Christian Denominations and Sects Commons^™

“Where My Voice Is Heard Small”: The Development Of Oral Roberts’ Television Ministry, Jim E. Hunter Jr.

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts was a pioneer in the development of Christian television. This study traces the development of Oral Roberts’ television ministry from the early days of 1950s televised healing crusades, through the 1970s prime-time variety shows, and his later broadcasts that supported the various ministry endeavors, such as Oral Roberts University and the City of Faith.

A History Of Oru Healing Teams, Holy Spirit Research Center

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Healing teams were a revolutionary idea Oral Roberts began to formulate in the 1960s. The concept of the healing team developed from Roberts’ healing ministry, the university, and a vision to continue his healing ministry beyond his lifetime. He hoped to raise up students from the academic colleges within Oral Roberts University to be healers within their respective disciplines. The general healing teams concept involved a team of professionals from various disciplines such as medicine, education, business, law, social work, theology, and others that minister to the whole person and all of his or her needs. This article traces the …

Oral Roberts And The Hebrew Bible, Eric N. Newberg, Samuel Hogan

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts held a favorable view of Jewish people and viewed the restoration of the state of Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. This article recounts a key facet of the Jewish outreach of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, the Hebrew Bible project. In collaboration with Myron Sackett, Oral Roberts sponsored the publication of a Hebrew Bible (Old and New Testaments) and distributed it in Israel and other countries. Roberts was motivated by a desire to play a major role in the conversion of the Jewish people in the last days. By means of exhaustive research of relevant source …

The Spirit Of Immense Struggle: Oral Roberts' Native American Ancestry, Timothy Hatcher

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts was proud of his blended white, Cherokee, and Choctaw heritage and spoke openly about it. To understand Roberts’ view of his own hybridized identity better, it is necessary to consider how his parents and grandparents negotiated the issues related to their mixed ancestry. His own view changed over time from conscious pride to overt activism on behalf of his fellow Native Americans. From the early years of the ministry, the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association engaged in a variety of creative outreaches to Native Americans where Roberts identified deeply with his brothers and sisters. Several Native American communities across …

An Early Account Of Oral Roberts' Healing Testimony, Daniel D. Isgrigg, Vinson H. Synan

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The story of Oral Roberts’ healing is well documented. However, recently a discovery was made of an early testimony in the Eastern Oklahoma Conference News of the Pentecostal Holiness Church that provides new details about the early years of his life and ministry. This testimony from 1939 includes details from the first few years of his evangelistic ministry and a different account of both the nature of his sickness and the circumstances of his healing. This article will also explore the possible factors that contributed to the differences in this testimony from his later accounts.

Why Oral Roberts Studies?, Wonsuk Ma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Wonsuk Ma, Dean of the College of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, provides an extended editorial essay for this special issue of Spiritus to mark the Centennial of the birth of Oral Roberts.

Editor's Note, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Spiritus Editorial Board

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Spiritus 3.2 Full Issue, Holy Spirit Research Center

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spiritus 3.2 (Fall 2018) is a special issue dedicated to Oral Roberts studies. For this issue, Wonsuk Ma, now Dean of the College of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, has collected a dozen studies covering several areas of Roberts’ life, thought, ministry, and legacy. All of the contributors have a connection to Oral Roberts University, whether as students, faculty, and/or administrators. So it is, in effect, an in-house offering to the university community and the Spirit-empowered community at large, a remembrance of a figure who, now gone, may get overlooked in today’s fast-paced world of Christian theology and …

David Lipscomb On Rebaptism: Contexts Of A Controversy, Mcgarvey Ice

Library Research and Publications

This paper sets David Lipscomb's position on rebaptism in three contexts.

First, to provide a historical context, it states the circumstances of his baptism

and examines how and to what ends he employed the narrative of it. Second, to

craft a theological context, it contours in a broad way his doctrine of baptism.

Third, to furnish an ecclesial context, it scrutinizes the practice of receiving

members at Nashville's South College Street Christian Church, where he served

as an elder.

Impact Amid Absence: The Synod Of Dordt And The French Huguenots., Karin Maag

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

This contribution investigates the reasons behind the absence of delegates from the French Reformed (Huguenot) churches at the Synod of Dordt, setting the reasons for their absence in the broader political and religious context of the times. I argue that the connections between the French Reformed church and the Synod of Dordt were significant both before and after the synod met, but that the Huguenots had a rather different project in mind (religious reconciliation among Reformed Protestants and even possibly between Reformed and Lutheran Christians) when they considered the possibility of an international gathering of Reformed theologians. Although the Huguenot …

Natura Sanat: On Ecological Aspects Of Healing Miracles In Kalwaria Pacławska, Poland, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska

Journal of Global Catholicism

The subject-matter of my article is a change affecting the discourse on miraculous healings in a Catholic Marian sanctuary – Kalwaria Pacławska – run by Franciscan friars in the South-Eastern Poland and a way in which those changes affect pilgrims’ bodies. In Kalwaria Pacławska there meet, intersect and compete various religious and secular discourses and they all influence emotions and bodily sensations accompanying pilgrimage to this sacred site. One of those discourses has been introduced to Kalwaria just recently. The central element of the sanctuary is the miraculous image of Virgin Mary which is the goal of numerous pilgrimages from …

Authors' Introduction, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Magdalena Lubanska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Setting The Record Straight, Nathaniel Pockras

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has existed since the 18^th century, and the actions of its governing Synod are published in annual minutes, but the actions have never been recorded in a single catalogue. An organizational schema is proposed, improving on the schemata of similar catalogues for other Presbyterian denominations: actions are listed chronologically and assigned subject headings to facilitate the creation of a thesaurus. Inclusion criteria are specified, and the catalogue is described in a manner approachable without specialized training.

Hauge’S Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod In America And The Continuation Of The Haugean Spirit In Twentieth-Century American Lutheranism, Thomas E. Jacobson

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This thesis explores the history and enduring legacy of Haugeanism in American Lutheranism, a tradition that has been overlooked in the scholarship of recent decades. Originally, this lay-led Norwegian movement sought to enhance the spiritual life of Norwegian Lutherans within the established church and was fueled by the revival activity of Hans Nielsen Hauge in Norway. It became transplanted on American soil with the immigration of the nineteenth century. The interaction in America between the low-church Haugeans and their more formal counterparts rooted in the state church of Norway reveals that a sense of friction existed between the two emphases …

A Significant Shift In The Use Of Resources Around The Years 1960 And 1980 In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Australia And The United States, Robert K. Mciver

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Between 1900 and 1960 the number of ordained ministers in Australia and the US followed a natural growth curve. Between 1960-1970 and following 1980 the number of ordained pastors remained relatively constant, despite growth in tithe receipts and membership. This paper explores possible reasons for this pattern.

Wrap-Up Report, Wonsuk Ma

Empowered21 Global Network of Spirit-Empowered Scholars

No abstract provided.

Postwar Churches Of Christ Mission Work: The Philippines As A Case Study, Brady Kal Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There was a large increase in the number of Churches of Christ missionaries and missionary efforts following World War II (WWII). There were also significant changes and developments in American religious culture following WWII—Churches of Christ were not exempt from these changes. This study examines the question of how postwar developments in American religion influenced missionary efforts of American Churches of Christ by looking at examples of American missionaries in the Philippines.

The study relies heavily on primary sources, including letters and news reports from archival collections, Churches of Christ periodicals, and email correspondence with people familiar with the main …

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …

From Putrefecation To Sanctification: John Wesley's Understanding Of Original Sin And Theology Of Grace, John Scheuer

Obsculta

John Wesley’s sermons and writings about Original Sin are filled with lengthy and extreme descriptions of the depravity of humanity. This essay will explore examples from Wesley’s writings that use Scripture to describe humanity’s condition, and whose interpretation is supported by the tradition of the church. This exploration will layout Wesley’s unique theology of grace which provides a remedy for Original Sin by arguing humanity’s only path to redemption is through accepting the resistible grace of God.

A Startling Injustice In The Protestant Reformation: The Contrasting Theologies Of Martin Luther And Thomas Muntzer As Seen In Their Responses To The Reformation Of The Common Man, 1525, Tonya Toutge

Obsculta

Compares the theologies of reform held by Thomas Müntzer and Martin Luther specifically as their theologies played out in re-sponse to the Peasants’ War of 1525. Müntzer and Luther. This comparison places Müntzer over and against Luther.

Book Reviews, Arden C. Autry Phd, Edward E. Decker Jr, Christopher G. Foster, Robert W. Graves, Daniel D. Isgrigg, Jeffrey S. Lamp, Wonsuk Ma, Peter A. Reynolds, James B. Shelton, Andrew R. Williams

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Sexuality, Gender, And Marriage: Pentecostal Theology Of Sexuality And Empowering The Girl-Child In India, Brainerd Prince, Atula Walling

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Th e focus of the article arises from a case study of an Indian woman and her adopted child, Sunita and Komal. Th ere are three key issues that can be abstracted from the story of Sunita and Komal. Th e abandoned “girl-child” Komal raises the question of sex—what am I? What does it mean to be biologically female? What consequences are there for being born female? Sunita’s and Komal’s rejection from their families has led them to ask the question about their gender—who am I? What does it mean to be a girl or woman in a predominantly Hindu …

The Question Of Power In African Pentecostalism, Alex R. Mayfield

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Should the charismatic theology of anointing be considered a democratizing influence in Africa or a reiteration of mediatorial forms of power? Th is article seeks to answer this question by analyzing African traditional religious power structures in comparison to modern African theologies and practices of Pentecostal anointing. Th is comparison, however, highlights the problem of drawing direct lines from Africa’s past to its present; Pentecostal rupture from a traditional past is paradoxically both a break from and connection to pre-colonial conceptions of the self and community. Ultimately, this article argues that while both traditional religions and modern Pentecostal anointing favor …

A Historical And Hermeneutical Approach To The Vice-Lists: A Pauline Perspective, Mark Hall

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The subject of homosexuality is controversial in the Church, even among Pentecostals; consequently, there has arisen a need for a historical and hermeneutical examination of the topic, especially in the Pauline corpus. The vice-lists of ancient literature along with the ones in the Pauline epistles provide insight into the apostle’s understanding of their purpose and function. Of the ones where Paul lists sexual sins, three specifically mention homosexuality: Romans 1:26–27, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, and 1 Timothy 1:9–10. Th is article discusses Paul’s understanding of the connection between homosexuality and idolatry and provides an in-depth analysis of the Greek words μαλακοί …

“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 …

Editorial, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Spiritus Editorial Board

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Universal Love In More Than The Abstract: John Woolman On Privilege In The Christian Worldview, Nicole Busacca

History of Christianity II: TH 314

No abstract provided.