History of Religion Commons^™

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.

A Crown In Death: An (Expanded) Dramaturgical Approach To The Trojan Women Of Euripides, Stephanie Lester

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

In the action-packed, visually-oriented market for modern media, some may assume a 2,400-year-old Greek tragedy to be slightly past its expiration date, especially if it features little to no action onstage like in Euripides’ The Trojan Women. However, it is important to remember that literature is lost when the world fails to cherish it, so if a text survives that long, it may be worth another cursory glance. In this case, that glance involved a full dramaturgical study featuring qualitative script analysis of multiple translations of The Trojan Women with related texts to explore context, themes, common literary devices, and …

"That She May Bear On My Knees:" An Adoption Ritual In The Hebrew Bible, Claire Ellen Hobbs

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Res Historica, Volume 4, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2025 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Samuel Sanders, and Julia Ackerman. The cover art for this volume is an open access image.

Revisiting African Religion As An Academic Discipline In Africa: History And Prospects, Ivan B. Kivinge

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Three main religious traditions—indigenous African beliefs and practices (African religion), Christianity and Islam—have dominated everyday life of communities in Africa today. Scholarship on religion indicates that only African religion originated in Africa— Christianity and Islam are foreign religions. Many Africans today have been active Christians and Muslims, who are sometimes being misleadingly taught that African religion is demonic and forms of paganism. This article employs historical and philosophical approaches to show how the study of African religion has navigated through various historical currents and resultant implications on the way the current generation views it. In the end, the article proposes …

Saint Brigit And Her Habits: Exploring Queerness In Early Medieval Ireland, Jacqueline K. Stephenson

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Saint Brigit's behavior and reception by society highlight an avenue by which women in the early medieval period could escape societal strictures, exercising agency over their bodies and their romantic choices, and carve out a distinct and unexpected place for themselves in a Christian patriarchal society. In Saint Brigit’s case, this is especially demonstrated by the breadth of her portrayed power as not just a nun but a saint, her extreme resistance to marriage, and her frequent comparisons to men. Indeed, her hagiography, written by Cogitosus in the seventh century, positioned her as one of the three principal and earliest …

"Female Faithfulness Encouraged": Gendered Piety In Early American Print, Kadienne Sizemore

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Following the American Revolution, membership in Baptist churches grew exponentially and the influence of the Baptist persuasion was significant. As one of the fastest-growing Protestant denominations in early America, Baptists and their interests were often indicative of larger trends in religiosity. Conceptions of piety, including beliefs surrounding submission, faithfulness, and duty, were central to the structure of Baptist congregations and their proximate communities. This paper explores the role of gender in the discussion, presentation, and justification of Baptist notions of piety in their publications during the Early American Republic. To build on the work of historians exploring female autonomy in …

The Divine Comedy: A Work Of Medieval Mythology, Jamie Alexander

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior to The Divine Comedy (1308-1321), ideas about Purgatory were in the early stages of development. Purgatory had loose rituals surrounding its existence and it lacked depiction in written works. Yet in the following centuries, the fear of Purgatory and the practices of penance and indulgences reached a fever pitch, ultimately leading to the Protestant Reformation. Purgatory as a celestial location, and not just the “purgatorial fires” of the Bible, only began to develop in the twelfth century, but its fearful description and imagery in The Divine Comedy not only solidified previously nebulous understandings of Purgatory, but also increased anxiety …

Armenian Church Of Our Saviour Collection, Jennifer Krulisz-Hossain, Robyn Conroy

Strassler Center Archival Collection Finding Aids

This collection comprises of books, manuscript and volumes, and journal reviews donated by the Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester, Massachusetts. The materials focus on Armenian history, culture, and literature, emphasizing the richness of Armenian heritage's intellectual and cultural aspects. These resources are preserved within the church's library and archives. The Shelved Books within the Rose Library include English-language books written by Armenian authors and translated works that explore themes of Armenian history, culture, and resilience. These texts serve as accessible educational tools for scholars, students, and the broader community. The Manuscript Volumes contain original works by Armenian authors, …

The Sound Of Mormonism: A Media History Of Latter-Day Saints, Jared Farmer

Arrington Annual Lecture

The Sound of Mormonism is an annotated and expanded version of the 2023 lecture “Music & the Unspoken Truth”—an homage to the Music and the Spoken Word radio program and a meditation on the relationships between religion, music, vocality, and quietude.

The Arrington Lecture series, established in honor of one of the twentieth-century American West’s most distinguished historians, Leonard Arrington, has become a leading forum for prominent scholars to address topics related to Latter-day Saint history. Utah State University hosts the Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture Series through the Merrill-Cazier Library’s Special Collections and Archives.

The Jesuit Colleges That Weren't: Conewago Latin School And Guadalupe College, Michael Rizzi

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article offers a brief history of two obscure and often overlooked Jesuit schools from the nineteenth century: the Conewago Latin School in Pennsylvania and Guadalupe College in Texas. Although neither school ever fully developed into a true institution of higher education, they began life similarly to other Jesuit schools of the 1800s, and under different circumstances they might have evolved, like those other schools, into true American colleges. The purpose of this historical sketch is to preserve the memory of these nearly forgotten Jesuit institutions.

A Southern People: The Choctaw Nation From Removal Through The Civil War, Josh Phillips

History Theses and Dissertations

While scholars have begun in recent years to give more attention to the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi region (including the Indian Territory), few have attempted to provide nuanced and comprehensive explanations for the actions of native peoples who took part in the conflict. While the pre-removal era of Choctaw history has received copious attention, the thirty years between removal and the Civil War have received only sparse examination. Historians who have written about this period have typically either gone into very little detail about why the Choctaws sided with the Confederacy or they have identified only one or two …

Educating A Denomination: Albert C. Outler And American Theological Education, 1925 - 1974, Lane Davis

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides a critical biography of Albert C. Outler, a prominent historian and theologian in modern Methodism and analyzes three significant emphases in his work: ecumenism, theology and psychology, and Methodist doctrine. The study begins with Outler's formative education and his ministry as a Methodist pastor in Georgia. Outler's doctoral education at Yale focused his work on discovering the connections of the "common history" of all Christians. The study then considers Outler’s extensive work in three interconnected disciplines: ecumenical studies, the study of religion and psychology, and Methodist theology and doctrine. The connection between these diverse subjects lies in …

'The Frank Exchange': A Historical Drama Novella, Ariel Finkle

Senior Honors Projects

I am an avid fan of historical fiction books such as The Royal Diaries. But given the recent popularity of more adult royal drama series like The Great, as well as impostor true crime shows like Inventing Anna, on this project I set out to create a historical fiction drama of my own. While searching for a real-life figure to base my story on, I happened to see a quick footnote at the bottom of an article on Catherine the Great that intrigued me. At the turn of the 18th century, an ordinary young Polish woman named Eva Frank managed …

Res Historica, Volume 2, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2023 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg. Johnathan Sorce, and Helen Smith. Cover art for this volume by Helen Smith.

“Jamás Os Conocí”: La Utilización Del Discurso Católico Para Justificar La Represión Ilegal Durante La Última Dictadura Militar De Argentina / “I Never Knew You”: The Utilization Of Catholic Discourse To Justify The Illegal Repression During The Final Military Dictatorship In Argentina, Molly Jirgal

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En las décadas anteriores a la dictadura, el ala derecha de la política argentina trabajó para construir una identidad nacional inextricablemente entrelazada con el catolicismo. Esta identidad impregnó, y sigue impregnando, una plétora de aspectos de la sociedad argentina, incluido el ámbito político. Durante la dictadura militar de 1976-1983, la derecha utilizó esta identidad católica argentina construida para ordenar divinamente su represión brutalmente violenta de la izquierda. Este trabajo explora cómo la institución de la Iglesia católica contribuyó a una justifcación religiosa para acciones de otro modo injustificables según la doctrina católica. A través del análisis de cartas, comunicados de …

Father John W. O'Malley, S.J., Ambassador To Secular Academia, Nelson H. Minnich

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Father John O'Malley has helped to place the study of the history of Roman Catholicism in the mainstream of cultural history

Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum With The Lost & Found Game Series, Owen Gottlieb, Shawn Clybor

Articles

This chapter addresses design research and iterative curriculum design for the Lost & Found games series. The Lost & Found card-to-mobile series is set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the twelfth century and focuses on religious laws of the period. The first two games focus on Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, a key Jewish law code. A new expansion module which was in development at the time of the fieldwork described in this article that introduces Islamic laws of the period, and a mobile prototype of the initial strategy game has been developed with support National Endowment for the Humanities. The …

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, …

Wak'as, Mallkis, And The Inca Afterlife: The Hydrological Connection Between The Incan Empirical And Nonempirical Worlds, Marius C. Vold

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The ruling elite amongst the indigenous groups of the Andes region, often referred to as the Incas, were, before European contact, a non-literal society. Therefore, our understanding of their religious beliefs pertaining to the relationship between life and death, and the intricate relationship between this belief system and the environment surrounding the Inca is heavily influenced by post-European contact, often clouded by European propaganda and a lack of cultural relativism. This project aims at exploring the relationship between the hydrological cycle and the Incan empirical and nonempirical worlds by comparing and synthesizing post-European contact written records, ethnohistorical records, archeological evidence, …

The Modern Wesley Class Meeting - Bringing Accountability, Practical Faith, And Personal Connection Into Established Local Congregations, Roger Graham Clayton Jr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

This paper is an attempt to resurrect the Wesleyan class meeting in to the modern day congregation in order to build stronger and more vibrant communities. By examining the historical footprint of the class meeting in Wesley's Britain and the beginning of the American experiment, the core attributes of the class meeting are extracted to be accountability, vulnerability, and practical faith.

This paper also attempts to show that these core principles of the class meeting are still present in the modern world outside of the church to great success within the military, non-denominational faith groups, and in the battle against …

Res Historica, Volume 1, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

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

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Hunter Curlee, and Johnathan Sorce. Cover art for this volume is the Phi Alpha Theta: Alpha Rho Epsilon logo created by Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg.

The Power Of Mothers: A Comparison Of The Egyptian Goddess Isis And Virgin Mary During The Roman Empire Through Literature And Art, Katherine Burdick

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The Egyptian goddess Isis and the Virgin Mary are two mother figures that were an essential part of Roman culture. Isis rose to prominence in Roman religion when the Republic expanded into Egypt in 30 B.C. She was adopted into the Roman pantheon alongside many other deities from other cultures. Mary rose to prominence in a very different way. A majority of early Christian worship was heavily persecuted and not accepted by many Roman emperors. However, eventually, Christianity eclipsed cult worship of deities. Isis and Mary were both seen as comforting mother figures for not only their sons, Horus and …

Beacons Of Peace And Tolerance: The Politics Of Memory In Judeo-Moroccan Cultural And Historical Institutions, Audrey Ming An Hirsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Bayt Dakira, a historical, religious, cultural, and academic institution located in the heart of Essaouira’s old medina, seeks to conserve Jewish-Moroccan memory and promote values of peace and tolerance as exemplified by the city’s history of Jewish-Muslim coexistence. As an institution dedicated to conserving the culture of a people that have all but virtually emigrated from Morocco, Bayt Dakira’s purpose is initially unclear. This study uncovers the ways in which Bayt Dakira is an example of a seemingly apolitical institution being wielded to advance national and international political agendas. As an officially apolitical place of cultural and academic exchange, Bayt …

American Fury: Catholic Responses To Spanish Anticlericalism (1936-1939), Paul Sanders Linker Jr.

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the roles, ideologies, attitudes, and arguments of American Catholics in debates over the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. Although the war only lasted between these years, these debates carried over into WWII as Spain’s neutrality came into question. Specifically, the focus is on how American Catholics grappled with historically unprecedented Spanish anticlericalism, the direct murder of roughly 7000 Catholic clergy and persecution of many more by Spanish Republicans, and why this anticlericalism drove most Catholics into a form of unapologetic pro-Francoism. This research is conducted by careful analysis of both mainstream and Catholic newspapers/journals. Mainstream pro-Republican press …

Life In Utah As An Apostate Plural Wife, Markelle Jensen

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

The Barmen Declaration And The American Church: A Warning And Guidance From History, Johnny Davis

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

The Barmen Declaration serves as a great example that the American Church should heed.[1] The American Church faces a hostile secular culture and a government that is increasingly statist and anti-Christian. The state has become an idol in an American culture that rejects truth and righteousness. A bold stance for truth and Christ is required by scripture and is the key to transforming the culture and saving the American Republic.

Remembering Jacob: The Literary Representation Of Memory In The Jacob Narrative, Isaac Borbon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to describe the Jacob narrative through the lens of memory. Taking Gen 28:10-22 as a case study, the objective is to place Jacob’s visit to Bethel alongside other ancient referential claims, analyzing it for authentic memories. However, the complex nature of memory is susceptible to preservation and revision. That is to say, having no desire to comport to modern historical-critical sensibilities, memory’s epistemological underpinnings are concerned primarily with reconstructing a remembered past for subsequent generations of Israelite tradents. In order to understand the historical background to the Jacob narrative in its entirety, a formal analysis of Iron …

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …