Religion Commons^™

Agape And Personal Knowledge, Peter Eric Bergeron

Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the connection between love and personal knowledge and what Jesus' life and teaching reveal about the relationship between these. I want to distinguish that form of love or caring that makes relationships personal from those forms, like benevolence or compassion, where the concern is impersonal. It is commonly thought in contemporary Western culture that the autonomy necessary for mature moral agency or for the realization of one's unique personal identity is diminished by the influence of other persons. In contrast, I argue that the relational image of love, or agape, in the …

Communally Discerning A Covenant Of Hospitality For The Care Of Children At Westview Boys' Home, Ron Bruner

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project addressed the lack of a covenant defining the practice of hospitality towards children for team members of Westview Boys’ Home. The purpose of the project was to facilitate the creation of such a covenant. The Westview ministry team already claimed hospitality as a strength; the hope was that reframing the ministry around this strength would improve the quality of care for children and the quality of life for the community. Invited into a communal discernment process (the methodology), the ministry team invested weeks in the examination of biblical texts, theological tradition, personal and communal narratives, cultural trends, psychological …

An Apology For Authentic Spirituality , Paul Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Persecution Of Coptic Christians In Modern Egypt, Alla Rubinstein

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Christian community of Egypt dates back to the seventeenth century and comprises 12 per cent of the population today. As one of the oldest churches of the world, the Coptic Christian Church, first formed in Alexandria, has stood resilient and faithful to its traditions against intolerance, siege and persecutions. Having been present in most institutions of the state among the overwhelmingly Sunni-Muslim population, Copts are not new to the slow process of Islamization that Egypt has been undergoing for the last twenty years. What has been unique to the recent Coptic experience is the forced integration of Shari’a law …

Dying For Love: Homosexuality In The Middle East, Heather Simmons

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today in the United States, the most frequent references to the Middle East are concerned with the War on Terrorism. However, there is another, hidden battle being waged: the war for human rights on the basis of sexuality. Homosexuality is a crime in many of the Middle Eastern states and is punishable by death in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran (Ungar 2002). Chronic abuses and horrific incidences such as the 2009 systematic murders of hundreds of “gay” men in Iraq are seldom reported in the international media. Speculation as to why this population is hidden includes the …

The Misunderstood First Amendment And Our Lives Online, Cheryl B. Preston

BYU Studies

Certainly, we have always been warned about the harms of pornography. Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:27–28). But the prophets have become increasingly insistent in their warnings during the last several decades. This spike in prophetic warning corresponds to the development of technology.

Religion, Politics, And Sugar: The Mormon Church, The Federal Government, And The Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1907-1921, Matthew C. Godfrey, Barnard S. Silver

BYU Studies

Matthew C. Godfrey. Religion, Politics, and Sugar: The Mormon Church, the Federal Government, and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1907–1921. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2007.

The Five Books Of Moses: A Translation With Commentary, Roger G. Baker, Robert Alter

BYU Studies

There are Bibles aplenty in our world, hundreds if Amazon.com is any guide. In late 2009, Amazon listed over one thousand books on its Bible hit list that have not even been released yet. Over one thousand new books of the roughly 450,000 listed Bible hits portend heavy reading this year for those who try to keep up with things biblical. A beneficial search in this swim through the Amazon of books is for new Bible translations, which now seem plentiful, although there were very few in the years after King James. An almost three-century gap separates the King James …

One Good Man, Christian Vuissa, Director, Christian Vuissa, Jim Dalrymple

BYU Studies

I had high hopes but reserved expectations while driving to see Christian Vuissa's latest film One Good Man. Though LDS cinema seems to have cooled and matured somewhat in recent years, it is nonetheless a movement that has generally been hit-and-miss at best. One Good Man comes as a welcome transition to deeper, more complex filmmaking. The film is far from perfect--it includes its fair share of cultural cliches and clunky sentimentality--but it also marks an insightful and timely turn toward a more intimate, nuanced exploration of LDS themes and culture.

One Good Man portrays a few days in …

Advent Devotional Guide 2010, Belmont University

Advent Devotional Guides

No abstract provided.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial

Terry C. Muck

Our Personal Core Identity: A Wesleyan Perspective

Jim Boetcher

Identity Formation for Conciliatory Existence: How We Perceive the Other

Chris Kiesling and Lalsangkima Pachuau

An Aboriginal Missiology of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization for Canada's Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identity

Wendy Peterson

Racial and Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific and Biblical Perspectives in Dialogue

Ruth Anne Reese and Steven Ybarrvla

Marriage and Ministry: Conjugal and Occupational Conflicts in Wesley's Life and Ministry

Tony Headley

Book Notes

Kenneth Collins

Book Reviews

Frances Adenry

Gwinyai Muzorewa

Laurence W. Wood

Identity Formation For Conciliatory Existence: How We Perceive The Other, Chris Kiesling, Lalsangkima Pachuau

The Asbury Journal

In this article we interface mission, theology and psychology in an exploration of what hinders and what enables conciliatory existence. Whereas common approaches to reconciliation focus on redressing past wrongs, we propose identity formation that would prevent such wrongs. We consider how people integrate elements of their social context into a social identity that influences how they perceive "the other."

Understanding this to be divine action that transforms psychological processes, we draw from all three disciplines to understand the dynamics of how we come to see the other.

Biblical theology provides penetrating narratives into the nature of fallen humanity and …

Racial And Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific And Biblical Perspectives In Dialogue, Ruth Anne Reese, Steven Ybarrola

The Asbury Journal

The first part of the paper lays out our understanding of ethnicity and race in light of current research from sociology and anthropology. The paper then turns to the New Testament material, and it examines "the Jews" as one ethnic group in the first century. This material is used to demonstrate that Christians also took on the language of ethnicity. The paper raises the question, "is there a Christian identity that both supersedes and subsumes ethnic identity?" It proposes that the answer to that question is, ''Yes, there is a Christian identity and ethos that supersedes ethnic identity." And, this …

An Aboriginal Missiology Of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization For Canada's Indigenous Peoples Through Healing Of Identity, Wendy Peterson

The Asbury Journal

This essay concerns the failure by Canada's Indigenous people to fully apprehend and embrace the Christian doctrine of imago Dei. The concern is founded upon the negative self-perception and perceived inferiority of Aboriginal peoples as less-than the Caucasian majority. Is this a failure of transmission on the part of missionaries, or is it a failure of reception on the part of Aboriginals? The premise is that both the theology of mission and the practice of mission with Aboriginal people must take into account the issue of self-perception and the problem of identity formation. The question is asked, Is there a …

Book Notes, Kenneth J. Collins

The Asbury Journal

William B. Lawrence

Methodism in Recovery: Renewing Mission, Reclaiming History, Restoring Health

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Charles Yrigoyen, John G. McEllhenney, and Kenneth A. Rowe

United Methodism at Forty: Looking Back Looking Forward

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Scott J. Jones

Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Marriage And Ministry: Conflicts And Occupational Conflicts In Wesley’S Life And Ministry, Tony Headley

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author explores John Wesley's perspectives on marriage and how these views related to his practice of ministry. Specifically, the author examines Wesley's developmental journey from believing he could not marry to actually contracting a marriage with Mary Vazeille. Following exploration of Wesley's perspectives on marriage, the author discusses these issues in relation to two observed patterns in his significant intimate relationship with Sophy Hopkey, Grace Murray and Mary Vazeille; namely that for the most part, Wesley cultivated these relationships out of travel and illness. The author concludes that even though Wesley moved from a position of …

Editorial: No Religious Preference, Terry C. Muck

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Justification By The Faithfulness Of Jesus Christ, Chad Harrington

The Asbury Journal

This essay focuses on Paul's description of justification by faith in Galatians 2:16. Scholars such as J.D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright have recently challenged more traditional perspectives on justification. This essay appropriates some of these challenges to Paul's letter to the Galatians. The problem for Paul is that some Christians are distorting the gospel (Gall:7) and excluding Gentiles Christians (2:12-13). Paul's solution is gospel reorientation. Instead of being a Torah-focused church, he instructs the Galatian church to be Christ-centered. This essay examines justification, works of law, and faith/fulness to reveal Paul's rhetorical purposes by analyzing socio-rhetorical backgrounds and literary, grammatical, …

From "Cults" To Cultures: Bridges As A Case Study In A New Evangelical Paradigm On New Religions, John W. Morehead

The Asbury Journal

The increased awareness of the new religions with the counterculture of the 1960s saw various responses, including a "counter-cult" approach by evangelicals. The counter-cult approach has tended to view new religions as "cults" and to respond to them as heretical systems of belief in need of refutation by doctrinal and apologetic arguments. Over the last decade or so a new evangelical paradigm has emerged based in missiology which, while recognizing theological disagreements that the new religions have with Christianity, approaches new religions as religious cultures rather than as cults. Various resources have been produced as a result of the new …

The Most Indispensable Habits Of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, And Practice, Mark A. Lamport

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author provocatively claims that "theological education is neither"; it is not theological unless it is considers the nature of its mission to be ultimately Ministerial; and it is not education unless it takes seriously the learner as focal point of the process.

Armed with "best practices" research on effective teaching in higher education, this rather personal, sometimes feisty, essay challenges the fundamental assumptions of theological education professors' most strongly held beliefs regarding their educational philosophies (advocating critical thinking over accumulation o f content), educational psychologies (promoting learning outcomes and the characteristics of the adult learner over …

Bridging The Gap: Understanding Knowledge Of God In Gregory Of Nyssa's Commentary On The Song Of Songs, Nathan Crawford

The Asbury Journal

The problem of how one knows God is central to the theological endeavor. This paper seeks to explore how Gregory of Nyssa deals with this problem. I suggest that it is by understanding the role of Christ in the incarnation that Gregory finds knowledge of God possible. The incarnation bridges the gap that exists between God and humanity. And, through bridging this gap, Christ enables a person to have mystical knowledge of God.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial
Terry C. Muck

Justification by the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ
Chad Harrington

From "Cults" to Cultures: Bridges as a Case Study in a New Evangelical Paradigm on New Religions
John W Morehead

The Most Indispensable Habits of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, and Practice
Mark A. Lamport

Bridging the Gap: Understanding Knowledge of God in Gregory of Nyssa'sCommentary on the Song of Songs
Nathan Crawford

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?"
David Werner

Book Notes
Kenneth Collins

Review Essay
Kenneth M. Loyer

Book Reviews
Michael Matlock and Bradley Johnson
Charles Meeks
Amos …

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?", David Werner

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Notes, Kenneth Collins

The Asbury Journal

James L. Schwenk
Catholic Spirit: Wesley, Whitefield, and the Quest for Evangelical Unity in Eighteenth-Century British Methodism
2008. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press

Scott Kisker
Mainline or Methodist: Discovering Our Evangelistic Mission
2008. Nashville: Discipleship Resources

L. Faye Short and Kathryn D. Kiser
Reclaiming the Wesleyan Social Witness: Offering Christ.
2008. Franklin, Tennessee: Providence House Publishers

A Review Essay: "Coming To Terms With Perfection", Kenneth M. Loyer

The Asbury Journal

Perfection: Coming to Terms with Being Human
Michael J. Hyde
2010. Waco: Baylor University Press

Wesley, Aquinas, and Christian Perfection: An Ecumenical Dialogue
Edgardo A. Colin-Emetic
2009. Waco: Baylor University Press

Book Reviews, Michael Matlock, Bradley Johnson, Charles Meeks, Amos Yong, Joseph Okello, Kandace Brooks, J. Ellsworth Kalas

The Asbury Journal

BibleWorks. DVD-ROM and CD-ROM, version 8 2009. BibleWorks, LLC. $349
Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock and Bradly T. Johnson

Paul A. Hartog, ed.
The Contemporary Church and the Early Church: Case Studies in Ressourcement
Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010
Reviewed by Charles Meeks

Gary B. McGee
Miracles, Missions, and American Pentecostalism
American Society of Missiology series 45
2010. Maryknoll: Orbis Books
Reviewed by Amos Yong

John R. Levison
Filled with the Spirit
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009.
Reviewed by Joseph B. O. Okello

Constance M. Cherry
The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and …

In Spite Of The Fact That.... (The President's Desk), Roy Gane

Perspective Digest

No abstract provided.

The Head And Not The Tail (The President's Desk), Roy Gane

Perspective Digest

No abstract provided.

The Decalogue Before Mount Sinai, Jo Ann Davidson

Perspective Digest

No abstract provided.

The Latest On Dinosaur Soft Tissue (Faith & Science Update), John T. Baldwin

Perspective Digest

No abstract provided.