Ethics in Religion Commons^™

Formulating An Intentional Curriculum For Spiritual Leadership Development At The West University Church Of Christ, Daniel A. Mcgraw

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the lack of a formal curriculum for spiritual leadership formation in the West University Church of Christ in Houston, Texas. While the West University Church of Christ has been blessed by strong congregational leaders in both the past and present, recent conversations revealed the need for a deeper connection to God and a better understanding of spiritual leadership on the part of the congregation’s leaders. The problem I identified was a lack of understanding about spiritual leadership in contrast to secular understandings of leadership and the lack of a formal curriculum to help address this problem.

This …

A Call To Excellence: Leadership Training And Mentoring Manual For Women In Ministry In The Twenty-First Century, Verna Mazak

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The growth of women in leadership within the local church is at an all-time high. These women face tremendous obstacles as they seek to lead the twenty-first century church. This thesis investigates the role of African American women in the Black Baptist church to identify skills necessary for successful leadership within the denomination. Going beyond analysis and exploration, it answers the question of how to develop a training and mentorship program specifically designed to prepare African-American women for excellence in leadership. A survey of fifty church staff and members of various Black Baptist churches was conducted to determine the perspective …

Mercy And Business: A Partnership For Catholic University Business Students, Arlene J. Nicholas

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

A university mission that reflects mercy and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition can be integrated into business courses. Critical to this integration is the willingness of students to embrace concepts such as fairness and mercy, as part of their lives beyond academia; that caring for others is inclusive in business and private life. Some examples in management courses include; the protection from harassment or disenfranchisement of any ethnic, economic or lifestyle differences; fairness of applications, interviews and testing, and opportunities for training and promotions. In all business courses, the understanding of cultural dimensions and respect for others are emphasized.

Speculating The Subject Of Money: Georg Simmel On Human Value, Devin Singh

Dartmouth Scholarship

This article initiates an inquiry into the sources and frameworks of value used to denote human subjects in modernity. In particular, I consider the conflation of monetary, legal, and theological registers employed to demarcate human worth. Drawing on Simmel’s speculative genealogy of the money equivalent of human values, I consider the spectrum of ascriptions from specifically quantified to infinite human value. I suggest that predications of infinite human value require and imply quantified—and specifically monetary-economic—human value. Cost and worth, economically and legally defined, provide a foundation for subsequent eternal projections in a theological imaginary. This calls into question the interventionist …

Postscript Re: Fr. Laurier Labreche, Hall & Monagle, Llc

Records related to Fr. Laurier Labreche

No abstract provided.

Excerpt Of Unidentified Deposition, Pg. 43-43, Hall & Monagle, Llc

Deposition Materials related to Fr. John Feit

No abstract provided.

Excerpt Of Unidentified Deposition, Pg. 31, Hall & Monagle, Llc

Deposition Materials related to Fr. John Feit

No abstract provided.

Child Prostitution: Inadequate Response By The Church, Gabrielle Alexis

Masters Theses

Child sex trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained eighteen years of age. Based on that definition, there is an alarming number of children that are being sexually enslaved. This paper specifically focuses on child sex trafficking or child prostitution. It presents a detailed analysis of the extent of child prostitution worldwide, discusses the long-term effects of child prostitution, analyzes the adequacy of the Church’s …

Peasant Revolts As Anti-Authoritarian Archetypes For Radical Buddhism In Modern Japan, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

The late Meiji period (1868-1912) witnessed the birth of various forms of “progressive” and “radical” Buddhism both within and beyond traditional Japanese Buddhist institutions. This paper examines several historical precedents for “Buddhist revolution” in East Asian—and particularly Japanese—peasant rebellions of the early modern period. I argue that these rebellions, or at least the received narratives of such, provided significant “root paradigms” for the thought and practice of early Buddhist socialists and radical Buddhists of early twentieth century Japan. Even if these narratives ended in “failure”—as, indeed, they often did—they can be understood as examples of what James White calls “expressionistic …

Establishing The M7 Dream Builder Pastoral Care Ministry: A Christ-Centered Spiritual Oasis For Women-By-Women With Dreams Deferred, Sylvia Medley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the long standing problems of Christ-Centered pastoral care in the local church is the need for a practical innovative pastoral care ministry for women whose dreams have been deferred that not only provides healing, hope, and encouragement, but also incorporates the discipling culture of the Great Commission. Based on Matthew 28:19-20, Proverbs 13:12, and supported by surveys, development of an M7 network will culminate in an annual women’s conference. The establishment of the women’s center will consist of a three-part program utilizing a methodology of pastoral care developed specifically for women-by-women. It will include: 1) radical Christ-Centered programs …

Interplay Between Agency, Perception, Structure, And Faith, Hannah Morris

The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change

No abstract provided.

The Contributions Of Faith-Based Organizations To Development And The Humanitarian Field: An Adra Case Study, Alexandra Raney, Joel Raveloharimisy

Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development

The purpose of this paper is to explain the contributions of faith-based organizations (FBOs) to development and the humanitarian field. To do this we used mixed methods research to conduct a case study of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), evaluating its mission, mandate, organizational resources, and activities conducted in 136 countries around the world. We argue that the contributions of FBOs to development and the humanitarian field are explained by the interplay of their identity, resources, and opportunities to do good. The paper concludes with recommendations for FBOs as we move toward the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, while …

Challenging Students At Fort Worth Christian School To Engage The Economically Disadvantaged In Their Community, James Hensley

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This doctor of ministry thesis presents a project in which I led a group of students at Fort Worth Christian School in experiences that challenged them to be more engaged with the economically disadvantaged in their community. The problem I identified at the outset of the project was a lack of such experiences along with troubling attitudes about poverty. Many students initially demonstrated ambivalence or even outright hostility toward the notion of helping people who live in poverty. I found such attitudes to be contrary to the teachings of Jesus and to my central beliefs as a Christian. I believed …

Christian-Stoicism: Exploring The Relationship Between Christianity And Stoicism And Constructing A Manual Of Christian-Stoic Wisdom, Trevor Kelly

Master of Arts in Religious Studies (M.A.R.S. Theses)

While the theological assumptions of Christianity and Stoicism may seem disparate, their philosophies are highly compatible. This compatibility is one of the reasons that early Christian authors looked to pagan Stoic authors for support and inspiration. Many Stoic and Christian authors compiled manuals for right living. The historical connections and conceptual similarities between the two schools of thought suggest the viability and value of constructing a combined Christian-Stoic manual of wisdom. Such is the constructive task of this thesis. Passages from Christian and Stoic sources are brought together to illustrate major common themes. The passages are followed by original commentaries …

Obligations Of Grace, Mark E. Roberts

Empowered21 Global Network of Spirit-Empowered Scholars

Grace obliges recipients to respond in gratitude and obedience to God, the giver of grace. While the New Testament emphasizes God's grace given through Jesus Christ in a New Covenant with believers, the Old Testament emphasizes grace more than many Christians recognize. Grace is expressed in the Old Testament especially through God's free choosing of Abraham as the "father of the faithful," through divine covenants with Abraham, with the divinely constituted nation of Israel, and with the governing house of David. Such grace abounds when God's covenanted people fail to keep their covenant, yet God, after disciplining the covenant people …

How To Impact A Nation: Leadership Lessons Learned From Jerry Falwell And The Moral Majority, George Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project seeks to enhance the leadership development of the next generation by considering the perceived strengths and lessons to be learned from Jerry Falwell and the leadership of the Moral Majority (MM). The commands of Christ call the Christian to engage the culture (Matthew 5:13-16). The trend in church leadership today is too often looking forward without having looked back. Wise church leaders do both and stand on the shoulders of great leaders who have gone before, thus accomplishing “greater things” (John 14:12) for the kingdom of God. Through a survey of current church leaders, and a sampling of …

Proposal For A Local Church Ministry To Mentally Ill Addicts, Terry Jacobs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a significant sub-culture of mental health patients who are addicted to prescription drugs, whose needs are not being met by the mental health rehabilitation system. These individuals are incapable of functioning or working normally and exist solely on welfare and community charities. This thesis will investigate this nationwide problem to determine existing ministry approaches, to create a reproducible ministry strategy for reaching this segment of our society with the gospel, by implementing Christian growth, and providing God’s hope for recovery from addiction. The writer has experience with such a ministry, including a church ministry home in the community, …

Centralization And Its Discontents: Exploring The Relationship Between Measures Of Moral Development, Happiness And Technology Driven, Centralized Ways Of Being, Kirsti Svendsen

Ph.D. Dissertations (Open Access)

This interdisciplinary, qualitative dissertation offers an exploration into possible intimate relationships between recently expanding, technology driven forms of centralization of our social institutions and a supposed decline in moral development and happiness among Americans today.

According to Jacques Ellul, technology in itself is not the problem. Instead, he believes the tragedy is that the new idea or spirit of technique , technical efficiency and economic progress, which may have started with the Industrial revolution, and has become the western world s new "religion", the new salvation for humanity. Ellul and other thinkers suggest that the single-minded focus on material progress …

Letter From Br. Dennis Huff Re: Legal Summons, Hall & Monagle, Llc

Records related to Br. Dennis Huff

No abstract provided.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Vs. Alternative Stem Cell Research: Is There A Compromise?, Halle Herringshaw

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

The Secular Transformation Of Pride And Humility In The Moral Philosophy Of David Hume, Kirstin April Carlson Mcpherson

Dissertations (1934 -)

In this dissertation I examine Hume’s secular re-definition and re-evaluation of the traditional Christian understanding of pride and humility as part of his project to establish a fully secular account of ethics and to undermine what he thought to be the harmful aspects of religious morality. Christians traditionally have seen humility, understood as receptivity to God, to be crucial for individual and social flourishing, and pride as the root of individual and social disorder. By contrast, Hume, who conceives of pride and humility immanently in terms of our self-appraisals, sees pride as a key virtue that serves as the ultimate …

Theo-Dramatic Ethics: A Balthasarian Approach To Moral Formation, Andrew John Kuzma

Dissertations (1934 -)

What role does beauty play in our moral formation? What difference does the perception of beauty make to the way we live our lives? In order to answer these questions, I look to the twentieth-century Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar. Relatively little has been written about Balthasar’s ethics. He is, perhaps, best known for his retrieval of beauty as a transcendental property of being. Balthasar, though, never set down an extended account of his ethics or moral theology. While he had no explicit ethic, he certainly thought that his theology could be lived. The Theo-Drama, for instance, discusses the …

The Germans And Their Nazi Past: To What Extent Have They Accepted Responsibility?, Martin Hille

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 51 No 1 - April 2016), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

Articles: Neo-Calvinism: A Theology for the Global Church in the Twenty-first Century by Richard J. Mouw - 7 / Casting out Hagar: Anti-Judaism in the Sermons of Augustine by Wendy Elgersma Helleman - 20 / The Discipline of Missiology in 2016: Concerning the Place and Meaning of Missiology in the Theological Curriculum by Stefan Paas - 37 / Reformed Orthodoxy and Gendered Authority: The Christian Reformed Church 1945–1984 by Tamara J. Van Dyken - 55 / The Threats of the Gospel: John Owen on What the Law/Gospel Distinction Is Not by Ryan M. McGraw - 79 / Hair Length …

The Essential Nature Of Humility For Today's Leaders, Jerry D. Breedlove Jr.

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Using socio-rhetorical criticism and analysis, the author explores the inner-textual and intertextual texture of 1 timothy 3:1-7. In particular the author draws out how the apostle Paul’s leadership requirement of not being a recent convert is less about the timing of a conversion to christianity and more about the adverse effects of pride on the ability of a leader to lead in a healthy manner. In so doing, the author provides support and insight into the ways in which humility as an essential virtue is applicable to leadership in secular settings as well as christian environments. Furthermore, the author strengthens …

Consumerism: A Challenge For Christian Leadership?, José A. Aleby, Hugo Ernesto Quiroga

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

This article is motivated by an academic work and a field research project developed by Hugo E. Quiroga (2012; personal communication, 2015) on oneomania as a challenge for christian leadership. Our intention is more to raise questions than to provide easy-sounding answers. The term oneomania may not be well known in theory, but its practical effects are recognized around the world. Oneomania, from the Greek onéo = to buy + mania = insanity, mental disorder (Taylor, 1950), is the scientific and technical term for the disease of consumerism, for the compulsive desire to shop, which is a progressive addiction to …

Breaking Free From Cults: A Guide For Pastors To Lead Individuals To A New Christian Identity, Brandon Waters

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The spiritual scars inflicted on individuals who severed relationships with religious cults or legalistic institutions are widespread. This research will show former cultist experienced spiritual, mental and physical abuse in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Through a survey of 150 former members of the WCG and thirty evangelical local pastors, this research will validate the need for support for those individuals seeking personal recovery and the formation of a new spiritual identity. This thesis project produced a manual to assist pastors in understanding the needs of former cultists, specifically in assisting them in developing a new spiritual identity.

Ministry Partners: Ten Key Characteristics Of A Healthy Marriage In Ministry, Arlen Pfenninger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In the beginning, God created a partner for man to have as they live their lives together. This partnership was created so they could work together for the kingdom God created. There has been literature written about the unhealthiness of some marriages in ministry because the pastor has neglected his or her family for the cause of Christ. There are others who have advocated a partnership in marriage ministry where the husband and wife work together as a ministry team. This thesis project presents an understanding of the healthy characteristics couples portray as they partner together in the ministry in …

Ethical Decisions: The Slippery Slope/The Blurred Lines, Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

Presentation for the NAD orientation for new treasurers, March 31, 2016

Astrobiology, Theology, And Ethics, Brian Patrick Green

Staff Publications and Research

Through his work, Ted Peters has given us a unique permission to dream¹-permission to dream about God's creation not only as it is right now on Earth, but also how it might be elsewhere in the universe both now and in the future. He has taken three of the grandest fields of human endeavor-astrobiology, theology, and ethics-and pioneered them into the new field of astrotheology.²

In this chapter I will present three areas in which Peters' work has motivated my own thinking. First, I want to consider the idea of convergent cultural, theological, and moral evolution between …