Arts and Humanities Commons^™

On Biblical Forgeries And Imagined Communities—A Critical Analysis Of Recent Criticism, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by several biblical scholars, asking what I thought of the article by Hugo Méndez in the Journal of New Testament Studies, as well as its treatment in the Daily Beast by the leading religion commentator, Candida Moss. I like and respect Professors Moss and Méndez, so I was of course interested in the issues they were engaging. I also had lunch with Bart Ehrman in Marburg last August, at the international Society of New Testament Studies meetings, so I was curious to see what Hugo might have done with Bart’s work on early Christian …

Reimagining The Imago Dei, Roger Nam

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

Here’s an extremely simple exercise:

1. Go to any CCCU school website.

2. Type the word “diversity” into the search window.

You will undoubtedly get scores of different options and activities designed to reflect an institution’s commitment to racially inclusive diversity. A deeper dive into the institution’s social media accounts will reveal a more extensive portrayal of a commitment to diversity. This can be as simple as posting a meaningful quote from Howard Thurman on Twitter or sharing a lovely picture of Korean fried chicken on Instagram. But why do institutions do this?

Ethnic And Confessional Relations In Cross-Border Regions: A Comparative Analysis Based On Sociological Research, Vasyl Balukh, Yurii Lopatynskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study deals with the issues of confessional issues (religiosity), freedom of conscience, state-church relations, interethnic relations, cultural identity, and language use in cross-border regions of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to find common features in the relations between different nationalities and representatives of the multi-confessional environment of the two cross-border regions of Ukraine and to identify the specifics of each of them in solving the most important life problems of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations. The method of sociological research is a survey that contains 44 questions of mixed type. The research was carried out by the Center …

Fortieth Anniversary Of Publishing Opree (Ree), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Forty years ago in February 1981 the first issue of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe appeared. The Executive Committee of the now defunct “Christians Associated for Relationship in Eastern Europe” of which I was a member and occasional president supported my initiative to start printing information as one of our tasks is to educate church leaders and scholars with reliable information about the religious situation under communism. Previously a fair number of American church leaders and travelers were misled not only by communist government officials who dealt with religious affairs of their respective countries but even by some …

Guest Editor’S Foreword: Religiosity In Contemporary Ukraine, Nataliia Ishchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "The issues of civilizational identity became paramount to the social existence of the church in the decade of revolution and war (2010-2020). This decade has become the most heroic and, at the same time, the most tragic one in the history of modern Ukraine, for its people and its churches. The Maidan and the Revolution of Dignity (late 2013 to early 2014) gave the people of Ukraine great hopes and expectations for the choice of a European future. The annexation of the Crimea by Russia and the ongoing war in the east of Ukraine, as planned by the Kremlin’s …

Problematic Issues Of Institutional Development Of Islamic Associations In Contemporary Ukraine, Serhii Ismahilov, Galyna Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the revival of the Islamic religion which began in Ukraine in the 1990s. The authors point to the problematic issues of the institutional establishment of Islamic associations in contemporary Ukraine. In particular, four stages of development of Islam in independent Ukraine, which have their own institutional and ideological characteristics, are distinguished. Thus, the first stage was the creation of the first three spiritual administrations (the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Crimea, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, and the Spiritual Center of Muslims of Ukraine), the development of which defined the ideology of future development …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 3)

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Roman Catholicism In Ukraine: The Contemporary Situation, Social Acceptance, And Social Service, Tetiana Havryliuk, Maryna Lukashenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article investigates the historical peculiarities of the formation and specificity of the current stage of development of Catholicism in Ukraine. It considers the spiritual, socio-cultural, economic, and political prerequisites for the resumption of the activity of the Roman Catholic Church during the revival of Ukraine's independence in the 1990s. A quantitative comparison of dioceses since the end of the last century has been undertaken and their patterns of growth have been identified. The main achievements of the largest Catholic churches in the country since Ukrainian independence have consisted in building its ecclesiastical structures and expanding its community networks and …

Development Of The Greek Catholic Church In Independent Ukraine: Persons, Historical Heritage, And New Trends, Mykhailo Kobryn, Olena Lyovkina, Hennadii Khrystokin

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes historical features and tendencies of the development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (the UGCC) in the period of independence of Ukraine. It considers the prerequisites in which this church has begun its revival in the early 1990s after the official ban on church activity in the Soviet Union. Three stages of the development of the UGCC have been identified which correspond to the times of the various church leaders’ management. The first stage in the development of Greek Catholics corresponds to the time when the community was governed by Ivan-Myroslav Lyubachivsky. The main tasks of that …

Dynamics And Growth Prospects Of The Protestant Denominations In Ukraine, Irina Vasilyeva, Vita Tytarenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The intensity and nature of changes in Protestant communities in Ukraine is analyzed on the basis of broad empirical material (statistics, sociological surveys). The confessional specificity of the spread of Protestant communities in the Ukrainian territories is revealed, as well as their dynamics, geographical conditionality, and more. Changes in institutional, socio-political, cultural, and educational spheres of life of Protestant churches in modern Ukraine are recorded. Social legalization, the legal recognition of these movements as the churches and religious organizations equal to other traditional churches, as well as dynamism of Protestantism in evangelical and missionary sphere and public life, have contributed …

Confrontation Of Orthodox Churches In Modern Ukraine: Reasons, Trends And Prospects Of Reconciliation, Nataliia Ishchuk, Oleksandr Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The current canonical and social statuses as well as the relationship of the largest Orthodox churches in Ukraine are considered: the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine emerged on December 15, 2018, as a result of the unification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and a small number of representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. On January 6, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in accordance with the decision of the Synod of the Constantinopolitan Patriarchate, together …

Reformation Of Confessional Spiritual Educational Institutions Of Ukraine: Containment Factors And Leadership Experience, Petro Kraliuk, Nadiya Sukhova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The main tendencies, prospects, and complexity of reforming confessional, educational establishments in Ukraine have been systematized and substantiated here. Based on statistics, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics are being examined. Their evolution has been traced from the final years of the Soviet Union to recent days. Currently there are 204 establishments of this kind operating in Ukraine. Due to their large number, they are mostly small. Most of them have dozens of students studying there. Usually, they lack complete and qualified teaching staff and adequate facilities. Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and representatives of other denominations get theological education there. …

Friends And Watershed Discipleship: Reconciling With People And The Land In Light Of The Doctrine Of Discovery, Cherice Bock

Quaker Religious Thought

Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) express frequent adulation for the denomination’s heritage of standing up for social justice. As a member of the denomination, I share this pride in our heritage, and yet, I feel increasingly convicted in relation to Quaker scholarship and praxis that we need to reevaluate our history and current practices with recognition of the “wicked” web of interconnected social, economic, and environmental injustices we currently face as a global community. This necessitates awareness of our part in creating the current situation, and a willingness to actively work to change the problematic areas of …

Inspiring Readings Of The Inspired Text-- Taking The Bible Personally, After The Manner Of Friends, Paul Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

In the experience and conviction of Friends, the sway and power of Scripture lies not in an appeal to top-down authority, but in its transformative character, attested by its inspiring thrust. This view is also biblical, as the Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to resist false teachers by clinging to what he has been taught since childhood. Indeed, the sacred writings are able to instruct one unto “salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” because of their God-breathed origin and character (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Early Friends also asserted the biblically-correct claim that the Word of God is centrally Jesus Christ, the Word …

Review Of Cherice Bock & Stephen Potthoff (Editors), Quakers, Creation Care, And Sustainability (Longmeadow, Ma: Friends Association For Higher Education, 2019), Kevin J. O'Brien

Quaker Religious Thought

On the day I finished reading Quakers, Creation Care, and Sustainability, Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, publicly dismissed the authority of climate activist Greta Thunberg. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Thunberg made a speech calling for global disinvestment from fossil fuels. In response, Mnuchin joked, “Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I’m confused.” He went on, “After she goes to college and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us.

Reclaiming A Multiplying Discipleship: Fostering The Dance Of The Gathered And Sent Church, Matthew Lake

Doctor of Ministry

In the postmodern world, the local church has experienced significant decline as Christendom gives way to a more secular culture. Many shrinking denominational churches have missed imaginative opportunities and practices to produce multiplying disciples. This dissertation explores how declining denominational churches can embrace new opportunities for flourishing in a postmodern context through the development of a culture of multiplying discipleship. History—through examples such as the early church and Wesleyan movements—has shown that multiplying discipleship movements are possible in cultures not familiar with the Gospel. Such movements reveal new possibilities produced through the tension found between more formational offices of teaching, …

Discipleship In A Digital Age: Leveraging Multimodality And Digital Networks, Jennifer Miles

Doctor of Ministry

Advancements in communication technology, particularly since the Internet Age, have impacted culture in several fundamental ways. Cognitive and psychological changes have changed how people seek and understand knowledge. The development of horizontal networks made of both space of places, physical locations, and space of flows, Internet locations,1 has reshaped academic, social, and political spheres. The rise in entertainment to transfer information has shifted society’s focus to one of experience and service in everyday life. These changes have impacted the institutional church through a reduction of individuals self-identifying as Christian and in behaviors traditionally considered Christian.

In response, the church has …

Contributors-Quaker Religious Thought, No. 134, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Review Of Margery Post Abbott, Walk Humbly, Serve Boldly: Modern Quakers As Everyday Prophets. San Francisco, Ca: Inner Light Books, 2018., Howard Macy

Quaker Religious Thought

Margery Post Abbott’s book Walk Humbly, Serve Boldly is a substantial book, in both size and content, that explores the experience of prophetic witness, particularly among Friends. Key to understanding this exploration is Abbott’s use of the term “everyday prophets.” She uses the term “to describe all those individuals (and this goes well beyond the Quaker community) who listen for the Holy Spirit to shape them and guide them on a daily basis. … [They are] people who are faithful to the path of truth and love and whose lives project hope and a passion for justice. This path is …

The Socialist Impact On Christian-Muslim Shared St. Naum Monastery, Evelyn Reuter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Shared religious places may be provocative phenomena—for the members of the sharing communities as well as for uninvolved observers. An increasing number of research literature focusing on the contesting character of such places and the consequences for the identities of sharing communities serves as evidence for that thesis. The heads of the theoretical discussion regarding the influence of sharing religious and political identities are the anthropologists, Robert Hayden and Glenn Bowman. Due to the long-lasting Christian- Muslim contacts characterized by peaceful as well as conflicting interaction, both bring examples from Southeastern Europe, especially from the post-Yugoslavian context. It is obvious …

Believers Armor: How The Christian Church In The United States Can Survive And Overcome Spiritual Warfare, Michael A. Webb

Doctor of Ministry

This research seeks to discover why the Christian church in the United States has struggled to withstand the effects of spiritual warfare. Resisting Satan’s evil schemes continues to be a personal need and spiritual challenge facing people in today’s fastpaced digital world. Failing to resist Satan creates a severe problem for the Christian church. As a result, believers are unprepared to both understand and withstand the effects of spiritual warfare. The author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, created an artifact that has become a powerful ministry tool to address this challenge. The Armor of God challenge coin was fashioned from …

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University: Fpu's Effect On Tithes And Offerings In The Evangelical Church, Jay Forseth

Doctor of Ministry

In The Evangelical Church, giving actually went down after FPU in 23 out of our 42 churches (55%) the year the class was held. Nevertheless, our overall average increase in giving to the 42 churches was +2.39% the same year. The following year, giving further increased a total of 4.24% over the year before the class was taught, which supports Ramsey’s claim of a 4% giving increase. In year three after the class, total giving reached a remarkable increase of 7.06%, while 67% of our churches saw a positive net increase in giving after hosting FPU.

However, in the fourth …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 2)

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

'Converted Co-Ethnics': Romanian Migrants In The Northern Serbian Province Of Vojvodina, Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this paper, my case study highlights Romanian neo-Protestant migrants from Serbia who either returned to their “home country,” or work on different missionary activities among their co-ethnics after the fall of communism. To a large degree, members of the Romanian minority in Serbia belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is the dominant confession, then a smaller number to the Romanian Greek-Catholic church and various neo-Protestant communities, such as the Nazarene, the Adventist, the Baptist, and the Pentecostal community. Starting from the hypothesis that the conversion of the Romanians in Serbia to neo-Protestantism is closely related to issues of …

Book Review: God’S Spies: The Stasi’S Cold War Espionage Campaign Inside The Church, James R. Payton Jr.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Review of Elisabeth Braw, God’s Spies: The Stasi’s Cold War Espionage Campaign Inside the Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019. $25.00 (hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-8028-7525-9.

Thirty Years Of Religious Freedom In Russia: The Case Of Ekaterinburg, Elena Glavatskaya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The religious revival, which began nationwide during the USSR’s last decade, affected all religious denominations, including the so-called “traditional” religions, which had deep roots in Imperial Russia’s history, and new religions that appeared after the collapse of Soviet ideology. The religious renaissance manifested itself through the rapidly increasing number of religious communities, religion’s fast penetration into social and political life, and the church buildings that mushroomed all over the country. This article focuses on the history of the religious landscape in Russia since 1989, using the city of Ekaterinburg as a case study. We use the religious landscape concept to …

Frontmatter, Quaker Religious Thought, No. 134, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

Welcome to the Spring issue of Quaker Religious Thought! In November, the Quaker Theological Discussion Group (QTDG) convened in San Diego, CA, along with the American Academy of Religion. Papers from one of the two QTDG sessions, “Quakers Reading Scripture,” are printed in this issue. As the name suggests, the panel reflected on the ways Quakers have read the Bible. Michael Birkel’s article on Margaret Fell shows how early Friends practiced an associative form of reading the Bible that informed the symbols and images so important to their spiritual experiences. Paul Anderson continued the investigation of early Quaker practices by …

"Hearing To Speech": A Participatory Theology Of World-Dwelling As Congregational Formation In God's Mission, David Hahn

Quaker Religious Thought

Allow me initial place to recognize my own social location as a the US, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.1 From a personal and professional perspective, my thoughts below have in mind the continuing impact of whiteness as a pervasive preoccupation with mastery over others that subsumes both difference and distinctions.2 As a leader of congregations, I have witnessed this implicit bias present among them, and I see how it continues to inform both the theory and practice of much of our faith communities. Congregational reticence to engage spiritual practices of listening may, in fact, be tied into these larger …

Guest Editorial: Interreligious Encounter And Religious Change In Former Yugoslavia, Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this issue of OPREE, three case studies by Gašper Mithans, Evelyn Reuter, and Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović explore interreligious encounters in Yugoslavia and religious transformations that brought new dynamics in interreligious relations between majority and minority religions.

Atomization, Decentralization, And Sustainability: Prominent Trends On The Russian Protestant Church Scene, William Yoder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"At least in Russia–and China–the age of euphoria prominent 30 years ago is gone. The church missions committed to short-term gains have left for greener pastures and the congregations remaining behind are now, more than ever, required to determine their own fates. Increasingly required to live from their own funding, church projects are becoming more sustainable. Huge building and educational projects are only a memory. This general and expected course of events can be attributed in part to short attention spans in the West; increased government pressure is only one of numerous factors."