Religion Commons^™

Feminist Theology And The Fantastic In Jewish Poetics And Children's Literature (1960s–Present), Meira S. Levinson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the development of Jewish fantasy rhetoric in post-WWII British and American literature, focusing on three genres: kabbalistic Beat poetry, children’s fantasy, and graphic novels/comics. Despite increasing scholarly attention to all these areas, little work has focused on fantasy rhetoric or issues of gender and sexuality within non-canonical Jewish literature, or on interplays of religion and fantasy in children’s literature. Jewish kabbalistic poetry and children’s fantasy speak to each other in their mutual engagements with the otherworldly, mystical and monstrous, interrogations of gender, and complex portrayals of feminist theological potentialities. I identify and analyze Jewish-hermeneutic themes and methodologies …

A Heavy Rain Has Fallen Upon My People: Sindhi Sufi Poetry Performance, Emotion, And Islamic Knowledge In Kachchh, Gujarat, Brian E. Bond

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a study of the use and contestation of Sindhi-language Sufi poetry performance as a means of Islamic knowledge transmission and ethical self-formation in rural Muslim communities in Kachchh, a border district in the western Indian state of Gujarat adjacent to Sindh, Pakistan. Drawing on eighteen months of ethnographic research with Muslim performers and enthusiasts of Sindhi poetry between 2014-2018, I first examine an ecology of performative and interpretive practices revolving around the musico-poetic repertoire of the poet-saint Shāh ʿAbdul Lat̤īf Bhiṭā’ī (1689-1752 CE). I argue that the pedagogical efficacy of Sufi poetry performance is undergirded by its …

Revisiting The Riddle In Samaria : A Social-Scientific Investigation Of Spirit Reception In Luke-Acts In Historical Perspective, Thomas Lyons

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Recruiting And Funding Church Planters : Best Practices For Planting Networks, Jeffrey A. Horsman

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

History Of The Umayyad Caliphate In Andalusia: A Historical Study Of Its Diplomatic Relations With The European Kingdoms, Milaoud Isam

Student Works (2020-2029)

This study discusses the Umayyad caliphate in Andalusia and its diplomatic relationship with the kingdoms of Europe during the fourth century AH, tenth century AD. It is considered one of the most flourishing centuries of Islamic Arab rule in Andalusia. At that time, Europe was in its dark ages. The great Western countries sought to reconcile Cordoba and come close to its caliphs. The following research question is used to investigate the problem under this study: What is the nature of Umayyad caliphate in Andalusia and its relationship with the kings of Europe? The present study aims to track the …

Contemporary Confessional Commitment: A Models-Based Approach With A Particular Focus On Global South Lutheranism, Roberto Bustamante

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Bustamante, Roberto E. “Contemporary Confessional Commitment: A Models-Based Approach with a Particular Focus on Global South Lutheranism.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2019. 297 pp.

Current scholarly research on creeds and confessions is in a paradoxical situation. We live in a golden age of such research because of its growing findings and new contributions, but at the same time we are experiencing what is arguably the deepest crisis in terms of confessional alliance and semantic clarity. Additionally, Global South Lutheranism is in a search of identity and legitimate reasons that may justify ascribing the Lutheran Confessions a relevant role in shaping …

Discipling Generation Z Marines: A Qualitative Study At The Center For Naval Aviation Technical Training, Jeffrey Scott Tagert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Generation Z is the largest generation currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. This project sought to identify the generational trends and their influences in discipleship ministry in the context of the United States Marine Corps. The researcher further planned and instituted a unit Bible study at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training New River. The project utilized a “Basic Bible Questionnaire,” a “Generational-Methodology Questionnaire,” and a five-week Bible study. The researcher utilized the Bible storying method as a means to short-term discipleship in Marine students at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training New River. The information …

Basic Bible Interpretation: Introducing The Inductive Bible Study Method, Jason L. Bell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a dire need for Christians to know a viable method of biblical interpretation. This project seeks to address that need through teaching the inductive Bible study to a group of people in a Southern Baptist congregation. The participant learning outcomes for the project were to acquire a method of biblical interpretation, develop the ability to perform a method of biblical interpretation, gain knowledge of the book of Jude, and to utilize meditation as a means to enrich spirituality. This project used action research as its primary methodology. The triangulation method of data analysis was employed by collecting data …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Role Of Institutional Debt In The Mid-America Region Of Acsi, John Robert Beck

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to inductively explore and understand how school leadership’s views on institutional debt impacted its use at Christian kindergarten-twelfth grade (K-12) schools in the Mid-America Region of the Association of Christian Schools International (MAR-ACSI). Institutional debt was generally defined as large and reoccurring expenses such as mortgages for school buildings. The qualitative research theory guiding this study was transcendental phenomenological reduction articulated by Clark Moustakas (1994) in his Phenomenological Research Methods. The Moustakas model provided an effective way to explore the gap in the literature found about how institutional debt impacted the planning and …

Pastoral Counseling: The Pastor’S Guide To Ministering Chronic And Terminally Ill Children And Their Families, Barbara F. Holston-Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Millions of children will die this year due to chronic and terminal illnesses. The medical and psychological communities have attempted for decades to find a methodology that will help parents and the child find hope for the future. The psychological and medical communities’ meta-analysis studies have shown that the goal of hope has been elusive for children and families in all current modalities. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true assurance for parents and children experiencing chronic and terminal childhood illness. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans that believing in the gospel brings life all joy, …

Behind The Iron Curtain: The Impact Of Persecution On Evangelical Worship, Christy Gabrielle Solomon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite detailed accounts of religious persecution faced by evangelicals behind the Iron Curtain, many narratives are incomplete, and therefore, the understanding of the extent persecution impacted the worship of believers is limited. With more Christians today being persecuted for their faith than ever before, it is important for believers in America to understand what happens in the lives of their Christian brothers and sisters when they face persecution. By comparing the religious practices of these evangelicals before, during, and after the lifting of the Iron Curtain, the differences in corporate and individual worship as a result of persecution become evident. …

Winds Of Change 1989: A Perspective From An Office For Religious Affairs Somewhere In Eastern Europe, Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Under communism, in what used to be Eastern Europe, religion was neither outlawed nor favorably regarded either. In some cases, church and state had been at latent or open war as in Poland or in the former Yugoslavia. There, church-state relations radically changed over the course of more than five decades, which is the theme of this article. Confrontations began in 1945 and spanned to 1953. Accommodations from 1966 to 1980 permitted a relatively peaceful coexistence between church and state. Thereafter the public religions and ethnic mobilizations of the 1980s escalated into the Balkan wars of the 1990s. It was …

Ascertaining Factors Affecting Church Congregational Affiliation Among Anglophone Caribbean Immigrants In South Florida, Sheryl Marks-Williams

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Flower Unfurling: Buddhist Modernism And The Early Writing Of James Joyce, Erin Garrow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the history of the references to Buddhism in Stephen Hero, James Joyce’s first and unpublished novel, through the author’s previous writing, his sources, and his context, in order to determine how—if at all—the tradition bore upon his earliest depiction of consciousness. Acknowledging that Joyce habitually revisited and refined earlier ideas and prose, it attends to previous essays, notebooks, book reviews, conversations, letters, epiphanies, poems, and autobiographical prose; to available material, bibliographical, and biographical evidence about the specific volumes and performances to which Joyce had access; to language and paratext—including advertisements, introductions, and appended essays—in those volumes; …

The “Indirect Message” In Kierkegaard And Chán Buddhism, Zdeněk Zacpal

Comparative Philosophy

The article seeks to analyse Kierkegaard’s indirecte Meddelelse, which the author proposes to translate as ‘indirect message’. It attempts to consider and illuminate this concept and its general characteristics, types and cases in Kierkegaard's work. They are to serve as a baseline for investigations of indirect messages in Buddhism, especially the famous ‘public cases’ (gong-àn / kōan 公案) of the Chán Buddhists. The author tries to specify indirect messages on both sides of the cultural divide in terms of some Western philosophers. Kierkegaard’s theoretical rationale for his indirect message is profound, sophisticated and appropriate to the theoretical …

On What Is Real In Nāgārjuna’S “Middle Way”, Richard H. Jones

Comparative Philosophy

It has become popular to portray the Buddhist Nāgārjuna as an ontological nihilist, i.e., that he denies the reality of entities and does not postulate any further reality. A reading of his works does show that he rejects the self-existent reality of entities, but it also shows that he accepts a "that-ness" (tattva) to phenomenal reality that survives the denial of any distinct, self-contained entities. Thus, he is not a nihilist concerning what is real in the final analysis of things. How Nāgārjuna’s positions impact contemporary discussions of ontological nihilism and deflationism in Western philosophy is also discussed.

Saudi Runaway, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Saudi Runaway (2020) directed by Susanne Regina Meures.

Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness (2019) directed by Massoud Bakhshi.

Living In Light And Justice, Calvin Institute Of Christian Worship, Jonathan Hehn Osl, Choral Scholars, Kate Williams

Symposium on Worship Archive

One of the great gifts of the liturgical movement in the mid-twentieth century was the recovery of Evening Prayer as a public daily service meant for the whole church, and not just something to be celebrated in monasteries or as a private devotion. Prominent liturgical historians and musicians of the 1960s and 70s, many of whom taught at and/or were alumni of the liturgical studies program at the University of Notre Dame, were instrumental in recovering the ancient “cathedral-style” of Evening Prayer (Vespers). This style included the now famous Lucenarium rite as well as a robust sense of congregational participation …

Songs That Welcome And Songs That Send, Calvin Institute Of Christian Worship, Isaac Wardell, Urban Doxology

Symposium on Worship Archive

A worship service featuring songs of welcoming and sending.

Gracious Bilingual Worship, Martin Tel

Symposium on Worship Archive

Most often in bilingual worshiping communities, one language is dominant. Sometimes this disparity is massive. In many communities there are shifting patterns in which a previously dominant language is waning. While many assume that bilingual worship will by nature be a positive experience, the way that we plan and lead bilingual singing can in fact exacerbate feelings of anxiety, inferiority, or frustration. In this workshop we will explore alternative and achievable approaches to bilingual singing and praying that feel less like accommodation and more like grace and celebration. Though we will be using the new Spanish/English resource Santo, Santo, Santo …

Intergenerational Congregational Singing: A Foretaste Of Heaven On Earth, Herbert H. Tsang

Symposium on Worship Archive

Why is congregational singing so important? How can we encourage our congregation to sing better? As part of the learning we glean from the Vital Worship Grant project, we will explore the importance of congregational singing and the possibility of revitalizing this important aspect of our corporate spiritual disciplines with a focus on fostering intergenerational worship. Ideas for cultivating a vibrant and passionate singing culture in our church will also be explored.

Universal And Responsive Design For Missional Worship: A Vision Of Inclusion, Kevin J. Adams, Christopher Flesoras Phd, Barbara J. Newman

Symposium on Worship Archive

This is a workshop about how to stock your congregation’s garden shed with the tools needed to be a missional church that welcomes people of various backgrounds, situations, and abilities into the worship setting. It offers a vision as well as practical ideas for implementing an inclusive design for worship.

Guardian Angel Painting, Laura James

Symposium on Worship Archive

“For God will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways . . .” —Psalm 91:11 Guardian angels and other protective images have long been used by the Christian faithful in Ethiopia as in many other religious traditions. Artist Laura James will speak briefly about Ethiopian Christian art and its guardian angel tradition. Participants will then be guided to paint their own guardian angels.

Come, Sculptor Spirit!: Inviting The Holy Spirit To Shape Christ In Us Through Word, Image, And Song, Leopoldo Sánchez

Symposium on Worship Archive

Video recording and power point slides for a plenary lecture by Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. on inviting the Holy Spirit to shape Christ in us through Word, Image, and Song.

Living As Chosen People, Calvin Institute Of Christian Worship, Karen Campbell

Symposium on Worship Archive

A worship service based on the theme of "Living as Chosen People" with Karen Campbell preaching on 1 Peter 2:4-12.

Lessons On Developing Young Leaders, Elizabeth Tamez Phd

Symposium on Worship Archive

We are united in our desire to see young people be an integral part of and leaders in the church. The question is, how? In this session, we draw from the work, experiences, and research of seven Latin@ leaders whose congregations and parachurch groups are leadership incubators for young people in their communities. We will explore practical concepts to expand our imaginations and know-how in fostering innovation in the church towards developing young leaders.

Epiclesis In Action: Songs Of The Others, Swee Hong Lim

Symposium on Worship Archive

In the early 21st century, North American congregations were captivated by non-Western (global) songs and rushed to embrace them despite the underlying concerns of cultural appropriation and authentic performance practice. This session seeks to offer Scriptural principles and pastoral suggestions for enabling this body of congregational songs to revitalize our congregations.

Psalm Singing And The Mission Of The Church, Wendell Kimbrough

Symposium on Worship Archive

Why sing psalms? Does it matter how we sing them? For many, psalm singing is a nice idea (because they’re in the Bible), but not essential to the mission of the church. In this workshop, songwriter and worship artist Wendell Kimbrough will share from personal experience and biblical conviction why he believes the church cannot thrive without singing psalms. He’ll share the vision that informs his work as a songwriter and how he’s connected the dots between the Great Commission, emotional wholeness, and the challenge of the psalms. We’ll spend time singing and have a lively conversation.

Bridging Centuries And Continents: Ethiopian Art And The Art Of Laura James, Laura James

Symposium on Worship Archive

In her presentation, New York City-based artist Laura James will speak briefly about Ethiopia’s early religious history and Ethiopian Christian art. She will display images of various types of Ethiopian iconography as well as her own work. She will also discuss her background and introduction to Ethiopian art, and she’ll share about her work in The Book of the Gospels and other recent projects.