Digital Commons Network^™

The Reception Of Fiducia Supplicans As Indicative Of The Paths Of Synodality, Chimaobi Clement Emefu Cssp

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

The Missionary Dimension Of The Ideas Of Poullart Des Places And His Foundation, Albert De Jong Cssp

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Ministry Through Agriculture : An Evaluation Of Community Farming Among Displaced People, Emmanuel Jatau

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Home And Religion, Emma Alexandra Grimley, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This chapter explores how religious practices and identities intersect with the home as both a construct and physical locale and surveys the social science literature on religion in/and the home. We argue that the shifting space-times of religious practice reflect and influence the changeable and porous boundaries between public and private space, the home and beyond the home. This influence is shown by reference to three areas of focus: the home as a private space of and for religion; the use of religion to cross social and spatial boundaries of home; and the reconfiguration of the home in religious practice …

A Buddhist Critique Of Harmony, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Entre Religion Et Médias : Méfiance Et Alliance, Betsa Estephano

Horizons et Conjonctures

In a context of continuous information flow, the relationship between religions and the media appears both conflictual and complementary. The media play a decisive role in shaping public perceptions of religions and in determining their visibility, while religious traditions, aware of this influence, seek to use these channels to communicate their message and engage in dialogue with society. This interaction raises crucial issues such as freedom of expression, respect for religious pluralism, and the ethical responsibility of media professionals. The article examines how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam maintain diverse and sometimes ambivalent relations with the media, marked by fear of …

A Theology Of Public Witness For Churches Of Christ In The 21st Century, Collin Packer

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

In a time of increasingly divisive rhetoric and polarization, churches are facing new challenges that threaten their unity and mission. Churches of Christ find themselves in a peculiar position in this cultural moment. We do not bear the negative baggage associated with Evangelicalism’s drift into Christian nationalism and an enmeshment with the Religious Right. And yet, our witness has been muted through our silence pertaining to matters of public life and ethics. In this paper, I set out to investigate the historical reasons for our silence and to suggest a theology of public witness for Churches of Christ in the …

الحياة على محّك التقنيّة: مقاربة لاهوتيّة - أخلاقيّة لمسؤوليّة الإنجاب, جوسلين عوّاد, الأب إدغار الهيبي

Horizons et Conjonctures

Life at Stake in Technology: A Theological-Ethical Approach to Procreative Responsibility

In an age when artificial intelligence and genetic engineering shape life's origins, human procreation stands at a decisive threshold. This article offers theological and ethical reflection on human agency before technological power. Beyond biomedical concerns, it examines how digitization unsettles freedom, dignity, and divine providence. Drawing upon Catholic tradition—from Augustine to John Paul II—it proposes renewed theology of co-creation, wherein human creativity becomes participation in life-giving. Through Imago Dei and moral discernment, it contends that progress must serve life, not fabricate it. Christological ethics can guide reproductive technologies toward …

Between Sound And Theology: Timbral Performativity In Brazilian Religious Musicking, Marcell Silva Steuernagel

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This article explores the performativity of timbre, summarizing key perspectives from the English-language scholarship on the topic and setting them in conversation with Latin American perspectives on timbre. In addition, it examines a performance of “500 Graus” (500 degrees), a song performed by Brazilian Pentecostal artists Cassiane and Shirley Carvalhaes, to demonstrate how the performativity of timbre unfolds within a particular expression of Latin American religious musicking. In doing so, it investigates the phenomenon of timbre between music and sound studies, and theology and church music studies, providing insights relevant to the study of timbre and the study of religious …

Timbre — A Transcendent Paradox?, Eugenia Siegel Conte

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Timbre, as ethnomusicologist Cornelia Fales writes, is “paradoxical” precisely because it is one of the most exacting processes in which the human body may sense and comprehend the source of a sound even as that comprehended sound is impossible to describe outside of metaphor or comparison. As one of the more recognizable qualities of sound but the most difficult to describe, timbre allows us to consider physical/emotional (affective) experiences of sound as a key aspect of faith and meditation. In this article, I examine physical-affective intersections of faith and meditation that often are key to praxes of worship, and show …

Singing A Wide Heart: Timbre And Sung Prayer In Senegal’S Layène Community, Margaret L. Rowley

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Layène sung prayer (called sikkar) is embedded within the religious practices of the Layène community, a minority Sufi order in Dakar, Senegal. This article explores the functions of Layène sung prayer, focusing especially on its loud, vibrational timbre. Both men and women vocalists in call-and-response sing loudly, using wide vibrato and electronic amplification to ensure that the sikkar reaches the inhabitants—both human and non-human—in the surrounding community. This article demonstrates that the distinctive timbre of Layène sung prayer serves the spiritual functions of binding the community together in spiritual and social cohesion, increasing individual and collective generosity, and demarcating …

Performing "Manly" Worship Music: Gender And Timbre At Mars Hill Church, Maren Haynes Marchesini

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Ten years ago, Mars Hill boasted fifteen campuses and 15,000 members. Amid mounting allegations of abuse and mismanagement leveled against founding pastor Mark Driscoll, the church famously collapsed, closing its doors at the end of 2014. Driscoll had built Mars Hill’s core brand around his opposition to the perceived feminization of the Christian mainstream, and appointing himself the “leader of a heterosexual male backlash” in the church and broader culture. While Driscoll’s muscular Christianity stands in a wide historical stream, Mars Hill long led the charge in establishing a youth-oriented, hipster brand of hypermasculine Calvinism. And while rhetoric and theology …

From The Heaviest, Dirtiest Depths To The Washy Ambient Clouds: Guitar Timbre In/As Schismogenesis In North American Christianity, Joshua K. Busman, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This essay argues that within the socio-cultural context of North American Christianity, the timbral qualities of electric guitar, with its long lineage as a site of cultural values conflict and identity negotiation, serves a theological function in the emerging and cohering sonority of digital worship. Using as comparative case studies the timbral qualities of delay and ambience as promoted and sold by Worship Tutorials as representing normative sonic values for these Christians, on the one hand, and the dialectic and schismatic deployment of distortion by the band My Epic on the other, we suggest that these timbral qualities become important …

Sounds Like 'Saudade': Eschatological Echoes In Brazilian 'Gospel' Music, Fernando Berwig Silva

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This paper analyzes the song “Saudade” by the Brazilian gospel singer Stella Laura. In the song, I argue that Stella Laura uses Brazilian timbral markers from the Sertanejo and Gospel Brazilian music genres to articulate a unique perspective on eschatology, one that is based on the affective structure of the Lusophone word ‘saudade.’ Furthermore, I contend that the song, rooted in the Brazilian nostalgic sertanejo music tradition, leans on stylistic and timbral tools to communicate the idea of saudade from heaven. Beyond lyrics that feature theological notions of origin, identity, and nostalgia, Stella Laura’s song employs timbral, poetic, …

America’S Best Idea: The Separation Of Church And State, A Review, Michael A. Smith

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article critically assesses Randall Balmer’s America’s Best Idea, a historical and legal examination of the Jeffersonian principle of church-state separation. Drawing on Jefferson’s 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists and Roger Williams’ earlier theological insights, Balmer frames the metaphorical “wall” as both a constitutional safeguard and cultural cornerstone. The review analyzes the book’s treatment of evolving Supreme Court jurisprudence, particularly the shift from strict separationism to accommodationism in recent decisions. It contextualizes this legal transformation within the broader rise of Christian Nationalism, examining the ideological and institutional pressures reshaping civic discourse. While affirming Balmer’s historical rigor and rhetorical …

From A Shtetl House To An Urban Apartment: The Soviet Jewish Home Negotiated, Transformed, And Reimagined, Anna Kushkova

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

This essay argues that despite the powerful forces of assimilation, official campaigns against Jewish religion/languages, and grassroots/state antisemitism, the “Jewish home” did not disappear, as is sometimes assumed, but continued to present a site of Jewish ethnic production and transmission, creativity, and resistance during the Soviet regime. In the Soviet Union, especially in the postwar period, Jewish ethnic culture was forced to leave the public sphere, where it became unwelcome and even dangerous, and withdrew into the less visible space of domestic interiors. The degree of Jewish public presence varied geographically: the situation was generally better in the Baltic Republics, …

Editorial: Jewish Cultural Scholarship And Scholars—And Their Institutions—Under Duress, Simon J. Bronner, Amy K. Milligan, Tsafi Sebba-Elran

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

The editors of Jewish Folklore and Ethnology (JFE) express concern about intimidation and estrangement of Israeli and Jewish professors in the international academic community after the surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The editors point out that these types of hurtful antisemitic incidents against Israeli and Jewish academics preceded the attack, and they call on their colleagues and administrators to voice their outrage at the harassment, boycotts, and violence against Israeli and Jewish academics in addition to the suppression of Jewish studies, and their adverse effects on scholarship as well as Jewish students and their …

Exploring How Religious Tourism Influences The Motivation Of Young Thai Tourists In Bangkok., Arisara Seyanont

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism in Thailand encompasses a wide range of tourism related to religion, including traditional festivals and various religious activities. Today, temples or religious places in Thailand have become tourist attractions that people pay attention to, including groups of teenagers. Young Thai tourists show interest and travel to temples to ask for blessings, seek more amulets, and participate in Dharma practices. Within this context, this study aims to explore the components of religious tourism that influence the motivation of young Thai tourists in Bangkok. The components of religious tourism consist of 5 dimensions: 1) architectural design, painting, and sculpture; 2) …

Iranian Culture In Bahram Beyzaie’S Cinema And Theatre: Paradigms Of Being And Belonging (1959-79), Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Saeed Talajooy, Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie’s Cinema and Theatre: Paradigms of Being and Belonging (1959-79) (London: I.B. Tauris, 2023)

Subjectivity And Decolonisation In The Post-Independence Novel And Film, Heather Bigley

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Sarah Jilani, Subjectivity and Decolonisation in the Post-Independence Novel and Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism, Teng-Kuan Ng

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Victor Fan, Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022)

Lived Islam In Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses Of Syrian Refugees, Jumana S. Al-Ahmad

Journal of Religion & Film

This article provides educators in fields such as Middle Eastern studies, refugee studies, cultural and Islamic studies with a framework from documentaries to challenge stereotypes about Muslim refugees and migrants. Using the framework of lived Islam, the article explores how Syrian Muslim migrants, as seen in documentaries, draw on their faith to build resilience that enables them to continue striving for better lives. Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and catastrophes, envision solutions, and lead a purposeful life. This article conceptualizes resilience not only as a personal trait but also as a collective tool for survival and …

The Secular Eschatology Of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, Timothy Winterstein

Journal of Religion & Film

This article considers the ending of Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood in light of Christian eschatology. I argue that Tarantino gives us an image of a temporal, partial eschatological moment, which relates to and interacts with a scriptural, Christian perspective on hope and the universal human longing for things to be other than what they are.

Hermeneutical Priming And Linguistic Hijacking In The God’S Not Dead Series, Brant Entrekin

Journal of Religion & Film

In this paper, I analyze the evangelical Christian film series God's Not Dead. I argue that the film series functions as Christian Nationalist propaganda through its rhetoric and aesthetic choices. I then develop two forms of epistemic manipulation that the film uses to fulfill its propagandistic function: hermeneutical priming and linguistic hijacking. I suggest that the film series' use of these rhetorical strategies highlights some of the ways that evangelical Christian cinema is engaging with rising right-wing political movements and developing unique evangelical imaginations.

100 Years Of Sergei Eisenstein: Iconographic Language And Revolution, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece Броненосец Потёмкин / Battleship Potemkin (1925), it is essential to re-examine the film that has had enduring influence on film theory, history, and scholarship. Voted one of the greatest films of all time, Eisenstein’s cinematic genius has been crucial to understanding the power of film language. This paper focuses on the underexplored relationship between Eisenstein’s film language and iconography, examining the ways in which Orthodox Christian iconography shaped the story of revolution. The paper delves into the ways in which Eisenstein conveyed complex ideas, demonstrating the technical developments of film …

Building A Pastor Profile For Spiritually Mature Leadership: A Practical Guide For Churches, William Ingram

Great Commission Research Journal

This article provides a practical guide for churches to develop a pastor profile that ensures the hiring of a spiritually mature leader. It emphasizes the importance of creating detailed, clear, and specific profiles to guide pastoral searches, addressing both professional qualifications and personal character traits. The article critiques vague examples of pastor profiles and outlines a framework for crafting effective profiles, which includes conducting a needs assessment, specifying professional qualifications (e.g., education, ordination, experience), and emphasizing scriptural character requirements like humility, self-control, and spiritual maturity. It highlights the significance of relational skills, theological alignment, and leadership style in ensuring a …

Exploring The Role Of Transformational Leadership In The Health And Growth Of Nazarene Churches In The Africa East Field, Warren W. Rogers Iii

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The transformational leadership model is associated with positive outcomes in the follower experience, as well as in educational, healthcare, and business sectors. There is limited research on the impact of transformational leadership on church health and growth (George & Sreedharan, 2023; Kouni et al., 2018; Rahmatulloh et al., 2023; Tian & Guo, 2024). The purpose of this general qualitative study was to explore how transformational leadership contributes to the health and growth of Nazarene churches in the Africa East Field (comprising Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda). Eight pastoral leaders were interviewed to share their thoughts, perspectives, …

Discovering An Effective Disciple-Making Method For Men, Clifton J. Hefley

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This dissertation explores the development of an effective disciple-making method for men by integrating insights from early church discipleship practices and modern missional strategies such as Disciple Making Movements (DMM) and Church Planting Movements (CPM). Rooted in biblical theology and the teachings of the Patristic Fathers, the study evaluates how obediencebased, relational discipleship shaped early Christianity and compares it with contemporary missional frameworks promoted by leaders like David Garrison, Alan Hirsch, and Steve Addison. Against the backdrop of a sharp decline in church attendance and male engagement in Western Christianity, this research identifies the need for a reproducible, movement-oriented model …

The Pastor As Romantic Author: Ai, Preaching, And The Unacknowledged Inheritance Of Authenticity, Daniel Plate, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

This article interrogates contemporary reactions to sermons produced with generative technologies through a historical–conceptual lens, arguing that widespread judgments of such outputs as “soulless,” “generic,” or lacking a “beating heart” are best explained by an unacknowledged inheritance from nineteenth-century Romantic expressivism. Rather than treating resistance to machine authorship as a theological verdict on computational incapacity, the study reconstructs how Romanticism centered authorship in sincere self-expression and solitary genius, displacing earlier heraldic expectations that prized fidelity to a received message. Methodologically, the analysis combines intellectual history with discourse analysis of global Christian experiments in synthetic composition (2020–2025), denominational guidance, and media …

Life In The Kingdom: Reimagining Theological Education For A Post-Secular Global Age, Jose Philip

Great Commission Research Journal

Theological education faces a profound crisis, shaped by globalization, secularization, and an epistemological fracture that prioritizes intellectual mastery over spiritual formation. Many seminaries fail to cultivate graduates who are spiritually grounded and missionally engaged due to models rooted in Enlightenment rationalism and managerial pragmatism. This paper advocates for reimagining theological education as a Kingdom-centered vocation, emphasizing transformative participation in the life of God. The paper calls for a shift from content delivery to character formation, centering theological education on faithful, embodied witness to God's mission in a complex world.