Religion Commons^™

A Triptych Of Hymns, Kyle Ronchetto

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Poetry composed by Kyle Ronchetto.

No. 1451, Groaning, Garrick Sinclair Beckett

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Poetry composed by Garrick (Ricky) Sinclair Beckett.

Funerals- Typical Planning And A Typological Sermon, Joshua H. Jones

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Like many other aspects of our culture, the landscape of planning and officiating funerals seems to have changed quite rapidly over the last decade. That is not to say that many of the things happening today were not present previously. However, the intensity and frequency of what we might call “challenging funerals” appears to have escalated. In what follows, I hope to provide a brief sketch of the anatomy of what may be encountered in funeral planning, as well as some proposals for how Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) pastors might faithfully handle some of the challenging aspects of ministering to …

Grapho 2019, Jordan Voges

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The complete Grapho for 2019.

The Texts Of Faith In Times Of Tragedy, Ryan Anderson

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

This paper will focus on that phenomenon and its longstanding tension with American Christianity. I will investigate how American civil religion emerges when faced with tragedy. The investigation will be done by way of a case study: a thorough analysis of Celine Dion’s performance of “God Bless America,” the history of the original song and its author, and the variety of responses her performance has fostered both then and now, particularly online. What we will discover is that practitioners of civil religion existentially and therapeutically depend on an “encounter with the divine” during times of national tragedy. This encounter is …

I Still Feel - Kind Of Temporary About Myself, Trevor Freudenberg

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Meet Alexa. Not the ubiquitous digital assistant, but an individual in the process of crafting an identity for herself. Alexa Abraham is a 24-year-old woman living in London who defines herself as an ‘influencer.’ A recent article in 1843 Magazine details how Alexa has created this identity of ‘influencer’ using social media, especially Instagram.

Is Theistic Belief Rational In A Scientific Age? (Research Materials), Holy Cross Libraries

Library Resources for Campus Events

A bibliography of resources available through the Holy Cross Libraries which provide additional information related to "Is Theistic Belief Rational in a Scientific Age," a dialogue between William Lane Craig and Jeff Hester on theism, atheism and science. Craig is research professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and professor of philosophy at Houston Baptist University. Hester is an astrophysicist known for his work with the Hubble Space Telescope and professor emeritus in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.

This event was one of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity held at …

Reasoning Of The Highest Leibniz And The Moral Quality Of Reason, Ryan Quandt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Loving God is our highest perfection for Leibniz. It secures our belief and trust in the Creator, which is integral to the sciences as well as faith. Those who love God have justification for reasoning, that is, they can rationally expect to arrive at truth. This is because love is a receptivity to the perfection all of things; loving God, then, is a disposition and tendency toward the most perfect being, the ens perfectissimum. Individuals who perceive the divine nature “do not merely fear the power of the supreme and all-seeing monarch,” Leibniz writes, “but are assured of his beneficence, …

Snc Theatre Studies Presents Brontë

St. Norbert Times

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Of God, Humanity, And The World: Reflections On "The Truman Show", Robert S. Gall

Journal of Religion & Film

Popular analysis of The Truman Show generally has focused on the comments the movie is making about our media culture and corporate influence in our lives. However, as the names of the lead characters (Truman, Christof) suggest, there is more to the movie than a critique of corporate media culture. With echoes of stories of the Garden of Eden, the Book of Job, and promises of heaven, the movie raises interesting and troubling questions about the nature of God and his relation to humanity in the Western tradition. With echoes of Descartes’ “evil genius” and how we come to know …

Touched By Grace? A Look At Grace In Bergman's Winter Light And Martin Luther's Writings, Kjartan Leer-Salvesen

Journal of Religion & Film

Ingmar Bergman holds a prominent place in the lineup of directors who have used cinema to investigate the meaning of life in a godless world. The so-called “Trilogy of God’s Silence” is often identified as the place where Bergman struggled most profoundly with core themes from the Christian faith. In Winter Light, he explores the topic of doubt, devastatingly, through a minister’s religious and existential crisis. This article, however, proposes that Martin Luther’s theology may provide resources for reappraising Bergman’s canonical film.

Evangelism, Social Media, And The Mum Effect, David R. Dunaetz

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The Mum effect is the natural human reluctance to share bad news with others, due to a desire to avoid a range of negative consequences, consequences affecting both self and the recipient of the bad news. Although the gospel is good news to those who believe, it may be viewed negatively by those who do not believe. Thus, Christians may be hesitant to share the gospel because of the negative consequences associated with the Mum effect. Because of the anonymity of the internet, social media is often filled with unre­strained criticism of Christianity. This may amplify the perceived negative consequences …

Reconsidering The Roman Catholic Apocrypha, Alex Andersen

Classical Conversations

For centuries, Protestants have debated with Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians over the canonicity of the Roman Catholic Apocrypha, a collection of seven books and two additions to books composed from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. and considered to be canonical by all major non-Protestant Christian denominations. This thesis plunges into this discussion on the Roman Catholic Apocrypha’s canonicity, contending that the Roman Catholic Apocrypha is noncanonical. First, this thesis propounds two broad models for canonicity, the Community Canon Model and the Intrinsic Canon Model, and maintains that the Intrinsic Canon Model is a better model …

An Enduring Peace, Andy R. Alexis-Baker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Epistemology And Presuppositional Thought, Courtney L. Krause

Selected Honors Theses

This paper will present the coherency of Reformed Christian theism’s presuppositional epistemology. It will argue for the biblical foundation of presupposing the existence and truth of God in every aspect of one’s life. This presupposition will be presented as the necessary component for interpreting the revelation of God correctly and righteously. This presupposition is vital, as it acknowledges Christ as sovereign over the realm of thought. Indeed, from the Reformed Christian theistic perspective, understanding reason presuppositionally from Scripture is the only way to reason which is honoring to God. It claims any lack of acknowledgement of and submission to Jesus …

The Theological Anthropology Of St. Gregory Of Nyssa, Marcus Mccormick

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Endangered Danger: Christianity, Affect, And Harmless Snakes In Samoa, Ariel Abonizio G. S.

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Candoia bibroni (Pacific Boa), is a non-venomous Samoan snake that recently become an endangered species, possibly due to human killing on sight. This interdisciplinary research investigates how Pacific Boa came to be perceived as dangerous animals that need to be killed. Following snake tracks through the history of Samoa and into the present, this research suggests that the relationship between Samoans and the Pacific Boa questions the simple binaries of real/imagined, material/semiotic, subjective/objective, and material/immaterial. Particularly with the introduction of Christianity by missionaries in the early-1800s, the Pacific Boa snake came to inhabit the liminal space between these apparent …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 54 No 1 - April 2019), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 9 / Articles: From Glory to Glory: 2 Corinthians 3:18 in Biblical-Theological Perspective by Dane C. Ortlund - 11 / The Grammar of Revival: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards’s Teleological Language in Religious Affections (1746) by Obbie Tyler Todd - 35 / Religious Freedom and the Pancasila-Based State of Indonesia: A Neo-Calvinist Idea of Principled Pluralism by Benyamin F. Intan - 57 / Reprioritizing the Lord’s Supper among the Reformed by Jelmer Heeren and Maarten Wisse - 91 / Sermon: “A Sure Sign”—A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 and Exodus 24:1–11 by David Vroege …

An Alcohol Questionnaire And Referral Tool For Baptist Churches, Rita D. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Alcohol addiction is a pervasive ill within our society with detrimental bio-psycho-social outcomes. Unfortunately, the Baptist churches or more specifically those churches who are members of the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGVA) are not immune to seeing the devastation of this disease, including the spiritual impact. Pastors may find themselves in the role of “first responder” unprepared to fully address this issue. This study explored, through a web-based questionnaire, how those churches associated with the BGVA are currently addressing alcoholism and if pastors would find a referral tool helpful to connect members with professional therapists. It is widely accepted …

Christian Ministry To Refugees In The Contrasting Settings Of Greece And Germany, John P. Thompson

Great Commission Research Journal

The refugee crisis in Europe may be one of the most significant opportunities for the spread of the gospel on that continent since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many churches in Western Europe are engaging these newcomers in holistic ministry. From February to May 2018, seventeen leaders were interviewed from fourteen ministries engaged in refugee ministry in Greece and Germany to explore refugee ministry realities and practices in these two nations with contrasting policies. The research describes the shifting refugee situation, the shifting context, the relationship between these ministries and government, refugee ministry approaches, spiritual openness among refugees, and …

Finding The Church Planting Model For Our Church: How Existing Churches Can Be Part Of The Church Planting Movement, Seungsoo Jun

Great Commission Research Journal

Church planting has become an effective method for revitalizing denominations. In many cases, however, church planting is limited to one or two charismatic leaders or a large church’s multi-site movement. This article attempts to present a roadmap to categorize the models of church planting. After understanding pathways for church planting, it suggests a method that enables existing churches to be part of this exciting movement of God.

Book Review: Women In God’S Mission: Accepting The Invitation To Serve And Lead By Mary T. Lederleitner, Brit Redfield

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

An Alternative Mission Paradigm For Healthy Church Growth, Paul Seung-Oh An

Great Commission Research Journal

Christianity is becoming weaker and nominalized, and it is expected to be surpassed quantitatively by Islam in 2070. The purpose of this article is to analyze the limitations of the holistic mission paradigm, a representative view of mission today, in terms of healthy church growth, and to propose key points of an alternative mission paradigm which would be helpful for overcoming these limitations. The history of holistic mission is examined to show the identity and characteristics of the paradigm, and then an alternative mission paradigm that can contribute to healthy church growth is presented.

Osvobození Jako Revoluční Praxe: Opĕtovné Promyšlení Buddhistického Materialism, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

In this article, first published in English in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics 20 (2013), pp. 461–99, James Mark Shields analyzes the possibilities and problems of a “Buddhist materialism” constructed along Marxian lines, by focusing in particular on Buddhist and Marxist conceptions of “liberation.” Although it is only in recent decades that scholars have begun to reconsider and problematize Buddhist conceptions of “free- dom” and “agency,” the thought traditions of Asian Buddhism have for many centuries struggled with questions related to the issue of “liberation”—along with its fundamental ontological, epistemological and ethical implications. With the development of Marxist thought in …

The Life Of Donald Mcgavran: Coming Of Age, Gary L. Mcintosh

Great Commission Research Journal

In the mid-1970s, criticism of the Church Growth Movement gradually began to wane. Donald McGavran reduced his teaching load to halftime, although he continued to teach for another decade. McGavran and Win Arn continued teaming together on books and films, and even Peter Wagner turned toward a focus on North American Church Growth. The Church Growth Movement came of age, and it would flourish throughout the remainder of the 1970s and into the 1980s.

Poverty Blindness : A Case Study Of Christians Perceptions Of Hunger In Dayton, Ohio, Jyl Hall Smith

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Gratitude As An Approach To Intercultural Egagement : Exploring The Introduction And Embodiment Of Gratitude As An Approach To Intercultural Engagement Between The Diaspora And Native Christian Leaders In London, Girma Bishaw

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Integrating African Christian Refugees Into The American Churches As A Strategy For Mission, Grace Kathure Gichuru

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Coherence Of Justification In Luke 18:9-14 With Authentic Jesus Tradition, Peter D. Tan-Gatue

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Enchantment: A Teleology, Nathanael S. Toth

Senior Honors Theses

Despite the highly developed nature of his fictional world, Middle-earth, Tolkien never formally laid out a tabulated magic system for his fantasy creation. Nevertheless, unlike many stories by others in the fantasy genre, the magic he does include is far from just a shallow, world-building mechanism. Instead, it encapsulates the core theme of his fiction and the purposes which Ilúvatar (the God of Middle-earth) has given to the story’s many characters.

This paper will examine the nature and function of this magic from many angles: the identification of good magic with art and evil magic with domination; the delineation between …