Religion Commons^™

Is God Responsible For Sin?, John Wesley Holmes

Masters Theses

Does sin actually exist without the presence of divine commands? Without a rule can there be a violation? If sin results from violating a divine command, then the assignment of responsibility must fall on the one issuing the commands. However, if God is responsible for sin, then the core of Christianity must be questioned. This thesis confronts the accusation that God is responsible for sin by establishing commands that are foreknown to be violated. This paper will demonstrate that God is not responsible for sin and show humanity to be accountable for individual choices. Demonstrating human responsibility for sin will …

Still Unaccommodated: Why Are Hispanic Catholics Treated Unequally?, Brett C. Hoover

Theological Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

"There Was One Samuel": Possible Multiple Sources For The Samuel Narrative, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

During the second day of Christ’s ministry to the New World, a curious event took place. Having taught and commented on a number of biblical texts, Christ then had Nephi3 present his own record for review.1 The inspection uncovered a missing event that Christ brought to the attention of the gathered disciples: “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, …

Restoration For A Traumatized World, Katelyn Campbell Weakley, Ingrid Weiss Slikkers

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Young People And Full Time Pastoral Ministry In The Church Of Pentecost U.S.A., Inc, Frank Asirifi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The shortage of young pastors to replace the aging and retiring pastorate is an alarming reality confronting Christian churches regardless of location, size, and denomination. This research project's primary objective was to explore the factors discouraging young Christian adults born in the United States of America from responding obediently to God's call into full-time pastoral ministry and create corporate awareness of the holistic nature of the problem and seek a collaborative solution plan to motivate young Christian adults to obey God’s call into full-time pastoral ministry. The project focuses on young American-born adults in the ministry context of The Church …

The Development Of A Biblical Theology Curriculum For The Congregation Of Poplar Bluff First Baptist Church, Brandon Paul Spain

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to educate the congregation of First Baptist Church of Poplar Bluff how to understand the biblical theology of Scripture. It is the belief that if the people of FBCPB receive proper training in the subject of biblical theology that they will begin to appreciate the grand narrative of the biblical story. It is the researcher’s hope that once the people begin to read the Bible through a gospel lens they will become eager to dive deeper into the Word of God. The researcher also has hope that a healthy biblical theology will not only …

Engagement Of Millennials: Understanding The Decline Within Greater Hartford Area Churches, Victor Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

ecent trends reveal the sharpest decline in Church attendance in the Greater Hartford area has occurred within the population known as the Millennials. A question that is looming and of significance in this decade is what causes this generation to be attracted to some Churches and not others? Ten Protestant inner-city Churches within the Greater Hartford Area were studied to discover if there is a nexus between millennial participation, church leadership, and tools for equipping the millennial population of the church body. This study discovered several factors which impact millennial engagement which include, social influences, political ideologies, technology, and generational …

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, August 1, 2021

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Newsletter Catholic Deaf Of Detroit, August 2021

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Detroit, MI

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit Finding Aid

Pentecostalism: A Comparative Study Of African And African American Churches In Springfield, Emmanuel Kumah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis is a comparative ethnography of two forms of black Pentecostalism, an African American congregation and an African immigrant congregation. The goal of this project is to show the similarities and differences between these Pentecostal groups. By observing members and interviewing them about worship practices, glossolalic utterances, and gender, the project reveals that although these two groups historically have a common root, there are both real parallels and differences between them because they developed independently from each other. This fieldwork at the African American Deliverance Temple Ministries and the African immigrant Redeemed Christian Church of God revealed that women …

A Quantitative Descriptive Study Of The Impact Bible Reading Has On The Lives And Leadership Of American Evangelical Church Pastoral Leaders, Andrea Michelle Burson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive research was to ascertain both the amount of time spent reading the Bible and the perceived impact of regular reading on the lives and leadership roles of American Evangelical Christian church pastoral leaders. The central assumption guiding this study was that the Bible is a vital source for Christian leaders that provides many benefits to its readers, including leadership guidance that biblical and historical leaders have diligently applied. Because these leaders serve as role models, the theoretical foundation guiding this research was Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory of Development, which has linked learning to …

Sexual Identity, Mental, Emotional, And Religious Stability: A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Religious Lived Experiences Of Heterosexual Men Who Once Identified As Gay Or Bisexual, Mccay Martin Moiforay

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aims are to fill the gap in research with regards to how to successfully provide religious support to men who once identified as gay or bisexual, who currently identify as heterosexual and religious. The research purpose is to share these men lived experiences regarding their sexual identity journey from gay or bisexual to heterosexual within the religious setting. The research plans to help understand what religious support is needed to provide those who desire sexual identity change from gay or bisexual to heterosexual and how this same religious support can be used in maintaining their heterosexual identity. These …

The Influence Of Views Regarding Scriptural Authority On Female Leadership: The Independent Baptist African American Denomination, Cynthia Mczeal

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the proposed exploratory research study is to examine how different views on scriptural authority regarding female leadership impact women in leadership in the Independent Baptist African American denominational church. The research is necessitated by the extant complementarian-egalitarian debates on scriptural authority regarding female leadership in the selected religious denomination, the high view of scripture amongst evangelicals, and the increasing growth of women’s influence on the evangelical church. There have been little, if any efforts, to understand how various views regarding scriptural authority affect women in leadership in the Independent Baptist African American Denominational Church setting. The main …

Micro-Kingdom: A Theological And Missiological Apologetic For The Microchurch Model As An Effective And Faithful New Testament Expression Of The Kingdom Of God, Donald Clayton Dodge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Using a bibliographic methodology, this thesis is a theological and missiological defense for the microchurch model as a solution to the limitations of the prevalent Western attractional model to effectively live out Jesus command to be a community of disciples making disciples. The declining western model is proving insufficient in a post-Christian, post-Christendom world to fulfill the intended role of the church. And as more churches are continually planted, if the erroneous presuppositions responsible for the decline of the church’s efficacy are not amended, there will be no lasting change regardless of how much effort and money is invested. New …

The Relationship Between Contemporary Evangelical Church Leadership And Church Discipleship Formation, James Lawrence Marshall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine if the church leadership paradigm contributes to the problem of a lack of disciple-making in Pennsylvania Evangelical churches. A disciple is defined as an unwavering commitment to the Lordship of Christ that is illustrated by Luke 9:23 in which disciples deny themselves and carry their cross daily. This research sought to identify the causes for the lack of discipleship in Pennsylvania Evangelical churches, and had the following findings from the quantitative survey. First, the vision that leadership provides for disciple-making is much higher than either the member involvement in discipleship …

A Study On The Essence Of Worship In Online Worship Groups Under Covid-19 Pandemic: Focus On Korean Ministers In The Northern Virginia Area, Nakjung Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to review the current needs regarding online worship that were conducted by Korean ministers in the Northern Virginia area under the COVID-19 pandemic and thereby supplement the found needs through establishing a theological basis and a summary of essential elements of worship that should be applied to online worshiping groups. Thirty-three (N = 33) Korean ministers in the Northern Virginia area who conducted online worship under COVID-19 participated in this survey. Results showed that the dominant need in online worship was an education on the essence of worship followed by technical support and ways …

“Precios Perle Wythouten Spotte”: Accepting The Unknowable In Pearl, Jana Ishee

Master's Theses

The fourteenth-century Middle English poem Pearl, authored by the anonymous Pearl-poet, survives in a manuscript known as London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero A.x. This dream vision, narrated by a grieving father, tells the story of his journey to Paradise, where he encounters his infant daughter, now older, regal, and wise, proffering admonishments with the authority of God to her tearful father. meeting with her in Paradise. Drawing on Caroline Walker Bynum’s work on medieval European conceptions of death and resurrection, J. Stephen Russell’s work on the dream vision genre, and Karl Steel’s work on oysters as liminal figures, …

The Awakening Of Islamic Pop Music, Jonas Otterbeck

Books

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Perceived Quality Of Life And Spiritual Beliefs, Education Level, Socioeconomic Status, Gender, And Ethnicity In Cancer Patients And Cancer Survivors, Eva Arjona

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify a relationship between perceived Quality of Life and religious/spiritual beliefs. Additionally, it aimed to explore relationships between perceived QOL and age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and Socioeconomic Status (SES). The research question examined in this study was: What is the relationship between perceived quality of life and spiritual beliefs, education level, socioeconomic status, age gender, and ethnicity in cancer patients and cancer survivors? A total of 100 cancer patients or cancer survivors were surveyed for this study. A regression analysis was conducted to explore relationships among the variables; the alpha level was …

Rotten With Prediction, Serena Raquel Hicks

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project focuses on the relationship between religion and technology as it is portrayed in Science Fiction (SF). This thesis explores the SF genre rhetorically by examining the 2002 movie Minority Report (MR), which signaled the importance of surveillance and the need to predict future crimes following 9/11. The events of 9/11 played a significant role in post 9/11 SF films, which reflect and critique our communal and cultural values. 9/11 created a new relationship between the U.S justice system, predictive technologies (PTs), and data gathering. Through the Bush Doctrine of “preemptive action,” the U.S government attempted to use Dataism, …

Psychedelic Drugs And Atheism: Debunking The Myths, Wayne Glausser

English Faculty publications

Two recent surveys of people who took psychedelic drugs and reported “God experience encounters”, along with successful clinical trials using psychedelic therapy for depression, have given rise to public misconceptions about psychedelics and atheism. Specifically, three inferences have been drawn: (1) that the psychedelic experience tends to dissolve atheist convictions; (2) that atheist convictions, once dissolved, are replaced with traditional monotheist beliefs; and (3) that atheism and depression somehow correlate as afflictions for which psychedelic drugs offer relief. This paper argues, based on analysis of the studies and trials along with relevant supplemental evidence, that each of these popular inferences …

The Erosion Of Theological Understanding, Thomas Glenn Sleeth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Christian churches have been experiencing declines in attendance at Sunday services, Bible studies, and prayer meetings, and have experienced the affects of an apathetic attitude toward Christian community engagement. The lack of teaching scripturally accurate Biblical doctrine and applying scripture to daily life has led to a sharp decrease in discipleship. By examining the attitudes and reasons contributing to this lack of Christian participation and scriptural understanding, pastors and other church leadership can address the specific rationales for not living the scripture in daily life. Through the advent of a discipleship program an increase for the desire of congregants …

Effective Sermon Application In A Charlotte Exurb Baptist Church, David Keuss

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis explores an improvement in expository sermon application using two technical tools added to the sermon divisions of sermon series messages. The background of applicational improvements is explored, the problem at Sandy Plains Baptist Church of Gastonia is outlined, and the solution employed. The problem is a spiritual comfort or plateau among members with previous life applications of sermons. The goal was to provide two new resources that would overcome the spiritual status quo in Sunday worship attendee’s lives. This method was tested utilizing Likert scale surveys, unpaired T-tests, and facilitator notations. The thesis project provides guidance to other …

Saint Jude's, July 31-August 8, 2021

Saint Jude's

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Waltham, MA

Saint Jude's Finding Aid

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Church Gatherings In The Philippines: A Policy Analysis, Grace Zurielle Malolos, Joseph Christian Obnial, Rena Mallillin, Pamela Bianca Pasco, Erika Ong, Arianne Andes, Faith Ann Apat, Emma Teresa Carmela Aportadera, Rafael Valencia, Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno Iii

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

The Philippines is the largest Christian-majority country in Asia. With church gatherings playing a vital role in the nature of Christianity in the Filipino culture, the advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines posed challenges to public religious practices amid efforts to mitigate COVID-19 community transmission. Various policy pronouncements from both the government-led Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and the church-led Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) were issued. These guidelines were implemented in order to address the two-pronged problem on healthcare and religious obligations. While these guidelines were initially contributory to the mitigation …

Imam Al-Zamakhshari's Rhetorical Questions In Al-Wasel And Al-Fasel (Surat Al-Baqarah As An Example), Othman Jabarat, Nizar Atallah

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

The research aims at examining the Rhetorical interpretation of the holy Qur’ān

through al-Zamakhshari’s questions and answers in Surah al-Baqarh regarding disjunction

and conjunction al-Fasl and al- Wasl. The research determined the standards

of the disjunction and conjunction, and applied them in the discussion of

al-Zamakhshari’s views in details. It also clarified the preference of disjunction over

conjunction; deciding that the foundation with regards to speech is the “Efficiency

of Conjunction”, and pointing to the existence of fairness between the two efficiencies.

Such discussion came in an objective comparative study seeking the truth and

discussing al-Zamakhshari’s choices among many points …

Determinants Of The Size Of Financing In Islamic Banks Operating In Jordan, Nadia Youssef, Emad Barakat

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

The study aims to test the main determinants of the size of Islamic banking finance in Jordan and its impact on it using data from a sample of Islamic banks operating in Jordan for the period from 2006 to 2015. The relationship between the size of Islamic banking finance and some main determinants such as (pricing of finance, size of deposits, bank size, liquidity, cash required reserve, economic growth rate, financing risks) has been tested. The results of the study indicate that there is a statistically significant effect for each of the deposits size, economic growth and required reserve, while …

Resistance, Terrorism, And The Problem Of Defining Its Concepts In Light Of The Provisions Of Islamic Law And International Law The Sunnah Between The Confirmation Of Rulings, Their Establishment, And The Legislative Impact: A Fundamentalist Study, Musa Abu Al-Rish

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

Legislative and effect. Fundamentalist study This research aims to shed light on the relationship between the Koran and the Sunnah in meaning in the concept and ranked in the framework in accordance with the standard fundamentalist, and looks problematic gravel in determining the relationship between the Qoran and the Sunnah type, you are related to dependence or independence or between that strength, and has the authority to add the verdicts by what it is allowed by the foundation, and needed, to the expansion of the architecture and the findings of a researcher that the conflict in this issue verbal, and …

Resistance, Terrorism, And The Problem Of Defining Its Concepts In Light Of The Provisions Of Islamic Law And International Law, Mohammed Al-Gharaybeh, Salim Hatamleh, Jihad Al-Jarrah, Sana Al-Huniti, Omar Al-Akour

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

The terrorism phenomenon is considered during the arm conflict one of the negative phenomena in our contemporary word. Which spread to threat the security of revolutionary people against the assaults .the defines religions including Islam and later the rules of international law refused terrorism on the ground that Islam on its sense is a peace messages works to settle down pillows of right, and the balance of justice among people. terrorism produces nothing but fear and frightening peaceful people , and devote the phenomena the corruption of earth which forbidden by Islam , on the contrary as a reaction the …

The Absolute And The General In The Fundamentalist And Linguistic Balance And Legislative Impact, Musa Abu Al-Rish

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

This research aims to clarify the misunderstanding in comparing and approaching the concepts of the terminologies :_.(The Absolute and the Indefinite) ، (The .General and the special) ، (The Absolute and the General )، In addition to the relationship between those concepts .It also studies the different Scholars reviews .this study is essential to Leaglists. .and “ Fogaha” Juvists when the compose texts as this affect leagalation and discussion .The re.search results in that the common absolute is usful general and the usefulness of the common general includes everyone .The absolute had been ranked between the general and the special …