Religion Commons^™

Leadership Lessons From Christ And Clergy, Noah Edmonson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this study is to develop effective pastoral leadership competencies based on the transformational and servant leadership theories and the life of Jesus. Christ’s life and ministry in the four Gospels was evaluated using Dr. Bernard Bass’s transformational leadership theory and Larry C. Spears’ servant leadership theory. Five competencies were identified by the interviewer to be further investigated for their effectiveness in the application of pastoral leadership. An interview process was conducted with the local Southern Baptist pastors to discuss the effectiveness of the competencies in their ministries. The results of this research indicated the affirmation of the …

Restoring Eden: The Role Of Christianity On Environmental Conservation: A Case Of Karatu District, Arusha, Tanzania, Taylor Allen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In order for environmental conservation to be effective it must have a method of translating to people’s everyday values. Developing countries which include mostly bio-diversity hotspot areas are important to maintain sustainable development. Due to most of these countries following an organized religion, predominantly Christian, an alternative method of conservation may be successful to motivate citizens to participate in efforts. In order for this to be successful, members of the congregation must agree that there is a religious obligation to care for the environment. For Christianity this obligation is discussed by the creation story in the bible. This paper will …

Jane Eyre: The Bridge Between Christianity And Folklore, Teagan Lewis

Student Publications

Charlotte Brontё’s acclaimed novel, Jane Eyre, was first marketed as an autobiography. The story, told from the point of view of a poor orphan girl, takes on a narrative similar to that of a fairytale. In this way, a reader may find difficulty in believing this novel to be a work of nonfiction. Charlotte Brontё employs aspects of both Christianity and fantasy in her novel not to discourage her readers from believing its validity but rather to emphasize how even poor orphan girls like Jane have forces of good guiding them. Jane Eyre is fictional, yet the hardships she …

Understanding Muhammad's Interaction With The Church, Devonte Narde

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

My research focuses on understanding Muhammad’s (the Islamic prophet) interaction with what he perceived to be the Christian church to find out why his understanding of Biblical narratives and theology is incorrect. With this information, Christians should reintroduce Christian scripture and theology to Muslims since Muhammad’s rejection of Christian doctrine is based on associating wrong texts as authoritative Christian teaching. The following questions that shape this research are: What possible sources did Muhammad use to learn about biblical narratives and themes? What did the first Muslims think about the canonical gospels of Jesus? How did early Muslims view the teachings …

An Overview Of Four Traditions On War And Peace In Christian History, Joseph J. Fahey

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay examines four traditions on war and peace that have developed in Christian history. They are: Pacifism, Just War, Total War, and World Community.Pacifism characterized the earliest Christians; Just War appeared in the late fourth and fifth centuries; Total War in the eleventh century; and World Community began in the sixteenth century. All four positions continue today and are held by people who sincerely call themselves Christian.

A Gifting Of Sweetgrass : The Reclamation Of Culture Movement And Naiits, An Indigenous Learning Community, Wendy L. Peterson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Spaces Of The Religious Economy: Negotiating The Regulation Of Religious Space In Singapore, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past three decades, the theory of religious economy has been established, applied, debated, developed, and rejected. It has proven to be as divisive as any "general theory" of religion should be, and yet its core tenets continue to engage and unite scholars around the world. In response to broader shifts within the sociology of religion, this article reframes religious economy by advancing a spatial approach to its theorization. A spatial approach can help develop new perspectives on the regulation of religion, and the resistant agency of religious groups. With a focus on the "secular monopoly" of Singapore, it …

Otherwise Known As Attempting Christianity, Rebecca Evans

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between the pursuit of spiritual principles and the genre of the essay. The three essays are accounts of the author’s experiences with faith, hope, and charity.

The introduction provides a thorough explanation for the motivations, limitations, and goals of the project. It also helps to highlight the reasons why the essay genre was the most suitable style for this thesis.

The first essay, “Be Believing” discusses the role of faith in book censorship. The second piece, “Hope of Israel” explores how the average person can maintain hope in a world full of serious conflicts. Inspiration …

On The (Male) Fringes: How Early Religious Women Remain “Subordinate” In World History Textbooks, Erica M. Southworth

Faculty Creative and Scholarly Works

Second Wave feminist researchers identified male-dominated curriculum formats in late twentieth century curriculum materials. This study builds off their work and advances the conversation of women’s inclusion by current United States secondary world history textbook content via a feminist lens to determine the extent of women’s agency in the accounts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The purpose was to determine if textbooks portrayed these patriarchal religions as exclusively male, thereby presenting inaccurate portrayals of the religions and the agents involved, which directly violates NCSS Standards. This study used critical discourse analysis to identify patterns of female marginalization and omission, indicating …

Christ’S Faith: The Pattern Jesus Set For The World, Austen Haney

Senior Honors Theses

Over the past 50 years, there has been a ripple throughout the Christian community on how to interpret one of its most precious doctrines, the doctrine of justification by faith. Some may think that this issue was resolved during the Reformation or the Enlightenment, but thanks to the New Perspective on Paul movement, the controversy is once again as intensely passionate as ever. The questions range from the vicariousness of Christ’s death, to Paul’s view of the law, and the fundamental meaning of saving faith. This thesis is an attempt to carefully unite the old perspective with the new, to …

Christianity And Gambling: An Introduction, Massimo Leone

Occasional Papers

Religions hold complex relations with games and, in particular, with gambling. The article focuses on Christianity. On the one hand, the history of this religion shows a tendency to condemn games as source of distraction from spiritual rectitude and to stigmatize gambling, above all, as opening to metaphysical randomness and, as a consequence, as challenge to the idea of divine omniscience. On the other hand, Christianity has also sought to reinterpret games, and even gambling, as possible occasion for moral improvement and as useful distraction from the hardship of monastic life. A theological perspective that reaches its peak in Thomas …

African Christian Leadership: Realities, Opportunities, And Impact, David K. Penno

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"African Christian Leadership is a well-organized, well-written report on some very significant research about leaders and the practice of leadership in the African church. The methodology allowed the researcher to hear from a broad spectrum of African Christians. One criticism of the study could be that a sample of church leaders and members in majority Muslim countries of North Africa were not included in the study, but this might be understandable due to the already vast scope of the project. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in leadership in the Christian context, and especially as practiced …

Holistic Discipleship : Impact On Spiritual And Emotional Health, Lynette Shakunthala Sathiasingam

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Examining The Political Motivations Of Christian Women Following The 2016 Presidential Election, Julie Grace

Master's Theses (2009 -)

As research begins and continues to examine the historic nature of the 2016 presidential election, this study aims to understand the political motivations of a specific group of voters – Christian women in two Wisconsin counties that flipped from voting for a Democrat in 2012 to a Republican in 2016. Long-form, qualitative interviews were used to obtain an understanding of the participants’ faith, their view on politics, and their thoughts on the 2016 election and President Trump’s first year in office. Grounded theory was used as a theoretical framework for this study, and the constant comparative method of analysis was …

Theology And Poetry: Literary Aesthetics In The Writing Of Ann Voskamp, Erin Peters

Masters Theses

Because of her work as an author, speaker, blogger, and Compassion International advocate, Christianity Today cited Ann Voskamp as one of the 50 most influential women in shaping the North American evangelical church. Through her poetic, spiritual memoirs, Voskamp has challenged and inspired Christian women in their walk with God while simultaneously raising an important question for Christian literature: What roles does the poetic imagination play in communicating theology? To be sure however, Voskamp’s unique blend of poetic lyricism and personally applied theology has incited significant criticism regarding her loosely constructed language and narrative interpretation of Scripture. This thesis evaluates …

Putting (Inter)Faith Into Practice: Reflections Of A Jewish Scholar In Residence At A Canadian Lutheran Seminary, Daniel Maoz

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Toward A Theology Of Transformation: Destroying The Sycamore Tree Of White Supremacy, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Celebration of Learning

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

Karl Marx And Liberation Theology: Dialectical Materialism And Christian Spirituality In, Against, And Beyond Contemporary Capitalism, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This paper explores convergences and discrepancies between liberation theology and the works of Karl Marx through the dialogue between one of the key contemporary proponents of liberation theology, Peter McLaren, and the agnostic scholar in critical pedagogy, Petar Jandrić. The paper briefly outlines liberation theology and its main convergences with the works of Karl Marx. Exposing striking similarities between the two traditions in denouncing the false God of money, it explores differences in their views towards individualism and collectivism. It rejects shallow rhetorical homologies between Marx and the Bible often found in liberation theology, and suggests a change of focus …

Missional Discipleship Initiative : Coaching Leaders To Develop A Discipling Culture Within Hispanic Congregations Of The Mennonite Church Usa, Marvin Lorenzana

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Kingdom Of Priests And Gods: Angelic And Participatory Deification In John's Apocalypse, David A. Armstrong

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature contains soteriological narratives of human transformation that qualify as examples of deification in antiquity. One widely exemplified type of deification in ancient Jewish apocalypses and apocalyptic literature focuses first on the analogy between priests and angels, and then the gradual assimilation of the former to the identity of the latter. In much apocalyptic thought, God resides in a celestial sanctuary in heaven where angels serve a heavenly liturgy of worship and praise, and it is this reality which the earthly priesthood, temple, and cult mimic and extend into the human world, which led to …

Role Of The Church In Restorative Justice : Sex Trafficking Of Children And Young Girls In Karnataka, Roopa Anand

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Grammars Of Transformation: Saving Evangelical Cultural Engagement, William Watts

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Watts, William J. “Grammars of Transformation: Saving Evangelical Cultural Engagement.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 137 pp.

Evangelical Christians have been struggling to offer a thorough and unified account of cultural engagement for the last several decades. H. Richard Niebuhr’s “Christ the Transformer of Culture” type has supplied evangelicals with the most influential rhetoric on the proper relationship of Christians and the church to the culture at large. However, this consensus is collapsing in the wake of new ways of speaking of cultural engagement that largely downplay or altogether avoid the language of transformation. The emergence of these new ways …

A New Church Model : Inviting And Including People With Or Affected By Mental Health Conditions, Robyn Kay Bradley Bishop

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Antidote For Emerging Neopaganism : Developing A Discipleship Strategy That Calls For Faith In God In A Growing Congregation, Victor O. Olaosebikan

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

From Entrance To Engagement : Experiences That Connect New Attendees In A Faith Community, Alan E. Johnson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mercy Vs. Justice - Blood Of The Lamb, Ryan Murphy

Honors Projects

How did Christ's death save us? The Atonement is a Christian doctrine which has been heavily debated in how it should be understood since the beginnings of Christianity. This analysis covers the theological theories of the Atonement, narrates a Catholic layman's personal understanding that is based on scholarly research and is kept within the bounds of Catholic doctrine, and summarizes the thoughts and feelings of surveyed college-age Christians on the subject.

Christians, Pagans, And Death, Erin Baumer

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

It is commonly believed that Christianity was a new and original religion, but in fact, many pagan religions contributed to Christianity's ideology. In my talk, I will focus on how these religions influenced Christian views of the afterlife, and with that, their views on what the soul is and what it means to be a "good" person.

“Your Miracle Is On The Way”: Oral Roberts And Mediated Pentecostalism In Africa, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts is perhaps the first North American Pentecostal preacher to have a truly global ministry. Th is article discusses his influence on Pentecostalism in Africa through the holding of evangelical healing crusades around the world and also hosting a worldwide media ministry through the use of radio, television, and the distribution of books and magazines. Th rough these visits and media ministry, Oral Roberts inspired and influenced many leading Pentecostal leaders in Africa, including the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa of Nigeria and Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Ghana. An important and enduring influence of the ministry of Oral Roberts in …

Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian Nation: The Theology Of White Supremacy In Liberal White American Christianity, Sophia Driscoll Gamber

Religious Studies Honors Papers

Reinhold Niebuhr’s Christian Nation explores the relationships between white supremacy, American nation-building, and Protestantism. The argument operates on two levels. It is firstly concerned with unpacking the development of white supremacy as a cultural theology that evolved alongside the American project from European colonization to the present day, one which infiltrates all aspects of the American project and provides its unjust racial hierarchies with divine justification. To this end, the project then turns to an analysis of the development of American nationalism and discusses the ways in which we have cultivated a heroic American mythology that undergirds both white supremacy …

The Parallels Between Art Therapy And Christianity: Integrating Identities As A Christian And An Art Therapist, Kendal Hansen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Therapists knowledge of their personal beliefs is extremely beneficial to individual’s working in the field of art therapy. Therapists are better able to serve their clients when they have a clear understanding of themselves and their biases. The writer of this thesis identifies strongly as an art therapist and as a Christian. To better understand how the two strongest parts of her identity integrated, this thesis explored the parallels between Christianity and art therapy by reviewing the literature and facilitating an arts-based qualitative study. The literature suggested that art therapy can be effective with various populations within the Christian category. …