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Measuring The Perceived Effectiveness Of Five Selected Professional Courses Taken By Alumni Theology Majors And How They Are Related To Selective Demographics: A Mixed Methods Study, Barry J. Tryon

Dissertations

Problem

The study was prompted by the need for the evaluation of current theological educational programs for preparing students to meet the many challenges of pastoral ministry in a rapidly changing world. However, to date there has been little published research addressing the effectiveness of undergraduate theological education. Furthermore, changes implemented in the theological education program at Southern Adventist University (Southern) have not been evaluated for their effectiveness for ministerial job preparedness.

Method

This descriptive study measured the perceived effectiveness of five professional courses taught in the undergraduate theological educational program at Southern for ministerial job preparedness. A parallel mixed …

Uncovering The Protological Hermeneutics Of George Mccready Price And Benjamin Warfield, Sergio L. Silva

Dissertations

Problem

The problem this dissertation addresses is the protological hermeneutical impasse between George McCready Price and Benjamin Warfield over whether biblical protology should be interpreted literally or symbolically in response to the evolutionary theory.

Method

To identify, compare, and contrast the protological hermeneutics of George McCready Price and Benjamin Warfield, this dissertation adopts an interdisciplinary methodology that seeks to integrate historical theology, systematic theology, and exegetical-biblical theology.

Conclusions

The protological hermeneutical impasse between George McCready Price and Benjamin Warfield over the interpretation of biblical protology was caused by how they applied their views on epistemology. On the hermeneutical level (where …

Becoming A Priestly People: A Biblical Theology Of Liturgical Sacrifice As Spiritual Formation, Ximena Debroeck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The centrality of sacrifice in the Judeo-Christian tradition is undeniable; nevertheless, unidimensional presentations of sacrifice have contributed to an incomplete, and at times distorted understanding. This work does not aim to resolve every ambiguity or misunderstanding, rather, it presents a canonical approach interpretation and brings attention to three underappreciated dimensions of sacrifice: first, the relationship between the external actions of the ritual and the internal dynamic of spirituality and morality; second, the reality that sacrifice refers not only to death, but to a way of living; and third, atonement and reconciliation are not the only reasons to offer sacrifice. My …

From Logology To Dramatism : Kenneth Burke And Kurt Vonnegut As Critical Companions, Eryn Johnson

Theses

Although Kenneth Burke originally theorized language as symbolic action and Dramatism with literary analysis in mind, he remains unthought of by literary scholars. With the aim of reclaiming Dramatism for literary analysis, I grapple with Fredric Jameson’s criticisms of Burke in order to show how Dramatism maintains potential for productive literary analysis, particularly in regard to ideology. In doing so, I apply Burke’s Dramatistic method to a series of Kurt Vonnegut novels in order to investigate the similarities between Burke and Vonnegut as well as to demonstrate a fruitful literary analysis by way of Burke’s method.Though their writings differ generically, …

The Latter-Day Saint Reimaging Of “The Breath Of Life” (Genesis 2:7), Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The creation and flood accounts in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) contain variations on a phrase commonly translated “the breath of life.” This phrase additionally occurs in some uniquely Latter-day Saint materials relating to creation. After overviewing and analyzing this phrase and its meaning in the Bible, this paper then examines the occurrences of the phrase “the breath of life” in important early Latter-day Saint texts.1 The purpose of this study is to illustrate and explain how and why many Latter-day Saints have come to often employ the phrase “the breath of life,” transforming its traditional …

Formed In And Called From The Womb, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Jeremiah’s call narrative or vocation report includes a clear example of pre-birth divine election:

(1:4) “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

(1:5a) ‘Before I formed you in the womb [babbetẹ n] I knew you,

(5b) and before you were born [came forth from the womb/mēreḥem] I consecrated you;

(5c) I appointed you a prophet to the nations’” (Jer. 1:4–5; NRSV).

However, there is ambiguity about the meaning of the phrase “from the womb” and there are persistent questions about the relationship between Jeremiah 1:5a—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”—and 1:5b+c, “before you …

Scripture And Cosmology: Reading The Bible Between The Ancient World And Modern Science [Review] / Greenwood, Kyle., Martin Frederick Hanna

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Preaching Christ From Psalms: Foundations For Expository Sermons In The Christian Year [Review] / Greidanus, Sidney., Dragoslava Santrac

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Pericope Adulterae: A Most Perplexing Passage, Steven Grabiner

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

The account of the woman caught in adultery, traditionally found in John’s Gospel, is full of encouragement to sinners in need of forgiveness. Nevertheless, due to its textual history, this story—referred to as the Pericope Adulterae—is considered by many scholars to be an interpolation. The textual history is one of the most intriguing of any biblical passage. This article reviews that history, examines possible reasons for the passage’s inclusion or exclusion from John’s Gospel, engages discussion on the issue of its canonicity, and gives suggestions for how today’s pastors might relate to the story in their preaching.

Searching The Scriptures: Andrews University Seminary Emerging Scholars Pay Tribute To Their Professors, Slavisa Milodar Jankovic

All Books

The purpose of this project is simple. In writing these essays each author wishes to offer a tangible expression of appreciation and gratitude to those professors who have invested their time in teaching them the value of studying Scripture. Each one of the professors represented has greatly influenced the authors’ understanding of the Biblical text, and for this they are forever indebted to them. This festschrift recognizes the scholarship of the following professors: Drs. Richard M. Davidson, Jiří Moskala, Roy Gane, Ranko Stefanović, Paul Gregor, and Thomas Shepherd.

Sola Scriptura Statuat Lex Orandi: Toward A Transcultural Theology Of Liturgy, David A. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Seventh-day Adventist church is one of the most diverse religious groups. With this diversity comes a preponderance in worship practices. Calling upon the Reformation principle, sola scriptura, the Bible alone should establish the rule for liturgy. How do we apply the Bible as the rule for liturgy, with so many worship preferences and diversity of cultures within the Adventist church? In this paper, I seek to articulate a way forward, developing a transcultural theology of liturgy to be applied in every Adventist culture, allowing room for a rich variety of local cultural contextualizations.

God Of Sense And Traditions Of Non-Sense, Denis Fortin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

La Doctrina De La Justificación Por La Fe—Parte I: ¿En Las Huellas De Los Reformadores, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

"This is the first part of a series of three articles where the author examines the issue of justification by faith with emphasis on the Old Testament perspective. In this first part, the debate on justification in the context of the different Christian theological perspectives from the time of the Reformation to the present is reviewed in a panoramic way. In the second part, in the following article, the study focuses on the Old Testament perspective. Finally, the study concludes establishing a series of implications that the discussion of this topic in the Old Testament has for the understanding of …

A Model For Small Church Leadership To Support Their Minister’S Self-Care, Jeremy Allard

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complexity of vocational ministry is difficult to manage and maintain. Balancing the complex nature of the church, relationships, family life, spiritual and personal life provides the minister with a struggle that rarely ceases. Pursuing self-care within this environment can provide relief to the struggle but is difficult to do alone. The study seeks to provide a model for local church leadership to support their minister so he or she can successfully manage ministry and personal life through self-care practices. The project identified ministers employed at Stone-Campbell churches with a weekly attendance of less than 125 in Minnesota and Wisconsin. …

The Elements Of Urban Design : An Analysis Of Urban Planning In Ancient Israel, Scott Andrew Engebretson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Retelling Inspired Stories: An Overview Of Preaching Biblical Narrative, Michael L. Frye

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis serves as an overview of preaching narrative passages of Scripture. The stories in the Bible are powerful and impacting when preached properly. Expositional preaching is the most effective model from which to preach narrative because exposition respects the nature and form of narrative as a genre of literature. The interpretation of narratives must be approached in a unique way to accommodate the literary elements and plot development of each story. Once the big idea of a biblical story has been discovered, the preacher must present the passage in narrative form, contrasting a traditional sermon outline of several points. …

The Temple Character Of Early Christianity, Matthew Higdon

Graduate Theses

I will argue that early Christianity more or less comprehensively envisioned itself, across varying traditions, to be a human-temple community, or a series of such communities; and that this word picture, this symbol, to a certain extent ordered their social life and aspirations. I propose three interlocking aspects to this priestly sociology. First, there is the element of unity. From the beginning, the temple model promoted unity, and it became particularly important later among very disparate groups of people within the church Second, the cultic motif generated a fresh kind of priestly ethics appropriate to the self-understanding of the movement. …

God’S Special Trio: Foreigners, Fatherless, And Widows, Tom Evans

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Christ And Culture Valued: Test Cases On Fairness, John Carson Iii

Senior Honors Theses

This research engages H. Richard Niebuhr’s work, Christ and Culture. Niebuhr’s book is a seminal work on the historical trends of Christian cultural engagement. This research applies several tests to the paradigm demonstrated in Niebuhr’s work. These tests demonstrate that Christ and Culture presents a paradigm that lacks fairness and does not adequately meet the goals of an explanatory paradigm. Niebuhr’s paradigm has shaped the discussion of Christian cultural engagement for over fifty years, and this research was done to demonstrate the need for new conversation-shaping paradigms in the field of Christian cultural engagement.

The Dis Or Interested Politics Of Discipleship: Some Reflections From The New Testament, Rubén Muñoz-Larrondo

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

The Study On The Problems Of The Current Korean Churches, Hai Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christianity in South Korean experienced unusually rapid growth for almost 100 years: The revival of church members, the growth of prayer, worship, and evangelism. However, current Korean churches face many problems that have stopped the growth, and actually put the Korean church in a decline. The problems, but are not limited to, are unethical aspects of pastor; including tax problem, huge church constructions, and loving materials. Korean churches should know why these kinds of problems occur and what the solutions are. There are many studies regarding the development of Korean churches but there are few studies examining the problems of …

Equipping A Local Congregation For Saturation Evangelism At The Emmaus Missionary Baptist Church, Willie David Mcclung Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the research project was to determine if a local church has failed to equip the congregation with the tools needed to share their faith, and saturate the local community with the Gospel message; and if so, to provide immediate training and test the results for its effectiveness at the Emmaus Missionary Baptist Church, Owings Mills, Maryland. Participants heard four consecutively evangelistic sermons, which were preached during the 10:45 a.m. worship service. In addition, after each sermon the participants attended a workshop that covered: (1) The biblical mandate, biblical definition, and meaning of evangelism; (2) The biblical method …

The "Lamb Of God" Title In John's Gospel: Background, Exegesis, And Major Themes, Christiane Shaker

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

This study focuses on the testimony of John the Baptist—“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” [ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου] (John 1:29, 36)—and its impact on the narrative of the Fourth Gospel. The goal is to provide a deeper understanding of this rich image and its influence on the Gospel. In an attempt to do so, three areas of concentration are explored. First, the most common and accepted views of the background of the “Lamb of God” title in first century Judaism and Christianity are reviewed. …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring Factors That Contribute To Academic Persistence For Nontraditional Undergraduate African American Male Degree-Completers From Bible Colleges In The Southeast, Rodney Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand factors that contribute to college persistence for nontraditional undergraduate African American male four-year degree completers from select evangelical Bible colleges in the southeastern United States. An ecological and adult resiliency theoretical framework guided the research. Three research questions framed this study: (a) How do nontraditional undergraduate African American male four-year degree completers from select evangelical Bible colleges describe persistence? (b) What type of experiences do participants understand as having contributed to their persistence at Bible colleges? (c) What specific factors do participants identify as having contributed to their persistence at …

Revisiting Chiara Lubich’S Paradise ’49 In Light Of The Letter To The Ephesians, Gérard Rossé

Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

The author explores Chiara Lubich’s mystical writings in light of the Letter to the Ephesians, focusing on the Holy Spirit, the Risen Christ, the church, and the cosmos. The Holy Spirit is seen as creating the conditions for unity between persons, in the church and throughout the cosmos, according to the pattern of the Trinity, that shows the “mothering face of God.” The Risen Christ is presented in his cosmic dimension, which brings creation to its eschatological recapitulation, a “marriage of the Uncreated and the created.” The Risen Christ within the church is presented in terms of his upward movement …

Building A Vibrant, Healthy, Growing Church, Petr A. Činčala

Faculty Publications

Research has shown healthy and vital churches are doing better than plateauing dysfunctional churches. Empirical research has also demonstrated churches can turn around. This paper also provided a list of currently used/developed tools that can help churches to grow healthier. The tools were described and evaluated for practical application.

Neo-Subordinationism: The Alien Argumentation In The Gender Debate, Matthew L. Tinkham Jr.

Faculty Publications

Over the last forty years, the debate over gender roles in the home, church, and society has unprecedentedly escalated among Evangelical Christians—including Seventh-day Adventists—due to the introduction of an alien argumentation that grounds the permanent functional subordination of women to men ontologically in the being of God. This argument, which I have termed “neo-subordinationism,” states that women are ontologically equal but functionally subordinate to men because of a prescriptive hierarchical order that exists in the immanent Trinity and is recognizable through the economic Trinity. In this Trinitarian hierarchy the Son and the Holy Spirit are said to be ontologically equal …

The Nature And Work Of The Holy Spirit In The Pentateuch, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew word ruakh refers to the divine Spirit some sixteen times in fifteen verses of the five books of Moses, and the Holy Spirit is also prefigured in several Pentateuchal passages dealing with typological aspects of the sanctuary services. Each of these passages contains profound insights into the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. It is the thesis of this study that all of the major aspects of the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit are set forth, at least in nascent form, in the foundational divine revelation which comprises the Torah. We will examine each of these …

The Banner - V. 151, No. 10 - (November 2016), Christian Reformed Church In North America

The Banner

No abstract provided.

The How, What, And Why Of Interreligious Reading After Vatican Ii, Claire Partlow

Journal of Scriptural Reasoning

No abstract provided.