Religion Commons^™

The Blessing Of Spiritual Mentoring, S. Joseph Kidder

Faculty Publications

Paul’s core argument for spiritual mentoring includes that to be effective mentors, our teaching must be backed by the witness of our own lives. We are to demonstrate all that we teach. What is laid upon us is the tremendous task of not only talking to men about Christ but showing Him to them through our lives. The experienced and exemplary Christian creates a responsible atmosphere for spiritual growth, sharing life experiences and skills and sacrificing time and energy.

As part of the mentoring process, Christians are to take every opportunity to teach younger people about God. This can be …

The Grace Place: Prayer, Kindness, And Care Can Grow A Church And Transform A Community, Hyveth Williams

Faculty Publications

“Our strategy,” says Hyveth, “doesn’t focus on having a high worship service with the best singers, the best pianists, the best organists, and long offering appeals. We have a simple service with three parts—prayer, praise, and preaching. We don’t pass around a basket. We have a box in front where worshippers, moved by the Spirit, bring their tithes/ offerings and deposit them in the box. Generosity has characterized these gifts. Community residents see what the church is doing in the community, and they want to show their support by giving.”

The Impact Of Family Rejection Or Acceptance Among Lgbt+ Millennials In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, David Sedlacek, Curtis J. Vanderwaal, Lauren Ashley-Mae Lane

Faculty Publications

Coming to terms with one's sexual identity is a particularly complex process for Christian LGBT+ youth, many of whom are at high risk for negative outcomes such as depression, substance abuse and suicide. Many Christian families are just beginning to actively wrestle with how to view and treat their LGBT+ children. This survey of 310 Seventh-day Adventist adult Millennials explored perceived levels of their families' acceptance or rejection of their sexual orientation or gender identity during their teen years. Other variables included recent levels of self-esteem, social support, depression, substance abuse, high-risk sexual activity, and suicidal thinking or attempts. Findings …

Strengthening Adventist Education In The North American Division: Recommendations For Educators, Jerome Thayer, Anneris Coria-Navia, Aimee Leukert, Elissa Kido, Larry Blackmer

Faculty Publications

"Clearly, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed by educators, pastors, and conference and union officers in order to strengthen NAD Adventist K-12 education. The list is daunting and the task monumental, but we find the al-ternative—the continued decline of enrollment—unacceptable. The strong approval of the NADET recommendations at the Year-end Meetings as well as the administrative support given to the SAE study provided an excellent first step in effecting change in the educational system, but it will take a commitment and investment from all stakeholders in Adventist education to ensure continued progress. These recommendations call …

Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Interpretation of God's covenant to Abrahamic and its promised fulfillment varies across scholarly and religious writings. The Book of Mormon emphasizes this covenant and the promise that through Abraham all the kindreds of the earth will be blessed. It also features a unique interpretation--that the covenant will be fulfilled as the Book of Mormon itself, a record of the seed of Joseph, is given first to the Gentiles, and then to house of Israel.

On Doubting Nephi's Break Between 1 And 2 Nephi: A Critique Of Joseph Spencer's "An Other Testament: On Typology", Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This essay rejects the proposal by Joseph Spencer to recognize the true break in Nephi's two books as occurring after the fifth chapter of the second book. The essay invokes standard interpretive practices arguing that while Spencer does present reasoning to make sense of this novel proposal, he does not acknowledge the much greater weight of standard interpretation or provide explanations for ignoring it.

How "Come Unto Me" Fits In The Nephite Gospel", Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Book of Mormon readers can easily be left wondering in numerous passages where the repeated term "come unto me/him/Christ" refers to unspecified elements of the gospel understood as "the way" by which men and women can come to him. This paper identifies six passages that are presented as quotations from Jesus himself and that have identical rhetorical structures---in which this phrase appears to refer each time to that stage of the gospel described as "enduring to the end." This discovery may offer useful interpretive guidance for the numerous other passages that invoke the same phrase. This paper was updated June …

The Openness Of Religious Beliefs To The Influence Of External Information, Darin Freeburg

Faculty Publications

Religious beliefs have important and wide-reaching impacts on society. They also tend to be viewed as impervious to the influence of information external to a religious setting. Eight focus groups were held with attendees of two United Church of Christ congregations. Participants were asked about their core religious beliefs, and transcripts were qualitatively coded for the interplay of belief and infor- mation. Analysis found that beliefs that were focused on people, processes and events external to the congregation showed the char- acteristics of being more open to external information. Specifically, the breadth of these external beliefs allowed for a wider …

The Wedding At Cana (John 2:1-11): Reading The Text In The Cultural Context Of Ephesus, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Babylon And New Jerusalem In The Book Of Revelation: Imagery And Ethical Discernment., Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Image Of The Beast From The Land (Rev 13, 11-18): A Study In Incongruity, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sing A New Song To The City: Ambient Rhetoric And Urban Hymns, Adam J. Copeland

Faculty Publications

Hymns are a key component of how Christians express their faith. But many of these hymns do represent the rhythms and sensibilities of an older and largely agrarian world. Using the concept of “ambient rhetoric,” Adam Copeland suggests that it is time for other hymns that represent the ethos of daily life in an increasingly urbanized world, hymns that will speak to the realities of urban culture.

The Neighbor, Mark A. Granquist

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Image Of The Beast From The Land (Rev 13, 11-18): A Study In Incongruity., Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Who Speaks For (Or Against) Rome? Acts In Relation To Empire, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Participatory God For A Participatory Culture: Christian Theological Perspectives On Networks, Dwight J. Zscheile

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Genre, Theology, And The God Of The Psalms, Rolf A. Jacobson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Miracles As Evidence For The Existence Of God, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Old Testament And The Neighbor, Rolf A. Jacobson, Karl Jacobson

Faculty Publications

The dispute between Jesus and the legal expert in Luke over the question of “the neighbor” was certainly not a new conflict. It is possible to understand the Lucan exchange as a Midrash on sections from the Pentateuch and the Hebrew writings. Rolf and Karl Jacobson delve back into the Old Testament to find the roots of the Lucan dispute, and shed further light on this important biblical concept.

Luther Seminary: It Takes A Village, Adam J. Copeland, Jason Misselt

Faculty Publications

The authors describe how, framed within an initiative to equip faith leaders and congregations around matters of stewardship, Luther Seminary’s Economic Conditions Facing Future Ministers (ECFFM) program has emerged as part of the work of the seminary’s Center for Stewardship Leaders. The ECFFM initiative focused on conducting new research and strengthening current campus programs in order to decrease student debt through building financial literacy, stewardship training, and financial support.

Marcion’S Gospel And The Resurrected Jesus Of Canonical Luke 24, Daniel A. Smith

Faculty Publications

From the publisher's website:

"New reconstructions of Marcion’s Gospel, which are considerably more sophisticated than past attempts, allow more certainty when comparing Marcion’s text with canonical Luke. This essay examines the presentations of the resurrected Jesus in canonical Luke and Marcion’s Gospel, with a particular focus on the text-critical problems in Luke 24 (especially the shorter Western readings) and on the distinctive ways the two texts theorize Jesus’ risen bodily presence (especially the terms φάντασμα and πνεῦμα, and σάρξ and ὀστέα). Parallel evidence from the letters of Ignatius indicates that the emphasis on touching Jesus, who has …

Prince Rogers Nelson: From "Dirty Mind" To Devout Jehovah's Witness, Cassandra Chaney Phd

Faculty Publications

Prince Rogers Nelson (born: June 7, 1958) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was a musical innovator and known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup, and wide vocal range. When he passed unexpectedly on April 21, 2016, he had built an immensely successful career that spanned over 30 years. Although Prince is widely known for his highly sexual behavior, we know less about his spiritual beliefs as well as how these beliefs influenced his public persona and private life. Through the lens of social identity theory, this manuscript will examine …

Obadiah 1:21 Context, Text, Interpretation, And Application, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Latter-day Saints have frequently used the phrase “saviors on mount Zion” in relation to proxy temple work for the dead. This phrase comes from the twenty-first, and last, verse of Obadiah, a prophetic book in the Old Testament. But many people have little awareness of or experience with the previous twenty verses in the book, nor with the intriguing contextual questions those verses raise for understanding verse 21, with its phrase “saviours shall come up on mount Zion” (KJV1; note the British spelling with a u; used herein only in quotations). Furthermore, there has been little Latter-day Saint discussion of …

The Influence Of Religious Beliefs In Marriage, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite, Michael A. Goodman

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we examine the connection between religious beliefs and marriage more deeply. Namely, we will explore, uncover, and convey “insider’s insights” that will be valuable to many readers, particularly to college- aged emerging adults, most of whom will marry one day. Our hope is that these previews into marriage will better inform and prepare emerging adults for success.

The American Families of Faith project includes 200 wives and 200 husbands from marriages or remarriages with an average duration of a little over 20 years. To frame these facts differently, our sample draws on more than eight millennia of …

How Religion Influences Coping With Stress And Challenges In Families, Michael A. Goodman, Antonious Skipper, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks, Emily Layton

Faculty Publications

One key finding of our American Families of Faith research project is that (instead of being defeated by challenges) strong families find ways to effectively cope with and grow closer through stressful situations. Interestingly, six decades ago, Jeff Hill’s uncle, family sociologist Reuben Hill, began to conceptually and empirically examine why some families succumb to crisis as a result of a stressful situation, while other families remain resilient. While stress can lead to crisis, crisis can also lead to familial resilience and the ability of the family to better cope with future stressors. Different families obviously have different strengths and …

History Of The Taipei Temple, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

MANY PRISONERS SUFFERED at the Taihoku Prison in Taipei, Taiwan, during World War II. Yet, less than two decades later, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased a portion of this land and transformed it from a desolate site into a warm and inviting chapel where Latter-day Saints sought to bring their friends. Elder Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated it on October 16, 1966. Fewer than five thousand members resided in Taiwan at the time. In 1984, Hinckley returned to the same plot of land to dedicate a temple adjacent to the chapel. During one of his addresses, he …

Formed In And Called From The Womb, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Jeremiah’s call narrative or vocation report includes a clear example of pre-birth divine election:

(1:4) “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

(1:5a) ‘Before I formed you in the womb [babbetẹ n] I knew you,

(5b) and before you were born [came forth from the womb/mēreḥem] I consecrated you;

(5c) I appointed you a prophet to the nations’” (Jer. 1:4–5; NRSV).

However, there is ambiguity about the meaning of the phrase “from the womb” and there are persistent questions about the relationship between Jeremiah 1:5a—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”—and 1:5b+c, “before you …

The Latter-Day Saint Reimaging Of “The Breath Of Life” (Genesis 2:7), Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The creation and flood accounts in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) contain variations on a phrase commonly translated “the breath of life.” This phrase additionally occurs in some uniquely Latter-day Saint materials relating to creation. After overviewing and analyzing this phrase and its meaning in the Bible, this paper then examines the occurrences of the phrase “the breath of life” in important early Latter-day Saint texts.1 The purpose of this study is to illustrate and explain how and why many Latter-day Saints have come to often employ the phrase “the breath of life,” transforming its traditional …

Muslim Families In The United States, Trevan Hatch, Loren Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

Jn 2004, we drew attention to the fact that almost all of the social science research on religion and families examined Christian families-and only Christian families (Dollahite, Marks, & Goodman, 2004). Specifically, we noted a "conspicuous" absence of research on both Muslim and Jewish families (p. 422). We have made a pronounced effort to include both Muslim families and Jewish families in the American Families of Faith project, and virtually all of our work includes both along with Christian families from various denominations. Some of our recent work has focused solely on Muslim families or Jewish families (e.g., Alghafli, Hatch, …

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Consistent with their preexilic Hebrew Bible predecessors, the Book of Mormon prophets taught a version of the Two Ways doctrine that featured (1) invitations to repentance defined as turning or returning to God’s way, (2) the context of the Abrahamic covenant, (3) the blessings and cursings that would come from obedience or disobedience, and (4) the contrast of the path of righteousness that leads to life with the path of evil that leads to death. But this analysis has also produced a number of expansions or refinements of the Two Ways doctrine that are not reflected in biblical treatments of …