Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Development Of Seventh-Day Adventist Missionary Thought: A Contemporary Appraisal, Børge Schantz

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Statistical Model For Seventh-Day Adventist White English-Speaking Church Growth In The United States, Des Cummings

Dissertations

Problem. Until 1983 there was no statistical model for projecting church growth among white English-speaking Seventh-day Adventist churches in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify a forecasting model based on the variables that were gathered from pastor and local church reports. Thegeneral hypothesis was that a significant predictive relationship existed between some combination of report variable/factors and the rate of church growth or decline. This hypothesis was subdivided into four specific hypotheses.

Method. One hundred forty-five churches were randomly selected from the white English-speaking churches in the United States. The financial, membership, pastor, and Sabbath …

The Implications Of The Piagetian Stages To Readiness For Baptism, Daniel Gutekunst

Dissertations

The Problem. This study was designed to discover how children from Seventh-day Adventist families react to their baptism after the event. Do they feel that they were "ready" at the time of baptism? Do they think they understood the Bible doctrines when they were baptized? Which people and factors influenced them in their decision? Have these children reached cognitive maturity according to the Formal Operations stage in Piagetian terms, the stage at which children are accountable for their decisions.

Method. A questionnaire of thirty-three questions was given to children in selected Adventist schools who had been baptized between June 1972 …

Liturgical Order And Glossolalia: 1 Corinthians 14:26c-33a And Its Implications, William E. Richardson

Dissertations

Problem. Though the practice of glossolalia, understood as continuing the phenomenon described in 1 Corinthians 14, has spread through both Catholic and Protestant denominations, it has remained something of a puzzle among Christians, some of whom regard it as a mark of genuine faith, while others look upon it as a repellent distraction. Inasmuch as 1 Cor 14:26c-33a highlight and summarize the directives by which Paul sought to regulate the practice among the Corinthians, a careful exegesis of these verses provides a basis upon which the topic of glossolalia in the chapter as a whole might be most clearly explicated …

The Meaning Of Telos In Romans 10:4, Robert Badenas

Dissertations

This study attempts to resolve the ambiguity surrounding the meaning of ‘telos’ in Rom 10:4 and to provide philological criteria for the understanding of this term.

Chapter I indicates clearly that a considerable shift has occurred in the history of the interpretation of ‘telos’ in Rom 10:4. The early church and the Reformers understood this verse in a teleological/completive sense: as a statement of the fulfillment of the law in Christ in a prophetic as well as purposive signification. However, since the post-Reformation era and particularly since the nineteenth century the terminal/temporal/antinomian interpretations have prevailed. Rom 10:4 has been generally …

Toward A Criticism Of Theological Reason : Time And Timelessness As Primordial Presuppositions, Fernando Luis Canale

Dissertations

This investigation studies the possibility of developing a theological criticism of Christian theological reason. The investigation proceeds by developing a phenomenological analysis of three major contexts within which reason has been interpreted and utilized by Christian theology for the constitution of its exegetical and systematic formulations: the philosophical, theological, and Biblical contexts. The philosophical context shows that the structure of reason requires the interpretation of Being's dimensionality which determines its basic meaning and functioning. Moreover, it shows that Being's dimensionality has been interpreted in two ways: as timeless and as temporal.

The theological context, through the analysis of reason's procedures …

A Study Of Teacher Motivation In Five Selected Seventh-Day Adventist Colleges In The United States, Allen F. Stembridge

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to determine what positive and negative motivating factors affect teachers at Seventh-day Adventist colleges, to determine if these factors are different for public university teachers as identified in a similar study by Morgan, and to determine what factors influenced teachers to accept an appointment at an Adventist college.

Method. Respondents were asked to describe positive or negative incidents that related to their jobs as teachers and to answer twenty forced-choice-structured questions to indicate their level of satisfaction of dissatisfaction. The critical incidents were coded within a set of categories adapted for …

The Biblical Concept Of Man And Its Implications For Christian Religious Instruction, Helmut Ott

Dissertations

Problem

A reliable understanding of the nature of man is essential for the formulation of the theoretical framework and for the actual practice of religious education. The purpose of this dissertation is to make an in-depth study of the biblical concept of man and to elaborate on some of its most significant implications for Christian religious instruction.

Method

The study is divided into two major sections. The first one (chs. 2-4) analyzes the biblical concept of man from three different perspectives; man as he was initially created by God; man in his present condition as a sinner; and man as …

A Comparative Study Between The Black And White Seventh-Day Adventist Seminarians Concerning Their Attitudes And Perceptions Of Their Ministry Relative To Selected Social And Theological Issues, Byron P. Napper

Dissertations

Problem

The integration of theological studies with the practical aspects of the ministry is a desirable goal which the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church seeks to nurture within its seminary. The problem this study addresses is the lack of available data which answer questions related to how the Black and White SDA seminarians approach their ministry in areas of selected social and theological issues. Empirical data were not found to assess the relationship between one's race, age, community, church location, religion and one's response or attitude concerning his social involvement.

Method

From a list provided by the SDA Theological Seminary, 244 …

Planning A Needs-Assessment-Based Approach To Continuing Education Programs For Seventh-Day Adventist Clergy In The Eastern Africa Division, Baraka G. Muganda

Dissertations

Problem. This study attempts to determine the extent to which the needs-assessment-based approach to educational planning can be validated and used in planning continuing-education programs for the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) ministers serving in the Eastern Africa Division (EAD).

Method. The sample of the population for this study was drawn from the SDA clergy and a selected group of laity in the EAD. The data were gathered through a two-part questionnaire. The first part sought the demographic profiles of respondents. The second part was designed to enable the respondents to rank each one of the thirty items for preparation and importance. …

A Study Of Selected Variables Dealing With Continuing Education Interests Of Seventh-Day Adventist Pastors And Judicatory In The North American Division, Penny Shell

Dissertations

Background and Purpose of the Study. The study grew out of an increased Seventh-day Adventist interest in continuing education for ministry in the church's North American Division. This interest had generally been accompanied by a lack of current data for careful planning and development of resources. As a needs assessment, the study sought opinions on continuing education for ministry from the pastors, the local conference presidents, and the local conference ministerial directors in the North American division. The four specific areas covered by the study were (1) subject-matter preferences, (2) learning-situation preferences, (3) motivations, and (4) obstacles. Also covered were …

The Stratigraphy Of Tell Hesban, Jordan In The Byzantine Period, J. Bjørnar Storfjell

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of the present study was to identify the Byzantine evidence from the Tell Hesban Excavations in Jordan and delineate site-wide strata parameters within this period.

Method. The Byzantine remains from the site were identified through an analysis of the excavators' field notes and balk drawings. Field ceramic readings and stratigraphic relationships determined the period, stratum, and stage to which a locus belonged.

Results. The Byzantine evidence from Tell Hesban fell into four strata. The transition from the Late Roman period was not very distinct from a cultural viewpoint and came about the middle of the 4th century …