Biblical Studies Commons^™

Forever Tree, Alyse A. Petersen

Healy Poetry Prize

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Spiritual Growth, Brian A. Brunke

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the barriers to spiritual growth among believers, analyzing biblical and theological sources alongside perspectives from additional literature. The study identified significant obstacles to spiritual development, including persecution, cultural and religious differences, conflict, lack of understanding, and worldly influences, as illustrated in the Book of Acts. Furthermore, modern challenges, such as the implications of neuroscience for spiritual formation, lifestyle choices, and cultural shifts, also contribute to these barriers. A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing an online survey to assess spiritual growth across six dimensions: commitment to God, evangelism, engagement in spiritual disciplines, pursuit of intentional relationships, stewardship, and …

Μαλακοί And ΆρσενοκοῖΤαι In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: Reception History And Its Applicability To Modern Homosexuality, Taylor Patz

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is arguing that μαλακοί and ἀρσενοκοῖται in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 should not have a place in the formation of modern Christian theological stances on homosexuality because neither μαλακοί nor ἀρσενοκοῖται conceptually align with modern homosexuality. Chapters one through four cover background context on Jewish, Greek, and Roman views of sexuality. This background information is to provide context, based on the literary evidence we have today, on what Paul could have conceptually intended by μαλακοί and ἀρσενοκοῖται. The second part to this thesis, chapters five through seven, look at the reception history of 1 Corinthians 6:9 from Latin to …

The Monstrous In Our Techno-Social World: Black Mirror Season 6. Produced By Charlie Brooker And Annabel Jones. Netflix, 2023, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

The sixth season of the technologically-dystopian anthology series, Black Mirror, was released on Netflix on June 15, 2023. The five new episodes, or films as producers Charlie Brooker and Annabelle Jones prefer to call them, were the first offerings of Black Mirror to appear on our respective “black mirrors”since before the start of the global pandemic. In the latest installment of eerie reflections about how technology saturates and shapes our social worlds,the showrunners both provide vintage Black Mirror and a new trajectory of what is possible for the series, even to the point of ostensibly breaking some of theirown rules.

Embedded Genres In The New Testament, Jeannine Brown

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

This forthcoming monograph addresses embedded genres in the New Testament and asks the question, What difference does careful attention to ‘genres within genres’ make for interpretation? The book, to be published in 2024, is based on my lecture series at Acadia Divinity College in 2022. There is little, sustained theoretical exploration of the role of embedded genres in either biblical studies or in literary studies. The heart of the book (chapters 2-4) provides analysis of three examples of embedded genres across the New Testament. One example is vigorously debated (Philippians 2:6-11 as poetic); the second is usually overlooked (riddles by …

Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine From The Temple: Joel’S Interpretation Of The Epilogue Of Amos, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

This essay argues that the parallels between the endings of Joel and Amos suggest that Joel has interpreted Amos, including the esoteric reference to “David’s Tent.” Both prophetic endings anticipate an era of fecundity with mountains dripping with sweet wine (עסיס‎), which is a rare term in the Hebrew Bible, occurring only five times. Both address the fate of Edom, and both point to the recipients of the respective oracles being secure in their land forever. In Joel, it is God’s presence within the temple that creates these realities, whereas in Amos 9.11, it is “David’s Tent.” This suggests that …

Conscious Capitalism: An Emerging Economic Philosophy For Higher Purpose In Business, Molly Wickam

Graduate School Faculty Publications

An enhanced economic philosophy, conscious capitalism, is ascending in the United States and gaining traction in helping corporations redefine their approach to business. This article analyzes and evaluates conscious capitalism, integrates it with biblical economics and the social justice faith tradition, and explores its relationship to business education. Business education researchers have the opportunity to integrate conscious capitalism ideas into business curriculum to give students ideas that broaden their understanding of an enhanced model of capitalism and the ways capitalism can do good. Additionally, there is opportunity for Christian business professors to integrate the social justice themes of mishpat, hesed …

[Re/De]Generation Colloquy Volume 1, Abby Stocker, Leah Patton, Brad Cox, Jacob Manning, Roberta Fultz, Jared Hedges, Stacie Lewis

Colloquy Undergraduate Research Journal

Contents

Editor’s Statement 5

Communication Studies

On Ideals in Romantic Relationships 25

Paul Hjellming, Lori Bergstrom, Bo Johnson, and Eric Osmondson

Perception of Profanity in Interpersonal Relationships 47

Ashley Pivaronas, Jessica Benham, and Stephanie Melhaff

The Genre of the Meme 67

Thomas Monson

Mathematics

Cooking Up the Optimal Baking Algorithm 7

Tony Burand, Michael Tetzlaff, and Jacob Smith

Literary Criticism

“What to Sight and Smell Was Sweet”: Flowers and Gardening in Paradise Lost 41

Linnea White

The Case of “Brown” 59

Sara Ellingsworth

Biblical and Theological Studies

The Markan Narrative of the Hemorrhaging Woman: Injustice Through Systems Then and Now …

The Son Of God And Trinitarian Identity Statements, Matthew Owen, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

Classical Trinitarians claim that Jesus—the Son of God—is truly God and that there is only one God and the Father is God, the Spirit is God, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct. However, if the identity statement that ‘the Son is God’ is understood in the sense of numerical identity, logical incoherence seems immanent. Yet, if the identity statement is understood according to an ‘is’ of predication then it lacks accuracy and permits polytheism. Therefore, we argue that there is another sense of ‘is’ needed in trinitarian discourse that will allow the Christian to avoid logical incoherence while …

Studies In The History Of The Greek Text Of The Apocalypse : The Ancient Stems, Josef Schmid, Juan Hernández Jr., Garrick V. Allen, Darius Müller

Faculty Books

Josef Schmid’s landmark publication, Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Apokalypse-Textes, has been the standard work for understanding Revelation’s Greek manuscript tradition and textual history for more than sixty years. Despite the fact that most major studies on the book are based on Schmid’s work, the work itself has long been out of print, making it difficult for the broader scholarly community to reassess Schmid’s conclusions in light of recent manuscript discoveries and technological advances. This new translation of the work makes Schmid’s detailed review of the history of textual scholarship; his comprehensive examination of the origin, history, and development of …

Eschatological Emphases In 1 Thessalonians And Galatians: Distinct Argumentative Strategies Related To External Conflict And Audience Response, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

1 Thessalonians is generally believed to be Paul’s earliest extant letter. Depending on the methodology employed for reconstructing a chronology of Paul’s life and letters, 1 Thessalonians is dated from the late 30s to the early 50s of the first century CE.

Nothing Beautiful Hides Its Face’: The Hiddenness Of Esther In C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

C. S. Lewis’ last and arguably best novel, Till We Have Faces, is an impressively nuanced revision and recasting of Apuleius’ short tale of Cupid and Psyche, Books 4–6 of The Golden Ass. Although this ancient myth was the main source for Till We Have Faces, inspiration was no doubt gained from many places. One such influence, previously unnoted, was the biblical book of Esther. This study will note some of the key places where the influence of Esther is detectable, in particular Lewis’ choice of the name “Istra.” This is followed by an investigation into why Esther may have …

The Markan Narrative Of The Hemorrhaging Woman: Injustice Through Systems Then And Now, Tim Riendeau

Colloquy Undergraduate Research Journal

The story of the hemorrhaging woman has been taught to many as a simple healing story that portrays Jesus’ ability to heal anyone with faith. While this idea is not being challenged directly, the text holds much more than that concept. The text itself involves a view into God’s justice and God’s view on the Jewish traditions of the first century. The abusive social structure in Judaism is challenged in the work of Jesus and his interaction with a hemorrhaging woman from Mark 5:25-34 which display God’s justice and care for the oppressed and outcast.

The Markan Narrative Of The Hemorrhaging Woman: Injustice Through Systems Then And Now, Tim Riendeau

Biblical & Theological Studies Student Works

The story of the hemorrhaging woman has been taught to many as a simple healing story that portrays Jesus’ ability to heal anyone with faith. While this idea is not being challenged directly, the text holds much more than that concept. The text itself involves a view into God’s justice and God’s view on the Jewish traditions of the first century. The abusive social structure in Judaism is challenged in the work of Jesus and his interaction with a hemorrhaging woman from Mark 5:25-34 which display God’s justice and care for the oppressed and outcast.

Editor's Statement, Abby Stocker, Leah Patton, Brad Cox, Jacob Manning, Roberta Fultz, Jared Hedges, Stacie Lewis

Colloquy Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Suffering In Vain: A Study Of The Interpretation Of Πασχω In Galatians 3.4, John Anthony Dunne

Seminary Faculty Publications

Modern scholarship is divided on the interpretation of πάσχω in Gal. 3.4, and there has yet to be a definitive study on the subject attempting to rectify the disagreements. The clear consensus prior to the late seventeenth century was that πάσχω possessed negative connotations in this passage. This interpretation was briefly challenged by Justus Christoph Schomer (1648–1693), influencing the majority of German scholarship and creating a major polarity among scholars in the English-speaking world. After making this history of interpretation known, the present study tries to demonstrate that, lexically, thematically and contextually, the preferable interpretation regards πάσχω as a reference …

Reasoned Eclecticism In New Testament Textual Criticism, Michael W. Holmes

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

New Testament textual critics work with two categories of evidence, conventionally designated as “external” (provided by the manuscripts themselves, including relative age, geographic distribution, and relative weight of the witnesses) and as “internal” (dealing with scribal habits and practice, on the one hand, and authorial style and vocabulary, on the other). To do justice to both sorts of evidence, nearly all contemporary textual critics utilize a methodological approach generally known as “reasoned eclecticism.” In this approach, one fundamental guideline governs all other considerations: at any given point of variation, the variant most likely to represent the initial text is the …

From "Original Text" To "Initial Text": The Traditional Goal Of New Testament Textual Criticism In Contemporary Discussion, Michael W. Holmes

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

This essay focuses on this second set of issues arising out of the current discussion about the meaning and status of the term “original text.” Following a brief introduction to recent discussion, the essay will sketch usage of the term “original text” in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, assess proposals for de ning or indicating what it is that NT textual criticism is (or ought to be) attempting to recover, discuss some collateral issues associated with those proposals, and note the larger ideological context of the discussion.

The Text Of The New Testament In Contemporary Research: Essays On The Status Quaestionis, Bart D. Ehrman, Michael W. Holmes

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research provides up-to-date discussions of every major aspect of New Testament textual criticism. Written by internationally acknowledged experts, the twenty-four essays evaluate all significant advances in the field since the 1950s.

A God Of Faithfulness : Essays In Honour Of J. Gordon Mcconville On His 60th Birthday, Jamie A. Grant, Alison Lo, Gordon J. Wenham

Seminary Faculty Publications

This is a Festschrift dedicated to J. Gordon McConville on the occasion of his 60th birthday. This Festschrift is published on the occasion of J. Gordon McConville's 60th birthday in recognition of the outstanding contribution that he has made to the field of Old Testament studies over the last 25 years. The collection incorporates 13 essays written by colleagues, friends and former research students along with an introduction and complete list of McConville's publications. The essays focus on Pentateuch, History, Prophets and Writings with each paper addressing key issues of interpretation of the biblical text. The breadth of subject matter …

Remnant Motif In Amos, Micah And Zephaniah, Alison Lo

Seminary Faculty Publications

‘Remnant’ is one of the significant motifs in the Minor Prophets. This essay will examine the remnant motif in Amos, Micah and Zephaniah, seeking to find out the commonality of this concept between these three pre-exilic books. In order to facilitate this study, finding the remnant terminology helps us locate the remnant passages. In Amos the term תיראשׁ is used with reference to Israel, i.e. the ‘remnant of Joseph’ (Amos 5.15). It also refers to other peoples, like the remnant of the Philistines (Amos 1.8) and Edomites (Amos 9.12). The term תיראשׁ is used five times in Micah (Mic. 2.12; …

Scribal Habits And Theological Influences In The Apocalypse : The Singular Readings Of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, And Ephraemi, Juan Hernández Jr.

Faculty Books

Modelled on the respective studies of Ernest C. Colwell and James R. Royse, Juan Hernández Jr. offers a fresh and comprehensive discussion of the Apocalypse's singular readings in Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi. Moreover, the singular readings of the Apocalypse are also assessed in light of the work's reception history in the early church. The author shows that the scribes of these three manuscripts omitted more often than they added to their texts, were prone to harmonizing, and, in the case of at least one scribe, made significant theological changes to the fourth century text of the Apocalypse. The author also …

Divine Aseity, Divine Freedom : A Conceptual Problem For Edwardsian-Calvinism, James K. Beilby

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the Calvinist's typical understanding of why God created the world is consistent with the assertion of God's independence and self-sufficiency—an attribute theologians have labeled "aseity." The essence of the problem is this: the Calvinist's typical assertion that God's fundamental purpose in creation is to demonstrate his glory seems to entail that God have an "other" to whom his glory must be demonstrated. But if this is the case, then God is dependent in some sense on this "other" for the demonstration of his glory and, ironically, less sovereign than in a …

Dictionary Of Contemporary Religion In The Western World: Exploring Living Faiths In Postmodern Contexts (Review), James F. Lewis

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

When Samuel Clemens heard that a journalist had reported his passing, he quipped: “Rumors of my death, have been greatly exaggerated.” In a similar vein, the Dictionary serves to lay to rest the antiquated but oft-believed claim of secular elites concerning the imminent demise of religion. In 100 articles, written by 61 gifted contributors (18 of whom are from North America) the reader is informed of the staggering breadth, growing profusion and zealous tenacity of religion in modern human culture and its ability to ever morph into new and creative expressions. The authors are committed to the Christian tradition but …