Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Explanatory Ultimacy, Epistemic Access, And Evil: A Community Theodicy, Jonathan Michael Huls

Masters Theses

This is a work about meaning and value. How do human persons find meaning? Why do human persons have value—or do we? A stubborn problem of meaning is evidenced by the perennially treated theistic problem of evil. How is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect God compatible with a world filled with violence and hate? If God is powerfully perfect, why is His world not perfect too? This project endeavors to notice that an answer to this problem depends on properly grounding human access to meaning—especially the meaning of the words God, and evil. It is argued herein that there …

Using Pascal's Wager As A Model For Introducing God To Unbelievers In An Increasingly Fast-Paced, Secular World, Laurie Sharma

Masters Theses

Statistics say that each year, 4.5 billion people, or nearly 60% of the world’s population, will gamble at least once. Every time someone gambles in a casino, the statistical probability—that is, 'the odds'—favor the house. With odds stacked against the individual gambler, it appears irrational to gamble in casinos and one must wonder why anyone would take such risks. Conversely, gambling would appear rational if the odds were not stacked against the gambler. What if the odds were significantly higher; 50/50 to be exact? If this were the case, more people would be spending more time and money at casinos …

The Effects Of Postmodernism On Southern Baptist Churches And Teaching Of Biblical Truth: Quantitative Research Method, Darren Ray Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Absolute truth has been denied within the current philosophical ideals as post-modern thought has sought to alter that concept by denying its existence (Siniscalchi, 2011). Post-modern thinking and philosophy have entered and influenced how some churches and denominations are teaching biblical truths and principles (Enns, 2008). The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore how Southern Baptist pastors perceive any post-modern influences in their churches and its effect on how the church presents and teaches biblical truth. This study looks at post-modern thinking, how it has infiltrated the church, and how it has influenced how the church presents biblical …

Pastoral Counseling: African American Attitudes Toward Mental Healthcare, William Oliver Hansford Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The perspectives of African Americans at the Highway to Heaven Ministry were evaluated using diverse theological concepts in this study. The findings of this study help in deciphering reasons why African Americans primarily choose traditional versus pastoral counseling. The results of the survey were based on the responses of 100 people, all of whom were members of the Highway to Heaven Ministry. Sixty-five women and 35 men, ranging in age from 18 to 88, were enrolled in the study. The data was collected using a well-prepared questionnaire to discover the participants' most heartfelt views regarding pastoral counseling and what motivates …

Airplane Hangars And Triple Hills: Renovation, Demolition, And The Architectural Politics Of Local Belonging At The Our Lady Of Csíksomlyó Hungarian National Shrine, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

In 2019, Pope Francis, leader of the global Catholic Church, celebrated an outdoor Mass at the Our Lady of Csíksomlyó Hungarian national shrine in Romania. When the Franciscan Order that runs the shrine published renovation plans for the altar where the pope would appear, the Facebook post received over 800 outraged comments, including one man who asked, “How can such a beautiful Hungarian symbol, so perfectly integrated into the landscape, be humiliated like this?” By situating these expressions of outrage in the history of Eastern European material politics, I argue that the aesthetic value the commentators were defending – a …

Girls’ Education And Child Marriage In Central Africa | Insights From Qualitative Fieldwork Part Ii: The Republic Of Congo, Jean-Christophe Boungou Bazika, Wolf Ulrich Mféré Akiana, Quentin Wodon

Journal of Global Catholicism

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Republic of Congo (RoC), in part because educational attainment for girls is low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

The Parish Choir Movement And Generational Festivals In Romania’S Socialist Period: New Community Festivities In Transylvania’S Gheorgheni (Gyergyó) Region, Eszter Kovács

Journal of Global Catholicism

Among the post-1945 East European socialist regimes, Romania and Poland were the only countries where the Catholic Church—despite government interventions, controls, and bans—managed to play a significant social and political role in community life. This case study provides an ethnographic description of the parish choir movement and graduating class reunions, called “generational festivals” in Hungarian, in the Gheorgheni (Hu: Gyergyó) region in the 1970s and 1980s. The gatherings will be analyzed in the context of everyday life, the socialist system’s distinctive shortage economy, and official limits on religious activity that characterized the era. I will first describe the world of …

Discovering The Means To Provide Mentorship For Post-Seminary Pastoral Formation From Apprentice To Craftsman: A Pastoral Journey, Paul Hass

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This project seeks to produce a distinct process for the discerning of who might best serve as mentors to those newly ordained. The process aims to allow for people in ecclesiastical leadership roles to discern which of the numerous available pastoral mentors might best be suited for fostering a long-term mentoring relationship to a newly ordained pastor. This project uses the results of qualitative research, drawn from interviews, to provide a matrix for evaluating potential mentors through the lens of the Adaptive Leadership model. The resulting evaluation process was ‘tested’ in a truncated format through the Office of the President …

Developing A Shared Ecclesial Identity Utilizing Story-Based Elements With First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Georgia, Jeremy T. Shoulta

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Body of Christ is challenged to, “be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). How then could a congregation, comprised of individuals harboring diverse cultural worldviews, discover and live into this reality? Through various individual and group exercises, participants sought to determine whether story elements have the power to serve as a true sense-making device within an ecclesial setting. The results indicate that that a majority of participants found the story-based framework beneficial in regards to their personal understanding of the work of First Baptist Church.

"Love Divine: A Systematic Account Of God’S Love For Humanity" [Review] / Wessling, Jordan.", Silvia Canale Bacchiocchi

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review.

A Consistent Ethic Of Life For Philippine Church Leadership, Anatoly Angelo R. Aseneta

Theology Department Faculty Publications

This essay proposes Joseph Cardinal Bernardin''s consistent ethic of life (CEL) as a moral framework for Philippine Church leadership to consider and adapt as it engages with social issues. The paper begins by presenting the dual and inconsistent approaches of Philippine Church leadership to political engagement. This would be followed by a presentation of the key ideas of the CEL from which leaders of the Philippine Church can learn as well as how these can help renew the Philippine Church's vision of responding to the signs of the times; especially in terms of consistency. The paper concludes by proposing some …

Introduction: Imagined And Real Ai, Michael Paulus

SPU Works

The increasing role and power of artificial intelligence in our lives and world require us to imagine and shape a desirable future with this technology. Since visions of AI often draw from Christian apocalyptic narratives, current discussions about technological hopes and fears present an opportunity for a deeper engagement with Christian eschatological resources. This book argues that the apocalyptic imagination can transform how we think about and use AI, helping us discover ways artificial agency may help us create a better world.

The Calvin Forum: Summer 2023, Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

CONTENTS - Vol. 32., Summer 2023

Main Features: 5 - Letter from the President

8 - Engaging scripture in Uganda: A cross-cultural context

12- The fifth gospel

16- The Bible Core and the New Curriculum at Calvin Theological Seminary

20 - Reading scripture in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world

22 - Hearing the book of revelation with "Teo Ears"

Calvin Seminary News: 28 - CTS Faculty Mary Vanden Berg publishes book on Human Uniqueness

30 - Responding to a critical need: Calvin Seminary launches MA in Clinical Mental Health Counselling

32 - CTS …

The Impact Of Studying Abroad On The Intercultural Spiritual Formation Of Harding University Latin America Students, Jeremy Daggett

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Impact Of Police Chaplain Programs And Spirituality On Police Officers’ Mental Health, Samuel Protel Maxwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Spirituality has been a fundamental aspect of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many officers. PTSD affects a high percentage of officers and many of whom live a highly stressful and traumatic life even outside of work. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of police chaplain programs and spirituality on police officers' mental health. The research question asked how a police chaplain program and spirituality impacted police officers. This study's theoretical framework was Pargament's theory. Qualitative research with a narrative analysis design was chosen to collect data from semi-structured interviews. The 10 participants, including six …

Blurring The Lines Between "Good" And "Bad" Religion: John Modern's Neuromatic, Jessica A. Johnson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Forming The Conscience Of Young Vietnamese, Thien Duc Vu

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Many current theories (e.g., individualism, materialism, relativism, etc.) exalt individual freedom as an absolute. They ignore the voice of universal truth as a principle of conscience and instead place conscience underneath individual choice. The concept of individual freedom in this way is influencing the conscience of many young Vietnam people to make decisions that destroy and jeopardize moral human life (e.g., abortion, transgender, same-sex marriage, murder, etc.). Educating young people to see themselves as God’s children by forming their conscience is an urgent obligation for the Vietnamese Catholic Church. Thus, my PSP is to follow past practices of the Church’s …

Arendt And Christianity: On Love And The World, Logan Andrew Daly

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Hannah Arendt criticized the Christian faith for what she saw as an inherent wordlessness or ascetic attitude. She believed this focus on the afterlife was an afront to her political philosophy and kept people from participating in the public sphere. This thesis is a selective exploration of Arendt’s criticisms against the Christian faith and aims to show that there is a way of reconciling the respective belief systems, allowing an Arendtian to benefit from Christian ideas and a Christian to improve themselves with the assistance of Arendtian concepts. The project is split into two chapters. Each chapter focuses on a …

Evolution Of A Protestant Theology Institution In Croatia: From Private Church College To University Center, Lidija Matošević, Marina Schumann, Enoh Šeba

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The focus of this case study is the Faculty of Theology “Matthias Flacius Illyricus” (Teološki fakultet “Matija Vlačić Ilirik” – TFMVI) in Zagreb, founded by two minority religious communities: the Lutheran Church and the Baptist Union. The authors’ premise is that by examining over forty years of the institution’s existence, prominent trends and attitudes can be identified that continue to shape the interaction between churches and the state within Croatian society, where the Roman Catholic Church represents the overwhelming majority. The authors begin with a historical overview of the position of churches under the Communist regime in Yugoslavia, with particular …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 1

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 1.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Wisdom From The Center Of The Heart: The Life And Work Of Pamela Ayo Yetunde So Far, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde has emerged as a prominent figure in the Black, Buddhist, and queer communities. As I caught a glimpse of her amidst the excited crowds at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto in 2018, a gathering of 10,000 delegates from 80 countries and nearly 200 religious, spiritual, and Indigenous traditions, her humble free spirit immediately captured my attention. Unpretentious, unaffected by the grandeur of the immense gathering, and unfazed by the power and prestige of the luminary figures assembled there, she flowed through the hallowed halls with confidence and grace. In an …

Introducing A Discussion On Jean-Pierre Ruiz’S "Revelation In The Vernacular", Jacqueline Hidalgo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Wisdom From A Reproductive Justice Framework, Emily Reimer-Barry

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Review Of Terra Schwerin Rowe, Of Modern Extraction: Experiments In Critical Petro-Theology, Rebecca Janzen

Faculty Publications

Terra Schwerin Rowe, Of Modern Extraction: Experiments in Critical Petro-theology (New York: T&T Clark, 2023), 200 pp., $115 (hbk), ISBN: 9780567708342.

Jeremiah’S Portrayal Of War As Worship: Hollow Form Of Holiness, Oliver Glanz

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

From an anthropological perspective, the acts of war and worship share similarities. Both are mission-driven, exercise rituals and liturgies, use songs, and have calls to duty. As such, the ultimate legitimization of war uses elements of sacred language usually found in the context of worship. The study of Jeremiah’s language usage provides a critical perspective on this typical anthropological phenomenon: the legitimization of war employing sacred language. When tracing Jeremiah’s vocabulary with the help of valence analysis, it can be argued that the prophet purposefully unmasks human war as a potential form of idol worship. Human war can, therefore, be …

An Examination Of The Impact Of Police Chaplain Programs And Spirituality On Police Officers’ Mental Health, Samuel Protel Maxwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Spirituality has been a fundamental aspect of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many officers. PTSD affects a high percentage of officers and many of whom live a highly stressful and traumatic life even outside of work. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of police chaplain programs and spirituality on police officers' mental health. The research question asked how a police chaplain program and spirituality impacted police officers. This study's theoretical framework was Pargament's theory. Qualitative research with a narrative analysis design was chosen to collect data from semi-structured interviews. The 10 participants, including six …

Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

“Why are we the way that we are?” is one of the hardest questions to answer because it requires grasping the origin of human beings. This has left philosophers and theologians in century-long debates on forming a “cosmogony of ontology” (i.e., how the origin of the universe informs the human condition). The concept, “original sin” was developed by a North African theologian named Augustine (354 – 430 CE). Augustine’s reading of Genesis 3, and inaccurate translation of Romans 5:12, taught that a person is born morally culpable for a fault antecedent to their existence. This way of thinking about the …

What Difference Does It Make? Early Reception Stories About Luce Irigaray's Writing On Divine Women, Elsa Kunz

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This paper examines numerous pre-texts in Anglo-American feminist theology and critical theory seminal to the establishment of feminist philosophy of religion as a distinct academic discipline. Specifically, I trace early reception of philosopher Luce Irigaray’s writing on becoming divine women in Anglo-American feminist circles, arguing that critical attention to the “horizons of expectations” around Irigaray’s person is a necessary step to the myriad readings of her work. I begin by situating my own initial expectations and encounters with Irigaray’s writing on divine women as a graduate student in theological studies cross-registered in a course on ‘French Feminism’ in the neighboring …

Eschatological Consumption Of Leviathan And Behemoth As Revelation Of The Messianic Torah, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The notion that the righteous would one day feast on Behemoth and Leviathan occupied a prominent place in early Jewish pseudepigraphical accounts, including testimonies found in the Book of the Similitudes, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. Thus, from 1 Enoch 60:24 one learns that “two monsters, prepared according to the greatness of the Lord, will provide food for the chosen and righteous.”

Dragon's Atonement: Eschatological Yom Kippur In The Book Of Revelation, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

There are striking differences between the classic description of the scapegoat ritual found in Leviticus 16 and later renderings of this rite in rabbinic and early Christian authors. For instance, several enigmatic additions to the Levitical blueprint of the scapegoat ritual appear in later interpretations of this rite found in mishnaic, targumic, and talmudic accounts, especially in the description of the conclusion of the scapegoat ceremony. Some of these accounts insist that in the final moments of the ritual in the wilderness the crimson band of the scapegoat was removed and then placed back onto the animal. The scapegoat was …