Religion Commons^™

Making Disciples Of Jesus Christ: Investigating, Identifying And Implementing An Effective Discipleship System, Jeffrey Lynn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to George Barna's research, the current state of making disciples of Jesus Christ who are "observing all that I have commanded you" is dismal. His research reveals that "only three out of ten born-again adults admitted that they did not have any plan or process by which they intended to fulfill their spiritual goals." This author believes what we have in place for making disciples is inadequate, unimplemented, or both. The purpose of this thesis project is to explain the current state of spiritual formation in the American Church and the reasons why it falls short of God's desire …

Overcoming Growth Strangulation And Small Church Negative Stereotypes Through Intentional Biblical Steps, Donald Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this paper is to provide encouragement to small churches so they may nurture spiritual growth while working to overcome space restrictions that prohibit sustained numerical growth. Through intentional biblical steps, small church negative stereotypes can also be diagnosed and eliminated, thus bringing forth growth. By addressing spiritual problems and space restrictions, congregations can be rejuvenated and community perceptions can be improved by making God's people and facility meet His standard of excellence. The research tools include surveying twenty-five pastors to ascertain strengths and weaknesses of their church growth strategies and twenty-five large church attenders to identify small …

The Dynamics Of Having A Fear Of God In The Walk Of The Believer, Leon Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Guaranteed immunity from hell appears to have adversely affected the motivation of the believer. There exists a possible correlation in the believer's knowledge of having eternal security and a lack of having a fear of God. This lack of godly fear has manifested itself in various types of presumptive behavior, among which includes non-compliance to clearly stated biblical commandments and directives, the removal of the repentance requirement for the convert, and biblical illiteracy. By means of consulting commentary from early church fathers, theologians throughout the New Testament church age, current research data, and completed surveys from believers, which will include …

Awful/Awful: An Archive Of Light Embarrassments, Teysha Vinson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The difficulty of representing intangible religious ideas is at the core of Awful/Awful: An Archive of Light Embarrassments. Through an interest in how light is discussed in the Bible as a symbol for God and his fellowship, I make imagery that both repulses me and intrigues me but never do I get to the point where I feel the work encapsulates any answers. Instead, the photographs are questions, archived, unable to represent this light of God on their own without being trite or obtuse. The arranged work on the walls consists of these photographs plus a few ephemera from my …

Women Ordination In The Roman Catholic Church, Ria Barretto Aquino

Senior Theses

Changes in culture and society continue to mold and shift the direction of the Roman Catholic Church theologically, pastorally, and doctrinally; the Roman Catholic priesthood has done the same but in a slow progression. This thesis will begin to focus on the Catholic priesthood and the current magisterial doctrine that supports it. Next I will argue this doctrine by counteracting it with evidence of significant roles of women in theology and New Testament. Then I will address another Christian denomination with the existing structure of women ordination from the Episcopalian church. Whether or not an all-male clergy is beneficial for …

Tundale’S Vision: Socialization In 12th Century Ireland, Michael W. Deike

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to explore the historical image of Hell in Medieval Europe as an agent of socialization for illiterate Christian communities. The project focuses on a literary work, Tundale’s Vision, written in 1149 C.E in Cashel, Ireland. Tundale’s Vision came from a genre of vision literature derived from popular oracular folk tradition surrounding the image of Hell that served the purpose of socializing Christian communities to certain social norms and stigmas presented by the author. Vision literature would be used by preachers in vernacular sermons throughout the Medieval period in order to reinforce moral and social …

Summer Camp: A Discipleship Ministry, Jaime Vargas

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Light Brushing On Clinical Pain Intensity And Experimental Pain Sensitivity In Fibromyalgia Patients, Melissa Wassink

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting The Probability Of Acoustic Detection And Site Occupancy Of Bats In Central Indiana, Zachary David Epping Kaiser

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Documenting the presence of rare bat species can be difficult. The current summer survey protocol for the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) requires passive acoustic sampling with directional microphones (e.g., Anabats), but there are still questions about best practices for choosing survey sites and appropriate detector models. Indiana bats are capable of foraging in an array of cover types, including structurally-complex, interior forests. Further, data acquisition among different commercially available bat detectors is likely highly variable, due to the use of proprietary microphones with different frequency responses, sensitivities, and directionality. We paired omnidirectional Wildlife Acoustic SM2BAT+ (SM2) and directional …

The Effect Of Kinesiotape On Ankle Proprioception And Rom, Jenna L. Capps

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ankle ROM and proprioception are components of rehabilitation. Kinesio Tape (KT) is theorized to increase ROM and proprioception. KT is lacking in the literature in regards to proprioception and ROM more specifically in the ankle area. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of KT on ankle proprioception and ROM. DESIGN: Pretest-posttest randomized group design. Participants were assigned to one of two groups (with KT and without KT). Both groups ankle ROM was measured in all directions and 4 trials of 20 seconds. Then a five minute rest for the control group or have KT application within 5 minutes as the experimental …

The Indigenization Of Christian Worship In Urban Liberia : A Key To Christian Discipleship In The United Methodist Church Of Liberia, Isaac Chukpue-Padmore

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Rising Above A Crippling Hermeneutic, Luke Steven, Carlos, Armando Thompson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sacred texts authored in antiquity present a challenge for contemporary religious practitioners because there is always a question regarding how to interpret and apply the message today. Prominent Pentecostal theologian and disability theorist Amos Yong faces this challenge concerning the Bible as it relates to disabilities and those who have them. As I argue in this thesis, Yong succeeds in challenging the Pentecostal perceptions of disability without compromising on the over-all Pentecostal view of scripture.

The Hebrew Bible, which, according to Yong, "...serves as the foundation of the Christian scriptures," contains multiple passages that portray disability in a negative light. …

The Importance And Relevance Of Preaching Isaiah's Message Today, Bill Thompson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Fathers' Faith, The Children's Song: Missouri Lutheranism Encounters American Evangelicalism In Its Hymnals, Hymn Writers, And Hymns, 1889-1912, Jon Vieker

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Jon D. Vieker, "The Fathers' Faith, the Children's Song: Missouri Lutheranism Encounters American Evangelicalism in Its Hymnals, Hymn Writers, and Hymns, 1889-1912." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 581 pp.

This dissertation offers an accounting of the hymnological sea change in the Missouri Synod as it transitioned from German into English toward the end of the nineteenth century. It explores how this immigrant, Lutheran church body brought a large portion of its German hymnody into English, while at the same time appropriating a substantial number of English-language hymns from the surrounding ecclesial culture of American Evangelicalism.

The dissertation is divided into …

Public Mysticism, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 1980, gothic romance novelist Susan Howatch bought two flats in the Salisbury Cathedral Close, “one for living in and one for working.” Having moved back to England from America after a failed marriage, she found herself in a mid-life crisis, torn between her career success and her personal turmoil. Though not a Christian, she was “systematically seduced” by the dominating architectural structure in her neighborhood, the historic Salisbury Cathedral. As she went in for a few minutes every day, she “began to go through the religious section of the Salisbury public library like a vacuum cleaner,” which not only …

The Assumptions That Define Me, Amy Ryan

Verbum

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

"When I was a little kid, I believed that before colored movies were created, people saw in black and white. I was honestly convinced that colored film was a direct result of humans finally learning how to see in color. I also believed that the older you got the more warts you grew, that eating watermelon seeds could lead to the spontaneous maturity of a new melon in your stomach, and that God was a man with a flowing white beard and kind eyes, not unlike those attributes most …

A Life’S Journey Through Fisher, George Payne

Verbum

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

"I arrived on the St. John Fisher campus in September of 2000 as a relatively naïve 18 year old kid from a rural village in upstate New York that had more cows than people. Although my parents were socially conscious in their own way, I was not a very conscientious person in High School. My primary focus was on sports, friendships, and girls. But Fisher changed my attitude about life completely."

The Commencement Of Our Violent Brothers, Juliet Janicik

Verbum

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

"It is taught in Sunday school, catechism, and Catholic and Christian schools across the country and the world that violence is not an option – the golden rule is always to be used. We are to be peaceful beings in regards to physical and emotional health in order to attain full happiness. But what we are not told are things about subjects that are not often breached, like alcohol, sex and drug abuse. We look at these subjects and wonder how our children, friends and siblings could ever fall …

Cancer Turned My Life Right Side Up, Susan Schultz

Verbum

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

"Five years ago I won the reverse lottery. Ovarian cancer is rare and I was diagnosed with an Ovarian Cancer Sarcoma, rarest of the rare. In a busy crowded emergency room, after briefly chatting about the Buffalo Sabres, the ER physician announced “You have a large ovarian tumor that looks like it has spread to your liver.” That abruptly began my cancer journey."

Heroic, Faithful, And Holy, Ryan Dalton

Verbum

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

"An ideology is a subtle, yet expansive way of describing someone’s beliefs and views of the world. Edith Stein clearly places a high precedence on believing in oneself, all people, and having faith in times of adversity. The director of the film Edith Stein portrays the death of Edith Stein as one of a martyr of Auschwitz for her people and for her faith. The ideology of the director is tremendously evident through the heroic, faithful, and holy portrayal of Edith Stein in reference to her religion and all …

Violence In Religion, Zach Vanaernum

Verbum

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

"Religion plays a large role in many people’s life. Many of the choices that people make are influenced and guided by their religious practices. Religion can often help people better themselves and help the lives of others. On the contrary it may seem that religion can do the opposite, causing people to be violent. Religion often gets blamed for acts of violence including suicide, martyrdom and terrorism. This paper will discuss several views of scholars on the role that religion plays in violence, paying close attention to whether religion …

Religion And Violence, Lauren Bannister

Verbum

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

"For thousands of years, religions and belief systems throughout the world have been severely criticized, due primarily to the deadly violence their followers endorsed. History clearly demonstrates that individuals and groups used religion to justify what most people regard as unholy acts. For centuries, discussions have questioned if religion is essentially good, or flawed, and if religion is inherently violent."

A Love Affair With Fisher, Brittnany Broderick

Verbum

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

"St. John Fisher College. These four words are an easy way to describe where I have spent the majority of the last 12 years of my life.

My courtship with Fisher first began when I was a junior in high school. I had friends who attended this college and after only one visit, I was hooked. This place seemed so warm and welcoming. An added bonus: Fisher was small enough that I didn’t feel overwhelmed, yet large enough that I could experience some diversity. Having gone to a smaller …

Enculturation Of The Gospel Through Image: Influences And Attitudes Surrounding Early Christian Art, Peter Santandreu

Verbum

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

"The Gospel message, it seems, cannot exist in a “pure” form. It is always mediated through a culture, literary style, historical circumstance or artistic practice. This means that it incorporates influences that are alien to it, though it does so in a critical manner. With regards to the biblical account, such a realization led to the search for the “historical Jesus” which began in the 18th century. This study will take into account the socio‐cultural and historical factors that went into the first production of Christian images aimed at …

Walls Of Jerusalem, Wegdan Ashkar

Verbum

No abstract provided.

Vision 2020, George Payne

Verbum

No abstract provided.

The Recipient, Paul A. Rothermich

Verbum

No abstract provided.

Time, History, And Providence In The Philosophy Of Nicholas Of Cusa, Jason Aleksander

Faculty Publications

Although Nicholas of Cusa occasionally discussed how the universe must be understood as the unfolding of the absolutely infinite in time, he left open questions about any distinction between natural time and historical time, how either notion of time might depend upon the nature of divine providence, and how his understanding of divine providence relates to other traditional philosophical views. From texts in which Cusanus discussed these questions, this paper will attempt to make explicit how Cusanus understood divine providence. The paper will also discuss how Nicholas of Cusa’s view of the question of providence might shed light on Renaissance …

Strong Marriages In The African American Community: How Religion Contributes To A Healthier Marriage, Lucy K. Shirisia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined how religion contributes to or strengthens strong African American marriages. In order to understand how religion contributed to their marriages, five couples who talked extensively about religion in their marriage were selected out of the total sample of 39 couples and were presented as case studies. Six themes surfaced across all five case studies in answer to the research question: couples consistently practiced their religion, religion was the foundation of the marriage, religion strengthened personal growth, couples had exemplars for a strong marriage, couples turned to religion during difficult times, and religion transcends race. These findings indicate …

Toward An Effective Communication Model For The Evangelization Of The Indian Diaspora In Korea : An Analysis Of Indians' Perceptions Of Christianity And The Korean Church's Missional Approach, Arun Kumar Paul

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.