as they can refract the game narrative through their own

cultural, identitarian lens. The game assumes the shared cultural space of the player,

the player-character (PC), and the non-player-character (NPC) while blurring the

boundaries between each of these …

Speaking Is About The Hearer: A Review Of Speaking By The Numbers, David J. Mulder

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Are there ways to help make public speaking less stressful for the speaker and more impactful for the listener?"

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book Speaking by the Numbers 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/speaking-is-about-the-hearer-a-review-of-speaking-by-the-numbers/

Institute For Pastoral Initiatives 2025 Strategic Plan, University Of Dayton. Institute For Pastoral Initiatives

Documents and Publications of the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives

This document reflects IPI’s Team discussions with Dave Ramey and the College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office for Phase I of the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives Strategic Planning Process. Phase II begins September 2022 through January 2023 developing specific action steps for each Strategic Goal (A-G) for 2023-2025 in consultation with various groups associated with the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives' future.

2022 Visiting Scholar Reflection: Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada

Marian Fellowships and Other Sponsored Research in the Marian Library

Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, an assistant professor of religion at Kalamazoo College and editor of the journal Material Religion, received the Marian Library Visiting Scholar Fellowship for the project “Reinventing the Rosary: Innovation and Catholic Prayer.”

The rosary has been a fixture of Catholic prayer life for centuries, Maldonado-Estrada says. Its most familiar form — a string of grouped beads with a separate strand ending in a crucifix, is familiar to the point of being iconic. But according to Maldonado-Estrada, the design of the rosary isn’t locked in. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the rosary has undergone marked transformations that appeal …

"Nightmares With The Bible: The Good Book And Cinematic Demons"[Review]/Wiggins, Steve A, Nathaniel Gibbs

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review by Nathaniel Gibbs.

"Four Kingdom Motifs Before And Beyond The Book Of Daniel" [Review]/Perrin, Andrew B., And Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Eds., Rodrigo Galiza

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review by Rodrigo Galiza.

Realising Contingent Religious Subjects Through Relational Spaces Of Missionary Encounter, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the ways in which the religious subject can be a contingent position that is responsive to the broader socio-religious context within which it is expressed. These contingencies are acutely observed amongst short-term missionaries (STM), who seek out encounters with difference in pursuit of a more cosmopolitan subjectivity. Yet, whilst spaces of missionary encounter are inherently relational, the missions literature has tended to downplay the effects of relationality on the realisation of these subject positions. By focussing on the experiences of Singaporean missionaries working amongst Christian communities in Southeast Asia, I contribute a more nuanced and less predetermined …

Application Of The Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency Weighting Scheme To The Pauline Corpus, Brandon Van Der Ventel, Richard Newman

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

The term frequency--inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) weighting scheme is applied to the text of the thirteen epistles traditionally associated with the Apostle Paul. The data for the analysis is the morphologically tagged text of the Society for Biblical Literature’s Greek New Testament. The TF-IDF scheme is then used to construct the Document Term Matrix (DTM) for a corpus under consideration. The DTM allows each document to be represented by a multi-dimensional document vector. A query document is then chosen and a vector representation of it is constructed. The cosine similarity between the query document and documents in the corpus is …

Higher Meanings: A Speaker Series Connecting Mathematics And Religion, Lawrence M. Lesser, Patricia S. Barrientos, Ben Zeidman

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

An innovative grant-funded general adult audiences international speaker series on connections between mathematics and religion yielded six 2021 (now archived) presentations. We share reflections and lessons learned, informed by two sets of surveys.

The Fierce Urgency Of The Slow: How Pope Francis Is Calling Us To Save The Planet, Gerald W. Schlabach

The Journal of Social Encounters

Addressing the urgent issues facing humanity today, in his recent encyclical on social friendship, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis reminds us that it is “all the more urgent that we rethink our styles of life, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, above all, the meaning of our existence” (no. 33). In this and in his previous encyclical on care for creation, Laudato Si’, Francis makes clear that we do not have a moment to waste. None of his diagnosis should “be read as a cool and detached description of today’s problems” (no. 56).

Before an onslaught of urgency backfires …

A Beacon Of Hope In A Troubled Context: Sketches Of The Life Of Mons. Paride Taban, Shepherd And Bridge-Builder, Alberto Eisman Torres

The Journal of Social Encounters

Monsignor Paride Taban, Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Torit in Southern Sudan, is a multifaceted figure. Apart from his role as pastor and religious leader, he is an outstanding peace builder and the co-founder of the New Sudan Council of Churches, one of the most significant civil society institutions during the second civil war (1983 – 2005). This institution spearheaded numerous ecumenical initiatives including development work, humanitarian relief, training of grass-roots leaders and last but not least peace mediation. He is a relentless fighter for peaceful coexistence and tolerance in an environment marked by violence, oppression and impunity and …

The Church And Ethnopolitical Conflict In Kenya: 1982-2013, David Tarus

The Journal of Social Encounters

The chapter examines the role of the church in addressing the problem of ethnopolitical conflict in Kenya from 1982 to 2013. Though ethnocentrism within the Kenyan Christian community goes beyond the years cited to the colonial period and the immediate years following independence, the intensity of the problem after 1982 calls for special attention. The single event that marks political change in Kenya is the 1982 attempted coup. Although this was not successful, the coup heightened opposition against Moi’s rule and thus, 1982 marks the beginning of the recent history of Kenya, a history in which three phases may be …

Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, And The Quest For Justice And Reconciliation, Hak Joon Lee

The Journal of Social Encounters

This paper studies Marin Luther King, Jr.’s and Desmond Tutu’s strivings for justice and reconciliation as the leaders of movements against white racist systems in the US and South Africa. Despite their differences in terms of nationality, age, religious denomination, and geography, the paper demonstrates how King’s and Tutu’s quests were grounded in the distinctive communal ethics informed by their Christian faith and their shared spiritual heritage as African peoples, which emphasize community, the ubiquity of religion, the moral order of the universe, and hopefulness. Contrasting their communal approach to a secular rational ethical approach to justice and peace, the …

Closing Keynote At The Catholic Peacebuilding In Times Of Crisis: Hope For A Wounded World Conference, H.E. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Opening Plenary Address At The Catholic Peacebuilding In Times Of Crisis: Hope For A Wounded World Conference, H. E. Cardinal Charles Bo

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.