Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons^™

Being Biblical In A Pluralistic Age

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

One way to define a disciple is “a follower of someone’s words.” In a pluralistic age, there are many words beckoning would-be disciples to particular ways of life, all promising some kind of wellness. These word-ways are ingredients of worldviews, a program or map for orienting oneself in the world. Worldviews answer core questions about human existence, often in the form of a story. This essay argues that contemporary pluralism is the result of abandoning the Bible as our control story, a loss that is as much a failure of what Charles Taylor calls the social imaginary. If this diagnosis …

Sanctuary/Temple In Genesis 1–3: A Reevaluation Of The Biblical Evidence, Jahisber Peñuela-Pineda

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Dissertation Abstract

The Theological Significance Of The Relations Of Freedom And Time In The Sciences And Humanities: An Evaluation Of The Contributions Of David Bohm And Pauli Pylkkö, Michael F. Younker

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Dissertation Abstract

Doubt, Faith & Certainty [Review] / Thiselton, Anthony C., Rebecca Murdock

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Book Review

Wood, Todd Charles, And Darrel R. Falk, The Fool And The Heretic: How Two Scientists Moved Beyond Labels To A Christian Dialog About Creation And Evolution. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019. 201 Pp. Softcover. Usd 16.99., Gary W. Burdick

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Spiritus Editorial Board

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

R E V I E W S

• Graham Twelftree, ed. The Nature Miracles of Jesus: Problems, Perspectives, and Prospects. Jeffrey Lamp.
• David K. Bernard. The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ: Deification of Jesus in Early Christian Discourse. Joseph H. Howell.
• Vinson Synan, ed. The Truth About Grace: Spirit-empowered Perspectives. Daniel Thimell
• Margaret English de Alminana and Lois E. Olena, (eds). Women in Pentecostal and Charismatic Ministry: Informing a Dialogue on Gender, Church, and Ministry. Lisa M. Millen.
• Nimi Wariboko, The Split God: Pentecostalism and Critical Theory. David Bradnick.
• Jon Bialecki. A Diagram of Fire: Miracles …

Oral Roberts: A Brief Bibliography, Holy Spirit Research Center Oru Library

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article contains the first published bibliography of works by Oral Roberts and published studies of his life and ministry. Included in this bibliography is an account of the holdings of primary and secondary source works available to researchers at the Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Oral Roberts’ Impact On The Korean Healing Movement, Yeolsoo Eim

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts casts a large shadow of influence upon the healing movements and theology of Korea. Oral Roberts University’s outreach to Korea through the Doctor of Ministry program impacted the local Korean church with the message of healing. Today, there are over 200 ORU alumni in Korea, many of whom graduated from the Doctor of Ministry program during 1992–2012. This article will reflect on the impact of the ORU Doctor of Ministry program in Korea through the stories of several of the most significant graduates.

Oral Roberts: A Man Of The Spirit, Daniel D. Isgrigg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the role that the experience of the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit played in shaping the ministry of Oral Roberts. It charts the development and importance of his experience from his early life and ministry, his launch into healing evangelism, and the founding of Oral Roberts University.

Oral Roberts’ Theology Of Healing: A Journey From Pentecostal “Divine Healing” To Charismatic “Signs And Wonders” To Spirit-Empowered “Whole Person Healing”, Thomson Mathew

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This paper traces the development and articulation of Oral Roberts’ theology of healing through three discernible stages. From the perspective of a participant observer during the final stage of Roberts’ healing ministry, the author examines Roberts’ writings to show that his healing theology moved from a classical Pentecostal theology of divine healing of his roots to a theology of “Holy Spirit in the Now” that emphasized signs and wonders befitting the Charismatic Movement he led, to a final stage that might be characterized as a Spirit-empowered theology of whole person health. Attention has been given to Roberts’ conceptual and linguistic …

The Pentecostal Roots Of Oral Roberts’ Healing Ministry, Vinson H. Synan

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article delves into the development of the healing doctrine of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in which Oral Roberts was born, raised, and ordained to the ministry. Attention is given to the roots of healing teachings from both Europe and America, which were adopted by the Pentecostal movement. The main part of the paper describes the doctrinal statements on healing in the founding documents of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, the widespread acceptance of the Alexander Dowie position on refusing the use of doctors and medicine, the division over the use of remedies that produced the Congregational Holiness Church, and the …

Oral Roberts And The Spiritual Dna Of Oral Roberts University, William M. Wilson

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

William M. Wilson, President of Oral Roberts University, shares his thoughts on Oral Roberts and his impact on the spiritual DNA of Oral Roberts University.

An Overview Of The Theology Of Oral Roberts, R. Samuel Thorpe

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts’ life and healing ministry were shaped by his theology of God. Roberts viewed God as good, who personally worked in the lives of people in the present, and who had good plans for each believer. The manifestation of these plans depended, however, on the faith of the individual believer. God was affected by events in time, was limited in his ability to act by the cooperation of the believer, and suffered emotional distress even as people do. The overriding element in all of Roberts’ message is that “Something good is going to happen to you.” Christians should expect …

“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 …

Syriac Chant And The Limits Of Modality, Sarah Bakker Kellogg

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for Sense and Sadness: Syriac Chant in Aleppo, by Tala Jarjour. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 250 pp. ISBN: 978-0-190-63525-1.

Can I Get An “Amen”? Affirming The Contemporary Ghanaian Usage Of Amen, Agana-Nsiire Agana

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"Altogether then, the claim that amen as used in the instances we have discussed is inappropriate is found to lack firm biblical or etymological foundation. Neither does the suggestion that if it is a vestige of African worship culture then that provides a reasonable ground for thus condemning it. While it is recognized that amen is often babbled from mental laxity, it is suggested that the problem lies not in amen, as a word, but in the person, as a worshipper. Amen is a rich word, capable of communicating a spectrum of positive human intellectual and emotional responses to worship; …

Christian Versus Heathen Ways Of Praying: A Look From The Age Of Postmodernity, Yuri N. Drumi

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"In many respects, postmodernity resembles paganism, but certainly it does not totally overlap with it. People around us are searching, but they do not search for answers and explanations as much as they are searching for people who are living answers. If prayer is a metanarrative, then my life must be a metanarrative too. In this context, I find helpful the analogy drawn by Crossan between Paul’s metaphor of spiritual maturation and that of an individual Christian growing in prayer. Paul says, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as …

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.

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 …