Digital Commons Network^™

Prolegomena To Contextual Theology : The Dialectical Relationship Of Scripture And Experience, Sochanngam Shirik

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Retired Missionaries And Faith In A Changing Society, Carmel Gallagher

Books/Book chapters

Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society offers a sociological study of the Irish missionary diaspora. It draws on a series of interviews with female and male Catholic missionaries, mainly nuns and priests, who have worked in Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and who have returned to live in Ireland. The chapters provide unique insight into their experiences, exploring how they have navigated life-course changes in the context of changing church and changing societies. Retired missionaries have several vantage points from which to communicate their understandings, having worked across cultures and encountered some of the most challenging …

Can Anyone Withhold The Water...?, Brandon Keith Lacey Sr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

Thesis

Contextualization and indigenization have always been necessary and expected components of establishing Christian communities of faith and practice. Failed or obsolete attempts at contextualization and indigenization in evangelism and missions continue to harm the development of the African American Church. This results in the development of spiritually marginalized communities alienated from the very relationship with God that such communities need. Preventing such spiritual marginalization in communities requires a training curriculum that combines a working theology on appropriate contextualization and indigenization with a framework for practical implementation. The outcome would decrease the tendency to replicate non-contextual religious practice and …

Constructing A Theology Of Relational Life Through The Themes Of Creation, Incarnation, And Re-Creation As An Alternative To Current Categories Of Religions, Andrew Tompkins

Dissertations

This dissertation argues that current categories of religions are overly reliant on Western Enlightenment-based presuppositions and academic thinking that creates barriers in understanding God’s desire for all people to have abundant life. Many theologians and missiologists utilize these inherited categories without first subjecting them to the biblical canon. As a result, the theological and missiological discourse on religions is often grounded in extra-biblical presuppositions rooted primarily in an overly high view of human reason that do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. These presuppositions do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. I, therefore, compared …

Creating Genderless God-Language Through Lutheran Liturgy, Eileen A. Ruppel

Celebration of Learning

Drawing on the work of feminist and queer theologies, this paper examines and challenges traditional God-language, proposing the implementation of genderless language in Christian worship liturgies. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is used as a model for potential methods of shifting God-language. This work focuses on God-language in Lutheran liturgy, focusing on Scripture, hymns, doctrine, and prayer. This work seeks to prove that implementing genderless God-language throughout the liturgy will provide ELCA leaders the opportunity to be more inclusive, while representing God’s transcendence beyond human conceptions such as gender.

Religious Aspirations Among Urban Christians In Contemporary Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recognizing that the Christians in Indonesia are not a homogeneous group, this article examines the various contested spiritual, social, and political aspirations of urban Christians in the contexts of the historical trajectory of Indonesian modernity, forces of globalization and urbanization, the role of capital, and the development of Islam - the indispensable religious 'Other' to this minority religion in contemporary Indonesia. It sheds light on the ways in which this minority exercises agency in using political participation and social activism as a counterbalance to the growing Islamization of Indonesia, and how they strategically utilize their extensive economic, social, and political …

"After All, Africa Is Largely A Nonliterate Continent": The Reception Of Vatican Ii In Africa, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The article examines critical factors that determined the impact, reception, and implementation of Vatican II in Africa. Drawing on historical accounts, the author identifies and analyzes personalities, contexts, and issues that conditioned and shaped Africa's participation in the council. Looking back 50 years, he argues that while the continent's participation was negligible, shaped by a combination of events and attitudes that either facilitated or hampered reception, concrete examples abound of how the council generated impetus for growth, renewal, and reform in inculturation, interreligious dialogue, theological reflection, and ecclesial collaboration in Africa.

Mission Between Religious Pluralism And The Postmodern Claim Of Truth: A Study Of Young Korean Protestant's Views Of Other Faiths, Suh Tae Yun

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Toward Addressing Split-Level Christianity : A Study Of The Interaction Between Christianity And Folk Religions In Romania, Florin Paul Botica

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Korean Immigrants And Their Mission : Exploring The Missional Identity Of Korean Immigrant Churches In North America, Sinyil Kim

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Contextualization Of The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Among Bektashi Albanians, Richard William Shaw

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Doing Theology In The City, Paul Fitzgerald

Special Topics, General

The task of theology is often a lonely endeavor. The hush of the library or the archives, the still of the chapel, and the quiet discipline of one's desk are places where theological research and writing unfold, most often in solitary concentration. The classroom on the protected college campus or seminary, the academic conference in large hotels, and even the cherished conversation in the homes of colleagues do open the theologian to other minds and hearts so that theories and insights may be tested in dialogue. However, these exchanges are often located in affluent social contexts which cannot reveal the …

Developing A Contextual Theology In Melanesia With Reference To Death, Witchcraft, And The Spirit World, Neville R. Bartle

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.