Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Theology On The Development Of Cultural Intelligence Among College Students At An Evangelical Liberal Arts University, Esther Damodar Jadhav

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Preparing The Next Generation For A Pluralistic World: The Need To Teach Systematic Theology To Christian Youth, Terrance Jermayne O'Neil

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The continuation of Christianity is rooted in the historical practice of the preceding generation theologically educating the next generation. This process has led to the spreading of the gospel throughout the world. However, in recent years, the Christian church has watched an entire generation walk away from the faith. Many youths who affirmed their faith in Christ are abandoning their confessions and practice. The challenges and skepticism of a pluralistic and relativistic culture have questioned historic Christianity. Regretfully, Christian youth are unable to respond theologically and accurately with confidence. The church has failed to prepare them. This study sought to …

One In The Spirit: An Exploration Of And Movement Toward The Theology Behind Acceptance Of, Affirmation Of, And Advocacy For Transgender People In The Church, Jo Newton

Beets Paper Contest

No abstract provided.

Thinking Biblically About The Qur’An: An Exploration Of Qur’Anic Self-Image, Worldview, Hermeneutics, And Christology, Larry L. Lichtenwalter

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

There is no question that a knowledge and understanding of the Qur’an is a sine qua non (an indispensable condition) in relating meaningfully to Muslims whose worldviews, customs, daily rituals, speech and thought patterns have been indelibly shaped by the Qur’an and its ethos.1 Knowing Muslim scriptures and their culture hold out the prospect to better communicate the gospel. But how so? Does the Qur’an contain redemptive analogies that can be used as bridges to present biblical faith?2 Or would its direct and tacit subversion of the essential elements of the Gospel deny such and press one to better present …

When God Gets Angry: Towards A Theology Of Divine Wrath, Lukas Daeubler

Master's Theses

Topic

One of the most significant concerns regarding the character and love of God is God’s wrath, especially in the Old Testament. For many, it is impossible to believe in a God who punishes and kills rather than a God who shows compassion and love for all people. They neglect either the violent parts of the Bible, since they seem to contradict the image of a loving God displayed in the Gospels. This of course directly questions the integrity of God and His word. As a response, some theologians have published papers on this topic, but many Christians and denominations …

The Newness Of The New Covenant, Jiří Moskala

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

A biblical covenant is the legal establishment of a relationship between God and His people. God takes the initiative, institutes this close relationship, and secures it personally. He makes the first step and does it because of His love for His children. The covenants He cuts are based on His love, grace, and faithfulness, and rooted in God’s eternal covenant established within the Trinity before the foundation of the world to save humankind in case they would fall into sin (Eph 1:3-4; 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20; Rev 13:8).1 In the epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle …

An Analysis And Comparison Of The Missional Doctrine Hermeneutics Of Kevin J. Vanhoozer And Veli-Matti KäRkkäInen, With Emphasis On Their Notions Of God, Eschatology, And Mission, Elmer Arrais Guzman

Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen’s and Kevin J. Vanhoozer’s theological method, in order to understand its structural elements, and thereby to facilitate comprehension of their missional doctrinal hermeneutics, and the ramifications of those hermeneutics for the construction and development of Christian theology. Missional doctrinal hermeneutical models conceive the missional dimension of doctrine in various ways. Some privilege the maintenance of theological identity cohering with the foundational sources of theological authority. Others privilege theological constructions that assimilate the context and the missional situational framework of understanding. This dissertation strives to examine the diverging missional hermeneutics of Kärkkäinen and Vanhoozer, the foundational …

The Structure Of Second Corinthians : Paul's Theology Of Ministry, Kei Hiramatsu

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

“Shepherds After God’S Heart": A Biblical Perspective On The Use Of Power And Authority In Leadership, Boubakar Sanou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Identity - Who Are We As A Community Of Faith?, Jiri Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Grace That Goes Before : John Wesley's Doctrine Of Prevenient Grace And Its Significance For Youth Ministry, Brandon W. Dasinger

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Inconceivable: An Analysis Of Assisted Reproductive Technology For The Church, Mary Elizabeth Gresham

Senior Honors Theses

Infertility pushes the boundaries of emotional and physical health, which is why many couples inside and outside the church turn to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) for a solution. Despite what has seemed like silence from the Church, some individuals have braved the biological confusion and ethical dilemmas to evaluate the technology. Three major ethical viewpoints have emerged that each prioritize something over medical technology, namely community, order, or human dignity. This paper serves to educate pastors and church leaders on the ever-changing biology of ART as well as give voice to Christians that have spoken out on this issue. At …

Old Testament Election: God’S Exclusive Means Of Bringing About Global Redemption, Parker Williams

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will seek to explore the doctrine of election as it appears in the Old Testament. It will attempt to provide a robust, biblical conception of the doctrine, shedding light on its nature and purpose, viewing the Bible as a singular story of God’s redemptive work. It will consider and assess election as God’s act of divine prerogative—being at times individual but primarily corporate. While inherently partial, effort will be taken to defend the doctrine against common objections this partiality draws. Rather, it will be shown that as the means by which He initiated His gracious plan of salvation, …

Unveiling God In Counseling: The Compatibility Of Christian Theology And The Modern Therapeutic Process, Kelvin Jamaal Mack

Senior Theses

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the compatibility of Christian theology and a modern therapeutic process informed by secularism. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that the conceptualization of an active God in the therapeutic process is essential for counselors and clients who adhere to the Christian faith. This conceptualization is either missing or altered by therapeutic processes that operate under the worldview assumptions of secularism. This is what is described as the veiling of God. To explore this issue, a four-tiered analytical approach has been invoked. First, a brief history of secularism and its major …

Reforming Christian Higher Education: Why Christian Colleges And Universities Need Reformation Theology, Javier Garcia

Pro Rege

Editor's Note: Dr. Garcia presented this paper at the Prodigal Love of God Conference, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Canons of Dort, April 2019, sponsored by Dordt University and co-sponsored by the Lilly Fellowship Program, as a regional conference.

Truth And Reconciliation In Light Of The Cross: Martin Luther’S Theology Of The Cross In Relationship To The Current Ubuntu Theology Of Desmond Tutu, Nokukhanya Pearl Shabalala

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Shabalala, Nokukhanya, P “Truth and Reconciliation in Light of the Cross: Martin Luther’s Theology of the Cross in Relationship to the Current Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu.” Master of Arts Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2019. 97pp.

The issue of suffering in Africa has resulted in Africans attributing suffering to God’s work, ancestors’ anger and evil spirits or witchcraft’s work. This is a skewed understanding of suffering. And not only that, the suffering that has been perpetrated by the civil war has birthed the phenomenon of child soldiers resulting in Africa casting out its children. In both of these presented issues sub-Saharan …

Covenant Language In Biblical Religions And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

In this essay I have tried to provide a broad survey of the concept of covenant for Latter-day Saint students of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I began with a sketch of the history of covenant theology in the Christian tradition showing how the early New Testament idea of a baptismal covenant was soon replaced by the Christian institution of sacraments. Although the covenant idea played little role in the historical developments of Christian theology, it did resurge in the Reformation, but without widespread theological impact.

In contrast, over the last century, the role of the covenant idea …

Reading The Bible Together: The Virtue Of Patience As A Resource For Navigating Interpretive Disagreements In Congregations, Mason Lee

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Disagreements over the meaning of Scripture and how it should shape congregational action can be great sources of conflict in congregational life. Yet as contentious as these disagreements can be, appeals to method have been unable to resolve them. This article proposes that a fruitful way of navigating these arguments within our congregations is not by trying to establish a single way of reading Scripture or of determining what Scripture “means,” but by becoming people able to peacefully hold an irreducible diversity of interpretive options. This article focuses on one virtue in particular—the virtue of patience—and suggests that it is …

Emotional Intelligence For Pastoral Leadership : An Evaluative Study Of The Teaching Modules On Emotional Intelligence For Pastoral Leaders At Seoul Theological Seminary In South Korea, Dong Hyun Nam

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How Moses’ Intercession Changed The Trajectory Of Israel (Exodus 33:12-23), Hannah Kent

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The book of Exodus plays a crucial role in the development of God’s relationship to Israel, as the Israelites recognize theglory of YHWH and are allowed only glimpses of what they hope tosee in full. Exodus 33:12-23 is wedged between the Israelites’ golden calf idolatry and the renewal of God’s covenant with Israel. Moses’ intercession is the crucial turning point where God decides to keep His promise to be present with His people as they continue their journey through the wilderness. This promise is later realized as God’s presence descends on the tabernacle at the end of Exodus. In the …

Toward An Adventist Theology Of Urban Mission, Gary Krause

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"As the Adventist Church looks at modern cities, the vista can be overwhelming. The city is an enigmatic phenomenon, a conglomeration of hundreds of disparate cultures, languages, and people groups. It is a complex and complicated place, resistant to easy categorization or description. Just as soon as one feels one is getting a grip on the nature of a city, a street corner is turned and another unfamiliar world opens up. The way the church views the city is of fundamental importance to the way it conducts its urban mission; therefore, in this chapter I will propose a theological window …

Towards A Biblical Model Of Spirituality Part 1: Historical And Theological Background, Silvia Canale Bacchiocchi

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

More than ever we are living at a time of increasing fascination with the concept of spirituality, so much so that the “spirituality phenomenon” has come to define our era.1 Some see this as the result of the psychoanalytic movement begun by Freud, or the disappointment in the Enlightenment’s faith in progress (a failure in light of twentieth century wars); others see it as resulting from the futility of modern existence, or the teachings of Vatican II. 2 Whatever the cause, it appears that nearly everyone—whether religious or atheist—is seeking to connect with God or a higher power. 3 Spirituality …

“Canst Thou By Searching Find Out God?”: On General Revelation And Adventist Theology, Glauber S. Araújo

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

Without God’s revelation in time and space, humanity would be utterly lost as to who He is, what His will is, or even if He exists. Morality would be completely alien to us and life would probably resume itself to the daily routine of looking after one’s own needs. Thankfully, God is a relational Being and from the moment He created mankind He began imparting knowledge about Himself, His actions and His thoughts. Through direct contact (Gen. 3:8; Exod. 33:11; Num. 12:8), visions (Num. 12:6), dreams (Gen. 28:12; Matt. 1:20), theophanies (Gen. 18:1-2, 13-14), angels (Num. 22:31-35), Urim and the …

Compassionate Ministry: Christological And Practical Reflections, Anna M. Galeniece

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

Christian compassion towards others should be built on a solid biblical-theological foundation if Christianity wants to witness about God and His character, which is repeatedly presented throughout the Scriptures and especially revealed in the God-person of Jesus Christ. The only way the world will ever experience this divine compassion and hear about the blessed hope in Jesus is when it practically sees and experiences the touch of the loving hearts of Christ’s followers.

Joseph, Judah And Jesus: Revisiting Genesis 37-50, Jo Ann Davidson

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

It is the position of this paper that the last thirteen chapters of Genesis highlight not only Joseph, but also Judah—both of whose lives are types of Christ, albeit in different ways. Not only are the noble attributes of Joseph’s life reflected in Jesus, but Jesus is also the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev 5:4).” Contra some claims of careless “redacting,” the Judah narratives are rightly and evocatively found within the Joseph cycle. Familiarity with the Genesis narratives creates the possibility of missing or overlooking the theology embedded in the shape, structure, and content of them. 1 Thereby …

Toward A Biblical Theology Of God's Presence In Christian Theology: A Study Of How Difference Interpretations Of The Divine Presence Affect Liturgy, Karl Tsatalbasidis

Dissertations

Problem

In spite of the universal agreement on the importance of the divine presence as the central aspect of liturgy, there are three conflicting ways in which the presence of God relates to liturgy. They broadly correspond to the main liturgical traditions: Sacramental (Roman Catholic), Kerygmatic (Protestant) and Charismatic (Pentecostal and Interdenominational). In our current situation, how does this universal agreement about the presence of God as the central aspect of liturgy relate to the conflicting means by which congregations assess his presence?

Purpose

The purpose of this study was (1) to describe how the three diverging views relate the …

Toward Engaging The Secular: Charles Taylor's Modern Social Imaginaries, Human Flourishing, And Theological Method, Jenifer A. Daley

Dissertations

Increasing secularization seems to fly in the face of Christian proposals for a Scripture-only principle for theology. The question that this dissertation explores is "How will Christian theology tackle the resulting church-society impasse in a way that is both faithful to Scripture and intelligible contemporaneously without appearing to privilege one aspect over the other?" That is, "What form should theological method take to efficaciously engage the secular?" This study suggests that the answer might lie in an innovative fusion of Scripture with borrowed concepts from secular culture. Thus, this dissertation responds to the problem of the need for robust, multidimensional …

De Pilares Y Fundamentos: Siete Tesis Respecto De La Hermenéutica Del Pentateuco, Gerald A. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Gospel-Centered Christian, Timothy Saleska

Concordia Pages

When I was a seminarian back in 1980 we were less than six years distant from the synodical upheavals that came to a head in 1974. One of the documents that every seminarian was required to read in those days was the 1970 report of the LCMS Commission of Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) entitled, Gospel & Scripture. Prof. Harry Huth of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, who served as the primary drafter for the report, penned what is arguably one of the most important reports ever put out by the CTCR. Or at the very least, it was a …

An Overview Of The Theology Of Oral Roberts, R. Samuel Thorpe

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts’ life and healing ministry were shaped by his theology of God. Roberts viewed God as good, who personally worked in the lives of people in the present, and who had good plans for each believer. The manifestation of these plans depended, however, on the faith of the individual believer. God was affected by events in time, was limited in his ability to act by the cooperation of the believer, and suffered emotional distress even as people do. The overriding element in all of Roberts’ message is that “Something good is going to happen to you.” Christians should expect …