Religion Commons^™

The Wisdom Of Forgiveness: Singing Like Birds In The Cage With Old King Lear, Janet L. Ramsey, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

Learning to forgive and to be forgiven is a lifelong curriculum from which we never really graduate. Shakespeare’s King Lear can be one guide in this educational process.

Corps Of Discovery: A Twenty-First-Century Contextual Missiology For The Denominational Church In The United States, Terri L. Elton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Why Was The Messiah Crucified? A Study Of God, Jesus, Satan, And Human Agency In Johannine Theology.”, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Absolute Theological Truth In Postmodern Times, Fernando L. Canale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Empty Threats? How Egyptians' Self-Ontology Should Affect The Way We Read Many Texts, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

Egyptologists have typically divided texts into those that dealt with the divine and those that treated the mundane. This false dichotomy is not one that the Egyptians themselves would have imposed. They saw themselves as mortal beings that interacted with the divine realm and the afterlife. The texts they created reflect this understanding, and thus we are greatly hampered when we insist that the language of a decree, threat formula, or other texts, must refer to either the mundane or the supernatural, but not both. There is ample evidence that the Egyptians often intended specific wording to invoke multiple realms, …

Laman And Lemuel: A Case Study In "Not Becoming", Michael A. Goodman

Faculty Publications

We can easily see Laman and Lemuel as being lost from the start. Almost like stock characters in a novel, they may appear to have little depth or complexity. This simplistic view makes it hard to identify the reasons behind, as well as the consequences of, Laman and Lemuel’s behavior. Consequently, if we do not look for deeper meaning in Laman and Lemuel’s story, we may fail to identify the necessary precepts to avoid the pitfalls they fell into and to which we are vulnerable today.

Through a more contextual view of Laman and Lemuel’s lives, we are provided with …

The Faith Of Christ, Gaye Strathearn

Faculty Publications

AT THE 1988 MEETING OF THE Pauline Theology Group, a debate exploded that had been slowly percolating since the time of Martin Luther.¹ The debate focused on the translation and associated theological implications of eight passages (Romans 3:22, 26; Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:22, 26; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 3:9).² Each of these passages consists of a phrase with the Greek word pistis (“faith”) in a genitive construction with a title for Jesus.³ Paul uses seven of them in his discussions of justification, showing how a believer is “made righteous.” The eighth passage, Ephesians 3:12, uses the genitive construction to describe how …

Book Review Of Faiths Of The Founding Fathers, Davison M. Douglas

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rojack Revisited As Nightmare Avatar Of I, John, Your Brother (Rev. 1:9), Kevin Lewis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Jesus, The Great Shepherd-King, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:1–2). So begins one of the most beloved psalms and best-known biblical passages mentioning a shepherd. Shepherd imagery is utilized in scripture to depict three important aspects of Jesus’s identity and mission: His roles as Savior, King, and Jehovah, the God of Israel. Of these three, His role as compassionate Savior, devoted to protecting and saving the flock of God, is the aspect of shepherd symbolism that typically comes to mind. Less well known, …

Before Jeremiah Was: Divine Election In The Ancient Near East, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

FRAGMENTS OF GOSPEL TRUTHS are often detected by Latter-day Saint scholars studying ancient texts, especially texts from the ancient Near East. This essay focuses on one example of this phenomenon. Divine election—the academic designation for the choosing of people by deity for position and opportunity in mortal life—is a claim that is well attested in ancient Near Eastern texts, including the Hebrew Bible.¹ Latter-day Saints correlate certain aspects of this concept with premortal foreordination and are familiar with a few key biblical passages, such as Jeremiah 1:5, that feature divine election. However, many Latter-day Saints are less familiar with the …

A Defense Of The Authority Of Church Doctrine, Nathan B. Oman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Septuagint In The Life Of The Early Church, Lois Farag

Faculty Publications

Writers of the New Testament and early church considered the Septuagint translation inspired, including those books now regarded as apocryphal by most Protestants.

"God Is A God Who Bears": Bonhoeffer For A Flat World, Gary M. Simpson

Faculty Publications

This is one of a series of articles in Word & World commemorating the 100th birthday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer learned in his own time of crisis that “only the suffering God can help.” As God bears us in Christ, we are given the possibility of bearing the burdens of our brothers and sisters.

A Piece Of Scripture On Part Of The Bible: Listening To Romans 15:1-6, David E. Fredrickson

Faculty Publications

We think about the Bible best not in abstraction but by looking at particular texts. In Romans 15, Paul, too, looks at a text (Psalm 69) to think about the nature and authority of Scripture.

Alienated Catholics: Establishing The Groundwork For Dialogue, Catherine M. Murphy

Faculty Publications

One of the earliest arguments against women's ordination the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops articulated in 1972 was that, since the incarnation of God was in a male, this culminates in a male priesthood. This reflects a hierarchical anthropology well-known from Christianity's earliest encounters with the Greco-Roman world, whereby the male was associated with the mind, reason, and the spirit, while the female was associated with the body, passion, and the material world.¹ In fact, some Greek doctors and philosophers thought that every fetus began as a male, but those that didn't develop fully became female.² Thomas Laqueur …

Slavery, Prophecy And The American Nation As Seen By The Adventist Pioneers, 1854-1865, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sanctuary Principles For The Successful Church Community, Roy Gane

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reexamining Relational Youth Ministry: Implications From The Theology Of Bonhoeffer, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

Youth ministry often focuses on building relationships between youth ministers and adolescents. But to what end? A relationship designed to influence the other is no relationship and is unworthy of Christ. In a true relationship Christians must be willing fully to share the place of another.

"Stewards Of God's Mysteries": Stewarding As A Model For Congregational Ministry, Rolf A. Jacobson

Faculty Publications

Are we members of our congregation or stewards of God’s mysteries? Our model for ministry makes all the difference.

The Adventist Theologian, The Three Angels’ Messages, And The Unity Of The Church, P. Gerard Damsteegt

Faculty Publications

This paper is written in the context of God’s mandate to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This mandate calls for Seventh-day Adventists to proclaim the great commission, focusing on the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. The paper focuses especially what this means for Adventist theologians.

Charles Good's Act Of Kindness And The Handcart Children, Fred E. Woods, William G. Hartley

Faculty Publications

On a hot July afternoon in 1856, businessman Charles Good paid an unannounced visit to a crowded campground west of Fort Des Moines. There he found nearly 500 tired travelers--Mormon emigrants who had pulled their handcarts earlier that day through the small business district of Fort Dex Moines where Good lived. This was the fourth handcart company to pull through the city in two months. Good's visit would be noted in the company's official journal, but subsequent histories have overlooked his charitable gesture--a simple act of kindness--while at the camp.

Disrupting Worship, Dirk G. Lange

Faculty Publications

Worship is not for some pragmatic or utilitarian purpose. Nor do we offer something in worship in order to receive something in return. Worship is to remember the Christ event, to allow Christ to become “for us” as the gathered Christian assembly.

What Is Essential In Lutheran Worship?, Steven D. Paulson

Faculty Publications

Martin Luther’s simple definition of worship remains valid: “nothing else” need ever happen “except that our dear Lord himself may speak to us through his holy Word and we respond to him through prayer and praise.” The essential moments of public worship are reading, preaching (including the presence and proclamation of Christ in the sacraments), and prayer.

God, The Trinity, And Adventism: An Introduction To The Issues, Denis Fortin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Well Women Of Scripture Revisited, Jo Ann Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Iowa City Bound: Mormon Migration By Sail And Rail, 1856-1857, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

In the spring of 1855, an article in the Mormons' British periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, instructed church members to leave "Babylon" just as ancient Israel had left Egypt under Moses' leadership. For European converts, the Atlantic was their Red Sea and Brigham Young their American Moses. During his nearly 30 years (1847-1877) as president and prophet of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), Young directed the organized migration of more than 70,000 people to Utah, most of them from Europe. He approved yearly migration plans, appointed officers to manage the various companies, and arranged for church agents to assist at …

Effective And Ineffective Pastors: A Study In Contrasts, H. Peter Swanson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Faith Of The Founders: Religion And The New Nation, 1776-1826, By Edwin S. Gaustad, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Angels As Spiritual Guides, David San Filippo Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

The existence of angels has been discussed for centuries in legendary, philosophical, and religious writings. Many people have reported encounters with angels at different times in their life. Near-death research has recorded angelic encounters, during near-death experiences, by describing encounters with beings of light or angelic forms recognizable to the experiencer. This essay will discuss some legendary, theological, and philosophical beliefs that support the belief in the reality of angels as messengers, guides, and guardians to human beings and their function as spiritual guides during near-death experiences.