History of Religion Commons^™

Christianity Behind The Iron Curtain: How Creative Arts Gave A Voice To The Voiceless, Riana Johnson Wills

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held celebrations across the Soviet Union to mark the Millennium of Christianity in Russia, commemorating a thousand years since the baptism of Rus in 988. While this was a monumental day for Christians, many believers across the Soviet Union felt a sense of dissonance. For decades, religious freedom and worship had not been privileges they enjoyed. Thousands of Christians suffered for their belief. The communist regime began in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin. The USSR built upon Marxist ideology where atheism is a fundamental and they expected nationwide compliance to these ideologies. …

Rationed Victory: A Study Of American Civilian Rationing In World War Ii, Alex Moulder

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In any conflict or competition it is often said that the winner is “fueled to victory.” This could come as a result of training, diet, stamina, support from others, or sheer willpower. Even small variations in any of these elements can have significant consequences and affect outcomes. The same can be said about civilians during wartime, especially during the largest conflict of the twentieth century, World War II. The war cemented the United States as a global power, thanks in part to its massive economy, technologies, and industries, which helped to overcome the war of attrition against the Axis powers. …

“It Was The Women Who Kept It On”: The 1984–85 National Union Of Mineworkers Strike In Wales, Brett Bodily

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On March 3rd, 1984, more than 140,000 miners, all members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) walked out on strike in protest of proposed colliery, or “pit” closures. Years of disputes culminated in a major showdown between the largest labor union in the United Kingdom and a resurgent national conservatism led by Margaret Thatcher— leader of the Tory party. The communities built around coal mining recognized the Tory pit closure plan for what it was—an existential threat to their way of life. Women within these communities rose to the occasion and took on leadership and organizational responsibilities, many for …

Leasing Land, Losing Sovereignty: Us Military Land Leasing In Okinawa, Japan, Kathryn Blau

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Military land leasing in Okinawa has played a central role in limiting Okinawan political sovereignty since the end of World War II by fostering economic dependence on US military bases and enabling policies that override local opposition. Tracing the evolution of the leasing system under both American occupation and Japanese administration reveals how land expropriation, compensation policies, and increasingly generous financial incentives encouraged reliance on base-related income while discouraging advocacy for land reversion and base reduction. The analysis further demonstrates how the Japanese government's legal enforcement of mandatory lease renewals, particularly during the 1996 Okinawa land dispute, curtailed the rights …

Editor's Preface, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

This editor's preface explores the origins and enduring mission of The Thetean, BYU's undergraduate history journal. Through archival research in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, the journal's founding history is traced to its inaugural 1967 edition, revealing the origin, pronunciation, and meaning of its distinctive name as a reference to Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. The preface highlights the journal's longstanding commitment to encouraging scholarly research, providing publication opportunities, and introducing students to the work of historians. By recovering the journal's own history, it underscores the broader value of historical inquiry: understanding the past to better …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Judaism And Catholicism: Possibilities Of An Inter-Spiritual Dialogue, David Neuhaus

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines the possibilities of an inter-spiritual dialogue between Catholics and Jews. Describing the transformation of the Catholic attitude to Jews andJudaism in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, moving from a teaching of contempt to one of respect, it analyses the far-reaching reformulations of Catholic theology that promote an interreligious dialogue. After centuries of traumatic history, Jewish reactions have been hesitant. However, the past decades have led to a burgeoning relationship that can indeed flower into a mutual inter-spiritual dialogue that deepens the faith of both Catholics and Jews.

Jainism And Catholicism – Dialoguing Spiritually, Bryan Lobo

Journal of Global Catholicism

The inter-spiritual dialogue between Jainism and Catholicism lends itself towards discovering similarities and dissimilarities between the two spiritualities. Recognizing this discovery, this paper, without claiming to be exhaustive as regards the spiritual themes, discusses the chosen themes to facilitate greater reflection and potential to re-discover elements that can help the growth of understanding and practicing the preferred spirituality.

Islam And Catholicism: Theology And Practice Of Inter-Spiritual Dialogue, Felix Koerner

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article explores foundations, preconditions, aims, persons, groups, practices, methods, texts, and criteria of Muslim–Christian inter-spiritual dialogue. In-ter-spiritual dialogue thrives within the network of other dialogical forms: dialogue of life and collaboration, of theological and practical understanding. This article argues that the spiritual dimension of dialogical encounter may itself constitute a critical site of moral reflection, enabling participants to perceive injustice more clearly and to respond to it more responsibly. Nevertheless, the integrity of in-ter-spiritual dialogue depends upon the cultivation of trust, candor, and a shared orientation toward mutual enrichment and spiritual purification. Where dialogue is subordinated to extrinsic strategic …

The Dialogue Of Spiritual Experience In Buddhist-Christian Encounter, S Mark Heim

Journal of Global Catholicism

Can one learn more about one’s own religion through the practices of another? My positive answer to this question is illustrated in this paper by reflection on aspects of the Buddhist practice of emptiness, in specific connection with Christian under-standing of our lives as creatures. The Buddhist meditative practices I have in mind have several things in common. They are introspective (activated in one person’s inner consciousness) and premised on the Buddhist understanding of emptiness (specifically “no self ” teachings). Buddhist introspective practice takes at least three broad forms. One of these is a meditative analytical awareness of the contents …

Hindu Poetry And The Project Of An Inter-Spiritual Catholic Theology, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article engages the work of the Indian south Indian Tamil-language Vaiṣṇava poet saints known as the Alvārs. The article specifically focuses the First HundredHoly Linked verses of Poykai Ālvār to argue for inter-spiritual learning between Catholics and Hindus. The article concludes with personal reflections on this encounter within the context of the global Catholic Church

Overview And Acknowledgments, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

An overview and introduction to the present issue on Inter-Spiritual Dialogue.

Review: The Jesuits: A Thematic History By Claudio Ferlan, Ashley N. Gisiger Edd

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Late Medieval Saint Valentine’S Day Observance Selection From Christine De Piza’S Le Dit De La Rose (The Tale Of The Rose), 1402, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

There are four known manuscript traditions (see below), including a membra disjecta, of Christine de Piza’s Le Dit de la Rose, see: “Christine de Pizan, Dit de La Rose.” Github.io, 2026, https://ditsma.github.io/Dits-du-Moyen-Age/roseChristine.html:

This translation is drawn from Ferdinand Heuckenkamp, Le Dit de la Rose von Christine von Pisan (Halle a. S.: Buchdruckerei des Waisenhauses, 1891), 12–13, 18-19.  https://archive.org/details/LeDitDeLaRose/mode/2up; also, see: La querelle du Roman de la Rose, Le Dit de la Rose, 14 février 1401, anc. st., Bibliotheca Augustana, https://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/gallica/Chronologie/15siecle/Christine/chr_rose.html. 

1. Chantilly, Bibliothèque du Château (Musée Condé), 492-493 (1667-1668), fol. 74ra à 79ra …

Eighth-Century Paschal Hymns, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

The first hymn (The information is taken from footnote 1):   For the Greek text, see Patrologiae cursus completus. ed. Jacques-Paul Migne, Series Graeca: Patrologia Graeca (PG) Vol. 96 (1864), 849, http://patristica.net/graeca/, or Anthologia graeca carminum christianorum. ed. Wilhelm von Christ (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1871), 218, https://archive.org/details/anthologiagraec00paragoog; for a traditional nineteenth-century translation, see: Hymns of the Eastern Church. ed. and trans. John Mason Neale (London: J.T. Hayes, Lyall Place, Eaton Square, 1876), 95–96, https://archive.org/details/hymnseasternchu01nealgoog. The versification is my own.   The second hymn (The information is taken from footnote 6).    For the Greek text, see: Anthologia …

Revival Song: The Significance Of Hymns In The First Great Awakening, Kaeley E. Whitacre

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper highlights the transition in church music during the First Great Awakening in Colonial America. It argues that hymns and new psalmody had a mutually beneficial relationship in the Awakening, as they aided one another in emphasizing personal salvation experiences. Prior to the Awakening, English-speaking churches in Colonial America sung almost exclusively literal translations of Psalms in a more formalized call-and-response format. While current scholarship on the First Great Awakening broadly analyzes the primary tensions and debates within New England churches regarding changes in music, it does not provide a comprehensive overview of the introduction of hymns in Colonial …

The Education Of Methodists: Unexpected Outcomes, Taylor Schmalz

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

From its founding, the heart of the Methodist church was education. John Wesley believed in the education of Christians, and the church sought out to give everyone a religious education. Two educational initiatives from leaders of the Methodist Church had long lasting ripple effects on American society as a whole. These unexpected outcomes had a large hand in helping social movements, the economy, and advancing medical initiatives. Looking at the Methodist Book of Concern and the Free African Society as case studies can show the Methodists as leaders in education and creating change in societal issues during the process. Methodist …

America's Founding Theology, Michael Payne

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Building off of Mark David Hall's thesis that America had a Christian founding, this paper seeks to explore the theology of this Christian founding. While acknowledging that Enlightenment and English Common Law also influenced American founding thought, the paper seeks to look specifically at America's theological outlook. It concludes that American founding theology was overwhelmingly Reformed but with some key influences from the Baptist, Quaker, and even Catholic traditions. These influences can be found in the writings of the founders as well as in America's founding documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The point of the …

Between Devotion And Doctrine: Religion, Law, And The Struggle For Compliance During The War Of Regulation, Cynthia D. Hatch

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The Sandy Creek Baptist Association played a vital role in North Carolina's religious and political landscape before the Revolutionary War, with many Regulators connected to it. The Regulator movement is most recognized for its resistance to the Royal Governor of North Carolina, William Tryon, and his oppressive actions against the colony's residents. Many Regulators shared a common bond through their affiliation with the Sandy Creek Baptist Association in present-day Liberty, North Carolina. Under the leadership of Reverend Shubal Stearns and Reverend Daniel Marshall, the Sandy Creek Baptist Association helped establish a network of Baptist churches throughout the state. As political …

Religious Liberty In The American Republic: How A Catholic Family Influenced Religious Freedom In The United States, Darien J. Garland

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The American Revolution was a call for both individual freedom and freedom from British Rule. Tyrannical rule, taxation without representation in Parliament, and British military control of the colonies were all central to the Revolution, as was the emphasis on individual rights. One such right sought by the American colonists was the right to practice a religion of their choosing – but there was much debate about how freedom of religion would apply in the colonies. Ironically, the same freedom of religion which was central to the Revolution was not equally applied to all religions – in the colonies, Catholicism …

The Image Falls Apart, Alexa N. Curran

Masters Theses

The Image Falls Apart is a phenomenological account of my collision with Rogier van der Weyden’s The Descent from the Cross (ca. 1435). In an ever-expanding landscape of visual stimuli, how do we make sense of images that are an encounter with the sacred? Of what use to a modern viewer is an altarpiece of the late medieval period that, in its miraculous rendering of each of its human figures, reflects the impending iconophobia of the Protestant Reformation? And what does falling have to do with it? With careful attention to the assembly of bodies in space, this multidisciplinary project, …

Effects Of Christian Colonization On Celtic Mythology From Ancient Ireland To Contemporary Paganism, Evelyn Hanna

Aurora

Christian colonization played a critical role in reshaping Celtic mythology, yet the extent to which these transformations continue to influence modern perceptions of Paganism remains underexamined. This study investigates how the transcription of originally oral Celtic traditions by Christian monks altered the preservation of myth through reinterpretation and ideological influence. Drawing on historical and mythological sources, it analyzes key examples, including the transformation of the goddess Brigid into Saint Brigid and the reclassification of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Aos Sí as folkloric or demonic figures. These cases demonstrate that the recording of myth was not a neutral process …

Losing The Body: Tracing Corporeality As A Component Of The Imago Dei Through Early Christian Exegesis, Andrew Kneeland

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Kneeland, Andrew R. “Losing the Body: Tracing Corporeality as a Component of the Imago Dei Through Early Christian Exegesis.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2025. 252pp.

This dissertation examines the interpretation of imago Dei in Gen. 1:26 across early Christian history, revealing both a robust tradition of corporeal emphasis and a shift toward a spiritual consensus that was driven not by immediate, unanimous consensus but a variety of pastoral and polemical factors. Far from a fleeting, anthropomorphic error, a bodily understanding of the image of God spans diverse provenances and contexts. Organized diachronically and topically, the study begins with textual exegesis …

From Farewell To Fáilte: The Voices Of Iowa’S Irish Daughters, Katie Hermanson

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Irish women’s immigration to Iowa brought rich culture and lasting impacts, despite their contributions being silenced by history. Women left Ireland for economic opportunity and education abroad to support their impoverished families. Millions emigrated between 1830 and 1915, spreading across the world. The Irish women who came to the United States encountered discrimination and cultural stereotyping as they worked in domestic service, developed religious orders, taught school, owned businesses and raised families. Women bore the burden of supporting their families in Ireland by sending remittances home and communicating between countries. Their cultural identity as exiles dwelled in guilt for leaving …

Penitential Systems In The Latin West And Byzantine East, Elijah C. Dodson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the development and organization of penitential discipline in early medieval Christianity through a comparison of the penitential tradition associated with Theodore of Canterbury in the Latin West and the canons attributed to John the Faster in the Byzantine East. The study focuses on how these texts regulated sexual sin and what their structures reveal about the institutional role of the Church in different historical contexts. The analysis is based on a comparative reading of penitential texts, supported by patristic writings and modern scholarship. By examining how specific categories of sexual misconduct are classified and disciplined, this study …

Faith Under The Führer: Protestant Pastors In Nazi Germany, Katie Cassady

Senior Honors Theses

This research examines Protestant churches in Nazi Germany and their varied reactions to Hitler’s Third Reich, tracing the Nazi rise to power, the Kirchenkampf (Church Struggle), the Confessing Church’s resistance, and figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, and Karl Barth. Hitler campaigned on a platform purporting to support religious freedom, but the state-sponsored persecution of Christian churches later revealed such promises as a facade. The Kirchenkampf exemplifies the reactions of Protestant German churches to Hitler’s rule: The German Christian Movement (GCM) endorsed Hitler’s radical racial theories, while the Confessing Church confronted the unbiblical rhetoric used by the GCM.

Redefining Certainty: Non-Euclidean Geometry And Theology Transformation Throughout The Intellectual Unrest Of The Early 1800s, Luke Bensinger

Honors Theses

To bridge the gap between mathematics and theology, it is necessary to explore their intersection and challenge the notion that these fields are incompatible. This study focuses on the 19th century, a period when non-Euclidean geometries emerged and disrupted mathematical certainty, while Protestant theologians such as Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell grappled with Calvinism and shifting theological perspectives. By analyzing mathematicians studying geometry, such as Gauss, Lobachevsky, and Riemann, this research examines how both disciplines balance change with enduring truths.

The Brethren In China: Cross-Cultural Relationships Within An Imperial Structure, Sebastian S. Kochall

History and Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Tolkien's Joyful Sorrow, The "Gift Of Tears" Of Medieval Mysticism, And John Donne's Sermon "Jesus Wept", Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Journal of Tolkien Research

At the field of Cormallen, the emotion of joy felt by the victorious Hobbits is so great that Sam wonders whether everything sad will come untrue. At the same time, their joy is so great that it is described as "poignant as grief". Dimitra Fimi in 2017 pointed out Tolkien's probable indebtedness to Christian Orthodox tradition of "charmolype", or joyful sorrow. Another relevant parallel of the intermingling of joy and sorrow is the eleventh century Norman monk and abbot John of Fécamp's notion of the "Gift of Tears" (Gratia lacrymarum) from God, which brings true happiness. …