Religion Commons^™

Fountain Of Living Waters, Jodi Schott

Verbum

No abstract provided.

The Church And Homosexuality, Peter Santandreu

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"Why is it, exactly, that Jesus hates gays? Why has God seen it fit to introduce natural disasters, like hurricane Katrina, to wipe out the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah? If you are a Christian and have ever seriously asked yourself one of these questions, or one similar, you do not understand Christianity and should probably not go anywhere near a public stage. It is questions like these and the people that ask them with a straight face that have given a bad name to Christianity and Jesus Christ. What …

Can God Be Persuaded A Discussion Of The Immutability Of God In Luther's Catechesis On Prayer, Timothy Roser

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Roser, Timothy, W. "Can God Be Persuaded? A Discussion of the Immutability of Godin Luther's Catechesis on Prayer." Ph.D. Diss., St. Louis, MO: Concordia Seminary, 2005.197pp.

Different doctrines of God bring different understandings of Christian prayer. Open theism teaches a mutable God who can be persuaded by our prayer, that is, have human will imposed upon His choice and course of action. This study responds with Martin Luther's unique defense of the immutability of God and his perspective on human will's place in Christian prayer.

Chapter one reviews the teachings of open theism involving divine mutability and the consequent practice …

Spiritual Struggles And Self-Discrepancy, Robert Carlisle

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spiritual Struggles occur when a person's spirituality has been threatened and must be modified or changed. Researchers explain that there are three types of struggles - divine, interpersonal and intrapersonal. In this study it was proposed that religious discrepancies could lead to spiritual struggles. There are two major types of discrepancies: actual/ideal and actual/ought. Actual/ideal discrepancies exist when there is a difference between what people think they ideally should be like and what they are actually. An actual/ought discrepancy is a difference between what people think they ought to be and what they actually are. It was proposed that religious …

Sacred Improv : Narrative Preaching That Offers Entrance Into The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, Daniel Wayne Meek

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Theme And Structure In Isaiah 28-33 A Unified And Coherent Reading Centered On Chapter 30, G. Vincent Medina

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Medina, G. Vincent “Theme and Structure in Isaiah 28–33: A Unified and Coherent Reading Centered on Ch. 30.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2009. 260 pp.

This dissertation represents an attempt to demonstrate that Isaiah 28–33 is a compositional unity with structural and thematic coherence. Beginning with the widely recognized structuring function of the six hôy-oracles found in this section of Isaiah (Isa 28:1; 29:1; 29:15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1), the dissertation seeks to discover a deeper and more comprehensive structuring principle. It argues that Isaiah 30 is the center of Isaiah 28–33, and that 30:15–18 is the central passage. This thesis …

Preaching The Story Behind The Image A Narrative Approach To Metaphor For Preaching, Justin P. Rossow

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Rossow, Justin P. “Preaching the Story behind the Image: A Narrative Approach to Metaphor for Preaching.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary,2008.296pp.

In response to an increasingly image-driven culture, preachers have focused more and more attention on the use of imagery and metaphor in the sermon. The homiletics of metaphor, however, currently lacks a sufficient hermeneutical foundation. This dissertation lays the groundwork for a fuller understanding of how interpreters fill in the blanks left by metaphors in the biblical text and in the sermon. While the appendix describes a range of different theories on what metaphor is and how it works, the …

"Alamogordo", Ron A. Ambrosetti

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"The road into Clovis had been tortuous but tinted with the colors of the New Mexico desert subtly touched by the incipient autumn. Driving a military Jeep with a comrade from their former B-17 squadrons in Europe, Joseph Angelina thought how different it would be to fly in this clear, dry air, so remarkably pure after his recent years of trying to locate enemy targets in cloudy and moody Europe."

Sing, Selena Cochran

Verbum

No abstract provided.

Ascend To Your Heaven, Amanda Marchese

Verbum

No abstract provided.

Take The Time To Walk, Emily Lalka

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"The busyness of life distracts me from the One I long to be with. Sometimes life just takes over, and I get busy writing this paper and reading that chapter, prioritizing what’s due first. Then I remember that God is always first and I stop to revaluate my priorities. I take the time to refocus and be with my Creator. The best times I have with God are when I’m taking a walk outside."

Questions, Dee (Geraldine) Hogan

Verbum

No abstract provided.

On Love, Respect, And Joy, Tom Dinardo

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"The most important thing parents must do every day of their life is to take responsibility of raising their children. Jeanine and I take that responsibility very seriously, because we believe that children are a gift from God. Children need nurturing and love, and they need to be taught to respect life and to consider the rewards and hardships that come with it. The best place for children to learn about life is from their parents."

Nursing Home, Kristina Braell

Verbum

No abstract provided.

O Captain My Captain, Tim Madigan

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"One of my earliest memories involving empathy occurred when I was in seventh grade. Our English teacher had required us to read the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, about a group of British schoolboys trapped on a desert island together. I found the story to be deeply disturbing. The character of Jack, the cruel young boy who figures out the various weaknesses of his fellow castaways and takes advantage of them, was especially memorable. His was a kind of negative empathy – the ability to “get …

Can One Be Spiritual But Not Religious?, Roger Haight

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"How many times have you heard the statement that "I am spiritual, but not religious." It is so common that it could easily qualify as a contemporary cliché. But what does it mean? In a former time to be spiritual was to be religious: they meant pretty much the same thing. Today, however, spirituality can refer to a hundred different things, from self-care to mysticism, from yoga to a psychological power of positive thinking. And the diversity of the different kinds of religion, from the recognized world religions to …

Reflections On Psalm 137, Robert Brimlow

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"In the communal prayer life of the church - namely the liturgies of the Eucharist and the Divine Office, as well as the Book of Common Prayer to name a fewwe Christians tend to be selective in our focus on the Psalms. We do give at least a tacit recognition to the truth expressed about the Psalms from the saints who have preceded us: Athanasius called them “an epitome of the whole Scripture,” a view echoed by Luther’s insight that they are “a little bible and summary of the …

The Pelikan Movement - An Immigrant Story, Richard Blythe

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Blythe, Richard J. “The Pelikan Movement: An Immigrant Story.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2008. 306 pp.

The Pelikan Movement, led initially by Jan Pelikan, the grandfather of the Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan, was a pivotal event in a Slovak Lutheran immigrant community that desired to provide a confessional Lutheran witness to their mother country. Shortly after the First World War, this immigrant community was resolute to return to Slovakia to share their confessional Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith, in the Hurban tradition, as well as their new church polity and practices that they adopted in America during the previous …

Marxism-Leninism Lives And Prevails In The Church, Anonymous Clergy Document

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Patriarch Kirill And Ecumenism, Barbara Hallensleben

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Pusztai's "Region And Education Iii: Education And Church In Central-And Eastern-Europe At First Glance" And "Region And Education Iv: Religion And Values In Education In Central And Eastern Europe" - Book Review, Nóra Veronika Németh, Tímea Ceglédi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Equipping Parents To Be Spiritual Leaders In The Home, Douglas J. Schoelles

ATS Dissertations

The goal of this project was to effect a positive cognitive, affective, and behavioral response in parents from two Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations to lead their households in spiritual disciplines. The project consisted of four consecutive Sundays of preaching on faith forming in the home coupled with encouragement of the practice of a specific faith habit. These sermons were preached in tandem with four teaching sessions that reiterated the role of parents as spiritual leaders and concentrated on training families to engage in four faith habits in the home. Teaching tools were distributed to facilitate implantation of faith …

Nathaniel Hawthorne And His Biblical Contexts, Conor Michael Walsh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The majority of criticism and scholarship devoted to the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne takes for granted the relationship between Hawthorne and the Bible, focusing instead upon theology and philosophy. This work proposes that the Bible was an important and pervasive influence in Hawthorne's fiction. The Bible provides Hawthorne with numerous resources for both his artistic and moral concerns. At a basic level the Bible provides a popular platform that allows Hawthorne to immediately connect with his contemporary audience who were intimately familiar with the Bible. More importantly, though, are the vast examples and perspectives of the human condition and human …

Open Letter Of Protest From Kyrgyz Churches, Kyrgyz Churches

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Religiosity And Educational Pursuit And Perception Among College Students At Utah State University, Randy A. Larose

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of religiosity on the pursuit of education and the perceptions towards education among college students at Utah State University (USU). The study focused on what religious variables were useful in predicting postsecondary educational pursuit and either positive or negative educational perceptions among students at USU. From a systematic random sample of 1,460 USU students, a correlational research design was used for this study. Multiple linear regression (MLR) techniques were used to determine which of the various measures of religiosity provided the greatest degree of predictive value for ascertaining educational pursuit …

The Religious Experience Of Sexual Minority Youth: Identity, Integration And Minority Stress, Angie L. Dahl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent researchers have highlighted the need to consider the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individual's experience in various social contexts. Only a few studies have examined LGBTQ adolescent and young adult religious experiences. In the current study, 106 LGBTQ adolescent and young adults (18-24 years) were surveyed to gain a better understanding of LGBTQ religious experience, identity integration and the relationship between LGBTQ religiosity and psychosocial outcomes. A multidimensional understanding of LGBTQ religious experiences is presented; participants exhibited a propensity to disidentify with religion and reported religious and sexual identity conflict. While participants did not report a high …

The Perceptions Of Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints Full-Time Seminary Teachers Regarding The Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities, Reginald S. Slocombe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Efforts to formally educate students with special needs have been ongoing for over 50 years in the United States. Teachers are on the front line of the work to include students with disabilities. Previous research indicates a correlation between the attitudes of teachers and successful inclusion of students with disabilities. Two-hundred and fifty-one full-time released-time seminary teachers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I, formerly the Church Education System or CES) in Utah responded to a questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward including students with disabilities in their classrooms. Selected personal and professional …

Macromorality And Mormons: A Psychometric Investigation And Qualitative Evaluation Of The Defining Issues Test-2, Daniel R. Winder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 1988, P. Scott Richard's dissertation research at the University of Minnesota asserted that the Defining Issues Test (DIT), a widely accepted paper-and-pencil test of moral reasoning, exhibited item bias against religiously orthodox persons. Since 1988 (when Richard's data were reported), new methods of differential-item functioning (DIF) have developed, a new DIT has emerged (the DIT-2), as well as a Neo-Kohlbergian framework based upon moral schemas derived from Kohlberg's Piagetian-like six stages. With new methods, new tests, and unanswered questions, this study's results imply: (1) that DIT-2 items exhibit differential item functioning for religiously orthodox persons in statistically significant but …

The Itinerant Prophet: Brigham Young And His Tours Of Mormon Settlements, Brent A. Haslam

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

For many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first two presidents loom larger in memory and importance than any others. This seems to be the case with scholars of Mormonism as well. Joseph Smith, founder of the church, has been called a "religious genius." His successor, Brigham Young, possessed genius of another kind--he was a masterful organizer. While academic attention has produced a torrent of scholarship on Smith's religious innovations, Young's organizational skills have understandably been obscured by, or incorporated in, the larger theocracy, the public introduction and practice of polygamy, and the conflict between …

A Study Of Pastoral Burnout Among Korean-American Pastors, Young Sun Jin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a resource of prevention and overcoming from pastoral burnout to Korean-American pastors. This project is born out of the author's five year journey in ministry as a senior pastor of Korean-American church. This study is performed from literature research, survey observation, and personal experience. Especially, the case study was based on research targeting the pastors who belong to the Capital Presbytery of KAPC, and conducted through analysis of the statistical data obtained from a questionnaire survey. In that view, this dissertation presents the definition, various factors and symptoms of burnout among the …