Religion Commons^™

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Human Capabilities, Religion, And Rights, Oleg Makariev

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines whether a commitment to human rights is cogent apart from a religious view of life. I identify three distinctive religious criticisms of secular conceptions of human rights, from ultimate meaning, dignity, and comprehensive good, illustrating each through the work of a prominent author, Michael J. Perry, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Alasdair MacIntyre. The criticism from ultimate meaning focuses on assessing enduring goods and universal solidarity, from dignity on distinct and equal human worth in relation to other species, and from comprehensive good on holistic flourishing, shared reasons, and sources of obligation. I grapple with these criticisms by drawing …

“Just About Right”: Contrasting Views Of Local Church Efforts In South Korea, China, And The Ukraine, Petr Cincala, Rene Drumm

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

This presentation highlights data from the 2017 Church Member Survey in South Korea, China, and Ukraine. The analysis of over 3,300 members reveals statistically significant differences in the levels of satisfaction concerning the local church’s efforts in evangelism, community involvement, and nurturing its members. In addition, differences surfaced regarding policy-setting on the local level.

Life Or Death And Other False Dichotomies: A Theology Of Hospice, Kayla Stock

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Feelings of fear and failure are often ascribed to death and dying; hospice offers a new way forward. This paper considers fear of death from a personal and evolutionary psychological perspective, then branching into the ways fear of death and death anxiety are made manifest in the health care system. Within the health care system, in particular the biomedical model of health care, death is construed as the enemy, the ultimate mark of failure. In one sense, death is fundamentally unknown, and is therefore naturally fear-inducing. Simultaneously, death is also both singularly and universally knowable; it is the only thing …

Data For Decisions: A Survey On Biblical Language Training And The Future Of Pastoral Education, Angelika Kaiser, J. Amanda Mcguire-Moushon

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Data for Decisions.

A Survey on Biblical Language Training and the Future of Pastoral Education (Abstract)

Presented by J. Amanda McGuire-Moushon and Angelika Kaiser (PhD candidates).

In 2010, David J. A. Clines asked the question “Teaching Biblical Languages: Time for a Rethink?”.[1] In his essay he outlined various areas in which teachers of Biblical languages should start to reassess their understanding of teaching and learning biblical languages, including premises, method(s), and desired outcomes. Asking Cline’s question in the context of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary has direct implications for developing a profile for the future Seventh-day Adventist pastor.

Furthermore, …

“Adventist Millennials: Measuring Emerging Adults Connection To Church”, Douglas Jacobs, Chelsy Tyler

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

How do graduates of Adventist universities connect with or disconnect from the church in the context of identity, community, orthodoxy, and orthopraxy? Findings include the influence personal religiosity has on acceptance of Adventist teachings and faith practice, and the negative impact media usage and transitory lifestyles have on connection to local churches.

Kim Davis Denied His Marriage License. Will Voters Let Him Try To Oust Her?, Will Wright

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

“The Lolelaplap (Marshall Islands) In Us: Sailing West To East (Ralik→Ratak) To These Our Atolls (Aelon Kein Ad) Ad Jolet Jen Anij (Our Blessed Inheritance From God)”, Desmond N. Doulatram

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper discusses the expansion of Oceania through a Marshallese indigenous lens as a focal point. It explains that decolonizing methodologies allows reclaiming of space for mental liberation and reassurement of constitutional rights. It highlights similar occurrences of decolonization practices meeting resistance in the 21st century all while strengthening the human right argument that no human deserves any less than their fellow human brothers and sisters. It argues that an indigenous imagery can only be viewed through an indigenous lens where the researches’ level of purity is retained and unfiltered. It nevertheless argues that Marshallese ethnolinguistics reveal the same cultural …

“Unwanted In My Own Country”: Testimonies Of Identity And Belonging-Negotiations In A Post-Trump America, Nadia Naghedi Baradaran Hajjar

Master's Theses

This research investigates the impact of Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential elections and the so-called, “Muslim” Travel Ban presidential executive orders, on communities of first and second-generation Middle Eastern, Muslim immigrant women in the Los Angeles area, and it is framed within the context of post 9/11-biases and racial discrimination. The ethnographic-like methodology for this research has been conducted with the use of 11 semi-structured in-depth interviews from 2017 that have been transcribed and coded. Findings from the interview data shows that there is a varied amount of responses from the 2016 Presidential Elections and travel ban, however, …

起死回生(Resuscitation): Japan's Search For Machines And Their Meanings, Justin P. Mcdonnell

Master's Projects and Capstones

Japan’s lost decade(s) ushered in a new era of economic and societal malaise, marked by a shrinking population, an increased proportion of elderly people, inequality, neo-nationalism(s), uncertainty, and isolation. This project seeks to understand how Japan is trying to address these issues and reconstruct itself from the lost decade(s) with the use of artificial intelligence (jinkou chihou) and robotics along with the societal implications of this technology. This interdisciplinary research utilizes innovative, historical narratives (Morris-Suzuki,1988, Hornyak 2006), and the socio-cultural milieu of Japan and its traditions (Allison 2013; Katsuno 2010) to further appreciate and acknowledge Japanese perspectives and …

Falling Far From The Tree? God's Rejection Of Cain Outside The Garden Of Eden (Genesis 4:1-16), Mark Remington Squire

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Squire, Mark R. “Falling Far from the Tree?: God’s Rejection of Cain Outside the Garden of Eden.” S.T.M. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2018. 105 pp.

This thesis offers a review of the history of interpretation of the account of Gen 4:1–16. Specifically, the focus of this thesis regards the question of why God favored Abel and his sacrifice and not Cain and his sacrifice. The paper provides an original translation of Gen 4:1–16, as well as translation notes. The historical interpretations of the answer to the question of why God favored Abel over Cain are grouped into three broad categories: Cain’s …

P-09 A Conceptual Framework For Analyzing The 2017-2018 Seventh-Day Adventist Global Church Member Survey, Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. Mcbride

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

We, along with others, developed the 2017-18 Global Church Member Survey currently being used by the Seventh-day Adventist Church to assess the quinquennial Church Strategic Plan. We included items for comparison to previous surveys, along with items to measure performance indicators from the Strategic Plan. However, our unique contributions were grounded in a novel theoretical framework based on Biblical principles and concepts in the social sciences. The Biblical contribution to the core of this framework focused on scriptural teaching on discipleship and God’s active role believer’s lives. The social science contribution to the core integrated theories of motivation (Deci & …

P-11 Social Support And Fundamentalism As Predictors Of Religious Internalization, David S. Sherman, Carolyn B. Goyne, Yasmine Siagian, Marialexxa Holman, Karl G. D. Bailey

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

What variables are the strongest predictors of religious identification? Religious internalization can be broken down into identification, the full adoption of religious values, and introjection, a partial internalization of values. Fundamentalism is one variable thought to predict these motivational types. We defined fundamentalism as the degree to which someone holds their sacred texts as true. Additionally, social support relates to religious internalization. To measure these variables, two separate scales were used for each: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale for social support, Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale and Revised Religious Fundamentalism scale for fundamentalism, and The …

A Significant Shift In The Use Of Resources Around The Years 1960 And 1980 In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Australia And The United States, Robert K. Mciver

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Between 1900 and 1960 the number of ordained ministers in Australia and the US followed a natural growth curve. Between 1960-1970 and following 1980 the number of ordained pastors remained relatively constant, despite growth in tithe receipts and membership. This paper explores possible reasons for this pattern.

Chapel Schedule 2017-2018, Taylor University

Chapel 2017-18

The chapel schedule for the 2017-2018 academic year.

A Meditation In Three Parts, Brent Nakamoto

Graduate School of Art Theses

I’m interested in the way we read images—they way we see through an image’s surface in order to perceive its illusion, in the same way that we see through words in order to understand their meaning. I’m interested in this relationship, in both images and texts, between surface, illusion, and meaning. In Buddhist philosophy, the source of suffering is in our attachments to the self-as-image. The function of Zen meditation practice is to bring attention to this process of perception and, in doing so, to help see through the illusions of self-hood and ground our understanding in the reality of …

Future Perfect: Tolstoy And The Structures Of Agrarian Buddhist Utopianism In Taishō Japan, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

This study focuses on the role played by the work of Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) in shaping socialism and agrarian-Buddhist utopianism in Japan. As Japanese translations of Tolstoy’s fiction and philosophy, and accounts of his life became more available at the end of the 19th century, his ideas on the individual, religion, society, and politics had a tremendous impact on the generation coming of age in the 1900s and his popularity grew among young intellectuals. One important legacy of Tolstoy in Japan is his particular concern with the peasantry and agricultural reform. Among those inspired by Tolstoy and the narodniki lifestyle, …

Wrap-Up Report, Wonsuk Ma

Empowered21 Global Network of Spirit-Empowered Scholars

No abstract provided.

Correspondence: Letter Of Apology To Dr. Chikane, Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Collection Textual

A letter of apology written by Archbishop Tutu to Dr. Chikane and copied to the ex TRC Commissioners. Undated and handwritten.

And Their Eyes Were Opened: The Call To Paradox, Bruce L. Jacobson

Master of Arts Theses

No abstract provided.

St. Francis Of Assisi Catholic Church And Center For The Deaf Sunday Bulletin, May 13, 2018

Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and Center for the Deaf Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Landover Hills, MD

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and Center for the Deaf Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

Easter 7 Series B 2018, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the Propers for the Seventh Sunday in Easter, Series B and offers ideas for proclamation and preaching.

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, May 13, 2018

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Establishing Ethical Processes For Church Finances, Carl A. Williamson

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Interventions And The Soul: Moral And Ethical Considerations, Bruce Vermeer

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Explaining The Obvious: Privileged Hermeneutics And The Irony Of Explicitly Literal Interpretation, Joshua Alkire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine why so many uses of the word literal (whether taken from everyday contemporary speech or the works of well-respected ancient writers) seem at odds with the word’s theoretical definition and to explore the implications of this disparity for those who privilege a literal interpretation of Scripture. The examples will show that the meaning of literal was not altered at a particular point in time, nor is it altered on an ongoing basis by a small subset of particularly idiosyncratic individuals. Rather, the word is predisposed to behave strangely the moment it is …

The Church As A Eucharistic And Prophetic Community In India: A Theological Exploration Into The Challenges And Implications Of A Eucharistic Ecclesiology Based On The Early Church And The Statements Of The Indian Theological Association (Ita), Shibi Devasia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theological trends change from time to time to make the faith more meaningful and relevant to the contemporary context. To an extent, the Second Vatican Council, by its commitment to two concepts, “ressourcement” and “aggiornamento,” succeeded in this mission in the last century. The communion ecclesiology of the Council, which has its foundation in the sacrament of Eucharist, shows that the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church cannot be overlooked, because the ecclesial body of the Church is built up by the Eucharistic body of Christ. Any Eucharist-centered ecclesiology is prophetic and eschatological by nature. The “Eucharistic” and …

Communication Ethics: Ellul's Complexity Of Form, Marianne Pabis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to enlarge understanding of Ellul’s dilemma of the ethical Christian communicator through a hermeneutic exploration of his intentionally un-paradigmatic treatment of technology as the determining factor in the formation of contemporary structural realities, a claim central to Ellul’s theory of technological society. It attends to the question of why, over the course of more than 50 books and over 1,000 articles, Ellul has refused to expound upon this claim as an overarching theoretical construct. As a contribution to the field of communication ethics from Ellul’s Christocentric perspective, this work also explicates the importance of what has become …

Jean-Luc Marion And Gianni Vattimo’S Contributions For The Postmodern Faith, Michael Mcgravey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic theology in the postmodern era has encountered various cultural or narrative shifts—both negative and positive—which have helped shape the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity at large. Negatively, the Church has been affected by external factors (e.g., globalization, immigration/emigration, increased access to technology, etc.) and internal struggles (e.g., reduced church attendance, an aging population, etc.). Positively, as others have suggested, postmodernity has ushered in a return to religion through new philosophical and theological ideas (e.g., phenomenology, existentialism, post-metaphysics, etc.). This dissertation aims to contribute to the ongoing postmodern concerns addressed in the cultural and narrative shifts, by focusing on the …

Jon Sobrino’S Liberation Christology And Its Implication For The “Crucified People” Of The Niger Delta Region In Nigeria., Augustine Wayii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis was carried out to investigate Sobrino’s liberation Christology and its implication for the “crucified people” of Niger Delta region in Nigeria. The thesis became very crucial because God’s gift of oil to the Niger Delta region has become a source of sorrow and death as a result of unjust structures by the Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies. Sobrino’s liberation Christology was very much appropriate for this research work because of the way he uses the present-day crucified people to understand better the crucified Christ. The “crucified people” in the Niger Delta region like the other crucified …