Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Sexuality On The Catholics & Cultures Website: A Refreshing Turn Toward The Longue Durée, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

I present a close reading of the Catholics & Cultures (C&C) website’s treatment of sexuality-related issues and discuss this material in relation to debates about how to teach sexuality in religious studies and theology classrooms. The C&C website occasionally and intermittently uses a typical “contemporary issues” approach that considers sexuality in relation to legal and legislative decisions and government policies. In contrast, country profiles consistently situate sexuality in relation processes like nation building, urbanization, and lay Catholics’ growing authority. My interpretation highlights the site’s decision to emphasize the longue durée, long-term and deep structural processes driving cultural and religious changes. …

Ritual Among The Scilohtac: Global Catholicism, The Nacirema, And Interfaith Studies, Anita Houck

Journal of Global Catholicism

More than six decades after its publication, Horace Miner’s 1956 article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” remains a reliable pedagogical tool, remarkably successful in helping students see their own ethnocentric biases. Catholics & Cultures has potential to do similar work. The site lacks some of what makes Miner’s text so effective, in particular its capacity to bring about a sudden shift in perception. The site also shares some of the article’s limitations, particularly in focusing on ritual to the relative exclusion of other aspects of religion. That said, the site can help students gain the religious literacy and develop the …

Introducing Catholics & Cultures: Ethnography, Encyclopedia, Cyborg, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

In introducing the Catholics & Cultures site and the articles in this special issue, this essay initially locates the overall Catholic & Cultures project within the traditions of ethnography and encyclopedia. Drawing extensively on the work of J. Z. Smith, this essay reflects upon the theoretical implications of emphasizing the diversity of Catholicism in and through a web-based platform that facilitates comparative study and pedagogy. This essay then more specifically considers the web-based aspects of Catholics & Cultures by identifying a nascent cyborgian aesthetic in the site and considering how the site might eventually engage post-modern themes and concerns.

Atheism As An Extreme Rejection Of Rational Evidence For The Existence Of God, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

Explicit atheism is a philosophical position according to which belief in God is irrational and thus it should be rejected. In this paper, I revisit, extend, and defend against the most telling counter arguments the Kalām Cosmological Argument in order to show that explicit atheism must be deemed as a positively irrational position.

العقيدة الإلهية في الفكر العربي, نور الدين جفال, باهي التركي

Dirassat

Title : Divinity doctrine in the Arab Thought

Many religious, social and anthropological studies show that divinity in societies in general and in Arab societies in particular is enmeshed with human existence itself. That is, from Adam and on , divinity in societies underwent several changes. The prophets were the one charged to correct doctrines throughout human history .Nowadays, contemporary reality tells us that The Holy Prophet Muhammad is the seal of all prophets and that no other divine prophet will follow both in the Arab world or elsewhere.

The Prosperity Ethic: Neoliberal Christianity And The Rise Of The New Prosperity Gospel In The Philippines, Erron Medina, Jayeel S. Cornelio

Development Studies Faculty Publications

A new prosperity gospel is emerging in the Philippines. We call it the prosperity ethic. Its dimensions set it apart from the previous incarnation of the prosperity gospel, which emphasized tithing and confessing. Specifically, the prosperity ethic values upward mobility and uses biblical principles for the acquisition of practical skills to become rich. We make our case by drawing on the writings of Bo Sanchez and Chinkee Tan, two of the most influential prosperity-oriented preachers in the country. The prosperity ethic has three dimensions: the morality of wealth (believing right), the prescribed mindset (thinking right), and the practical skills to …

The Mass Is The Medium: Marshall Mcluhan And Roman Catholic Liturgical Change, Ashil D. Manohar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The liturgical changes of Vatican II sought to bring a period of renewal to the Catholic laity by encouraging active participation and making the Mass more simple to understand. However, the time after the Council was characterized by confusion and disengagement by the laity. I will be discussing three significant changes to the liturgy at this time, The change from Latin to the vernacular, the change in the orientation of the altar and priest, and the change in acoustics, sound, and music. I will be examining all of these changes through the media theory of Marshall McLuhan, famous for coining …

White Too Long: Christianity Or Nationalism?, Rachel E. Osborne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tension, racism, and violence being enacted in the name of Christianity have brought new attention to the work of many scholars of religion who have documented and analyzed the relationship between white Christianity and racism in the U.S. In his 2020 book White Too Long, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) director and religious studies scholar Robert P. Jones states unequivocally that “[i]n survey after survey, white Christians stand out in their negative attitudes about racial, ethnic, and religious minorities (especially Muslims), the unequal treatment of African Americans by police and the criminal justice system, their anxieties about the changing face …

Christian Realism And The State As Idol: Feminist And Postcolonial Critique And Christian Realist Theology In An Interdependent World, Laura E. Alexander

Religion Faculty Publications

At a time of outspoken nationalism, Christian realism accurately diagnoses idolatry of the state as a political and theological problem. The power of sovereign states protects self-determination but can allow states to unjustly oppress members of minority groups. From a Christian realist perspective, states’ power relative to other institutions can encourage religious idolatry, with citizens devoting their ultimate loyalty to a state. To mitigate this problem, Christian realism argues for recognition of states’ limitations. However, Christian realism itself remains beholden to a notion of states’ sovereign agency rooted in an incomplete picture of human nature. Recent feminist and postcolonial scholarship …

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Denison Journal of Religion

No abstract provided.

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Denison Journal of Religion

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Denison Journal of Religion

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Denison Journal of Religion

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Denison Journal of Religion

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Review Of The Asymptote Of Love By James Kellenberger, Jason Lepojärvi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Review of The Asymptote of Love From Mundane to Religious to God's Love by James Kellenberger

ISBN: 9781438471778

Published 2018

Archiving Catholic Faith On The Web During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Marian Library Faculty Publications

In the middle of March 2020, an undergraduate English class from the University of Dayton visited the Marian Library for hands-on learning with primary source materials related to miraculous cures at the Lourdes shrine in France. Students in the upper-level seminar course that focused on narrative, rhetoric, and medicine prepared for the visit by reading an article about the baths at Lourdes, where thousands of pilgrims have traveled annually since the 1870s for a chance to be cured by the holy water from a spring.1 As students examined photographs, copies of case files, and historical narrative accounts, several of them …

Adventist Church Leadership And Religious Liberty In India: Impact On Mission And Ministry, Santosh Kumar

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

India, consisting of several diverse communities, operates on various religious sentiments, norms, expectations, cultures, and worldviews. Each culture and worldview developed, nurtured, and was organized in a community that recognized the importance of religious tolerance—tolerances that keep India united and yet diverse. Religious tolerance in India respects and allows the various religions to exist and practice within the same community.1 However, if this norm is broken, the resulting actions can result in unexpected consequences. There are several cases where tolerance was breached due to religious standards, views, or beliefs, causing chaos in a community.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has become …

Life Under Ban: Jehovah's Witnesses In Russia Since 2017, Emily B. Baran

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2017, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been barred from legal practice of their faith in Russia. This marks the first criminalization of a major religious faith in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. For Witnesses, it has been a disturbing return to life under ban, a reality they experienced for decades under Soviet rule. Moreover, all indications suggest that this situation is unlikely to improve in the short term. Russian officials have shown consistent willingness to enforce a broad interpretation of the ban, including through the arrest and imprisonment of individual Witnesses. This article offers an overview of recent …

Calvin, The Bible, And History (Book Review), Keith C. Sewell

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Calvin, the Bible, and History by Barbara Pitkin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. 250 pp. ISBN: 9780190093273.

Skanda, The Multifaceted God: Skanda In Korean Buddhism And Beyond, Su Jung Kim

Religious Studies Faculty publications

This article focuses on the worship of Skanda in Korean Buddhism, particularly Skanda depicted in Sinjung t’aenghwa (the Paintings of the Guardian Deities). In order to contextualize this complex pan-Asian god, the article tackles two different and yet related issues: while it chronologically presents Skanda’s transformation in Korean Buddhsm, the discussion also weaves Skanda with other Asian traditions to explain the functional aspects of Skanda worship that are cross-culturally found across time. The article demonstrates that even though a sinified version of Skanda worship dominated in Korean Buddhism, Korean interpretations of Skanda made significant connections with the Indian leitmotif of …

St. Andrew’S Gratitude Project: The Impact Of Daily Practices Of Gratitude On Feelings Of Loneliness, Eric Partridge

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Martin Luther And The Creation Of The Myth Of Modernity, Christine Helmer

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Rebel Hearts, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Rebel Hearts (2021), directed by Pedro Kos.

A Glitch In The Matrix, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of A Glitch in the Matrix (2021), directed by Rodney Ascher.

Challenging Faith And Gaining Power: Women In Film Who Reject And Subvert Religion, Annika Murrah

Religion and Film

This paper examines the ways that women seize power through rejection and subversion of religion by relating women in film to the real world. Rejection of faith is exemplified by characters in the films The Little Hours (2017) and The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018). Subversion of faith is understood through the films Whale Rider (2003), Jennifer’s Body (2009), and Transparent (2014). Narrative analysis of these films is contrasted with studies of orthodox religion as examined by Dr. Brenda E. Brasher and Dr. Mary Gerhart. The importance and effect of women’s newly-gained power is applied to social change as recorded …

Specifics Of State-Religious Relationships During Covid-19: Eastern Europe Vs Western Europe, Sergii Rudenko, Vitalii Turenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper highlights the peculiarities of the implementation of relations between the authorities and religious organizations in Eastern and Western Europe during the coronavirus pandemic. It has been proven that Western European countries have relatively quickly adapted to the new model of state-religious relations during the pandemic. At the same time, local protests and/or ignorance of the quarantine measures taken by the authorities of a particular country should be noted, which led to the detention of those responsible and/or an increase in the incidence of diseases among the population. It was revealed that the relationship between the authorities and religious …

Attitudes Of Medical Students Towards Artificial Termination Of Pregnancy And Euthanasia In The Context Of Christian Ethics, Iryna Vasylieva, Kateryna Hololobova, Olha Nechushkina, Viacheslav Kobrzhytskyi, Serhii Kiriienko, Anna Laputko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Medical students’ attitudes towards issues associated with the beginning and end of human life are analyzed using interdisciplinary approaches and empirical material (statistics, sociological surveys). The purpose of this article is to determine the peculiarities of Christian morality’s influence on the attitudes of contemporary Ukrainian medical students towards the issues of artificial termination of pregnancy and euthanasia. Based on a comparative analysis of the evaluative judgments of three groups of respondents (group 1 — those who consider themselves Christians; group 2 — respondents who are undecided about religious belief; group 3 — those who consider themselves non-believers), a complex relationship …

Religious "Covid Fundamentalism" In Eastern And Central Europe: Challenges And Lessons, Vita Tytarenko, Iryna Bogachevska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines specific religious and social challenges in the context of mass diseases that arose in the past and are present today during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors explain the concepts that characterize the “new” reality of state-church interactions in the time of COVID-19. The authors consider the arguments of the followers of “Covid Fundamentalism.” An analysis of the reactions of different Christian confessions to the COVID-19 pandemic in Central and Eastern Europe, emphasizing the Ukrainian segment and multiple religious trends, showed that the phenomenon of “COVID fundamentalism” did not become widespread. However, in every religious community some believers …

Religious Epidemics On The Territory Of Ukraine: Historical Parallels And Essential Characteristics, Olena Predko, Denis Predko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article deals with two religious epidemics that unfolded in Ukraine in a span of one hundred years. The study analyzes the factors influencing the emergence and development of religious epidemics. On this basis, their peculiar algorithm has been singled out, the components of which are, on the one hand, the worldview and crisis of values caused by the rapid turns of history, and—on the other—-choosiness by God, charisma of the leader of a particular organization, which is “fed” by an eschatological idea, syncretic teachings, which are cultivated as an alternative religious model to established traditions. The definition of a …

Handbook For The Deceased: Re-Evaluating Literature And Folklore In Icelandic Archaeology, Brenda Nicole Prehal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The rich medieval Icelandic literary record, comprised of mythology, sagas, poetry, law codes and post-medieval folklore, has provided invaluable source material for previous generations of scholars attempting to reconstruct a pagan Scandinavian Viking Age worldview. In modern Icelandic archaeology, however, the Icelandic literary record, apart from official documents such as censuses, has not been considered a viable source for interpretation since the early 20th century. Although the Icelandic corpus is problematic in several ways, it is a source that should be used in Icelandic archaeological interpretation, if used properly with source criticism.

This dissertation aims to advance Icelandic archaeological theory …