Religion Commons^™

We Are Family Female Daoists, Their Institutions, And The State, Megan Holm

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

During the Tang Dynasty, Daoism put a measure of holiness on princesses who would not marry, consorts who meddled in state affairs, royal widows who would not completely retire, and maidens who would not marry. These seemingly subversive women were reincorporated into society through Daoism, and at the same time were allowed an incredible amount of personal autonomy. The freedom of Tang society enabled women to become Daoist adepts and nuns, whether seriously or in name only, within Daoist institutions that served as their new family structure.

Rapid Industrialization And Slave Labor: The Economics Of The Soviet Gulag, 1928-1940, Jeffrey S. Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Alexander Solzhenitsyn's epic work The Gulag Archipelago opened Western eyes to the unfathomable horror endured by millions of people in the forced-labor camps of the Soviet Union. Since then, countless books, articles, memoirs, etc., have been devoted to explaining the origins of the Gulag, the lives of convicts within this prison system, and the number of people who perished as a result of it. This last aspect in recent years has drawn a disproportionate amount of discussion within the scholarly (and nonscholarly) community, as if an exact number is necessary to compare Joseph Stalin with other brutal dictators, or to …

It's Not Whether You Win Or Lose, It's Who Reports The Games: American Media And The Summer Olympics Of The 1950s, Benjamin G. Hardcastle

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Upon their return from the London Olympic Games in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt hosted the United States Olympic athletes at his Oyster Bay, New York retreat. The London Games had been rife with rivalry between the American team and its British hosts, causing the British press to question the sportsmanship of the American athletes after a number of heated events. The US athletes, upset by the accusations, were reassured by the words of Roosevelt. "We don't need to talk," he exclaimed upon receiving them, "we've won!"

Protestant Missionaries Catalysts In The Abolition Of Foot-Binding In China, Aaron Anderson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Known as the "custom that lasted a thousand years," the binding of women's feet in imperial China was practiced by women of all social classes. 1 When Protestant missionaries began to establish mission stations in Qing Dynasty China during the 1800s, they came face to face with foot-binding at its zenith. 2 In the absence of official statistics documenting how prevalent the custom was, a missionary observer's estimate that roughly 90% of the Chinese women had bound feet serves as a revealing clue of the practice's universal acceptance.3 Considering how widely practiced and long-lasting the tradition of foot-binding was, the …

Preface, Julie Harris

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Each year, the Beta Iota chapter of Phi Alpha Theta publishes The Thetean as an outlet for student papers. We as a staff hope that this year's volume will encourage students to take their scholarly endeavors beyond the classroom, and to revise and refine their term papers as if they were preparing articles. We also hope that the selections in this year's Thetean adequately reflect the BYU History Department faculty's efforts to teach us to think, research, and write critically.

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Watering A Dying Canopy: How Peter Berger Can Help Us Understand Communication In A Modern Age, Julia M. Richardson

Student Scholarship

In many instances of conflict and confusion, effective communication can be a useful tool in solving problems. When individuals experience a breakdown in communication, it can be frustrating as well as harmful for everyone involved. This autoethnography seeks to explain and remedy issues of communication breakdown through the lens of religious theory, primarily with regard to Peter Berger’s ideas of world construction and maintenance. When once taken-for-granted “worlds” that provide stability become threatened, one way communities respond is by isolating themselves from ideas which pose a threat to their way of life. In a new age of pluralism, this isolation …

A Picnic At Mount Nebo, Alex Smith

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

As a scout, Cpl. Drew Waterson had been the first Union man to spot Stonewall Jackson’s Second Corps before they hit the Union camp. Or so he told anyone who would listen at any social event or gathering that the old man was invited to (or more often, simply showed up at). That had been at Chancellorsville, 2nd of May in the year of our Lord 1863, he was always like to add as kind of a final statement to his story. Short at least, the story was. He never elaborated much, and most he talked to were pretty content …

A Prayer For The Seminarian, Joshua Fields

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

A Prayer for a Seminarian

Our Longing Satisfied, Rory Fry

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Our Longing Satisfied

Pride Comes In The Fall (And Spring), Jason Dulworth

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Pride Comes in the Fall (and Spring)

The Son Of David And The Spirit Of Wisdom, Kyle Moellenhoff

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

What role does God’s wisdom play in the life and work of Jesus Christ? The traditional answer that most Nicene Christian theologians have given is that the person of the divine Logos, who is eternally begotten of the Father and incarnate in the person of Jesus, simply is God’s wisdom without further discussion.1 This answer is consistent with an orthodox Logos Christology. I will argue in this paper, however, that this answer, while helpful, is incomplete, and that Spirit Christology can help to illuminate a complementary model within Scripture for how divine wisdom is related to the person of Christ. …

God Will Be All In All: The Visio Dei In The Theology Of Gerhard In The Early Church, Zach Eshelman

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The beatific vision is a curious doctrine in Lutheran circles. Luther, Pieper and modern commentators all affirm the teaching that “eternal life consists in seeing God.” Nonetheless, the doctrine enjoys only passing reference when it is discussed. Potential reasons for such silence could be a study within itself, but it is worth taking time to look at what is likely the most robust articulation of the doctrine from a prominent Lutheran theologian.

The Powerful Image Of The Passion, Jonathan Kraemer

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Of all the images which depict Jesus, perhaps the one that deserves extended and in-depth contemplation is that of the passion of our Lord. This image is both rich in meaning and communicates different things to different people based upon their context and their pastoral need. This becomes clear when Martin Luther considers how one should meditate upon the cross of Christ in two different works written just months apart in 1519. The first, written in April, is called Meditation Upon Christ’s Passion1 and the second A Sermon on Preparing to Die2 was penned in November. Despite being written so …

Grapho 2025, Kyle Moellenhoff

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The theme for this year’s journal, “With Eyes of Faith,” was selected to fit with the Seminary’s theme for the academic year, “Let us Fix our Eyes on Jesus.” As I pondered this theme it was the word “eyes” that stood out most. The Lutheran tradition, with its rich theology of the proclaimed Word, tends to focus heavily on the ears. After all, Paul says that “faith comes from hearing” (Rom 10:17). But with all this salutary emphasis on hearing, we should not neglect the role that the eyes play in the life of faith.

The Visitor, Joshua Fields

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Take and drink.” The command, rehearsed countless times before, nevertheless rolled forward slovenly, tripped on the edge of Privett’s tongue, and tumbled over his sharp chin into the ears of his parishioner. The recumbent old woman, still chewing with the monotonous motion of an outdated machine, bent her neck awkwardly. Privett lowered the cup. Through a gap in the blinds, a ray of sunlight momentarily caught hold of it, arresting the glass midair. The suspended wine glistened with shards of gold. Then Privett’s arm moved again, and the room’s habitual shadows extinguished it. Like a tiny blind organism creeping toward …

The Eye Of The Beholder, Nathaniel Pekari

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The Eye of the Beholder

A Chaucerian Portrait Of The Theologian, Jason Dulworth

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

A Chaucerian Portrait of the Theologian

Apocalypse, Matthew Vatthauer

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Apocalypse

Individualism And A False Christ, Benjamin Wagner

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

I once sat down with a well-read church historian to inquire about what makes the American Church distinct from those of the past two millennia in Christian tradition. Instead of rambling on about megachurches, televangelists, the prosperity Gospel, Christian liberalism, or anything of the sort, I received a rather blunt and uneventful answer. Immediately after my mouth closed, the historian replied, “The American Church is very individualistic.” From there, the conversation drifted into the fall of Christianity in the West, the rise of secularism, and the general spiritual deadness permeating the atmosphere of America. In the Historian’s mind, there was …

Letter From The Chairman, Kyle Moellenhoff

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The theme for this year’s journal, “With Eyes of Faith,” was selected to fit with the Seminary’s theme for the academic year, “Let us Fix our Eyes on Jesus.” As I pondered this theme it was the word “eyes” that stood out most. The Lutheran tradition, with its rich theology of the proclaimed Word, tends to focus heavily on the ears. After all, Paul says that “faith comes from hearing” (Rom 10:17). But with all this salutary emphasis on hearing, we should not neglect the role that the eyes play in the life of faith.

Reconstructing Hope And Resilience Among Kenyan Adolescent Immigrants, Julius Mwangi

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

The study "Reconstructing Hope and Resilience Among Kenyan Adolescent Immigrants" explores Kenyan immigrant families' challenges in the United States and their impact on their adolescent children. It proposes a community-led mentoring program incorporating emotional intelligence competencies and faith to support adolescents' success. Additionally, the study advocates for a new immigrant parent-mentoring program to help them navigate the complex legal process to accelerate their immigration and successful acculturalization. The research contains selected Bible narratives that identify parental responsibilities towards their children and discourses on their successful utility or lack thereof. The study argues that parents and the community have a responsibility …

Initiated Reading: Occult Hermeneutics In Helena Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled, Diana Brown

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation, I argue that Theosophical Society co-founder Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s first major work, Isis Unveiled (1877), describes an occult hermeneutic of myth based on the privileging of intuition, theorized especially in Neoplatonic terms, and premised on a tripartite spirit-soul-body constitution of the human being. Her hermeneutic also privileges initiation, construed as experiential gnosis often produced by ritual, and she opposes both intuition and initiation to reason and empiricism. Theorizing global myths as allegories revealing elements of a universal religion, or secret doctrine, traceable to India, she brings together an esotericism premised on a combination of Indian religion and …

Between Visits: Hindu Domestic Religiosity, Home Shrines, And Thirdspace In The Diaspora, Aarti Patel

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation analyzes the importance of the domestic sphere as a site for the transmission and development of an individual devotional disposition for Swaminarayan Hindus living in the United States and Canada. Focusing on Hindus in the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) community living in Canada and the United States, this dissertation presents a new direction for existing scholarship of Hinduism in the public sphere by arguing for a more holistic study of how Hindus living outside of India develop and maintain a religious identity in their daily lives in the domestic sphere, both collectively as a family and …

A Hegelian Theory Of Divine Revelation, Jason D. Barton

Philosophy ETDs

Through an intensive examination of the second volume of G.W.F. Hegel’s oft-neglected Berlin Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, I demarcate and elucidate a Hegelian theory of divine revelation. The second volume of these Lectures advances a series of configurations for religious consciousness through which absolute spirit passes in order to gain awareness of itself in the register of representation. While Hegel identifies divinity with absolute spirit in its moments and movements indicative of an odyssey, Hegel also ventures to painstaking lengths for the sake of authentically capturing how world-historical religions respectively portray(ed) the divine. Such a distinction between …

Frozen Ii And Girls’ Spiritual Formation: How The Music Of An Animated Musical Resonates With Girls And Women, Cristen Mitchell

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Frozen II (2019) is a popular Disney animated movie for children and depicts striking spiritual elements while weaving in feminist practices such as justice and equity, and feminist theology through representations of female spirits and connection to the earth. Through this movie, its themes, and the historical exclusion of women in the church, this thesis seeks to show that representation of women in the divine is an important, and necessary part of the spiritual and psychological development of girls and women. The methods of this thesis include exploring the following synchronicities:

1. Parallels between feminist issues in the church and Walt …

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Fragmented Bodies, Lauren Careese Alexander

Art Theses and Dissertations

Through Memory Webs and fragmented ceramic vessels, I express what it feels like to grow up living in a biracial body. I utilize mixed media to emulate a mixed-race experience. My Memory Webs are fashioned by painting on scraps of canvas and attaching them with crocheted wire and ribbon to speak to how my memory has impacted my identity. My fragmented ceramic vessels are cut up and stitched back together to represent disjointedness and un-belonging. All of my work is contextualized through the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and what the Monster may represent for people of color. I also …

Plenty Good Room: Using Negro Spirituals To Bridge The Racial Divide, Darnell Allen St. Romain

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

In 2020, the United States experienced a global pandemic and the murder of Mr. George Floyd. With the murder of Floyd, many churches were confronted with the racial divide in the United States. This thesis is a response of one community, the Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano, Texas. Using the folk song of Black Americans, namely the Negro Spirituals, as the foundation of an ethical-theological framework, this thesis poses one way for addressing the anti-Black structure prevalent in the Catholic Church in the United States of America. This work progresses from despair to hope, addressing the link between …

Making Old Things New Again: The Northridge Psalter, With Antiphons Based On Lessons From The Revised Common Lectionary, Bryan Scott Page

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Responsive psalmody is one of the primary musical vehicles for presenting the Psalms in worship by choir and congregation. Existing responsive psalmody features congregational antiphons with texts derived directly from the psalms. Working with the Revised Common Lectionary, this thesis presents fifty newly written and composed antiphons with texts derived from the accompanying RCL lessons. The goal of this method is to emphasize prophetic connections between the Old Testament lesson and Gospel lesson via the antiphons. This thesis also features a history of lectionary development, a detailed account of the creative process, rubrics for presenting the responsive psalmody in worship, …

The Pope And The ʿUlamāʾ: A Study Of Religious Institutions And Their Evolving Relationship To Government, Benjamin Newton

Honors Theses

How and why have religious institutions changed during historical critical junctures in their relationship with government? The literature on this topic, with notable but limited exceptions (Brown et al. 2024, Koesel 2014, Fox 2008), has tended to focus on one specific institution at a time, even if analyzing its actions within multiple states. Through this project, I focus not on the same institution in different states, but on two major religious establishments in the states in which they are based. I analyze the Roman Catholic Church and the Wahhābi establishment in Italy and Saudi Arabia, respectively, to come to a …