Digital Commons Network^™

Breaking Free From Cults: A Guide For Pastors To Lead Individuals To A New Christian Identity, Brandon Waters

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The spiritual scars inflicted on individuals who severed relationships with religious cults or legalistic institutions are widespread. This research will show former cultist experienced spiritual, mental and physical abuse in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Through a survey of 150 former members of the WCG and thirty evangelical local pastors, this research will validate the need for support for those individuals seeking personal recovery and the formation of a new spiritual identity. This thesis project produced a manual to assist pastors in understanding the needs of former cultists, specifically in assisting them in developing a new spiritual identity.

Whitefield's Music: Moorfields Tabernacle, The Divine Musical Miscellany (1754), And The Fashioning Of Early Evangelical Sacred Song, Stephen A. Marini

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Evangelical hymnody was the most significant form of popular sacred song in eighteenth-century Anglo-America. John and Charles Wesley built their Methodist movement on it, but little is known about the music of their great collaborator and eventual rival, George Whitefield (1714-1770). The essential sources of Whitefield's music are the development of ritual song at his Moorfields Tabernacle in London, his Collection of Hymns for Social Worship (1753) prepared for that congregation, and a little-known tunebook called The Divine Musical Miscellany (1754) that contains the first and definitive repertory of music known to be sung at Moorfields. This essay recovers Whitefield's …

Old And New Insurgency Forms, Robert J. Bunker Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

This monograph creates a proposed insurgency typology divided into legacy, contemporary, and emergent and potential insurgency forms, and provides strategic implications for U.S. defense policy as they relate to each of these forms. The typology clusters, insurgency forms identified, and their starting dates are as follows, Legacy: Anarchist (1880s), Separatist—Internal and External (1920s), Maoist Peoples (1930s), and Urban Left (Late-1960s); Contemporary: Radical Islamist (1979), Liberal Democratic (1989), Criminal (Early 2000s), and Plutocratic (2008); and Emergent and Potential: Blood Cultist (Emergent), Chinese Authoritarianism (Potentials; Near to Midterm), and Cyborg and Spiritual Machine (Potentials; Long Term/Science Fiction-like). The most significant strategic implications …

Crossing The Great Divide: Advocating For Cultural Intelligence In The Training Of Missionaries To Navigate The Missiological Implications Of Globalization, John Mitch Arbelaez

Doctor of Ministry

Globalization has brought about many missiological implications that directly affect missionaries serving in cross-cultural situations. Though globalization may appear to be bringing the world together, cultural differences and cultural diversity continue to persist causing more cultural conflicts as people from different backgrounds continue to collide with one another. Today’s missionaries need a trusted metacultural framework to rapidly adapt and contextualize the Gospel message into the multiplicity of cultural nuances swirling in the kaleidoscope that is globalization.

In Section One, missiological implications due to globalization such as cultural homogenization, hybridization, secularization, consumerism, McDonaldization, migration, and new religious movements, are discussed as …

Book Notices, Studia Antiqua

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

Soci 130s.01: Sociology Of Alternative Religions, Robert W. Balch

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

The Role Of African Traditional Religion And 'Juju' In Human Trafficking: Implications For Anti-Trafficking, May Ikeora

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the role that African Traditional Religion (ATR) plays in giving ammunition to human trafficking, a role that serves as an emerging perspective in the understanding and critical engagement with this subject area. Elements within African traditional religion, popularly and often wrongfully termed ‘Juju’, proffer a method of control often used by certain traffickers to keep their victims in perpetual bondage. The data used in this article was derived from extensive fieldwork in Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK) where forty-six (46) anti-trafficking stakeholders including victims were interviewed. The data indicates that this control mechanism was present in …

Varieties Of Southern Religious History: Essays In Honor Of Donald G. Mathews, Kathelene Mccarty Smith

The Southeastern Librarian

Varieties of Southern Religious History: Essays in Honor of Donald G. Mathews. Edited by Regina D. Sullivan and Monte Harrell Hampton. Columbia: The University of South Carolina Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1-61117-488-5. $54.95.

Heading South To Teach: The World Of Susan Nye Hutchinson, 1815-1845, Carol Walker Jordan

The Southeastern Librarian

Heading South to Teach: The World of Susan Nye Hutchinson 1815-1845. Kim Tolley. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4696-2433-4.

Review: Buddhism, Unitarianism, And The Meiji Competition For Universality By Michel Mohr, Susanna Fessler Phd

East Asian Studies Faculty Scholarship

Review of the book "Buddhism, Unitarianism, and the Meiji Competition for Universality" by Michel Mohr.

Jesus As Leader: A Sacred Texture Analysis Of Philippians 2: 5-11, Tracy H. Porter

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Whitefield's Music: Moorfields Tabernacle, The Divine Musical Miscellany (1754), And The Fashioning Of Early Evangelical Sacred Song, Stephen A. Marini

Faculty Research and Scholarship

Evangelical hymnody was the most significant form of popular sacred song in eighteenth-century Anglo-America. John and Charles Wesley built their Methodist movement on it, but little is known about the music of their great collaborator and eventual rival, George Whitefield (1714-1770). The essential sources of Whitefield's music are the development of ritual song at his Moorfields Tabernacle in London, his Collection of Hymns for Social Worship(1753) prepared for that congregation, and a little-known tunebook calledThe Divine Musical Miscellany (1754) that contains the first and definitive repertory of music known to be sung at Moorfields. This essay recovers Whitefield's …

Mission In Central And Eastern Europe: Realities, Perspectives, Trends, Corneliu Constantineanu, Marcel Valentin Măcelaru, Anne-Marie Kool, Mihai Himcinschi

Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series

Central and Eastern Europe is one of the areas of the world that has undergone profound transformations during the 100 years delimited by the two Edinburgh gatherings that inspired the Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series. It is the place in which Marxist ideology gave birth to the Communist hegemony that has impacted the European arena for over 50 years. But this is also the place where Christian Churches experienced God’s grace and provision, and even unexpected flourishing in some quarters. The present volume brings together significant contributions from over thirty theologians, missiologists and practitioners from this part of the world. The …

Folk Religion And The Pentecostalism Surge In Latin America, William Price Payne

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Joseph Smith's First Vision: New Methods For The Analysis Of Experience-Related Texts, Ann Taves, Steven C. Harper

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Miranda Wilcox And John D. Young, Eds., Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness And The Concept Of Apostasy, Reviewed By Randall J. Stephens

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Possessed Persons And Legal Persons In Brazil, Paul Christopher Johnson

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, David Bundy, Moe Moe Nyunt, Brian Shockey, Michael Tavey, Zachariah S. Motts, Ryan K. Giffin, Bejamin D. Espinoza, Kevin Burr, Benson Gob, Shivraj K. Mahendra, Timothy J. Christian, Jeremy B. Griffin, Samuel Sidjabat, Rachel L. Coleman, Isaiah Allen, Babatunde Oladimeji

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Rave, Symbol, Ritual And Cyborg: The Nature Of Post-Technological Spiritual Experience, Shelby Grey Felder

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores Raves, which are all-night dance parties in secret locations, are particularly based around Electronic Dance Music. Raves usually feature loud, bass-heavy music, sex, substance use, rituals, dancing and community. Since there are illegal elements involved, as well as young adults and even sometimes youth involvement, most academic understandings of rave and rave culture ignore the blatantly ritualistic, transcendent, and I argue, religious elements of these unique experiences. In light of ritual theory, philosophy of religion, and the religiosity of technology, I ask if these raves are in fact, religious. I first define religion, according to Clifford Geertz, …

Polemics And Patronage In The City Of Victory, Valerie Stoker

Books Authored by Wright State Faculty/Staff

How did the patronage activities of India’s Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346–1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? Although the empire has been commonly viewed as a Hindu bulwark against Islamic incursion from the north or as a religiously ecumenical state, Valerie Stoker argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. To understand the dynamic interaction between religious and royal institutions in this period, she focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vyasatirtha. An agent of the state and a powerful religious authority, Vyasatirtha played an important role in expanding the empire’s economic and …

Are Tax Exemptions For "Churches" A Blessing Or A Curse For Taxpayers?, Hannah Bauman

Honors Theses

This paper focuses on the rules and requirements governing the participation of religious organizations as defined in IRC § 501(c)(3) in the political process. Included in this is a study of historical events and case law both for and against the participation of religious organizations in politics.

When Mary Met Muhammad: The Qur'an As Reception History Of The Annunciation To The Mary, Jessica Markwood

Tenor of Our Times

No abstract provided.

Be Your Own Guru: Authoritarianism And The Problem Of The Guru In Conscious Evolution, Mcauley, Charles E.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper is an exploration of the problematic nature of the guru/disciple relationship, specifically, in Western Society. It begins with a discussion of the nature of spirituality and the spiritual quest. To contextualize the process, I also discuss my own spiritual path based in Roman Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and my thoughts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. I explore the topic of the authoritarian follower in some depth. Its connection is symbiotic to the existence of the authoritarian leader. This connection is demonstrated within this paper as well. Additionally, I look at the flaws in some well-known guru figures and how …

Religion In The United States Tax Code: Defining Religion In The Age Of The Internet, Michael Degnan

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Disengagement From Ideologically-Based And Violent Organizations: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Steven Windisch, Peter Simi, Gina Sott Ligon, Hillary Mcneel

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Research on disengagement from violent extremism is an emerging field of inquiry. As compared to the related field of radicalization, there have been fewer studies of disengagement. Further, little effort has been made to conduct a large scale, systematic review of what is currently known about disengagement from violent extremism. This type of meta-literature assessment can play an important role in terms of informing strategies and programs designed to facilitate exit. To help fill this gap, our project systematically examines the disengagement literature to determine the range and frequency of various exit factors identified in previous studies. We also rely …

How New York City Invented The Holiday Season: The Rise And Fall Of The World’S First Global Holiday, Ronald J. Brown

New York School for Career and Applied Studies (NYSCAS) Publications and Research

Jesus may have been born in Bethlehem, but it was the city of New York that transformed the traditional day of his birth, December 25, into a national and eventually global holiday season. The evolution of the Christian religious holiday of Jesus’ birth into a secular global holiday that embraces all religions, cultures, and traditions is a unique example of the emergence of a global culture. Little did Clement Clarke Moore realize when he transferred the holiday of St. Nicholas from December 6 to the 25th, nor Macy’s Department Store when it organized its first Thanksgiving Day Parade, that they …

The Two Witnesses Of Revelation 11:1-13: Arguments, Issues Of Interpretation, And A Way Forward, Ian R. Brown

Dissertations

The narrative of Rev 11:1-13 involves two prophet-witnesses. The question of the identity of the two witnesses of Rev 11:1-13 has been answered in a variety of ways. In the history of exegetical investigation, they have been seen as two actual people, a symbol for a larger group, or even a symbol for inanimate objects. Clearly, some proposals seem more plausible than others do; however, the debate remains open. Indeed, the possibility exists that a stronger case could be made for a previous proposal or that a new one could be found that is more agreeable to scholars of Revelation. …

Understanding Understanding The Book Of Mormon: An Interview With Grant Hardy, Journal Of The Book Of Mormon And Other Restoration Scripture

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

No abstract provided.

The Southeastern Librarian V 63, No. 4 (Winter 2016) Complete Issues

The Southeastern Librarian

Complete issue of the Southeastern Librarian, vol. 63, no. 4.

How Do We Communicate Who We Are? Examining How Organizational Identity Is Conveyed To Members, Beth S. Schinoff, Kristie M. Rogers, Kevin G. Corley

Management Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.