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An Inquiry Into Higher Education’S Controversial ‘Countermovement’: Contemplative Pedagogy, Roberta Mary Pughe

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Academic interest in “mindfulness” has grown exponentially since the 1980s. Along with the dissemination of mindfulness came an appropriation of contemplative sacred texts and the somatic psychologies along with a misperception of its concepts and practices as inherently religious. Contemplative pedagogy, which addresses the application of contemplative studies to the classroom and its community, is therefore equally likely to be misunderstood. Despite recent studies claiming the benefits of contemplative pedagogy on students’ mental health, test results, and personal and interpersonal relationships, contemplative pedagogy is still widely underutilized; this suggests such a misunderstanding of the field and could explain the lack …

What’S Happened To My Church, South Church Andover, Ucc? Individuals Change Within A Community Of Faith, Changing The Church, Evangelical To Progressive, Janet Clarke

Religious & Theological Studies Student Work

My college admission letter dated August 25, 2020, the personal statement for my college application, included here, states my heartfelt concern about the declining church, for my family, for all people, and for society in general.

"My faith journey has been so rich and informs who I am, as a child of God, living in God's Grace, and Love, and Forgiveness, and taught me so much of how to live in the wider universe, teaching what was unavailable from my family or schooling. I am so grateful for God’s Grace and Peace, and I can not understand how others live …

The Making Of Cults: The Factors That Contribute To Membership And The Leaders’ Influence, Chloe Greenidge

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the factors that contribute to the increased vulnerability to cult membership. This paper also investigates the factors commonly found in cult leaders that increase their influence over their members. Cults have gained much more public attention due to their appearance in the media, typically after a tragic event. This has brought more questions regarding the members and leaders of these cult organizations. Developments associated with youth such as a need for belonging, the search for non-traditional forms of spirituality, emergence of black-and-white and independent thinking, conflicts with the adult world, and growing sexuality can increase an individual’s …

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Phil 337-451: World Religions, Charles Brooks

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Phil 337-453: World Religions, Charles Brooks

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

University Of Dayton Magazine, Autumn 2021, University Of Dayton

University of Dayton Alumni Publications

The University of Dayton Magazine is published quarterly by the Office of University Marketing and Communications for alumni, parents, students, faculty/staff, trustees and other friends of UD.

The Emergence Of The Legitimacy Of Religious Healing Knowledge In Taiwan, Wei-Cheng Chiu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how religious healing knowledge has been defined and used by scholars, physicians, and New Agers and how religious healing knowledge emerged as a legitimate area of knowledge in Taiwan. The key position of religious healing knowledge within the entanglement between religion and spirituality is also examined. After the martial law was lifted in 1987, Taiwan’s society had rapidly diversified, and its religions were at the transition point between the old and the new. Meanwhile, the new spirituality culture was introduced into Taiwan in the 1980s and got popular in the 1990s, and it inherited the trend of …

The End Of The World According To Q, Francisco G. Mendoza Iii

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

The expansion of information networks and of paranoia in the West following the turn of the new century in 2000 created the nesting ground for a new politically focused conspiracy movement in QAnon which, like many before it, conceives of their liberation in the either explicit or implicit terms of the end of the world as they know it. QAnon is broadly maligned by popular conceptions as of late, and that same popular conception has accused their prophetic predictions of being wrong over the years, and yet the movement continues on with a strong base of support. Since its formal …

Blessed Are The Poor (In Spirit): Wealth And Poverty In The Writings Of The Greek Christian Fathers Of The Second Century, Jacob D. Hayden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper examines how Greek Christian authors engaged with the topics of poverty and wealth during the second and third centuries CE - a period of major transition for the Christian Church. Beginning with the latest documents in the Greek New Testament (c. 90 - 120), this study traces these themes through the works of the Apostolic Fathers, including Clement of Rome (c. 35 - 99), Ignatius of Antioch (c. 34 - 108), and Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69 - 155). It then addresses to the apologetic authors Justin Martyr (c. 100 - 165) and Irenaeus (c. 130 - 202). …

Pentecostalism: A Comparative Study Of African And African American Churches In Springfield, Emmanuel Kumah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis is a comparative ethnography of two forms of black Pentecostalism, an African American congregation and an African immigrant congregation. The goal of this project is to show the similarities and differences between these Pentecostal groups. By observing members and interviewing them about worship practices, glossolalic utterances, and gender, the project reveals that although these two groups historically have a common root, there are both real parallels and differences between them because they developed independently from each other. This fieldwork at the African American Deliverance Temple Ministries and the African immigrant Redeemed Christian Church of God revealed that women …

The Winning Narrative: The Social Genesis Of Pilgrimage Sites, Stephen F. Haller, Dane Munro Km

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

While pilgrimage sites may be sparked by historical events, their meaning is created by their accompanying narratives. A pilgrimage site becomes sacred to visitors not merely because of scripture, or supposed religious facts, but also because of social and psychological contexts. It is their winning narrative that supplies meaning and a framework for understanding. Without such narratives, it is conceivable that some pilgrimage sites would not have gained their enduring popularity and international appeal. This article not only describes a few instances of such sites rising to fame, but also the philosophy behind a winning narrative.

The idea that narrative …

Women In Religio-Cultural History: A Reflection On Their Representation In Hugo Hinfelaar’S Scholarly Work In Zambia,1960s To 1990s, Nelly Mwale, Joseph Chita

Zambia Social Science Journal

Although Catholic missionary historians have contributed to the writing of Zambia’s many histories, the attempt at documenting women’s place in religio-cultural history in the country has been overshadowed by the prominence of masculine histories. Using the example of Hugo Hinfelaar who captures women’s histories in his scholarly work, this article explores the representation of the place of women in the religio-cultural history of Zambia in order to highlight Hinfelaar’s contributions to the study of women and to Zambia’s religio-cultural history. Informed by African feminist theory, it draws on a historical study which utilises document review and analyses the data through …

Christian Accounts Of Religious Liberty: Two Views Of Conscience, Joel Harrison

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Singing And Sensing The Unknown: An Embodied History Of Hindu Practice In Ghana, Shobana Shankar

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Hinduism fits well into the “sound-filled” West African religious soundscape, which is a scene of competition and conflict. This article explores the soundscape of devotional singing, mantras, and prayers as a central part of the embodiment and embedment of Hinduism among Africans in Ghana, where the Indian diaspora has been relatively small and the indigenous movement of Hinduism entirely through African initiative. Using ethnographic and written sources to examine the Hindu Monastery of Africa, founded by the Ghanaian monk Swami Ghanananda in 1975, I examine how the oral and aural popular devotions crafted by the swami have shifted attention away …

Use Of Invented Religions In Ukrainian Protest Movements Against Russian Orthodoxy 2018-2021, Vyacheslav Ageyev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2018, three projects operating in the framework of “invented or parody religions” and aimed against the Russian Orthodox Church have arisen in Ukraine. The article describes their invention, practices, “belief systems,” political acts, and tries to predict whether any of these or similar projects have any future in predominantly conservative Christian Ukraine.

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” For Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

Master's Projects and Capstones

This work suggests that we consider a new, working definition of post-Christianity. This new paradigm is in response to Western Christian thought being too dominant a force that fails to take into enough account other global experiences— like those of Japanese Christians. These reflections are based on scholarly opinions claiming that Christianity is a “global culture,” and ultimately argues for more international inclusivity in Western Christian thought and institutions, especially regarding the Asia-Pacific. Moreover, this paper illuminates how iitoko dori allows Christian thought to peacefully coexist in Japan’s greater society. The research also explores specific Japanese cultural practices that make …

An Infinite Horizon: Space, Time, & Mind In The American Imaginary From Thomas Cole To Agnes Pelton, 1825-1961, Jason Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how artists, intellectuals, spiritual seekers, and industrialists represented the American horizon across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The purpose of this inquiry is to show how art transmuted ideological and religious beliefs across time and to demonstrate the interdependence of esoteric self-perceptions and American hegemonic power.

"An Advocate And Exponent Of The Common And Equal Rights Of Humanity": Defining And Assessing The Values Of North Western Christian University, 1855-1880, Allison Lindsay Griffin

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

“An Advocate and Exponent of the Common and Equal Rights of Humanity”: Defining and Assessing the Values of North Western Christian University, 1855-1880.

Perpetuating The Stereotype: Dramatization And The Portrayal Of Cults In Fictional Media, Hannah Lynn Willmore

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This research examines major themes presented in fictional portrayals of cults in popular American television from 2010-2019. Prior research suggests that the manner in which cults are portrayed in fictional media, specifically those relying on sensationalized stereotypes, could influence public perception. This study utilizes qualitative content analysis of one episode from each of the 11 television shows that include cult storylines and examines the portrayal of cults in fictional media. This study draws upon sociological literature such as Weber’s idea of charismatic authority to develop a deeper understanding of how cult portrayal in media influences public perception of cults.

Visual Rhetoric Of Protestant Architecture (On The Example Of Adventist Churches In Kyiv), Petro Kotliarov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the features of the architecture of prayer houses of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Ukraine from the end of the 19th century to the present day. An attempt was made to explain the phenomenon of the development of Gothic elements in the construction of houses of worship in the late 20th - early 21st centuries, a chronological period that coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence. The connection and role of architecture with the dogmatic foundations of the doctrine of the SDA church have been established. The study partially refers to the methodological …

Racially/Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist (Rmve) Attack Planning And United States Federal Response, 2014-2019, Bennett Clifford, Program On Extremism, George Washington University, National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, And Education Center

Reports, Projects, and Research

After a five-year period between 2014 and 2019 in which the frequency and lethality of domestic terrorism incidents in the United States substantially increased, federal counterterrorism authorities now view domestic violent extremism (DVE) as the foremost terrorist threat facing the country. In March 2021, the Office for the Director of National Intelligence released an assessment that the “most lethal domestic violent extremist threat[s]” to the United States were racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVE).1 This assessment mirrored similar findings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and National Counterterrorism Center …

'Here We Start And In Jerusalem We Meet:' The Motivational And Organizational Influences Of Israel's Statehood Ontransnational Salafi Jihad, Charlotte Armistead

Honors Theses

The Israeli occupation of Palestine and its impact on the proliferation and longevity of transnational Salafi jihad is largely underestimated in current literature. In this thesis, I argue that Palestine, defined as both the nation and physical borders before the Balfour Declaration, largely contributed to the twentieth century revival of transnational Salafi jihad and is used by both Al Qaeda and ISIS as liberation and annihilation movements, respectively. In order to assess the motivational and organizational influences of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on transnational Salafi jihad, I examine the works of Abdullah Azzam, a selection of Osama Bin Laden’s …

When We In/Visibilize Our Nobility . . ., Sahar D. Sattarzadeh

Education Studies Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Hybridity: Mormonism In Mauritius, 1980-2020, Marie Vinnarasi Chintaram

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis focuses on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mauritius. This thesis illustrates the implications and pressures of the Church trying to globalize the faith, correlating Mormonism with and conforming it to cosmopolitan communities such as Mauritius.

Book Reviews - Spiritus 6.1 (Spring 2021), Daniel King, Michael A. Donaldson, Robert Mcbain, Christopher J. King, Cletus L. Hull, Iii, Daniel D. Isgrigg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Reviews

Edith Prakash. Yesterday, Today, and Forever: The Extraordinary Life and Ministry of Tommy Lee Osborn. Daniel King ............................................175

Chris E. W. Green. Sanctifying Interpretation: Vocation, Holiness, and Scripture. 2nd ed. Michael A. Donaldson .................................................................177

Leulseged Philemon. Pneumatic Hermeneutics: The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theological Interpretation of Scripture. Robert D. McBain......................180

Daniela C. Augustine. The Spirit and the Common Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of God. Christopher J. King .................................182

William Blaine-Wallace. When Tears Sing: The Art of Lament in Christian Community. Cletus L. Hull, III .....................................184

Gene L. Green, Stephen T. …

Pentecostalism And Coronavirus: Reframing The Message Of Health-And-Wealth In A Pandemic Era, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

One of the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the religious responses that it has generated. For contemporary Pentecostalism in particular, which is a religion that preaches and teaches a theology of human flourishing through the principles of prosperity, the negative effects of the coronavirus on people proved a theologically challenging endeavor. Pronouncing curses on evil or blaming Satan for it in human life has always been part of the means to achieve health and wealth for contemporary Pentecostals. This is very much the case in Africa where the instrumentalist use of religion as a means of personal and …

Covid-19, Science, And Race: A Black Pentecostal Engagement, David Daniels

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

A Black Pentecostal engagement of COVID-19, science, and race points towards a rapport between the Spirit-empowered Movement and health sciences where religious and secular (science) actors are respected agents in the public arena with each offering valuable perspectives and resources to pivotal conversations about public health in this case. In this article, it is argued that the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) represented in the episcopal letters of Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., the presiding bishop of COGIC from 2007 to 2021, demonstrate a religious perspective that possesses a critical perspective on engaging health science during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

The Limited Impact Of Pentecostal Interracialism On Systemic Racism In The Usa, Harold D. Hunter

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre demands a careful review of the impact of systemic racism on Christian communities. This study starts by looking at early Pentecostal interracialism in the USA. There is a striking difference between those churches that founded the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PFNA) and those who were not invited or even barred. The renewed ascendancy of white supremacy forces a review of black Pentecostal victims who suffered discrimination, violence, even death. Pentecostals who would extend Jim Crow laws into the heavenly realm need to revisit the founders’ emphasis on repentance, reform, and restitution.