Religion Commons^™

Relational Leadership: A Study Of Organizational Health And Clergy Within The Wesleyan Church, Brian Voyght Bradford

ATS Dissertations

In many large churches (over one thousand in weekend worship attendance) today, a vast relational disconnect exists between senior pastors and pastoral staff team members. As a result, many staff pastors feel unsatisfied in their team roles and relationships as well as feeling devalued as leader. This relational deficiency frequently results in a lack of communication, trust, and belief in and with the senior leader. The staff pastor’s productivity decreases and the church ceases to be what God designed it to be—a place of relational and social connection.

The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of relational leadership …

Jerry Falwell's Use Of Theological Methodology For Making Political Claims: A Critique, David William Hosack

Honors Program Theses

After a semester of research, I developed five questions to which I wished to find answers: I) What were the specifications of Jerry Falwell's theological methodology? 2) How did Jerry Falwell use this methodology to make political claims? 3) Was Jerry Falwell consistent with this use of theological methodology in politics? 4) Was Falwell's use of theological methodology valid? 5) Was this use of theological methodology congruent with the principles of our Constitution? The first two questions address the background information regarding Jerry Falwell's political and religious action. The final three address the relationship between Falwell's politics and theology, therefore …

Bible Translation And Anthropology: The Superiority Of A Dynamic Equivalence Method Of Translation, Kathryn Hedrick

Senior Honors Theses

Bible translation has taken many forms and employed many methods in the past centuries since it was compiled and formalized.  Methods of translation range from highly literal to unduly free, with several intervals between the two.  In order to come to an accurate translation that can be properly understood by people far removed from the time and culture of the Bible, translators must employ cultural anthropology to understood the culture they are trying to reach.  This use of anthropology, combined with a dynamic-equivalence method of translation, produces the most effective and universally understandable translation of the Christian Bible.

Herbs And Healers Of The North: Medicine, Practices And Philosophies In Islamic And Traditional Healing In Northern Ghana, Renee Edwards

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

1. Objective: The objective of this project was three-fold:
   1. i. To understand the fundamental practices, philosophies, and perceptions in and around Islamic and traditional healing in Northern Ghana.
   2. ii. To identify the herbs, substances, and methods used to treat illnesses in Islamic and traditional healing.
   3. iii. To evaluate the measures of efficacy in Islamic and traditional healing.
2. Methodology: I lived in Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana for 23 days. I formally interviewed eight healers in six communities in and around Tamale. The demographics of the healers I interviewed were two Muslim healers and six traditional healers, six men and …

Female Genital Mutilation: Policies To Encourage Abandonment, Melissa Arneson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) also known as Female Genital Cutting (FGC) captured my interest the first time I heard about the practice. I assumed, wrongly, that it was only practiced in remote areas of Africa where educational opportunities were few and outside influences were nil. After researching the topic it is clear that is not the case. FGM is practiced in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and around the world. It is a barbaric practice that has no religious significance and is incredibly harmful to women and their health, both mentally and physically. I focused my research on …

Reasonable Conversions: Susanna Rowan's Mentoria And Conversion Narratives For Young Readers, Karen Roggenkamp

Faculty Publications

Though not well known, Rowson's Mentoria-a curious conglomeration of thematically-related pieces from multiple genres, including the essay, epistolary novel, conduct book, and fairy tale-offers particularly fertile ground for thinking about the nexus between eighteenth-century didactic books and earlier works for young readers.2 At the heart of Mentoria is a series of letters describing girls who yield, with dire and frequently deadly consequences, to the passionate pleas of male suitors.3 Fallen women populate Rowson's world, and scholars have traditionally read Mentoria within the familiar bounds of the eighteenth-century seduction novel.4 However, Rowson's creation transforms the older tradition of didactic, child-centered conversion …

Ozu, Yasujirō (1903–1963), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Miyazaki, Hayao (1941–), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Mizoguchi, Kenji (1898-1956), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Identity Of The Διψυχος In The Shepherd Of Hermas, Jeremiah Mutie

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Bridging The “Excluded Middle”: The Case Of Brazilian Evangelical Missionaries Serving Among Arab-Muslims, Edward L. Smither

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

Since Paul Hiebert first challenged missiological reflection with his notion of the “excluded middle,” missiologists and practitioners from the West have been forced to face the deficiencies of a rationalistic worldview; especially when serving in animistic contexts. Hiebert, Bill Musk, Rick Love, and others have further asserted that Western missionaries serving among Folk Muslims need to be better equipped to minister to the felt needs of their host peoples. While the literature and evidence of missionary practice suggest that North Americans and Europeans are working hard to climb “learning curve” dealing with this worldview. Missionaries from Brazil serving among Arab-Muslims …

Missão Integral [Holistic Mission Or The ‘Whole Gospel’] Applied: Brazilian Evangelical Models Of Holistic Mission In The Arab-Muslim World, Edward L. Smither

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

In this article, I will first show the historical development of this theological approach within the Brazilian and Latin American evangelical spheres through the work of the Latin American Theological Fraternity – a movement founded in 1970 that maintained historic evangelical values (i.e. a high view of Scripture, the necessity of conversion) whilst also taking Latin America’s great social needs into account. Nurtured by thinkers such as René Padilla (Ecuador), Orlando Costas (Puerto Rico), Samuel Escobar (Peru), and later Valdir Steuernagel (Brazil), the movement has not only responded to the concerns raised by Liberation theologians, but it has also influenced …

Robots, Rights And Religion, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

If there is one area in which science fiction has failed to quickly become historical fact, it is in the field of artificial intelligence (A.I.). While some continue to prophesy that machine minds that are indistinguishable from human ones are just around the corner, many others in the field have become far more skeptical. All the while, there have been at least a few who have consistently found the whole idea problematic for reasons unrelated to our technical abilities, in particular the implications A.I. seems to have for our understanding of human personhood. For example, in his 1993 book The …

From Saul To Paul: The Apostle's Name Change And Narrative Identity In Acts 13:9, David Wenkel

The Asbury Journal

It has long been accepted as a safe conclusion that the difference between the names Saul and Paul in the Book of Acts merely reflects cultural accommodation in a Hellenistic milieu. This study challenges this conclusion by examining the literary pattern and narrative usage of names. This study concludes that the name change reflects the true identity of Paul amidst conflict with Bar-Jesus/Elymas. The name 'Paul' is significant because of its etymology and the information provided by the narrative.

Living Water In Indian Cups: A Call For Cultural Relevance In Contemporary Indian Missions, Prabhusingh Vedhamanickam

The Asbury Journal

There has been a concentrated effort in contemporary India to stereotype Christianity as a western agent involved in destroying Indic religions, desecrating Indian cultures and destabilizing the nation. While there have been some attempts to contextualize the gospel in Indian missions, in the theological and missiological realms, there is an urgent need to incarnate the gospel in culturally relevant ways due to three critical factors: The cultural diversity of the nation, the rise of Hindu nationalism and the paradigmatic shift from Indian cross cultural missions to local, indigenous movements. While the multinational companies in India are tailoring their strategies according …

Leading A Polytheistic Faith To The Monotheistic God: A Study In Identifying Barriers To The Gospel In A Chinese Buddhist Community And Ways To Overcome Those Barriers, Agnes Wood

The Asbury Journal

This article is written for the purpose of exploring a way to lead a polytheistic faith, prevalent in the local Chinese Buddhist community (LCBC) in Brunei, to the reality of a monotheistic God as revealed in the Bible (1 Corinthians 8:6). It serves as a guide for the local Chinese church (CC) to lead the LCBC to see that God as a Creator is sufficient to be their God.

This article identifies the need of a missiological package in order to lead the LCBC to Christ. The CC needs to assist the LCBC to become receptive before the core of …

Spanish Language Christian Academic Publishing, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Reaching Secular Peoples: A Review Of The Books Of George G. Hunter, Iii, Gary L. Mcintosh

The Asbury Journal

Rethinking Evangelism: A Symposium (1971)

Focus on Evangelism: Readings for Thinking It Through (1978)

The Contagious Congregation: Frontiers in Evangelism and Church Growth (1979)

Finding the Way Forward (1980)

Church Growth: Strategies That Word (1980 with Donald McGavran)

. . . and Every Tongue Confess: Toward a Recovery of O U f Essential Mission (1983)

To Spread the Power: Church Growth in the Wesleyan Spirit (1987)

How to Reach Secular People (1992)

Church for the Unchurched (1996)

The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West ... Again (2000)

Leading & Managing a Growing Church: (2000)

Radical Outreach: …

Book Reviews, Anthony J. Headley, Nathan Crawford

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The Evangelization Of Secular Young Adults In South Korea: Effective Principles For Conversion Growth Among Protestant Churches, Sang Woo Cho

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

From Reading To Revering The Good Book, Or How The Word Became Fossil At The Creation Museum, Susan L. Trollinger

English Faculty Publications

Given the complexity of this sacred text and the intensity with which Protestants have sought to glean its truths from it, it is not surprising that Luther’s “dangerous idea” yielded countless splits, schisms, and sects. Whereas once there was the Church, Protestants dedication to reading the Scripture for themselves has brought an endless variety of theologies, practices, and fellowships with no end in sight. While every one of these groups claims (whether explicitly or implicitly) that they alone have the true word of God, none has been able to arrest the flow of interpretations. With everyone free to read the …

Mount Graham, Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Mount Graham, in southern Arizona, is considered a sacred location by the Apaches. The remoteness and high elevation of the mountain makes it an ideal location for astronomical research. After protracted litigation suits, the University of Arizona prevailed and was allowed to establish the Mount Graham International Observatory on the site.

Foreword To 'Sermons From Mind And Heart: Struggling To Preach Theologically', Brad Kallenberg, William Vance Trollinger

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

One does not flip through a car manual and mistake it for poetry. Nor does one pick up the Sunday comics and mistake them for a Physicians' Desk Reference. That is because native speakers seldom make mistakes of genre when reading ordinary English texts. Yet pick up a collection of sermons, and one may feel at a loss: What is going on here? What am I to make of these sentences? What sort of genre is this? What am I, as a reader, to expect (or not to expect) from a sermon, especially from a printed sermon? Should I expect …

Character, D. Michael Cox, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Character denotes the particular set of qualities, both natural and acquired, that serves to identify a person or community. These qualities are relatively stable and will be manifest as a consistency of act~ on that can be termed "integrity." Accordingly, in the context of Christian ethics, character names an established disposition (or set of dispositions) with respect to the particular conception of the . human good exemplified by Christ. Such character ts developed over time and, as such, can be formed either toward or away from virtues, understood as those intellectual and affective habits that enable the pursuit of excellence. …

The Mexican Hydra: How Calderón's Pursuit Of Peace Led To The Bloodiest War In Mexican History? Will The Mexican People Inherit A Failed State In 2012?, Marco A. Pinon-Farah

CMC Senior Theses

THE MEXICAN HYDRA: HOW CALDERÓN’S PURSUIT OF PEACE LED TO THE BLOODIEST WAR IN MEXICAN HISTORY. WILL THE MEXICAN PEOPLE INHERIT A FAILED STATE IN 2012?

Abstract

Marco Antonio Pinon-Farah

The drug-war in Mexico (2006-present) has accelerated at a chilling rate, claiming the lives of 35,000 Mexican people. Since President Felipe Calderón assumed office, Mexico has been battling an internal beast unlike any it has known, the Mexican Hydra. Like the mythical creature, the Mexican cartels have proven capable of not only combating the government forces, but also of regenerating and strengthening themselves in the face of increasing government scrutiny …

Will The World End In 2012? A Survival Guide To Maya Prophecies, Felix H. Cortez

Faculty Publications

During the decade of the 1960s a Maya Monument was found in El Tortuguero, Tabasco, Mexico, in which reference was made to the end of the thirteenth calendric cycle on 4 Ahaw 3 Unii, or December 21, 2012. The reference is important because it points to the end of an impressively long Maya calendric cycle of 5,126 years, which is also the winter solstice. This reference and the well-known Maya interest in astronomical phenomena and prophecies has spurred wide speculations and claims that the Maya prophesied the end of the world as we know it towards the end of 2012. …

Confirmation And Ministry Participation, Jeffrey S. Harper

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Social Transformation Through Pastoral Transformational Leadership : A Case Study Of Mombasa Synod, Pius N. Kagwi

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Why Some Inner-City, African-American Churches In Chicago Have Undergone Significant Membership Declines, While Others Have Seen Large Increases In Memberships In The Post-Civil Rights Era, Norman Goodwin

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Missional Spirituality : Invitation To Listen, David Mullens

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.