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Substitutes In Hell: Schemes Of Atonement In The Ezra Apocalypses, Meghan Henning

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

This book is one of the first modern collections of studies on important aspects of the Ezra figure that combines both Jewish and Christian traditions. The volume opens with a study of Ezra in rabbinic literature and continues with four chapters on 4 Ezra, discussing its dimensions of time, future agents and visionary practices as well as reminiscences of 4 Ezra in the Armenian Script of the Lord's Infancy. The following chapters study the relationship of 4, 5 and 6 Ezra, the nature of 5 Ezra and dissimulation strategies in 6 Ezra. The last chapters concentrate on the important discovery …

Satanic Influences In The American Christian Church In A Post-Modern Consumer Society, Jerry F. Ressa

Doctor of Ministry

This study seeks to propose evidences as to how and why the contemporary Christian church is satanically influenced, resulting in pain and suffering from devastating personal dysfunctions, interpersonal conflicts and divisions. This situation presents a great dilemma facing many, if not most, Christians in that they simply do not understand and are unaware of profound life altering significances of the spiritual battle being waged for souls and the satanic deceptions that draw people away from God. Satan, his fallen angels, and demons influence Christians and others through his primary tools of deceit and deception, delivered to the culture through media, …

The Transformation Of Asian Fathers: From Distant, Income Provider And Disciplinarian To Forgiven, Discipler & Benefactor, Victor Quon

Doctor of Ministry

Asian fathers have a tough road to travel upon. The proper image of the father is one of the least successful cover-ups in today’s Asian church. On the surface, there is the attempt to portray him as being successful in his career, confident in his identity and respected as a spiritual leader in his home. Yet when his children are asked to discuss family relationships in the youth group, a different picture comes into focus. It is one of emptiness, distance and sometimes resentment. The typical stereotype of the stern father who shows more care for his personal success and …

Food And Faith: Making Food And Eating Choices Based On Evidence And Faith, James David Ahasay

Doctor of Ministry

Many leaders within the US-American Christian community are unaware of cultural influences driven by money that impact food sanctity, what we eat and the land from which our sustenance is derived. The question is asked, “What is food?” Intentional identity formation with the food we eat and its relationship to the land is important to create a physically and spiritually healthy environment for both men and women leaders, not only within the Christian community, but also throughout society at large. A large part of the problem is in thinking of food as a commodity rather than as a sacred part …

The Need To Equip Lutheran Congregations In Mission For Christ Church Planters For Spiritual Warfare, David John Heinrich

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research project was to address the need for spiritual warfare training and equipping for church planters to be more efficient in mission within the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) movement. The researcher designed a sequential mixed method approach to this research with LCMC church planters. The research findings demonstrated that church planters were well educated but 96 percent did not receive any formal spiritual warfare training and equipping in seminary or Bible school; the spiritual warfare training environment preferred was hands-on activation workshops.

A Comparative Study Of Hermeneutical Approaches To The Seven Seals, Harold Novac

Master's Theses

Problem

From the beginnings God had a purpose with His prophetical messages to the world and we can see in the Bible clearly, that God always presented His prophetical messages in a certain order. A chronological method was favored by God. That is why from the beginnings, as Seventh-Day Adventists we believed that the best way to interpret the secrets of Revelation is through the historicist approach. Unfortunately this view is fading among scholars, even among SDA researchers.

Purpose

We are going to investigate why this is happening and we will show that historicism has a lot to say, even …

A Systems Theory Analysis Of The Goshen Seventh-Day Adventist Church's System Of Communication, Clavour R. Tucker

Master's Theses

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is a complex and multilayered nonprofit organization (NPO), with carefully outlined policies and guidelines for almost every aspect of the organization. However, the philosophical or structural framework that guides communication within the organization is not clear. It is my hypothesis, having been a member and employee of the organization for almost 30 years, that not having such a structure has led to the creation of a fragmented culture of communication, which is observable in local congregations. This research assesses this phenomenon at the Goshen SDA Church, in Chicago, IL, and seeks to answer the …

Orson Scott Card’S “Artifact Or Artifice”: Where It Stands After Twenty-Five Years, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

When Orson Scott Card wrote “The Book of Mormon: Artifact or Artifice?” in 1993, he applied keen skills as an author of fiction to help readers understand how to detect the many hidden assumptions an author brings into a text. Subtle details such as the choice of what to explain or what not to explain to readers can quickly reveal the era and environment of the author. The value of Card’s analysis is reconsidered in light of extensive Book of Mormon studies since 1993 and has been found, for the most part, to have withstood the test of time well, …

"Contra Haereticos Accingantur": The Union Of Crusading And Anti-Heresy Propaganda, Bryan E. Peterson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the intersection of crusading and heresy repression in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. The event that encapsulates this intersection was the Albigensian Crusade, a two-decades long conflict that befell the south of France, or Occitania. The papacy, aligned with northern lords and other willing Christians, took up arms to defend the Church from the Cathar heresy’s corrupting influence. This conflict marked a new development in Christian acts of violence. While the Church had crusaded against many different enemies—even branding some as heretics—before 1209, the Church had never called a crusade for the explicit purpose of …

Finding Lost & Found: Designer’S Notes From The Process Of Creating A Jewish Game For Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides context for and examines aspects of the design process of a game for learning. Lost & Found (2017a, 2017b) is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed to teach medieval religious legal systems, beginning with Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1180), a cornerstone work of Jewish legal rabbinic literature. Through design narratives, the article demonstrates the complex design decisions faced by the team as they balance the needs of player engagement with learning goals. In the process the designers confront challenges in developing winstates and in working with complex resource management. The article provides insight into the pathways the team …

Advent 3 Series B 2017, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the Propers for the Third Sunday of Advent, Series B and offers ideas for proclamation and preaching.

Oppression And Resistance: Socialist Theory And Christianity In The Lord Of The Rings, Gregory Jeffers

Conversations: A Graduate Student Journal of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology

I have applied the work of Iris Marion Young (socialist theorist and political philosopher) and Walter Wink (New Testament scholar and Peace activist) to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, arguing that although Young and Wink provide similar descriptions of oppression, their forms of resistance are largely divergent because Wink's, while far more radical and compelling as a story, requires the existence of the Christian God to work. I have read their prescriptions forresistance through de Certeau’s concepts of strategy (concerted and active resistance) and tactic (reactionary resistance). The Lord of the Rings demonstrates the way that Wink and …

Interview With Gordon Crisman, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

Gordon Crisman talks about he originally registered for the draft as a 1-A before he became a Christian, but after he attended George Fox he made to decision to do alternative service instead.

Kenya's "God's Presence: The Missing Something" (Book Review), Cynthia Hammell

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Black And Brown Pauls: A Pauline Case Of Racial Profiling; A Hermeneutical Reading Of Acts 21:27‐40a And 22:23‐29 And The Reality Of The African American And Hispanic Communities In The United States, Dempsey Rosales Acosta

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The present study analyzes the socio-historical context and setting narrated in the canonical episode of Paul’s arrest and his treatment in Jerusalem according to the narrative of Acts 21:27-40a and 22:23-29. The pericopes become the fundamental platform through which it is possible to present both a hermeneutical and theological interpretation of the liabilities and ultimate consequences of racial profiling, especially when it is exercised by the civil authorities, an institutionalized power, or a general culture. The diachronic and synchronic exegetical analysis of the pericopes are combined with the methodological approaches of cognitive semantics and the practical theology that lead to …

Actions And Words: Luther And James Through An Alternative Hermeneutical Lens, Daniel Maoz

Consensus

No abstract provided.

The Pulpit And The People: Mobilizing Evangelical Identity, Tim Moser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using ten sermons from five prominent and politically active evangelical megachurch pastors taken from the 2016 presidential campaign season, this case study utilizes frame analysis to understand the political relevance of modern evangelical sermonizing. An inductive frame analysis allows the concept of a collective action frame to be observed as a process and for patterns to emerge from the source text. Within these sermons, ministers offer self-identifying evangelicals a vocabulary with which to understand and describe their own identity. In this context, the Bible is a powerful cultural symbol that represents an allegiance to traditions that are framed as the …

A Historical Overview Of The Impact Of The Reformation On East Asia, Christina Han

Consensus

No abstract provided.

The Spirituality Of Communion: A Resource For Dialogue With Catholics In Public Life, Amelia J. Uelmen

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Changing Changelessness: On The Genesis And Development Of The Doctrine Of Divine Immutability In The Ancient And Hellenic Period, Milton Wilcox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project will track and explain the development of the Doctrine of Divine Immutability from early mythological and scriptural source material that seems to indicate that divine entities are changeable into metaphysical systems that demand a perfectly consistent deity. The Doctrine of Divine Immutability is a philosophical and theological postulate that has long been a staple of systematic metaphysics and theology, but its function in robust and fully formed systems is different than its function when it is first generated in Ancient Greece and Judah. Methodologically mostly primary sources are studied and compared with interpretive help from relevant secondary sources. …

Article 66: Revelation At A Glance, Harold Willmington

The Owner's Manual File

No abstract provided.

In The Beginning Of The Reformation Was The Word, George Connell

Intersections

No abstract provided.

Reaching The Thai People Of Southeast Asia: A Model For Discipleship And Leadership Training, Duane D. Carmody

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis addresses training the Thai national leadership in discipleship and leadership qualities to develop a church planting movement with the main goal of evangelizing the unreached people groups throughout the countries of China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. The Thai have become dependent on foreign funds and though they are an independent people, they are beginning to realize that there are strings attached—with money comes control. The model will be built around a sustainable farm, which will help in developing vocational skills in order to become indigenous and autonomous. In this thesis it is my purpose to present a …

Luther, The Flawed Giant, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Presentation given in part of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation at the First Lutheran Church on October 21, 2017 in Columbus, Indiana.

A Reflection On Catholicism, Legalism And Nuclear War, Robert F. Drinan

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Competition And Work (Overview), Theology Of Work Project, Greg Forster

Theology of Work Project

• Competition Is Essential in Work
  • Competition Gives People the Choice That Empowers Economic Productivity
  • Competition Has a Place in the Bible
• Competition Can Hurt People and Societies
• Competition as Cooperation Is the Solution
  • Competition as Cooperation Serves Customers
  • Competition as Cooperation Serves Society
  • Competition as Cooperation Serves Competitors
  • Competition as Cooperation Sometimes Requires Self-Sacrifice
  • Competition as Cooperation Requires Formation
• Loving Our Neighbors Through Competition as Cooperation

Cultivating Cultural Competence Among The Leadership Of A Multi-Ethnic Congregation For Zion Lutheran Church, Oneida Wisconsin, Mark Schumm

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Schumm, Mark E., “Cultivating Cultural Competence Among the Leadership of a Multi-Ethnic Congregation for Zion Lutheran Church, Oneida, Wisconsin.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2017. 164 pp.

Zion Lutheran Church is a congregation composed of Native American and Anglo members serving a multi-ethnic community. A group of leaders from Zion took part in a learning community designed to explore Biblical understanding of church, mission, culture, and the history of the community. The Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory was administered at the beginning and conclusion of the project to assess growth in cultural competence.

How Can We Respond To Those Who Hate Religion? (Leader's Guide And Participant's Guide), Lydia Marcus

Study Guides for Faith & Science Integration

A study of Antitheism's Major Critiques of Religion

“If You Want Peace, Work For Justice:” Assessing Pope Paul Vi As A Peacebuilder On The Levels Of Insight And Action, Christopher W. Hrynkow

Peace and Conflict Studies

Paul VI was the first reigning pope to travel via airplane. On one such trip, he addressed the UN General Assembly, emphatically declaring “War never again! Never again war!” During the same period, Paul VI also saw the Second Vatican Council through to its completion. Vatican II produced an articulation of substantive peace in one of its final documents, Gaudium et Spes. This article employs an analytical yardstick through reading Gaudium et Spes in conversation with a Peace and Conflict Studies perspective, as a means to assess Paul VI’s peacemaking efforts on the levels of insight and action. Specifically, …

The Great Misread: Life And Death In Islam And Its Relation To The West, John M. Zak

Student Publications

Details of death in the Islamic faith and how it is related to the two major monotheistic religions of the West, Judaism and Christianity.