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Praying The Advent Season: Putting The Coming Of Christ Into Christmas Life, Russell Hardiman

Theology Papers and Journal Articles

It is now nearly a decade since a revision of the Roman Missal was predicted and now five and a half years since the Missal appeared in Latin. The process of translating the 1377 pages is an immense project. After all the turmoil within ICEL's structures, the work is going ahead. With Advent, the focus of new translations is in expressing fully the biblical references to the future Messiah in the orations. In the Roman Missal3, a new policy is set making the tri-fold form of Solemn Blessing a unique fixture of Advent. As Pope Benedict is asking, the sense …

Full Issue, No Author

Verbum

This is the full issue of Volume 4, Issue 1 of Verbum, published in Fall 2006 by the REST Club at St. John Fisher College. Articles from this issue are available as separate PDFs at http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol4/iss1/

The "Life & Miracles" Of St. John Fisher College Alumna, Allison Faluotico

Verbum

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

"I graduated from Fisher with B.A.’s in Religious Studies and Sociology. After graduating from Fisher I had planned on attending Buffalo State College for graduate school but changed my mind that summer. I ended up staying in Rochester for a few months and looking around for a job (I must admit, however, I did not put much effort into this.) That fall I decided to move back to my hometown to see if I could find a job in or around the NYC area. Unable to find my ideal …

The "Beautiful Death" In The Smith Family, Samuel Brown

BYU Studies

Despite thoughtful attempts by Douglas Davies to situate death at the center of the Mormon “culture of salvation,” the exploration of death in early Mormonism has been somewhat limited to date, particularly as it relates to the Smith family and the earliest years of Mormonism. Against this relative silence stands the testimony of the Smiths themselves, who were deeply concerned with questions of mortality. Joseph Smith was unequivocal on this point during his 1843 funeral sermon for James Adams: “All men know that all men must die. What is the object of our coming into existence then dying and falling …

Fortin Appointed New Dean Of The Seminary, Beverly Stout

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Religion And Semiosphere: From Religious To The Secular And Beyond, Rajka Rush

Dissertations

Religion is a system of structural ideas that involve the natural ability of the mind to engage itself into the process of unlimited semiosis which can be defined as an existential openness of one's consciousness to the universe as a system. This primary religious consciousness becomes limited by language, symbolic, and cultural constraints. The religious semiotic space is a sub-cultural system open to culturally and cross-culturally encoded idioms and concepts. These cultural potentials are interpreted and settled by the religious exegesis expressed in the behavioral patterns of the symbolic actions that reflect a specific worldview of the closed community controlled …

Understanding Mazmuur Naafi: The Arabic Psalm Of Nephi, Josh E. Probert

BYU Studies

Arabic calligraphy is arguably the defining form of Islamic art. Jamal Qureshi has combined this centuries-old tradition and the geometric forms of Ottoman architecture with one of the richest passages from the Book of Mormon, the Psalm of Nephi (2 Nephi 4:16–35), to create an artwork rich in meaning. The artwork is visual praise; and it represents the way in which religious artforms are fluid, transgenerational, and adaptable to new meanings. This short essay explains the artwork by contextualizing it in both Islamic and Mormon traditions.

Four Years Later: Poets, Prophets, And The War In Iraq, Linda Maccammon

Verbum

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

"On September 11^th, 2001, I was teaching at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. On the first anniversary of the attacks, the Helena Independent Record asked a group of local pundits and academics to offer their thoughts on the effects of the attacks on America. Four years later, I offer my editorial again, with no small sense of sadness and with a much greater sense of urgency."

Letting Cities Shape How We Pray And What We Choose, William Reiser S.J.

Religious Studies Faculty Scholarship

Immersion into the life of our cities not only expands the knowledge we have of the people and places in the local community, but can have a profound and transformative effect on our spiritual lives as well.

Explore, Fall 2006, Vol. 10, No. 1: Jesuit Heritage At Santa Clara University, Ignatian Center For Jesuit Education

explore

Contents: Our Place at the Anniversary Table: The Jesuit Heritage of Santa Clara University; Acting Upon One Another: Ignatian Tradition and the Arts; Honoring the Jesuit Jubilee: Two Journeys; We Teach Who We Are: Reflections on the Vocation of the Teacher in Jesuit Education; Doing Justice: The Core of a Jesuit Education; Faith That Does Justice; Here Comes the Fire: My Experience as an SCU Parent; Daniel Germann, S.J.: A Servant-Leader; Bannan Grant Report: A Guide to St. Clare's Garden; Coming Events and Next Issue

Ethnographic Study Of Buddhist Education, Based On Burgess' Social Science Method At An American University And A Private Buddhist Organization, Wan-Ming Lu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The literature shows that there are many studies about Buddhism in the United States and religion on college campuses, but few studies specifically about Buddhism in American universities. The purpose of this study is to explore how American college students approach and learn about Buddhism. A qualitative research study of clinical ethnography was applied to conduct this study at the Florida International University (FIU) and Florida Buddhist Association (FBA). FBA was chosen to compare with FIU so that the features of Buddhist education at FIU would be clearer.

Eight students and four teachers (instructors) were interviewed at FIU; and two …

Searching For A Path: Evangelicals In Nicaraguan Politics, Jacob Siegel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Evangelicals now comprise approximately 20-25% of the Nicaraguan population, but the Nicaraguan political system has remained dominated by the specter of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, in the 1990s, some evangelical leaders, including ones who had previously been vocal opponents of political involvement, sought new outlets for political participation. I claim that the evangelical political movement has drawn on three justifications: a struggle against political marginalization, a crusade for “traditional moral values,” and a fight for economic betterment.

Here, utilizing interviews with 18 Nicaraguan Protestants involved in Christian political or social movements, I trace evangelical political parties though …

Dying, Death, And Afterlife From A Buddhist Perspective, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Since earliest times, death has fascinated, terrified, and confounded human beings. Virtually every religious tradition offers some explanation of three key concerns: the beginnings of the world, the meaning and purpose of human existence, and the end of life. The Buddhist traditions have given special attention to the meaning of life and the end of life as central topics for reflection.

James D. Tabor To Speak At Iwu Chapel Hour, Marcus Mitchell'09

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Transforming Swampland Into Nauvoo, The City Beautiful: A Civil Engineering Perspective, Kyle M. Rollins, Richard D. Smith, M. Brett Borup, E. James Nelson

BYU Studies

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes a number of significant engineering accomplishments. The Salt Lake Tabernacle was designated a national historic landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers because of the innovative bridge truss system used to support its roof. Latter-day Saints also pioneered a technique known today as dynamic compaction in their efforts to improve the soil below the foundation of the St. George temple. A one-thousand-pound cannon was repeatedly dropped from a height of twenty to thirty feet to drive lava rock into the soil below the foundation level. One of …

God And Country: Politics In Utah. By Jeffrey E. Sells, Ed, Jacob W. Olmstead

BYU Studies

Jeffery E. Sells, ed. God and Country: Politics in Utah. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2005.

Not For Tourists: Richard Bushman's Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, David J. Whittaker

BYU Studies

Richard Bushman’s Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

Book Notices, Craig Foster, Jana Lloyd, Liza Olsen, Nathan B. Orman, Josh E. Probert, James T. Summerhays

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

A Jesuit Interpretaion Of Mid-Nineteenth-Century America: "Mormonism In Connection With Modern Protestantism", Mark A. Noll

BYU Studies

As historians of Mormonism have long since established, Europeans took note of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints almost from the beginning. Mormon missionaries, converts, and expatriates, as well as European visitors to the United States, put the church on the European map early on. The result was a great deal of animated European commentary on, interest in, and interaction with Mormonism itself. Such engagement was illustrated in 1854 when, after a decade in the United States, the ecclesiastical polymath Philip Schaff returned to his native German-speaking regions …

Book Review: Hsieh Liang-Tso And The Analects Of Confucius: Humane Learning As A Religious Quest, Thomas Selover, Deborah A. Sommer (司馬黛蘭)

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Hsieh Liang-tso is the first volume to explore Chinese traditions in the Academy Series sponsored by Oxford and the American Academy of Religion. Most previous titles in the series focus on Christianity, which perhaps explains Selover’s attention to the perspectives of comparative religions and comparative theology in his introduction. There he briefly traces the history of the issues concerning the religious dimensions of the Chinese literati tradition and outlines a comparative framework for approaching eleventh-century Chinese thought. Inspired by Robert Neville’s Beyond the Masks of God, Selover focuses in the introduction on four themes—scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. This framework, …

Personal Scripture Study Of Prospective Missionaries, Eric Lyon Wing

Theses and Dissertations

The call of Church leaders to "raise the bar" placed direct attention on the preparation of future missionaries. Also, the new Preach My Gospel missionary guide emphasized effective personal scripture study in order for missionaries to fulfill their purposes of teaching by the Spirit and inviting others to come unto Christ. Thus, "raising the bar" and Preach My Gospel together created an important focus on the personal scripture study of prospective missionaries. However, available social research offered little indication of the state of scripture study among future missionaries. Consequently, this study maintained an exploratory design and utilized qualitative research methods …

When The Well Runs Dry: An Exploration Of Water Conservation And Blue Theology, Margaret H. Ferris

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Worldwide, freshwater is becoming scarce as the Earth's population increases, the effects of pollution and global warming shrink available resources, and agriculture demands rise. As theological communities offer distinctive contributions to the dialogue, theologians need to address the crisis and provide appropriate analysis and solutions from the perspective of "Blue Theology". This paper formulates such an approach, offering some of the first efforts made towards addressing the global water crisis through a theological lens. Within the Abrahamic tradition, the essay examines: how water is specifically beloved by the Divine; and the implications of God's love of water. The paper next …

C.S. Lewis, Apologist, Suzanne House Ebel

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

The Cambridge Companion To John Calvin (Book Review), John B. Roney

History Faculty Publications

Book review by John Roney.

McKim, D. K. (Ed.). (2004).The Cambridge companion to John Calvin. Cambridge University Press.

ISBN 9780521816472; 9780521016728 (pbk.)

English Calvinism And The Crowd: Coriolanus And The History Of Religious Reform, Peter Iver Kaufman

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Late Tudor London comes alive when Stephen Greenblatt's acclaimed biography of William Shakespeare, shadowing its subject, takes to the streets. “The unprecedented concentration of bodies jostling … crossing and recrossing the great bridge, pressing into taverns and theaters and churches,” Greenblatt suggests, is a “key to the whole spectacle” of crowds in the playwright's histories and tragedies. To be sure, his little excursions in London left their mark on his scripts, yet he scrupulously sifted his literary sources from which he drew characters and crises onto the stage. He prowled around Plutarch and read Stow and Hollinshed on the wars …

Wayward Nuns, Randy Priests, And Women's Autonomy: "Convent Abuse" And The Threat To Protestant Patriarchy In Victorian England, Cassandra N. Berman

Religious Studies Honors Projects

This paper examines anti-Catholicism in Victorian England in conjunction with the birth of modern feminism, the changing nature of women’s roles, and the attendant phenomenon of “convent abuse” tales in popular literature. These tales are distinguished from other forms of anti-Catholicism by their focus on gender and sexual perversity. The convent provides a setting for the complete rejection of traditional Protestant gender roles and the stories betray fear of women’s crossover into a male dominated world. Though I acknowledge these tales as anti-Catholic, I reanalyze them as expressions of Protestant unrest over the freedoms women were gaining in the mid-1800s.

Judas In The New Testament, The Restoration, And The Gospel Of Judas, Frank F. Judd-Jr.

BYU Studies

This article discusses the Gospel of Judas, an Early Christian text found in Egypt about 1978 and published in 2006 with much media attention. The text of the Gospel of Judas can be evaluated by comparing New Testament scriptures. The author examines canonical references to Judas and concludes that Latter-day Saints may benefit from studying the Gospel of Judas to better understand the nature of the apostasy that occurred after the death of Christ's apostles. However, the author reaffirms that Latter-day Saints should not scour this and other noncanonical books looking for the plain and precious truths believed to be …

Jesus Christ As Elder Brother, Corbin Volluz

BYU Studies

Mormons believe that their spirits are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ was the firstborn Son in a premortal existence. As such, He is commonly referred to by Mormons as their elder brother. However, the title does not appear in scripture or in the writings of Joseph Smith. The author traces the first documented usages of the term "elder brother" among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and examines its usage throughout the Church's history. He also considers alternative doctrinal and scriptural interpretations that refute the idea of all mortals being literal …

The Apocryphal Judas Revisited, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

This article discusses the Gospel of Judas, an Early Christian text found in Egypt about 1978 and published in 2006 with much media attention. What drove the writers of the Gospel of Judas to paint the betraying Apostle in a positive light will most likely remain a mystery. One motive may have been the Gnostic obsession with finding new truths and solving mysteries. Another could have been the Gnostics' rejection of mainstream Christianity and its foundation on Apostles like Peter and Paul. Whatever their motives, the writers of the most recently discovered gospel were not the first to fabricate stories …

Francis Webster: The Unique Story Of One Handcart Pioneer's Faith And Sacrifice, Chad M. Orton

BYU Studies

Francis Webster was a member of a group of Mormon pioneers who in 1856 encountered severe early winter weather and suffered many casualties. Webster is remembered among Mormons as the man who stopped a Sunday School class from criticizing leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for allowing the two ill-fated handcart companies to begin their journey so late in the summer. Webster's paraphrased statement, recorded by a member of the Sunday School class, has come to represent the sentiments of all handcart pioneers in most Mormons' minds, but Chad Orton refutes the idea that the whole …