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Definitively Lutheran?: An Exploration Of Definitive Lutheran Characteristics In Higher Education, John Eggen

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This mixed-method, exploratory case study explores definitively Lutheran practices in higher education. This research explores emerging themes from Intersections and other publications reflecting upon institutional religious identity. This research explores the student experiences, expectations, and perspectives through a student survey and the perspectives of institutional leadership through qualitative research. It evaluates definitive characteristics of Lutheran higher education through the lenses of adaptive change, organizational theory, open systems theory, Lutheran identity, vocation, and exploring an understanding of missional, cruciform, perichoretic communities from the Pauline epistles. The results reveal limited statistically significant difference among students based on religious affiliation, but a divergent …

Lutheran Higher Education In A Secular Age: Religious Identity And Mission At Elca Colleges And Universities, Brian A.F. Beckstrom

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This exploratory mixed methods case study examined the relationship between espoused and perceived religious identity and mission at five colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the lenses of secularization theory, missional leadership, ecclesiology, Trinitarian theology, adaptive leadership, and challenges in the higher education market. Results indicated that humanism is the primary means of describing religious identity and mission at ELCA schools and there are widely varying assumptions about what it means to be a college or university of the church. Advocates and skeptics of the institution’s religious identity and mission interpret reality through the lens …

Entre El Templo Y Las Ciudad : Constructing A Pentecostal Lived Ecclesiology, Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Creedal Symbols Of My Great Grandparents : The Adinkra Symbols Reveal The Theology Of The Akans People Of Ghana, Kofi Amoateng

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Contributors Contributors

Landas

No abstract provided.

Insider Movements Among Muslims: Reflections On Their History, Identity, And Theology, Richard Doss

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"The enormity of the task still facing Christian missions is almost incomprehensible. Nearly 4.1 billion people are still in need of the gospel (Johnstone 2014:65). In some ways, the task of reaching the unreached is most difficult among Muslims. With nearly 1.3 billion adherents, Islam represents a significant challenge to the spread of the gospel. Or does it? Given the complex nature of the relationship between Christianity and Islam, could it be that the inability of Christian missionaries to shed the social, cultural, and political trappings of the West and Christendom have limited the effectiveness of the gospel? Might the …

Postcolonial Discipleship: Movement, Genius, And Uncertainty: Explorations In Contemporary 'Korean American' Theological Discourse, Michael Sungjoon Won

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

Contemporary ‘Korean American’ theological discourse seeks to more broadly account for the variations and deviations that characterize the ‘Korean American’ experience. Theologians Andrew Sung Park and Grace Ji-Sun Kim theorize the ‘Korean American’ subject through notions of ‘authenticity’ and cultural ‘rootedness’. Such an approach presents itself to be problematic when one begins to account for the ways that colonialism and imperialism have shaped understandings of culture, ultimately revealing that culture is not simply an expression of ontology, but is also driven by a large array of sociological factors. In light of this, theologians Wonhee Anne Joh and Sang Hyun Lee …

Developing A Theologically Self-Reflexive Critique With Comparative Theologians And The Sociological Analysis Of Pierre Bourdieu, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this article I attempt to locate productive foundations for a critical theological methodology through engaging with both the inherently critical nature of comparative theology alongside the sociological, self-reflexive analysis of Pierre Bourdieu. I turn, first, to comparative theology because it is a field with a heightened sensibility for how self-reflexive critique functions within a theological context, as it assumes that both sides in any conversation maintain the possibility of re-examining their own premises and foundations. I turn, second, to the work of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu because it is his analysis of symbolic power that provides an examination of …

A Wesleyan Missiological Perspective On Holiness Across Cultures, Marcus W. Dean

The Asbury Journal

Missiology has focused on various aspects of contextualization and the importance of salvation, but has not dealt extensively with the biblical concept of holiness. From a Wesleyan perspective this paper looks at holiness from the lens of contextualization. A biblical support of contextualization is presented. Then the cultural factors of values—the dynamics of shame, guilt, and fear are explored— and purity are examined as starting points to contextualize the holiness message. While holiness is ultimately about ethical life and relationships, the message must be built upon culturally understandable concepts.

Exiles In Their Own Land: Japanese Protestant Mission History And Theory In Conversation With Practical Theology, Thomas John Hastings

Yale Divinity Library Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

Hip Hop Hermeneutics: How The Culture Influences Preachers, Dwight A. Radcliff Jr.

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

"Hip Hop Hermeneutics" essay lays out findings of current research into how Hip Hop culture has been formational for African American preachers, and how that culture informs their preaching. There is a generation of preachers leading congregations today that have grown up with Hip Hop. Hip Hop culture has left an indelible mark upon them; just as the church has. How does the cultural influence of Hip Hop affect their preaching? Hip Hop hermeneutics is the response put forth by this article. This article traces the practice and theology of early African American preachers, the work of James Cone in …

Allocutio: Articulating The Task For The Future Of African Catholicism, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay charts how Catholicism can become more indigenously African and respond better to African needs and concerns.

Foreword: Reformation - Then, Now, And Onward, Mark W. Harris

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Reformation - Then, Now, And Onward, Mark W. Harris

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Contested Moral Issues In Contemporary African Catholicism: Theological Proposals For A Hermeneutics Of Multiplicity And Inclusion, Stan Chu Ilo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Drawing upon the broad work of Vatican II and Pope Francis’ Evangelicum Gaudium the article proposes how a hermeneutic of multiplicity and inclusion could help hold in balance the tension between tradition and innovation, universal principles and specific contextual application for Catholicism in Africa. Among the issues addressed are cultural relativism, natural law theory, and polygamy.

A God Worth Worshiping: Toward A Critical Race Theology, Duane Terrence Loynes Sr.

Dissertations (1934 -)

Theologian James Cone has declared that White supremacy is the American Church’s greatest, original, and most persistent sin. Although the Church has engaged in numerous attempts to remedy racism, theology still seems to witness to a God that stands relatively unopposed to the status quo of racial injustice and marginalization. This dissertation begins with the claim that Christian theology still operates from the normativity of whiteness. I will argue that, although the Church has made admirable progress with regard to racial justice, the attempts have been at the surface: the underlying structural logic of White supremacy remains intact. My thesis …

The Continuing Relevance Of “Queer” Theology For The Rest Of The Field, Colby Dickinson, Meghan Toomey

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

What does it mean to queer theology? How is this task of queering theology relevant to and engaged with mainstream academic theological discourse? What is already queer about theology? What direction should queering theology take in the future? This special issue examines these key questions, among others, which are at the heart of the overall project that has been referred to as “queer theology”. In this introduction to the volume, we outline common strands of thought, and key issues and questions that undergird and interlace the essays in this volume. We also provide a brief history of queer theology, highlighting …

The Problem Of Being At Ease In Zion, Gretchen Roeck

Denison Journal of Religion

Roeck uses her experiences in the Appalachian Service Project to serve as a springboard of her reflection on the question of what it means to be a Christian in an economically stratified world. She argues for religion as a source that can help to transform and re-stabilize society into one more suited to providing for all.

Roeck reflects on Berger's theory of world-building to show that religion can be used as a springboard for social change. According to Berger, society is created through human construction and the world that humanity constructs defines societal interactions. While Roeck acknowledges that this might …

Lcms Identity And Mission In The American Urban Context: Engaging Conian Black Theology Through Strategic Lutheran Missiology, Gregory Seltz

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Seltz, Gregory P., “LCMS Identity and Mission in the American Urban Context: Engaging Conian Black Theology through Strategic Lutheran Missiology.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 304 pp.

This dissertation addresses the challenges of the American urban context by dialoging with James Cone’s Black Theology in order to construct an LCMS urban missiology. This LCMS urban missiology is a dynamic, Two-Kingdom, sacramental engagement strategy that addresses the issues endemic to the urban community for the sake of the community and for the sake of the Gospel. The American urban setting is fraught with challenges: identity politics, ethnic-sociological fragmentation, and the delegitimation-politicization …

Church And Formation Of Conscience: Towards A Liberative Ecclesiology For Peace And Justice In Kenya, Augostine Ekena

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Kenya, like many other African countries, continues to experience, fifty years after independence, various challenges including political instability and violence resulting from negative ethnicity. Kenya‘s history is rife with examples of divisive politics and negative ethnicity ranging from ethnic violence, ethnicized politics, dictatorship of the ethnic majority and ethnic clashes. Evidence of the deeply seated hatred can be found in the apparent reality of ethnic division and intertribal clashes often experienced either before, during or after elections.

The 2007 post-election violence which claimed over 1300 lives and the displacement of more than 300,000 people demonstrated the depth of the culture …

Fragmented, Messianic, Paradoxical, Antinomian, Revolutionary, Secular: The Hermeneutics Of Eschatology, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Multiple philosophical-theological efforts in the last century, from W. Benjamin to J. Caputo, have been centered on a messianic opposition to normative structures, a challenge that invokes a long history in the West of breaking down the codes of ordered, civilized and religious society. That such an apocalyptic fervor is nothing new to the history of theology should not surprise us. What should surprise us, however, is how infrequently we are able to see the larger pattern behind these particular movements. Taking up the recent emergence of ‘queer theology’ as the current manifestation of such a trend, I want to …

Contextualizing The Contextual: A Note On The Revolutionary Exegesis Of Gregorio L. Aglipay, Peter-Ben; Vrije Smit

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

The contextuality of all biblical exegesis is often emphasized—and rightly so. However, the history of contextual exegesis still needs to be written, which leads to a situation in which those involved in “contextual exegesis” are often insufficiently aware of the contextuality of earlier approaches and the fact that they are heirs to a long tradition of contextual biblical interpretation. Using the example of the “revolutionary” exegesis of Gregorio L. Aglipay, this research note illustrates how contextual exegesis may have much earlier roots than is frequently assumed.Keywords: Gregorio Aglipay • Iglesia Filipina Independiente • Contextual Theology • Biblica l interpretation • …

Learning From Mistakes Of The Past: Christianity, Apartheid, And Social Movement Framing, Miranda L. Joebgen

Bridge/Work

No abstract provided.

Redirecting The International Church From An Oasis Paradigm To Missional Thought, Community And Practice, David W. Young

Doctor of Ministry

The International Church (IC) environment is dynamic—people from dozens of different nations and Christian heritages worship together each week. ICs, often in global cities, can have strategic influence helping diaspora make adjustments, welcoming them and bringing a sense of community, connection, and peace during stressful transitions. As a consequence, ICs often adopt “a home away from home” vision—where the IC believes it fundamentally exists as a temporary oasis to meet the religious and social needs of its members. However, the oasis/nurture paradigm—with its consumer undertone, inward focus on member care, and shepherding is inadequate for making and mobilizing disciples. Third …

Instilling Health And Vitality Into The Third Wave Oraon Churches In Jharkhand, Samuel Stephens

Doctor of Ministry

This study is based on the observation that large numbers of Oraon tribals in the state of Jharkhand, India are embracing Christianity, and an increasing number of small churches in the region is evidenced. The Oraon new believers, however, lack adequate spiritual nurture, resulting in spiritual stagnancy, a leaning to syncretism, and practice of unhealthy traditions. These traits leave the Oraon churches spiritually impoverished and unsustainable. The study seeks to ascertain appropriate measures to infuse and instill such health and vitality.

Chapter one describes the nature of the Oraon people movement first and then places it within its national context. …

Aloysius Pieris’S Asian Liberation Theology And Its Challenges To The Church’S Mission In Asia, Norlan H. Julia

Landas

This article examines the theological contributions of Sri Lankan Jesuit Aloysius Pieris and their profound implications for the Church's identity and mission in Asia. Julia highlights how Pieris critiques deep-seated dualisms within traditional Christian practice—such as the dichotomies between liturgy, spirituality, and secular action. By advocating for a synthesis centered on the "liturgy of life" and an Asian Christology, Pieris challenges local churches to undergo a "double baptism" in the Jordan of Asian religiosity and the Calvary of systemic poverty. Ultimately, the paper calls for a transformative pastoral shift toward authentic dialogue and total solidarity with the marginalized.

Contributors, Contributors Contributors

Landas

No abstract provided.

The Elephant In The Room:, Sarita D. Gallagher

Papers

No abstract provided.

Empathy As Sacred Ethic: A Chaplain's Perspective On Difficult End Of Life Cases, Peter L. Bauck

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

Because of our increasingly intercultural world, it can be difficult for patients, families, and medical teams to decide on what they should do for patients who are, in the medical team’s opinion, near the end of life. The family and medical team can hold disparate beliefs and values around what they should do for the patient. Ethics committees often get involved in these difficult end of life cases.These cases are also emotionally charged, especially for the family as they wrestle with the intensity of their loved one’s situation and try to decide what to do. Because of the emotional intensity …

Countertransference As Koinonia, Karin A. Craven

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This thesis inquires after the lived-through experience of community in the congregation by the pastoral leader. It is predicated upon the multiple self whose plurality is understood through psychoanalytical and postcolonial theories as well as by developmental processes illumined by interpersonal neurobiology. The phenomenological inquiry into one pastor’s experience of community in the congregation yielded in vivo themes – movement, joy, and open; connect, conflict, and centering; table, hospitality, love, and diversity -- that were understood broadly from the wondering perspective of desire. Closer theoretical analysis of these in vivo themes from theological, psychological, and interpersonal neurobiological conceptual categories was …