Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Galileo And The Church: An Ecological Perspective, Holly J. Lawson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The post-medieval church was surrounded by intense sociocultural factors, including the recent Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Although “the Galileo affair,” as it has been dubbed in the years since, is generally presented as a case example of the conflict between science and faith or religion, it is far more complex than these two issues alone. Galileo’s discoveries supporting the Copernican theory entered a complex interplay of factors, eventually leading to a highly pressurized encounter between Galileo and the Inquisition. Galileo’s indictment is a nuanced, poignant example of the rich cultural and contextual factors that drive clashes of religion …

Silent Voices: The Missing Historiography Of Soviet Evangelicalism, Abigail Coker

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The historiography of Soviet evangelicalism has suffered from both lack of attention and lack of detail-oriented, scholarly research. These failings are not surprising, considering the limitations exerted by the Cold War and the nature of the Soviet system. From the 1920s to the 1990s, the primary limitation to research of Soviet evangelicalism lay in the creation of and access to primary sources. This lack of primary sources, combined with the incautious use of government sources, marks the early works on Soviet religion. Indeed, the problem of sources was not entirely resolved until the 1980s and 1990s, when Gorbachev’s liberalization measures …

Francis Of Assisi: A Reputation Marred Beyond Recognition, Jackson Gravitt

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

Francis of Assisi believed his mission was to preach the gospel, and his reputation shortly after his death was that of a prolific preacher. However, members of his Order eventually began to present his life differently due to controversies that developed after his death. They began to de-emphasize his preaching ministry to instead focus on his holiness, miracles, or reformed mindedness. In the twentieth century, these works served as the foundation of Francis studies, resulting in scholars neglecting his reputation as a preacher. Francis became caricatured as anti-oracular, most notably by his association with an apocryphal quote: “Preach the gospel …

"The Last King Of America" By Andrew Roberts- A Review, Michael A. Smith

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

"The Last King of America" by Andrew Roberts is a meticulously researched and engaging account of King George III's reign over the American colonies. Roberts dispels myths surrounding George III and explores his efforts to maintain control over the colonies, the tensions that led to the Revolutionary War, and the eventual loss of American territories. This thought-provoking book delves into the more significant themes of monarchy, colonialism, and revolution while offering fresh insights into a pivotal historical moment. Roberts' narrative skill and thorough research make "The Last King of America" an essential read for history enthusiasts and general readers.

Taking Dominion To End Dominion: The Mennonite Influence On The End Of Russian Serfdom, H. Michael Shultz Jr.

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Serfdom in Russia was abolished in 1861, only 76 years after the first Mennonites were invited into Russia by Catherine II. By examining the lifestyle of the Mennonites who settled in the agriculturally productive “New Russia” (modern-day Ukraine), as well as the impact that the Mennonites had on the Imperial family, peasantry, and government, it is evident that the Mennonites played a recognizable role in bringing about the abolition of serfdom across the empire.

Piece Of Driftwood, A Riverboat, Or A Nazi Collaborator? Finland In World War Ii, Stephanie Wright

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Three Minute Thesis

Torn Between The Creeds Of The Devil: The German-Finnish Co-Belligerency In World War Ii, Stephanie Wright

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

Women Of War: The Role Of Female Spies In World War Ii's French Resistance, Adaline Nolley

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Sofia Palaiologina: Matriarch Of The Russian State, Reagan Nelson

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Knitting Together: The Knitting Army Of The First World War, Virginia Drye

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

To Be Necessary: The Remarkable Life Of Mary Wollstonecraft, Elisabeth Phillips

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Although overshadowed by her daughter, Mary Shelley, in the public imagination, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) stands as a significant figure in her time who left a significant legacy. Her writings advocating for women’s education, equal rights, and career opportunities established her as the progenitor of the modern women’s rights movement. Wollstonecraft’s ideas resonated in the era of the Atlantic world revolutions and laid the foundation for later advances of women in the Western world; therefore, it is important to study her contributions in the present.

Jane Austen: A Study On The Influences, World, And Character Of An Eighteenth-Century Novelist, Elisabeth Phillips

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Jane Austen is one of the most influential authors in history and her works are regarded as timeless classics. Her ability to harness the motif of the strong, independent woman in a time when society wanted women to have neither attribute is incomparable in contemporary works. This article examines Austen's life and the variety of factors (family, religious, intellectual, historical) that molded her mind and character and thus informed the characters she created and the stories she crafted.

Reviewing John Maynard Keynes: The Economic Consequences Of The Peace, John C. Daniel

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

The 1919 Treaty of Versailles is one of the most impactful documents in world history. The treaty effectively ended World War I, decimated Germany, and laid the foundation for World War II. In his analysis The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes gives a first-hand account of the influence of world leaders President Woodrow Wilson, English Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and the roles they played during the Paris Peace Conference. Keynes explains the treaty from a geopolitical lens, argues against the treaty’s reparations clause, and advocates for alternative solutions. Almost …

The Battle Of Tours Reconsidered, Paul Aitchison

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This paper examines the Battle of Tours/Poitiers in 732 between the Merovingian Mayor of the Palace, Charles Martel, and the Umayyad governor-general of al-Andalus in modern-day Spain, Abdul Rahman Al-Ghafiqi. Since the pivotal works of Sir Edward Gibbons were published in 1776, the battle has been seen as keeping Europe from falling completely to Islam. More recent scholarship highlights the battle as pivotal in Charles's quest to consolidate power in his ultimately successful bid to create a new power in western Europe, the Carolingian dynasty, which would eventually be created in the crowning as the Holy Roman Empire his grandson, …

From The Restoration To The Glorious Revolution: A Protestant Regrouping, Kevan D. Keane

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Abstract

Puritans had goals of reforming the Church of England but had difficulty maintaining a consistent vision of that. As Puritans tried to secure their place in the New World, England was going through one of its most significant transitions of power. These events are known as the Restoration, and the political turmoil in its wake resulted in the Glorious Revolution, a time of intense political transition resulting in the overthrow of James II, the last of the Stuart monarchs. However, its effects were not only felt in England. The Restoration as well as the Glorious Revolution carried over into …

“If People Really Knew, The War Would Be Stopped Tomorrow": How The Press, The British State, And The Public Interacted During World War I, Faith Chudkowski

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The Twilight Of Liberty: Lessons For The United States From Rome’S Dying Republic, Matthew Mccracken

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

A historical comparison of the rise of ancient Rome and the United States as great republics, how the former dissolved under the weight of social, political, and cultural strife, and how the latter may avoid a similar breakdown.

The Stars Kept Shining: The Wartime Diary Of Esther Mathilda Sørensen, Larisa C. Neilson

Senior Honors Theses

In fulfillment of the Liberty University Honors Department Thesis requirement, the following is a creative thesis in the form of an historical fiction novella diary, written in the first person. The story follows the life of Esther, a young Danish woman, as she navigates what it means to be a Jew in World War II era Europe. Though the characters are fictional, the story presents possible real-life experiences for a person living during this time.

The style of this novella is popular among middle and high school teachers and can be an important teaching tool as it is an engaging …

The First Battle Of El Alamein, Nathan Landrum

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

In June 1942, German and Italian forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel launched a successful offensive into British-held Egypt. This move not only threatened the Suez Canal, it presented the opportunity for Germany to seize the oil rich and strategically important Middle East. British and Commonwealth forces under General Sir Claude Auchinleck, however, halted Axis offensive at the First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942). This engagement proved decisive in the outcome of the North African campaign in World War II and ultimately the European Theater of Operations, as it shifted the balance of toward the Allies, enabling them …

Death And The Transformation Of Women’S Roles Surrounding Death: An Analysis Of Jacques-Louis David’S History Paintings, Miranda Boljat

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Jacques-Louis David is remembered today for his contributions to the world of Neoclassical art before the French Revolution, during the Revolution, and during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. His body of work represents an impressive journey from his Rococo roots to his Neoclassical political works to his many different portraits of Napoleon. In comparing his pieces, an observer can track the development of a variety of themes. Specifically, it is possible to see the different ways David portrayed the event of death in his history paintings. From there, a researcher can clearly tie the different views of death to the …

Cited At Nuremberg: The American Eugenics Movement, Its Influence Abroad, The Buck V. Bell Decision, And The Subsequent Bioethical Implications Of The Holocaust, Bessie Blackburn

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Eugenics was a bioethical movement that captivated many Americans at the turn of the nineteenth century and even into the Progressive era. No event in American history better encapsulates the American eugenics movement than the trial of Carrie Buck and her later forced sterilization. This trial is monumental not only to understanding American eugenic policy, but also international reactions and Nazi Germany’s chilling use of this pseudoscience in the Holocaust. In order to best understand the trial of Carrie Buck, one must look first look at the origins of eugenics, second, the context of the eugenics movement in America and …

Voices Of Courage: A Comparison Of The Treatment Of Evangelicals And Dissidents Under Khrushchev, Abigail Coker

Senior Honors Theses

Nikita Khrushchev’s time in power from 1953-1964 has often been thought of as a period of “thaw” in the Soviet Union, as he allowed a certain degree of freedom of expression for artists and writers. However, this view of the Khrushchev “thaw” ignores the blatant human rights violations enacted by the Soviet Union during this time, specifically in its treatment of evangelicals and other dissidents. This work examines Khrushchev’s treatment of evangelicals and other dissidents with the goal of refining modern perceptions on Khrushchev’s time in office. The timelines and methods of both the anti-religious campaign of 1959-1964 and the …

Italian Jews: A Surprising And Understudied Influence In The Enlightenment, Lura Martinez

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The experience of Italian Jews during the Enlightenment is deserving of much more attention. Not only did Italian Jews such as Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto, a man born in a ghetto, later embrace a form of secularism, but his works and others written by his peers made an impact on the Italian Enlightenment and seemingly contributed to the practice of toleration that appeared in sporadic installments throughout Europe. While the Jewish experience in Europe hails from a long tradition of persecution, with sporadic and incomplete periods of toleration at various points in its history, it is clear that through a promotion …

Scottish Cattle Companies On The Western Frontier, Kelly A. Witherspoon

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article examines how, as part of a larger British economic and financial investment in the American West, two Scottish companies, the Matador Land and Cattle Company, and the Prairie Cattle Company, were particularly successful. They also assisted the development of the American cattle industry by supporting the creation of cattle associations and improving cattle breeds.

The End Is Upon Us: Attila The Hun And The Christian Apocalypse, Nathan Landrum

Masters Theses

Since their arrival onto the European landscape from beyond Scythia, the land north of the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, the Huns were originally perceived by the Roman world as a seemingly unknowable, uncivilized barbarian group that instilled fear on the unfortunate peoples in their path. As the Huns migrated further south and eventually permanently settled in the Great Hungarian Plain, the Romans’ original perception largely remained intact, but with great alterations. By the campaigns of Attila in the mid-fifth century, as numerous cities and towns were utterly destroyed across the Balkans, Gaul, and northern Italy, Attila and the …

Capitalism And Biblical Ethics, Sarah D. Stewart

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

There has been a growing trend in some expressions of Christianity to view Capitalism as fundamentally incompatible with the Christian faith. This article looked to a variety of sources to argue that Christianity and Capitalism are not fundamentally incompatible. Rather, Capitalism developed alongside developments in Christian theology during the Middle Ages. This traditional form of Capitalism is defined and argued for in this article. The article attempts to demonstrate that the elements that allow Capitalism to thrive are compatible with Christian ethics. The case is made by first examining the historical development of Capitalism and its relationship to Christianity. From …

De Libero Conscientia: Martin Luther’S Rediscovery Of Liberty Of Conscience And Its Synthesis Of The Ancients And The Influence Of The Moderns, Bessie S. Blackburn

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

One fateful day on March 26, 1521, a lowly Augustinian monk was cited to appear before the Diet of Worms.[1] His habit trailed behind him as he braced for the questioning. He was firm, yet troubled. He boldly proclaimed: “If I am not convinced by proofs from Scripture, or clear theological reasons, I remain convinced by the passages which I have quoted from Scripture, and my conscience is held captive by the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract, for it is neither prudent nor right to go against one’s conscience. So help me God, …

Wherein To Catch The Conscience Of The Queen: Dystopian Politics In Elizabethan Drama, Helen Fielding

Senior Honors Theses

Though established English history portrays Elizabeth I (1533-1603) as uniting England under the new Protestant religion, recent historical evidence reveals that extensive counter-currents still existed. This thesis examines how the politico-religious beliefs of Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights manifest themselves in their drama, particularly through imagery and allusions. It draws especially from Frances Yates to assert that imagery of white magic, Christian Cabala, and alchemy in these dramatists’ works refers to the pure imperial reform movement of Elizabeth’s reign, and also from Clare Asquith to illuminate a reading of Shakespeare as a playwright who encoded in his plays a Catholic message …

King James Vi And I: Witch-Hunter And Protector Of The Realm, Joni Raylene Creed

Masters Theses

After the discovery of a conspiracy to kill the king at sea, King James VI of Scotland became frightfully consumed with stamping out witches in his kingdom. He believed that witches were in league with the devil and that they were an imminent threat to his life and sovereignty as king. In the early 1590s, he bypassed legal precedent by directly interrogating and judging Scottish witches. He wrote a treatise in 1597 to warn of the existence of witches and the danger that witchcraft possessed. His involvement in the North Berwick witch trials was an interesting chapter in Scottish history. …