Digital Commons Network^™

The Clarity And Obscurity Of Inspired Writings: A Historical Survey From Late Antiquity To Early Nineteenth- Century America, Denis Kaiser

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Throughout Christian history, pastors, scholars, and church leaders have discussed whether, or to what extent, Scripture is clear or obscure. This article surveys the views on the clarity and obscurity of Scripture as advocated by Christian writers in five eras from late antiquity to early nineteenth-century America. Writers in the Protestant tradition have generally objected to the common notions among Roman Catholics that Scripture is obscure, consists of a four-fold sense, and that normative teaching authority is in the hands of the magisterium. Lutheran, Reformed, and Pietist scholars have generally emphasized the importance of having an educated clergy that understands …

Editorial Vol 60 No. 2, Martin F. Hanna, Oliver M. Glanz

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is the Editorial

Table Of Contents Vol 60.2, Auss

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is the Table of Contents

Rethinking Retirement, Erik Hoekstra

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"When we treat work as worship—whether it pays a salary or not—we see that every year of life is an opportunity to bear witness."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­purpose in all of life's stages from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Rethinking Retirement

A Christian Imagination For Ai: Scripture, Screens, And The Shape Of Our Souls, David J. Mulder

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Beowulf And Théoden: Differing Teaching Methods Of Hrothgar And Gandalf, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

Most studies on the character of Théoden in The Lord of the Rings center on Germanic heroic themes like courage and oath-keeping, often emphasizing his renewal by Gandalf at Meduseld and his death at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. This perspective overlooks Théoden's growth in wisdom and hope between these events. During this period, Théoden learns about the various forces in Middle-earth and contemplates his role in the broader world, leading to a profound sense of humility. Building on Tolkien's inspiration from Beowulf, this paper compares Théoden and Beowulf to explore their learning processes and heroic outcomes. This comparison …

Restoring Sacred Priorities: Laying Down The Idol Of Family, Leah Mouw

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"While marriage and family are good gifts, they are not the goal of the Christian life."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­prioritizing our relationship with God from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Restoring Sacred Priorities

Verses " Who Do Not Fear Nor Grieve" Baqarah-Al Surat From ( An Analytical Preaching Study, Maryam Haydar

Al Jinan الجنان

Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and the best prayer and peace be upon the messenger who is a mercy to the worlds, our master, our beloved and our example Muhammad (pbuh) and all his family and companions.

This research is entitled: Verses from Surat Al Baqarah - an advocacy study.

It studies and analyses the verses that mention those “who do not fear nor grieve” explained in six chapters accordingly: The definition of the Surah, the reason behind its naming, its merit, the reasons for choosing the verses of study, the reason for its revelation and …

The Safe Educational Environment In The Prophetic Sunnah: Practices And Spoilers., Ali Alshaikh

Al Jinan الجنان

The research was conducted to show that the Prophetic Sunnah has made the safe educational environment one of the pillars of education at all its stages and levels, as there is no education without security and safety experienced by the learners during their learning experience by those who educate them. The Prophetic Sunnah guided educators to certain practices and specific behaviors that make the learner feel safe and secure during the educational process. The research mentioned fourteen positive practices that lead to security and safety in education. These practices enable the learner to learn and grow up with love, passion, …

Supply And Demand, Concepts And Tools For Intervening N Them - An Islamic And Comparative View, Sulayman Elhassan, Yahiya Hijazi

Al Jinan الجنان

The importance of supply and demand in the market lies in the principle of their work as a real measure that determines the extent of economic activity of the market, where the laws of supply and demand are based on determining the relationship between the seller and the buyer, on showing the importance of the relationship between the existence of a commodity and its demand and supply, as well as its relative price between one period and another, as the supply and demand models that we hear about as economic concepts are considered among the basics of economic work where …

Educational And Legal Implications Of Determining The Age Of Marriage In Light Of Sharia And Law, Samira Zaiim

Al Jinan الجنان

There is no doubt that research to determine the age of marriage and the eligibility of suitors is one of the most important issues in our society, especially in recent times which have seen a significant increase in underage marriage, in order to face any exploitation that these underage girls could suffer from, whether at the hands of their parents or by others, because this has harmful effects on all levels: health, psychological, social, etc.

The latest amendment made by the Supreme Islamic Sharia Council in Lebanon on the age of marriage raised awareness among Lebanese society to take precautionary …

Making Sense Of Modernity, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We don’t like the ambivalence of being both grateful for what God has given us and yet sorrowful over the human sin or suffering that came along the way. We are prone to distortion and idolatry when we embrace either of these one-sided narratives."

Posting about the allure of our modern world from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Making Sense of Modernity

The Devil’S In The Details: Opposition To Demonology In Early Modern Europe, Abigail Pickard

The Purdue Historian

Common assumptions that believers of witchcraft in the early modern period were uneducated fanatics overgeneralize the complex interplay of early modern science and theology. The study of demons, known as demonology, was considered a science. It was a respected field that was studied and debated. Theologians scrutinized, defended, and revised demonological theories. Thinkers turned over foundational concepts and split hairs over the fine details of theology. Since educated scholars were considered authorities on demonology, they repeatedly wrote, talked, and theorized about the topic in a similar fashion to other ideologies of the early modern era. Due to this, authors of …

Appalachian Archipelagos: "Writing From Measureless Location” In C.S. Giscombe’S Geopoetics, Jay Butler

Critical Humanities

This essay begins with a speculative gesture: what if we read Appalachia not as a bounded, landlocked region, but as an archipelago—where coherence lies not in contiguity, but in multiplicity and geopoetic drift? Drawing on the poetry of C.S. Giscombe, which spans the Caribbean to Appalachia and unsettles geographic conventions by inhabiting “measureless location” – not as a metaphor but as a method, materially grounded yet elusively meaningful – and guided by R.A. Judy’s Sentient Flesh and its theory and practice of para-semiosis and poiesis-in-black, this essay follows Giscombe’s pragmatic and prismatic geopoetics as it upends dominant frameworks of …

Review: "Success On The Sound" Offers Timely Lessons From Fairfield University's Storied Past, Eric Clayton

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Archives And Distinctive Collections At The College Of The Holy Cross: New Directions At New England's Oldest Catholic College, Lisa Villa

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Mentoring Under The Light Of Ignatian Spirituality, Llorenç Puig Puig Sj, Rosa Nomen, Luis A. Martínez

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article proposes Ignatian Mentoring as a framework for enriching academic mentoring with insights from Ignatian spirituality. While mentoring traditionally supports professional and personal development, especially for early-career faculty, the Jesuit tradition offers a deeper, holistic perspective inspired by spiritual accompaniment practices such as those found in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and the Spiritual Exercises. The framework is based on the mentoring program launched in 2021 by the International Association of Jesuit Engineering and Sciences Schools (IAJES), which connects faculty across a global network of more than 60 Schools. Based on two years of practical experience involving …

Gen Z And Gen Alpha: Designing Theology Courses For A Digital And Ai Generation, Maurice N. Emelu

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This exploratory article examines strategies for teaching theology to Generations Z and Alpha, emphasizing their digital-native traits and unique learning preferences. It argues that theology education thrives when students engage with reflective, creative, and relevant content. Drawing from experiences at a Jesuit college and education research, it introduces the OAEPA strategy—Observation, Analysis, Evaluation, Production, and Assessment—as a framework for designing theology courses. The approach encourages active participation, critical thinking, creativity, and personal relevance, aligning with Jesuit traditions of reflection and discovery. The paper uses examples such as a theme in sacramental theology to show how theological ideas can be meaningful …

Discerning Together In Small Groups, Franck Janin

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

The author, drawing on his personal experience, offers a clear reflection and methodology for common discernment, inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The difficulties and problems are noted, as are the possibilities and potential of this proposal. The process is certainly complex. It requires great generosity and willingness on the part of all those involved, but as the author concludes, “it works.” We are faced with a proposal of Ignatian spirituality that can enrich and illuminate the new paths of synodality along which the Church is journeying.

Why Calvin? Naming A Seminary After A Theologian Of Consolation, Sam Ha

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

How John Calvin Shaped Modern Seminary Education, Karin Maag

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Music, Poetry And Identity In Badakshan, Tajikistan: Singing And Sounding Community, Chorshanbe Goibnazarov

Music & Performance in Muslim Contexts

An illuminating account of Ismaili music, spiritual poetry and social change in Badakhshan.

In the riverine valleys of the Pamir Mountains of Tajik Badakhshan, a thriving millennium-old community of Nizari Ismaili Muslims created a unique spiritual culture in which the performance of music and poetry plays a central role. This book focuses on the central musical and poetic tradition of the Pamiri Ismailis, qasīda-khonī (also known as maddo), tracing its origins, evolution, delocalisation and relocation.

This book introduces readers to leading performers of qasīda-khonī and to the Ismaili gnosis that inspires its music and poetry.

• Based on six …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 67, No. 3

Restoration Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experience Of Religious Trauma Among Transgender And Gender Diverse People: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Patrick T. Meyer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Religion has served as a framework to support the psychological well-being of people across cultures throughout human history, yet there is growing scholarly and public interest in how religious institutions and people inflict harm on members through spiritual means. Extant literature demonstrated that transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people experience gendered microaggressions in religious spaces, and their social position within the church likely holds unique insights into the subjective experience of religious trauma. Even though research with people who have had adverse religious experiences has increased over time, little is known about TGD people who experience lasting psychological damage due …

Volume 11 Issue 10 (July 1912)

The Soul Winner

No abstract provided.

Evolving Ontology And The Case Against Predictive Algorithms In The U.S. Justice System, Eryn Reyes Leong

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

In the United States today, predictive algorithms, a particular form of artificial intelligence (AI), permeate all segments of society, including the criminal justice system. With the help of AI, judges are able to “plug” defendants into algorithms and generate outputs that produce a deterministic and homogenous view of defendants. Proponents of predictive algorithms cite accuracy, neutrality, fairness, and efficiency, but what is missing from their calculus is the human person, the central figure who shapes and is shaped by algorithms. Using the story of defendant Darnell Gates as a case study, this article seeks to contribute to the development of …

Lessons From Mysticism For Healthcare Providers: Health Care As A Space For Intersubjective Encounters Of Care, Micaela Plantinga, Alexandre A. Martins

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

Society’s deep divisions, fueled by individualism, competition, consumerism, rigid ideologies, and limited dialogue, have impacted health care, leading to weakened connections between providers and patients. In the U.S., heavy reliance on medical technology and the rise of AI have further eroded these intersubjective bonds, reducing empathetic engagement in care. To address this challenge, the paper explores insights from Christian mystics Saint Teresa of Avila and Edith Stein. Teresa’s teachings on self-examination and humility, despite her life as a cloistered nun, influenced both her religious order and the broader Church. Meanwhile, Stein’s phenomenological approach emphasized empathy and "suffering with" others, viewing …

Serving Others Using Generative Ai, Kenneth C. Arnold

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Ken Arnold, computer science professor at Calvin University, explores the idea of use Generative AI as a tool to help us serve others.

Issues That Ministers Identify As Factors Contributing To Anxiety And Depression, Heather Sawtelle

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Although mental health is an emerging topic within the church community, the stigmatization of mental illness within ministers’ lives can create a myriad of personal beliefs that can lead to shame and discontent in ministers’ lives. Many ministers have daily stressors that compromise their mental health, and these stressors can contribute to depression or anxiety. This study defined mental health issues and described mental illness’ influence on ministers’ lives and the factors that contribute to mental health issues. This health condition, described as mental illness, involves significant changes in thinking, emotion, behavior, distress, and problems functioning in social, work, or …

Dry Bones Can Live Again : Best Practices For Replanting Independent Christian Churches, R. Steve Bolin

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.