Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Sex In Church: The Christian Vocation Of Sexuality Within The Ecclesial Community, Sarah Talena Rusche

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Rusche, Sarah Talena. “Sex in Church: The Christian Vocation of Sexuality Within the Ecclesial Community.” Master’s thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2023. 71 pp.

Sex is characterized as an individualistic endeavor by both Christian and non-Christian thinkers. The culture of the world gives license to every individual to choose what kind of sexual experiences they would like to give and receive, while the culture of Christianity isolates individuals navigating the complexities of sexuality. In response to this individualism, this thesis argues that a faithful sexual ethic orders itself according to God’s will for His creation by considering the needs of the ecclesial …

No Lack Of Gain: A Biblical Theology Of Feminine Generosity, Jenny Zoë Huelsman

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This thesis traces a biblical theology of feminine generosity. The capable wife of Prov. 31:10–31 sets an Old Testament paradigm, which is inhabited and enlarged by women in the New Testament. The thesis considers the women who supported Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8:1–3); the widow and her mites (Luke 21:1–4); Mary’s anointing of Jesus (John 12:1–8); and Tabitha caring for the widows (Acts 9:36–42). Throughout these profiles, a picture emerges of women who make essential contributions to the mission and work of Christ as agents of generosity that is derivative, expressive, contextual, intemperate, and Christocentric, always flowing from and returning to …

God And Satan: A Look At Martin Luther’S Titles For Satan And What They Reveal About The Relationship Between God And Satan, Alexandria M. Shick

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Shick, Alexandria M. “God and Satan: A Look at Martin Luther’s Titles for Satan and What They Reveal About the Relationship Between God and Satan.” M.A. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2022 87 pp.

The relationship between God and Satan is complex and intertwined. There is a tendency in Christianity to overemphasize Satan’s power and his place in the realm of evil and in so doing neglect and disregard what it means for God to be truly omnipotent. Luther understood Satan as being under God’s will, only having the ability to act where, when and how God allowed or permitted. The complex …

Identity Formation And Powerful Narrative: What The Church Can Learn From Disney, Janie Fisher

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This thesis explores a phenomenon I first observed while working for The Walt Disney Company in Florida. Many people seem to be dedicated to Disney in a distinctly religious way, giving the company their time, money, abilities, and heart. Disney is one of the most successful organizations in America, and they have mastered the art of storytelling in their films and theme parks. These stories can be used for identity formation, as they teach people who they are, what the world is like, and how they ought to live. Disney uses religious means to help their fans feel as if …

The Contemporary Situation Of Elderly People In Ethiopia And The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Tsigewengel B. Uddo

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Uddo Tsigewengel B. “The Contemporary Situation of Elderly People in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.” MA Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 100pp.

The Church is God’s agent to serve God’s people in the church and society at large. The scope of the Church’s ministry comprises all ages: young, adult, and elderly. Culturally, in Ethiopia, children and close family members are responsible for caring for the elderly, therefore, the church has not given satisfactory attention to holistic elderly care. Moreover, current societal change and globalization have negatively affected the indigenous family-support system for the elderly. As a result, many …

The Subtlety Of Anger And Its Connectedness To Murder: An Exegetical Paper Based On Matthew 5:21–26, Joseph Okoth Abuor

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Abuor Joseph O. “The Subtlety of Anger and its Connectedness to Murder: An Exegetical Paper based on Matthew 5:21–26.” M.A Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 117pp.

The Pharisees and the scribes of Jesus’ time reduced murder to mere physical killing. Jesus, however, denounced this position and outlawed any form of personal anger. Both latent and patent anger are no less than murder in the judgment of God. These include forms of anger which receive societal approval as innocuous and those which are overtly denounced as derogative and destructive. Anger is the prerogative of God. It is his punitive response to human …

The Role Of The African Church In The 21st Century Global Mission: A Case Study Of The Eecmy Global Mission Venture And Economic Mindset, Wondimu M. Game

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Jesus Christ inaugurated and commissioned his church to be a missionary until the end of the world. Thus, the church is missionary by her very nature. The modern mission paradigm was from the West to the rest. But, in this 21^st century, the mission has shifted from the global North to the global South; this massive shift has anchored the global South as the heartland of Christianity and the force of mission. This mission shift also demands the paradigm shift of both global north and south. Although the African church has played a pivotal role in the church history, …

The Power Of God’S Word: Jeremiah Speaks To Kenya Today, Jared Otieno Magero

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Magero Jared Otieno “The power of God’s Word: Jeremiah speaks to Kenya today.” Master of Arts Thesis. Concordia Seminary, 2018. 106pp.

This thesis searched what moved Jeremiah to keep proclaiming God’s Word when the people opposed it, when by proclaiming God’s Word Jeremiah himself went through a lot of suffering and persecution, and when the people instead heard and delighted in the words of false prophets. My research explored how the theology of the powerful Word of God and the task of its proclaimer speak to my church in Kenya where, even though we are a confessional church, we are …

Rhetorical Rationale For The Compositional Integrity Of Second Corinthians, Mark Erickson

Master of Art Theology Thesis

The contention of this thesis, then, is: The Apostle Paul’s apparent use of ancient Greco-Roman rhetorical conventions in 2 Corinthians gives evidence of its compositional integrity and adequately accounts for the apparent partitions which, to some scholars, reveal the existence of multiple documents.

Sleep As Metaphor In Paul- Dying And Living In The Promise Of The Parousia, Nadine Grayl

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This project began with a curiosity for "life after death" matters when I was in confirmation class at a small South Jersey Lutheran church. My mother wanted to know if believers would be with Jesus as soon as they died, so I asked the pastor this and more. It was not until almost ten years later when I attended the 1999 Theological Symposium at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, as an undergraduate deaconess student from Concordia University, River Forest, IL, that I learned what really happens to believers when they die-and even if they don't. I am ever grateful …

History Of Research On The Book Of Micah Chapters 4-5, Jun Kim

Master of Art Theology Thesis

The primary approach of this study is to examine the history of the applicable research and to analyze the various methods (approaches). We have divided selected scholars into two categories (diachronic and synchronic) according to their methods. As we examine each method, this thesis will investigate the authors' treatment of the Hebrew text. Rigorous comparison is difficult, because scholars read some verses as a group, usually following the biblical order of the text, but they do not all group texts in the same way.

As previously stated, synchronic approaches are relatively new; therefore, in this category, fewer scholars will be …

The Lamb Of God Image Of Christ In Revelation, Donald Fitzner

Master of Art Theology Thesis

The identification of Christ as the Lamb of God provides great potential for comfort to God's people. Although this designation of our Lord Jesus Christ occurs only twice in Holy Scripture, I a shortened version, the Lamb, is used extensively in the book of Revelation as one of His titles. While there is much debate as to the origin and precise meaning of this term, there is a significant amount of scriptural background that provides a context for understanding this title of the Lord Jesus.

The prominence of lambs in the sacrificial cultus of the Old Testament' prefigures the presentation …

The Old Testament Source Of Rev 21:3c, Helen Cadogan

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This paper intends an assessment of the textual form of Rev 21:3c as an OT reference; as such it may have something to contribute to the discussion commenced by Menken and continued by Schuchard on deciphering the form of the OT in the NT. Even though other aspects of Revelation study may be vital, the limitations of this research preclude more than the most cursory excursion, if any at all, into the ongoing dialogue on the use of the OT in the NT,language, style, authorship, unity, symbolism, the historical context of Revelation, or whether the author of the Gospel, the …

Hermeneutical Implications Of Certain Pre-Pauline Passages In The Pauline Corpus Of The New Testament, Inta Ivanovska

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Postmodern linguistics and philosophy have challenged the possibility that an author, a text, or a reader of a text possesses or can possess complete objectivity. It claims that an "independent, objective, reason-driven reader" is merely a "communally dependent, subjective, presupposition-bound agent." Similarly, an author is regarded as subject who through the text merely expresses the perspectives he has acquired through his own, contextually-shaped experiences. Moreover, once created, a text is not to be regarded as an entity which bears its own intrinsic meaning; nor is a text the expression of an "original," authorial intent. Rather, a text is merely a …

A Biblical/Clinical Introduction To The Disease Of Chemical Dependency, Charles Smith

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Medicine and magic in the Bible.-- The disease concept.-- A look at commonly misused drugs. A. Alcohol in the Bible. B. Drug use in the Old Testament.-- Intervention and treatment for chemical dependency.-- A Biblical approach to the psychology of treatment.