Digital Commons Network^™

Meeting The Lord On The Mountain : Cosmic Mountain Imagery And Parousia In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Stephen J. Knisely

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How Philo Wrote His Biography On Moses : An Analysis Of Ancient Compositional Practices And Their Implications On The Gospels, Esteban J. Hidalgo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Ethical Architecture Of The Old Testament, Joachim Efulaka Mbela

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study In Conflict And Conflict Resolution Methods Of Rural African American Pastors, Darrell W. Rowe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative, phenomenological by design research aimed to identify the conflict resolution methods utilized by African American pastors who serve in rural locations and shepherd a flock of one hundred or fewer congregants. The study also sought to understand the background, origin, and perceived effectiveness of resolving congregational conflict from the specified demographic. As the shepherd of the flock, the pastor has the inherent responsibility to resolve conflict within the church. The church experiences conflict from numerous external sources; however, this research sought to address conflict within the congregation. This study collected data through the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict MODE Instrument. 71.4% …

The Family Unit As A Form Of The New Temple And Reflection Of The Universal Christian Family Structure: An Exposition Of Ephesians 4:17–6:9 And Colossians 3:1–4:1, Jeffrey David Krodel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

When focusing on the new temple after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven while studying the household codes of Ephesians and Colossians, the intent of the codes becomes clearer. Jesus transferred these codes to Christians for the Holy Spirit to dwell when He ascended to Heaven. In light of the new temple, the household codes provide instructions on how the Christian family is to work together and reflect the created order under the kingdom of God. Thus, the household codes of Ephesians 5–6:9 and Colossians 3–4:1, when viewed with the conjunction of the ascension of Christ, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, …

Student Reflections On The Essential Role Of The Holy Spirit In Counseling Education, Jessica P. Vetal, Kyle N. Stueber, Jaymi E. Davis

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

This article examines the unique position in which emerging counselors find themselves, as they seek to enter the professional field amidst a worldwide pandemic and numerous other national and global hardships. From a student perspective, the authors survey the distinctive traits of Christian counseling education, Christian counseling, generally speaking, and the importance of theological and spiritual formation for the emerging counselor. More specifically, the authors discuss three theological concepts that have been identified as critical in the development of their Christian counselor identity, foundation, and future practice. The first theological consideration is the essential role and ministry of the Holy …

Implementing And Equipping A Fivefold Ministry With Theological Education To Defend And Uphold Biblical Doctrines In The Church, Kara Yvette Harris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

God instructed believers to put forth their best work to rightly handle His Word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). Unfortunately, God’s truth is under attack and has been polluted with false teaching and incorrect understanding of Scripture. It is incumbent on the local church to combat this problem of incorrect biblical teaching head-on. Therefore, this action research project aims to demonstrate that through proper theological training in the church, this problem will be remedied. This action research assumes that arming the local church with theological training will strengthen its core. To this aim, this research project included teaching five theological …

The Consistency Of The Kingdom Of God Through Israel's Unconditional Covenants, Myungwoo Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Bible consistently presents one common theme: the kingdom of God. Biblical theology focuses on God’s faithfulness, wisdom, and purpose in the process of redemption. The Old Testament expresses the firm belief that God will surely fulfill His covenants and reign forever. The Old Testament prophets believed that the Messiah would come for judgment and salvation. They consistently prophesied the birth and reign of the Messiah, which connects the Old and New Testaments. There is a continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The promises made to Israel in the Old Testament will be fulfilled for Israel, not the church. …

A Biblical Theology Of Water, Eric Robert Waller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Numerous “water related terms” are utilized in Genesis 1-2 such as, “the deep, “the waters,” “water,” “sea,” seas,” “stream,” “river,” “flow,” “flows,” and “rain.” Arguably similar, Revelation 21-22 uses the terms “water of life,” “river of the water of life,” “thirsty,” “spring, ” and “lake.” That the traditional Protestant canon is bookended with such similar terminology appears to create an inclusio that demands further inquiry within the canon to seek supplemental, complementary, and even potentially contrasting and conflicting evidence supporting a biblical theology of water. While commentary on every canonical water related text or term would be a daunting task …

Review Of Apostles & Prophets: The Ministry Of Apostles And Prophets Throughout The Generations, David Osei-Nimoh

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Jimmy Swaggart: The Conflict Between Spirit-Empowerment And Human Weakness, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores how Jimmy Swaggart fits the profile of a Spirit-empowered leader. It summarizes Swaggart’s life and ministry, focusing on his calling, role as a defender of the faith, moral failure, and demise. The article then reflects on Swaggart’s story within the context of Spirit-empowered leadership, exploring how Swaggart fits Lee Roy Martin’s paradigm of a prophetic preacher while demonstrating various negative leadership traits. Stuck between the convictions of his calling and his weaknesses, Swaggart appears as a conflicted individual not immune from making serious errors. The article discusses this aspect of Swaggart’s life to consider how his story …

John Paul Ii: A Role Model Of Participative, Transformative, And Empowering Leadership, Tomasz Bialokurec

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article sets out to revisit charismatic leadership theory through the concepts of servanthood, participation, transformation, and empowerment. We will argue that only servant and participative leadership reflects the relational nature of the Holy Trinity and has a potential to transform and empower followers, offering a remedy to the issue of power in Spirit-empowered Christianity. We propose that this emerging paradigm of charismatic leadership is exemplified by Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II). The assessment employs the criteria of personal and socialized charismatic leadership, as well the apostle and teacher/scholar paradigms of leadership derived from Ephesians 4:11. The study also features …

Paradigms Of Global Spirit-Empowered Leadership, Eric N. Newberg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spirit-empowered leaders employ different paradigms of leadership. The aim of the article is to identify, explain, and critique these paradigms. Spirit-empowered leadership is conceived of as belonging to the category of charismatic leadership. Following Max Weber, charismatic leadership is understood as flowing from charisma or giftedness, which is attributed to the leader by his or her followers. The article starts with the findings of theorists concerning charismatic leadership. Then it delineates five paradigms of Spirit-empowered leadership—the apostle, prophet, healing evangelist, pastorpreneur, and teacher/scholar. Examples are offered from global contexts. Last, a summative assessment of the paradigms is conducted, using criteria …

Against These Things There Is No Law: Spirit-Empowered Witness In Secular Uruguay, Rebekah Bled

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Uruguay is a country unique in Latin America for its secularism. It secularized early, thoroughly, and publicly, under the leadership of President José Batlle y Ordoñez, at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. A century later, Uruguay still boasts the highest percentage of atheists, agnostics, and nones in the continent. This is a country that seems to defy the sometimes triumphalist narratives of the pentecostalization of the global South. Yet, even amidst this backdrop, there are bright spots of Spirit-empowered witness. This article seeks to examine two of these bright spots of Spirit-empowered hope during …

Full Issue: Spiritus 7.2 (2022) - Missional Leadership, [email protected]

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 57 No 2 - November 2022), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 211 / Articles: Reforming the Fast: Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin on Fasting by K. J. Drake - 213 / John Preston on the Purpose and Place of the Natural Knowledge of God by Richard A. Muller - 247 / The Christian Reformed Synod of 1924: Unfinished Business on Common Grace, Part 1 by John Bolt - 271 / The Biblical Expectation of Christ’s Return: A Compelling Motivation for Local and Global Mission by Zachary King - 313 / Sermon: Anticipating Heaven: A Sermon on 2 Corinthians 5:1–6, 16–21 by Peter Jonker - 345 / …

Semitic Residue: Semitic Traits That Indicate Early Source Material Behind The Gospel Of Matthew, Brian Gray Chilton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Skeptics have often argued that the Gospels were written too late to have contained any valuable information about Jesus. Furthermore, the likes of Rudolf Bultmann and the Jesus Seminar claim that very little can be known about the voice of the historical Jesus. However, this work argues that the oral traditions stemming from community-based transmission provides a basis to hold that the oral traditions that undergird the finished Gospels are much earlier than the written texts themselves. Using the Gospel of Matthew as a test case and seven criteria to gauge the strength of residue, this study argues that the …

Apologetics And Disability: Reframing Our Response To The Question Of Suffering, Rochelle Scheurermann

Great Commission Research Journal

A prominent question that is asked when people consider God is how to account for suffering if God is good and all-powerful. For Christians, answering this question is a major part of apologetic and evangelistic training. But what if the way we have traditionally approached this question is not good news for everyone? This paper examines the suffering question in light of disabilities and suggests a new way to engage in apologetics that is centered in creation (not fall) and celebrates the gifts and opportunities that come through a diversity of ability.

Theology Matters, Jiří Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Kindness And Severity Of God: A Defense Of The Conquest Of Canaan, Jordan Peter Ballard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Conquest of Canaan has become a hot-button issue in Christian apologetics because of the moral dilemma it poses. Would an all-loving God command the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite men, women, and children? Christians throughout the centuries have grappled with this problem and have offered many interpretations to alleviate the tension between God’s love and God’s wrath displayed in the Conquest. This dissertation defends a straightforward reading of the account: God really did command the destruction of the Canaanites, and the Israelites carried it out as described in the pages of the Old Testament. When understood in its biblical, …

Mashiah: Messianism In Jewish Apocalyptic Literature Of The Second Temple Period, Fred R. De Leon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This Thesis challenges notions that have dominated biblical scholarship for more than a hundred years. Up until the end of the twentieth century scholars uniformly believed that the concept of a suffering Messiah was not part of early first century CE Judaism. It was believed to a be a Christian creation. There is however startling evidence of messianic precursors to Jesus, including one who is introduced as the 'Prince of the Congregation' in recently published fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is not surprising since the authors of the Tanakh lay the groundwork for an evolving and malleable concept …

Archbishop Denis Hurley: ‘Ecclesiastical Che Guevara’ Or ‘Guardian Of The Light’?, Anthony Egan

The Journal of Social Encounters

Archbishop Denis Hurley, OMI (1915-2004) was a major figure in mobilising the Catholic Church’s struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Rooted in Catholic Social Thought and an active participant and implementer of Vatican II, he led by example, moving the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) into one of the foremost religious defenders of human rights. His theological skills and personal courage translated in ecumenical and interfaith activities that served justice and peace. He supported conscientious objectors and faced prosecution for exposing state atrocities in Namibia.

Three Reasons To Praise The Creator From Psalm 8: A Biblical Theology With Attention To Intertextuality, Donald Mcintyre

Liberty Theological Review

Psalm 8 serves as the first creation hymn of the Psalter, and as such is worthy of an exegetical and theological analysis. This analysis will begin with an exegesis of the text, since exegesis rightfully precedes theologizing.[1] The exegesis will include a translation, examination of the historical and literary contexts, the genre classification, structure, and discussion of the literary features with special attention given to parallelism and conclude with a brief exposition. After the requisite exegetical analysis has been completed, a theological synthesis will be commenced progressing from the psalms location in its microstructural setting to its use in …

The Reception Of Isaiah's Suffering Servant In Thomas Aquinas' Theology Of The Cross, Daniel Waldow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Thomas Aquinas' reception of Isaiah 53 throughout his major works of theology.

Progressive Christianity: The Postmodern Mutation Of Theological Liberalism, Lisa Dundov

Masters Theses

The intention of this thesis is to historically track Liberal Christianity, distinguishing its different shapes, dissecting its current form of Progressive Christianity, and then refute its tenets by holding them to the standard of orthodox Christianity. This project is organized into a chronological, historical approach to Liberal Christianity followed by a comparative approach to Progressive Christianity and orthodox Christianity. The historical research aims to identify and connect common, theologically liberal elements, a distinct man-centered theology, across different historical horizons, including the delineation of modernity, postmodernism, secularism, and humanism, which are influenced and shaped by theological liberalism. Focusing on the current …

C. I. Scofield's Teachings Regarding The Conversion And Restoration Of The Jewish Nation In Fulfillment Of Old And New Testament Prophecies And Their Potential Apologetic Value, Timothy M. Skinner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The confirmation of C. I. Scofield's beliefs and teachings regarding a literal and national restoration of the Jewish people in fulfillment of Old and New Testament prophecies can be argued through the writings of Reformed theologians and those hostile to dispensationalism by utilizing a comparative biblical/theological approach on a key eschatological passage, Romans 11:26 and the statement, “All Israel shall be saved.” Non-dispensationalists acknowledge or are in agreement with many of the teachings of Scofield but reject his conclusions regarding the restoration of a literal Jewish nation as being proof of the proper interpretation of the biblical text, even though …

Songs Of The Son: Exegetical Method, Christology, And Piety In Reformation And Post-Reformation Interpretations Of Select Messianic Psalms, Maarten Kuivenhoven

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

The case for continuity between the Reformation and Reformed Orthodoxy receives a significant contribution from the examination of select Messianic Psalms in the commentaries of Wolfgang Musculus, William Ames, Johannes Cocceius, and Matthew Henry. This contribution is found through the examination of three lines of thought— exegetical method, Christological development, and the formulation of piety.

The consistent employment of prophecy in order to understand the sensus literalis as the Christological reading of the text seems to indicate continuity. The usage of typology also furthers this argument as these interpreters identified various persons or objects as types of Christ. By using …

The Polyphonic Voices Of Suffering In The Book Of Job: A Dialogue On God’S Relation To The Suffering, Rebecca R. Clark

Masters of Theological Studies

Suffering is an experience that can lead one to question the goodness of God. Such an experience is exemplified in the narrative of Job. It is the argument of this thesis that the dialogue in Job ultimately reveals God’s character as good even in the midst of one’s suffering. This argument is supported through an examination of the polyphonic voices of the book of Job. The voice of Job demonstrates the tension of the sufferer, as a perceived absence of God seems contrary to His character. And yet, Job affirms God’s goodness. The voice of “the satan” demonstrates an awareness …

Service And Subversion In The Court Of The King: An Analysis Of Resistance And Accomodation To Foreign Imperial Rule In Daniel 2, Luke Wagner

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

Many scholars and laypersons alike turn to the book of Daniel because of its political message. Yet, there exist a number of mutually exclusive interpretations of the stories in Daniel, particularly in regard to how these stories interact with and depict foreign imperial rule. This thesis will focus on one Daniel story in particular, Daniel 2; and will seek to answer the following question: Is the political stance toward foreign imperial rule in Daniel 2 primarily one of accommodation to the empire, one of resistance, or a hybridization of the two?

This thesis will begin in chapter 1 with an …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 57 No 1 - April 2022), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 1 / Articles: Permaculture for Ecotheology: An Innovative Experiment by Troy W. Bierma - 3 / The Beatitudes and the Life of the Church by Gerard M. Cisar - 43 / Theological Interpretation of Key Biblical Passages Underpinning the Prosperity Gospel in Nigeria by Samuel O. Okanlawon - 75 / Sign or Seal? Baptism in the Christian Reformed Church by Ryan Faber - 101 / Sermon: Bridegroom of Blood: A Sermon on Exodus 4:24–26 by Betsy DeVries - 127 / Review Essays: The Covenant of Works by John Bolt - 135 / The …