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The Ideologies And Outcomes Of The French And American Revolutions, Donald D. Palmer

Masters Theses

One effective way to compare the fruits of biblical Christianity with modernism is to contrast the ideologies and outcomes of the American and French Revolutions. Pre-revolutionary America was rich with biblical influence. Adherents of both Protestantism and Deism sought a “Christian society,” and while revolutionaries drew from both biblical Reformation and secular Enlightenment thought, much of the latter was biblical thought in secular form. Ministers employed the Bible extensively to support the Revolution. This relative theological consensus encouraged religious practice and a political system that accommodated dispute. Human rights were secure thanks to man’s subordinate position under God. Even after …

From Middlemarch To The Da Vinci Code: Portrayals Of Religious Studies In Popular Culture, Brian Collins, Kristen Tobey

2018 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Educating For Tolerance In Kazakhstan, Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva, Karlygash Borbassova

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their paper "Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan" Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova consider the problem of education intolerance amidst young people in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The authors hope to unveil some of the controversies and problems encountered with regards to the prevention of terrorism and extremism and illuminate the efforts of Kazakhstan for international transparency and EU convergence. The paper begins with a revision of Kazakhstan law on the matter of religious freedom, registration of religious groups, and religious education. These topics have created great controversies in the international community, and the paper goes on to …

Santería In A Globalized World: A Study In Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music, Nathan Montgomery

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The Yoruban people of modern-day Nigeria worship many deities called orichas by means of singing, drumming, and dancing. Their aurally preserved artistic traditions are intrinsically connected to both religious ceremony and everyday life. These forms of worship traveled to the Americas during the colonial era through the brutal transatlantic slave trade and continued to evolve beneath racist societal hierarchies implemented by western European nations. Despite severe oppression, Yoruban slaves in Cuba were able to disguise orichas behind Catholic saints so that they could still actively worship in public. This initial guise led to a synthesis of religious practice, language, and …

Encountering The Living Religions Of India: Strangers To Friends, M. Darrol Bryant

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Where Are We Going? : A Critical Analysis Of Millennials And The Traditional Church, Riley Ferguson

Celebration of Learning

Walk into any given Protestant church on any given Sunday morning, outside of Christmas and Easter; what you will most likely see is the pastor at the front of the congregation running through the week’s prayers, a piano/organ playing, a cross somewhere at the front, but what you will not see is a great multitude of young adults between the ages of 18-29 (Kinnaman). There is a problem with millennial church membership and it is deeply impacting our congregations and how faith is being understood today. Pastors, church leaders, and congregations have been trying to find ways to solve the …

The Rupture That Remains: A Trauma-Informed Pastoral Theology, Eric Worringer

Master of Theology Theses

No abstract provided.

Liberating The Imago Dei: An Examination Of Jewish And Christian Feminist Biblical Anthropology, Carissa S. Wyant

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This study provides a comparative analysis of the work of Roman Catholic feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson and that of Jewish feminist theologian Judith Plaskow, who have both sought to reconstruct the Imago Dei (“image of God”) within their respective traditions. By way of this analysis, it makes a methodological and a substantive contribution. Methodologically, it expands on Elizabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza’s feminist critical approach to reading Scripture by relating it to Francis Clooney’s comparative theological approach to reading texts in religious traditions other than one’s own. Although there have been attempts at comparisons of various religious traditions from a feminist perspective, this …

Christian Political Economy And Economic Science: A Pathway For Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Nathan Mclellan

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers two intellectual impediments to interdisciplinary dialogue between Christian theologians, ethicists, and economists: scarcity and the status of economics as a wertfrei science. Using the landmark methodological work of Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economics Science, to frame the discussion, this dissertation seeks to remove these two intellectual impediments to interdisciplinary dialogue by considering three nested questions. They are:

(1) Is scarcity—as defined by Robbins—an accurate description of the world?

(2) If scarcity, as defined by Robbins, is an accurate description of the world, how is this to be justified theologically, and …

Believing Into Christ: Restoring The Relational Sense Of Belief As Constitutive Of The Christian Faith, Natalya Cherry

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

The beginning phrase of major Christian creeds, Cred(ere) in Deum literally means “to believe into God.” What has been lost in translation of this admittedly awkward construction is the relational sense of active and living belief, fit for the flourishing of human agents who relate to a living and active God. This loss occurred, despite Augustine’s describing this phrase as the culmination of Christian faith, distinct from credere Deo, “to believe God,”[1] and from credere Deum,[2] “to believe that God exists” (which today is taken to be the basic meaning of “believing in God”). Despite the resulting …

Mapping The Nature Of Empire: The Legacy Of Theological Geography In The Early Iberian Atlantic, Ángel Jazak Gallardo

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This investigation revolves around one central question: if Christianity became the official ideology for sixteenth-century imperial expansion, then how does a theological conception of nature undergird or undermine colonial configurations of knowledge and power? I argue that, in the wake of 1492, Iberian empires racialized religious identity and mapped hemispheric dominion by leveraging a theological geography, that is, a scholastic vision of the natural world.

In Chapter One, I examine the order of nature in late medieval cosmology. By analyzing Fra Mauro’s Mappamundi (c. 1450), I show the ways in which Aristotelian Thomism provides an intellectual framework for subsequent global …

Human Capabilities, Religion, And Rights, Oleg Makariev

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines whether a commitment to human rights is cogent apart from a religious view of life. I identify three distinctive religious criticisms of secular conceptions of human rights, from ultimate meaning, dignity, and comprehensive good, illustrating each through the work of a prominent author, Michael J. Perry, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Alasdair MacIntyre. The criticism from ultimate meaning focuses on assessing enduring goods and universal solidarity, from dignity on distinct and equal human worth in relation to other species, and from comprehensive good on holistic flourishing, shared reasons, and sources of obligation. I grapple with these criticisms by drawing …

P-09 A Conceptual Framework For Analyzing The 2017-2018 Seventh-Day Adventist Global Church Member Survey, Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. Mcbride

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

We, along with others, developed the 2017-18 Global Church Member Survey currently being used by the Seventh-day Adventist Church to assess the quinquennial Church Strategic Plan. We included items for comparison to previous surveys, along with items to measure performance indicators from the Strategic Plan. However, our unique contributions were grounded in a novel theoretical framework based on Biblical principles and concepts in the social sciences. The Biblical contribution to the core of this framework focused on scriptural teaching on discipleship and God’s active role believer’s lives. The social science contribution to the core integrated theories of motivation (Deci & …

A Meditation In Three Parts, Brent Nakamoto

Graduate School of Art Theses

I’m interested in the way we read images—they way we see through an image’s surface in order to perceive its illusion, in the same way that we see through words in order to understand their meaning. I’m interested in this relationship, in both images and texts, between surface, illusion, and meaning. In Buddhist philosophy, the source of suffering is in our attachments to the self-as-image. The function of Zen meditation practice is to bring attention to this process of perception and, in doing so, to help see through the illusions of self-hood and ground our understanding in the reality of …

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 …

A Theological Analysis Of Confessional-Centric Curriculum Of Christian Religious Education: Towards An Inclusive Religious Pluralistic Centered Curriculum For Nigeria Colleges Of Education, Ilesanmi Ajibola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Desire to live in peace and unity despite the multi ethnic and multi religious composition of Nigeria, remain ideals that are constant in the nation’s Constitution. However, accruable benefits of a culturally and religiously pluralistic society have continued to elude Nigeria due to incessant religious violence arising from the mutual suspicion of Christians and Muslims in the country. Nevertheless, the nation’s National Policy on Education proposes the education sector as one of the platforms to inculcate a sense of unity and religious tolerance in the country. The policy considers the nation’s learning centers and religious courses offered in such institutions …

Preaching And Sermons, Robert Ellison Ph.D.

English Faculty Research

This essay, published in Volume III of The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, examines the art of preaching during the nineteenth century. Its focus is not the sermons themselves, but rather lectures on preaching delivered to ministerial students in England, the United States, and Canada. Topics addressed in these lectures include not only homiletic theory, but also other aspects of the preacher's work, such as prayer, pastoral visitation, and developing good working relationships with church officers and other members of the congregation.

A History Of Slavery In Central Asia: Shī’Ī Muslim Enslavement In 19th Century Bukhara, Robert Dunbar

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

Despite more than a century of interest on the part of western scholars and historians in the region of Central Asia, in many respects our knowledge of many topics in Central Asian history remains limited. To date, when compared to the body of historical works treating the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas, or even the history of slavery within the Arab-Muslim world, the history of slavery in Islamic Central Asia has received little attention. Thus, it stands to reason that the history of …

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. …

The Trouble With Trible: The Limitation Of A Feminist Biblical Interpretation, Linda Maccammon

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph:

In her book, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives, Phyllis Trible describes the story of the unnamed concubine in the Book of Judges as depicting “the horrors of male power, brutality, and triumphalism, of female helplessness, abuse, and annihilation” (65). While I understand and fully accept that there are patriarchal and misogynistic elements in the text, I find Trible’s feminist interpretation and assessment of the story problematic because it loses sight of one of the Bible’s central revelatory messages; namely, that power, brutality, helplessness and abuse …

“Pilgrimage In Service Of Mission In The Context Of The Contemporary Korean Church”, Min-Hwi Kim

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

There is a saying that life is a pilgrimage. This journey is also echoed through Vatican II’s statement that "The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father."¹ As such, a pilgrimage is an expressive act of desire to engage spirituality on a practical level, and "a journey to a special or holy place as a way of making an impact on one’s life with the revelation of God …

Friendship And Gift In 2 Corinthians 8–9: Social Relations And Conventions In The Jerusalem Collection, Ruth Whiteford

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Whiteford, Ruth A. “Friendship and Gift in 2 Corinthians 8–9: Social Relations and Conventions in the Jerusalem Collection.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 197 pp.

The collection in 2 Corinthians 8–9 not only presents the opportunity for a transfer of economic resources, but also signifies a particular kind of social relationship between the Christians in Corinth and Jerusalem. While the Corinthians interpreted prospective transactions through the lens of patronage and therefore as an opportunity to gain status, Paul’s sustained use of the ancient Greco-Roman friendship topos in his instructions reveals his conviction that all members of the ἐκκλησία are equal, …

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 …

Information Search Strategies Among Theological Faculty Members In Tamil Nadu, Yesan Sellan, Dr. S. Ally Sornam, Associate Professor And Head

The Christian Librarian

This research article studies the information seeking search strategies used by theological faculty members in Tamil Nadu. It is based on a structured questionnaire sent to 120 select faculty members, of which 101 questionnaires were returned, achieving a response rate of 84%. Major findings of this study contribute to understanding the awareness and use of search options among respondents. Basic and keyword search options are commonly used by respondents in online sources while preferences for references from books and journals are more popular among faculty members to locate bibliographic information in print sources. This study further noted that faculty members …

Bremmer's "Maidens, Magic And Martyrs In Early Christianity" (Book Review), Cynthia Hammell

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Stark's "Why God?: Explaining Religious Phenomena" (Book Review), Scott Lloyd

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

The Proverbs 31 Woman, Then, John W. Fadden

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

Before she became a cultural icon of Christian womanhood, before she was invoked in funeral eulogies, and even before she was recounted by Jewish husbands to their wives on the Sabbath, the woman of Proverbs 31:10-31 represented an elite masculine perspective among the golah community centered in Jerusalem during the Persian period. The following paragraphs seek to offer the reader a glimpse into how Proverbs 31:10-31 reflects this historical context. In particular, the poem relies on economic activities and values of elite women and households then, which may be …

Islamophobia In The United Kingdom: A Critical Global Perspective, Jeffrey Driggs

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

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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.

American Muslim Women: Feminism, Equality, And Difference, Amber Coniglio

Honors Theses

American Muslim women face constant surveillance, stress, and pressure to change and adapt to mainstream society. In the United States, Muslim women find ways to negotiate their identities, express their concerns, and learn through their faith by means of Islamic scholarship, Islamic feminism, and reinterpretations of the Quran. They are reconciling their multifaceted identities with better understanding of sacred text as well as solidifying their desired gender roles within their communities. They are challenging norms and creating new spaces for themselves within the ummah as well as the United States. American Muslim women find courage, strength, and autonomy through Islamic …