Religion Commons^™

Anthropological Remains From A Middle Bronze Age Ii Site West Of Tell Qasille (Pp. 133–134), Yossi Nagar

'Atiqot

The human skeletal remains from the Middle Bronze Age II graves were fragmentary, in a poor state of preservation. At least 26 individuals were identified, including infants, children, sub-adults and adults of both sexes, indicating a normal civilian population.

A Middle Bronze Age Ii Site West Of Tell Qasille (Pp. 65–128), Raz Kletter

'Atiqot

The site remains comprise a cemetery, two pottery kilns and a settlement dating to Middle Bronze Age II. Ten burials were excavated, all except one (T800) were rectangular pit-graves dug into kurkar sandstone. Each grave contained one to three individuals; T800, which was round, contained seven individuals in secondary deposition. The average grave assemblage comprised about ten pottery vessels, which were usually placed in a row next to one long side of the burial. The pottery kilns are almost identical in size, direction and structure. They are of the vertical type, with two main superimposed parts: a combustion chamber and …

Chalcolithic Burial Sites At Ma‘Abarot And Tel Ifshar (Pp. 45–63), Yosef Porath

'Atiqot

The two burial sites are located in the Sharon plain, south and north of Naḥal Alexander. The kidney-shaped cave at Ma‘abarot was hewn in the kurkar sandstone. All the burials in the cave were secondary. Of the 63 burials identified, 42 were placed in three types of ceramic vessels—house-shaped ossuaries, chest-shaped ossuaries and large domestic kraters—and 21, in ‘bone heaps’. The finds consisted of pottery vessels typical of the Chalcolithic period, e.g., V-shaped bowls and fenestrated bowls and bottles, and a flake from a flint digging tool. At Tel Ifshar, two burial places were discovered, both damaged by infrastructure work. …

A Chalcolithic Burial Cave At Eṭ-Ṭaiyiba (Pp. 1–44), Eli Yannai, Yosef Porath

'Atiqot

The cave, hewn in soft limestone, is of an irregular oval shape, with high margins that served as benches. A minimum of 38 ossuaries were found in the cave, some open and box-shaped, others closed and house-shaped; ossuary jars and kraters were also found. The ossuaries were decorated with plastic ornamentation, depicting pegs, noses, eyes and rope decoration, as well as painted ornamentation in various patterns, e.g., triangles, lines and arches. Funerary goods included only pottery vessels characteristic of the Chalcolithic period: V-shaped bowls, cornets, amphoriskoi, fenestrated pedestal bowls and cylindrical stands. It seems that the people buried in the …

I Never Thought I'D Be The Professor!, Kayko Driedger Hesslein

Consensus

Tracing progress and persistent challenges regarding women in church leadership, this reflection examines how structural barriers, societal caregiving expectations, and a lack of mentorship affect female clergy and seminary professors in the ELCIC. Highlighting the transformative impact of feminist Lutheran theology, the analysis calls for intentional structural support, financial resources, and institutional shifts to cultivate female scholars.

Come And See What I Have Found, Brent Krysa

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Following The Lead Of Jesus, Michael N. Poellet

Consensus

No abstract provided.

The Road To Emmaus, Lisa Smith

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Ordination Of Deacons, Trinity Sunday, Lisa Wang

Consensus

No abstract provided.

The Perfectly Imperfect God, Grace Van Hooydonk

Consensus

Moving beyond traditional, masculine, and flawless depictions of the divine, this reflection integrates visual art and theology to present a "perfectly imperfect" God. Exploring symbols of disability, communal response to suffering, brokenness, feminine divinity, and ongoing learning, the analysis affirms a fluid, inclusive divine presence.

Mixed Messages, Moms, Nuns, And Missionaries: Women In Christian Higher Education In Canada, Ellen Duffield

Consensus

Addressing institutional gender disparities in theological education, this study employs Participatory Action Research at a Canadian seminary to foster culture-shaping change. Anchored in a relational Trinitarian theology, the paper presents a model for institutional transformation focused on Kenotic Community, Connected Learning, and Collaborative Leadership to create environments where women and men thrive.

The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Ordination Of Women In Canadian Lutheranism, Kyle K. Schiefelbein-Guerrero

Consensus

Commemorating fifty years of women’s ordination in Canadian Lutheranism, this editorial grounds the evolution of female church leadership in Confessional Lutheran theology and the ELCIC’s *Reimagining Our Church*. By framing ministry as functional and Christocentric, the author addresses persistent systemic challenges facing female clergy while introducing a collection of female-authored perspectives on adaptive, Spirit-led leadership for the future.

A Brief History Of Canadian Pentecostal Women: How Did They Overcome The Obstacles?, Carmen Ramirez

Consensus

The rise of Canadian Pentecostalism created unique opportunities for women to navigate structural patriarchy and achieve leadership. Tracing historical developments from early twentieth-century origins to an ethnographic study of a female-led Latina congregation in Toronto, the analysis demonstrates how Holy Spirit empowerment, pneumatological authority, and practical theological adaptations enable women, particularly marginalized Latinas, to overcome institutional obstacles.

How Christians Get "Calling" Wrong, David J. Mulder

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"How can you faithfully follow Jesus, using what God has given you to joyfully work towards addressing... broken places?"

Posting about Christian vocation from In All Things, a blog which highlights the shared faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian perspective of our writers, exploring how to fearlessly engage with every aspect of modern life—until all is made new.

How Christians Get "Calling" Wrong

Contributors

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

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Does Reporting Of Israeli Organ Harvesting Constitute Blood Libelous Folklore, And Why Does It Matter?, Simon J. Bronner

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

Global news reporting of “organ harvesting” by Israeli soldiers for medical institutions in the twenty-first century is analyzed as “newslore,” defined by folklorist- journalist Russell Frank as “folklore that comments on, and is therefore indecipherable without knowledge of, current events.” Built on hearsay, the reports, especially in the Arab press during the Israel-Hamas War, begun in 2023, have connections to a complex of antisemitic “blood libel” narratives in Europe about Jews violating the bodies of Christian children. The accusations of organ harvesting invoked a number of antisemitic tropes that were visually conveyed globally through memes and posts on the internet, …

Jewish Women’S Folk Memory Of Argentine Schooldays, 1900–1955, Jacqueline Laznow

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

This essay explores the folkloric formation of Jewish-Argentine female identity through schoolyard experiences and domestic resistance in the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on interviews with women who later made aliyah, the study analyzes these accounts as personal experience narratives, arguing that painful memories of antisemitism and “otherness” are cognitively restructured through folk processes into a symbolic frame for communal interpretation. These narratives function as “legend discourse,” sparking commentary and intergenerational transmission, and serve as mechanisms for reconstructing daily life within a dominant Christian culture. They reveal a “hyphenated” Jewish-Argentine identity reimagined from the perspective of the narrators’ …

Folk Narratives Of “The Wandering Jew” (Atu 777) In Latvian Folklore, Svetlana Pogodina

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

This essay reports field-collected texts of “The Wandering Jew” (ATU 777) recorded in the twentieth century in Latvia to determine if they are distinctive within the global tradition of the folk narrative. The Archives of Latvian Folklore (Latviešu folkloras krātuve) collection contains versions of the narrative recorded in the 1920s and 1930s. These texts have not previously been published in English translation. An interpretation is made that the narratives borrow elements from Jewish stereotypes that exist in a local folklore tradition. Comparing the Latvian material to the European and Slavic versions of the story of the Eternal Jew, a major …

Introduction: The Folklore And Ethnology Of Antisemitism, Simon J. Bronner

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

A global rise in incidents and beliefs in the twenty-first century that monitoring and polling organizations label “antisemitic” raises several questions addressed by contributors to this special issue. A basic one is definitional regarding discourse about the shifting meaning of antisemitism in light of post-Holocaust events and digital age communication. A historical question is whether contemporary forms of antisemitism are connected to or a break from the term’s nineteenth-century roots. Related to that issue in modern discourse is whether antisemitism is an umbrella concept or separate from anti-Judaism, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionism movements. The materials of folklore—both as esoteric forms …

Cultural Humility, Reformation Of Power Structures, And Cultural Competence As Seeds And Fruits Of Interculturality, Doug Herbek

Obsculta

This piece examines how interculturality both promotes and is fostered by cultural humility, reformation of power structures, and development of cultural competence. As we pursue interculturality, we incarnate the Gospel. In the process, local church leadership becomes inclusive and integrative, worship becomes more heartfelt, and community and unity are fostered as we celebrate our differences.

Butterfly On The Way To Emmaus, Myrissa Donaldson

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Student Awards

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Awards for Outstanding Papers Written in 2025

Dam Negotiations: Water, Diné Sovereignty, And The Navajo Dam, George Smith

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On July 30, 1958, contractors working for the Bureau of Reclamation broke ground on the Navajo Dam, located about 35 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico. Diné Tribal chairman Paul Jones had called the dam a “new hope for [his] people,” anticipating increased agricultural and industrial capacity from irrigation and flow management. Though officially approved in 1962, the contingent Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) that was to provide those many of those benefits remained to be completed in 2024. By contrast, the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP), the other project contingent upon the dam, diverted water from the San Juan …

Marcion And The Crisis Of Second-Century Christianity, Samuel Petersen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Almost a century after the death of Christ and his original apostles, the 2nd-century Judeo-Christian church found itself in a vicious struggle for survival catalyzed by an ongoing negotiation between the church’s traditional Jewish roots and establishing its own identity. The loose confederation of Jesus-believers fought to gather themselves into a functional body as they wrestled with questions surrounding the very nature of the Christian faith.

“No Hen Should Herald The Dawn Lest Misfortune Follow”: Gender, History, And Power Sima Guang’S Comprehensive Mirror, Zoe Ngan

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was not a particularly notable occasion when Emperor Gaozong 高宗 of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) established Wu Zetian 武則天 as a mid-ranked concubine in 654. Emperors, throughout Chinese history, were polygamous rulers who acquired no shortage of concubines per the Rites of Zhou 周禮, an ancient ritual text which proposed that rulers obtain 121 wives and consorts. Wu’s nomination signified the unpredictability of imperial favour and almost certainly did not turn heads when her appointment occurred.

“I, Too, Want To Be Free”: Women And The Birth Control Movement In Utah, 1914–1940, Evelyn Wilcox

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Like many other women, I too, want to be free,” explained a 33-year- old Utah woman in a 1925 letter to Margaret Sanger, a prominent leader in the birth control movement. This woman, whose name is unknown, was married to a 78-year- old man with whom, she thought, “in her ignorance,” that she would never have any children—she was proven wrong. With six children under the age of eight at the time and wanting to prevent having more, this woman’s predicament reflects Sanger’s mission to inform everyday women of birth control so they could make their own reproductive choices. After …

Christianity Behind The Iron Curtain: How Creative Arts Gave A Voice To The Voiceless, Riana Johnson Wills

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held celebrations across the Soviet Union to mark the Millennium of Christianity in Russia, commemorating a thousand years since the baptism of Rus in 988. While this was a monumental day for Christians, many believers across the Soviet Union felt a sense of dissonance. For decades, religious freedom and worship had not been privileges they enjoyed. Thousands of Christians suffered for their belief. The communist regime began in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin. The USSR built upon Marxist ideology where atheism is a fundamental and they expected nationwide compliance to these ideologies. …

Rationed Victory: A Study Of American Civilian Rationing In World War Ii, Alex Moulder

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In any conflict or competition it is often said that the winner is “fueled to victory.” This could come as a result of training, diet, stamina, support from others, or sheer willpower. Even small variations in any of these elements can have significant consequences and affect outcomes. The same can be said about civilians during wartime, especially during the largest conflict of the twentieth century, World War II. The war cemented the United States as a global power, thanks in part to its massive economy, technologies, and industries, which helped to overcome the war of attrition against the Axis powers. …

“It Was The Women Who Kept It On”: The 1984–85 National Union Of Mineworkers Strike In Wales, Brett Bodily

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On March 3rd, 1984, more than 140,000 miners, all members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) walked out on strike in protest of proposed colliery, or “pit” closures. Years of disputes culminated in a major showdown between the largest labor union in the United Kingdom and a resurgent national conservatism led by Margaret Thatcher— leader of the Tory party. The communities built around coal mining recognized the Tory pit closure plan for what it was—an existential threat to their way of life. Women within these communities rose to the occasion and took on leadership and organizational responsibilities, many for …