History of Christianity Commons^™

A Message From Antioch And Moravia To The West, Barry Hudspeth

Masters Theses

This qualitative thesis study, “A Message From Antioch and Moravia to the West,” explores the North American Church’s role in the global missions arena and seeks to develop a streamlined strategy for engaging in cross-cultural evangelism in the twenty-first century. A qualitative case study of the first-century Christian church and Moravian church of the eighteenth century provides data on actions conducted to spread Christianity from a central geographical location outward to the known world in their respective eras of Christian history. These two case study analyses looked at how the Gospel was spread during each point in history followed by …

The Problem With David: Masculinity And Morality In Biblical Cinema, Kevin M. Mcgeough

Journal of Religion & Film

The King David of the Bible, and especially as portrayed in the books of Samuel, is one of the most complex characters in ancient literature. We are told his story from his youth as a shepherd until his death as king of Israel. He kills a mighty warrior with a slingshot, goes to war with his king and later his son, and has an affair that threatens to throw his kingdom into disarray. The stories surrounding David seem perfect for cinematic adaptation yet what makes this character so compelling has been problematic for filmmakers. Here, three types of Biblical filmmaking …

Reimagining The Jesus Tradition : Orality, Memory, And Ancient Biography, Youngju Kwon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Seven Key Steps In Planning And Implementing A Successful Church Merger, Andrew Pietrylo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The hypothesis of this project is that merging of two churches is a viable option for some congregations who are seeking to advance the kingdom of Christ. However, an analysis of obtainable literature reveals that there is little material available to assist churches that are interested in such a pursuit. This project will provide churches with an effective process of determining, implementing and maintaining a successful church merger. Utilizing information from Scripture, current trends, advice from church growth experts, observations of actual church mergers, and a post-merger survey, this project will develop practical steps to navigate churches through a successful …

'Not Cruelty But Piety': Circumscribing European Crusading Violence, Susanna A. Throop

History Faculty Publications

Was there such a thing as “crusading violence”? Traditionally the crusading movement has been sharply distinguished from other forms of Christian violence motivated, or at least justified, by religion. However, we have increasingly come to recognize the difficulties of drawing clear-cut boundaries between crusading and other aspects of western European culture in the Middle Ages. This chapter assesses the ways in which crusader violence was like and unlike other forms of medieval Christian violence.

Toward A Theology Of Transformation, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

“Arrows Fletched From Our Own Wings”: The Early Church Fathers And The “Delphi Of The Mind”, Daniel J. Crosby

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Delphi, one of the most important sanctuaries of the classical world, presented the Early Church Fathers with an interesting challenge. Although it continued to be an institution of local importance, by their time, the Oracle had long since been a provincial backwater, requiring Imperial patronage, at times, which revived the sanctuary temporarily, but not to its former glory and importance. It was not the actual institution that presented hindrance to the advancement of Christianity, nevertheless the Early Church Fathers attacked it with arguments ranging from the irreverent to the obscene. The interesting fact is that none of these indictments were …

A Wesley Bibliography, Kenneth J. Collins

Papers

No abstract provided.

Matĕj Of Janov: Corpus Mysticum, Communionem, And The Lost Treatise Of His Regulae, Stephen E. Lahey

Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications

The Bohemian theologian Matěj of Janov (d.1393) is little known outside of Czech Hussite scholarship, yet his Regulae Veteris et Novi Testamentum is arguably as important an influence on the genesis and development of Hussitism, as is the thought of John Wyclif. The chief Hussite theologian Jakoubek of Střibro relied on his works, and his emphasis on the need for daily Eucharist for all Christians seems to have been central to the utraquist ideal central to Hussitism. This article describes the structure and content of Matěj’s Regulae, a carefully constructed sustained argument of the threat of Antichrist facing the …

The Power Of Resurrection: Early Christian Resistance Through The Rise Of Disciplinary Power, Patrick G. Stefan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an analysis of the spread of Christianity in the first three centuries and the commensurate activation and development of what Michel Foucault calls disciplinary mechanisms of power. It sets out to explore two questions, first, what were the theoretical conditions that led to Christianity's rapid expansion? And second, what were the historical precursors to the mechanisms of disciplinary power? It then seeks to put these two questions together to propose that early Christianity was successful in overtaking the Roman Imperial government because it activated underlying disciplinary mechanisms of power in a world governed and controlled by sovereign …

A History Of Nondenominational Churches In Denver And Beyond, 1945–2000, R. Norton Herbst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 1945-2000, nondenominational churches in America developed from a scattering of independent congregations to one of the largest groups of churches in the nation. Few scholars have studied these churches as a cohesive movement. And many think they burst onto the American scene around the 1990s, though statistics suggest otherwise. Two questions, therefore, need to be addressed: What is the historical genealogy of nondenominational churches in modern America? And, is there a recognizable nondenominational church identity?

This study explores these questions in three ways. First, I survey the origins and development of Protestant denominationalism from the Reformation through the early …

Justin Between Paul And The Heretics: The Salvation Of Christian Judaizers In The Dialogue With Trypho, Benjamin L. White

Publications

Justin Martyr makes the surprising concession in the Dialogue with Trypho 47 that Gentile Christians who convert as proselytes to Christ-believing Judaism “will likely be saved.” Given Justin’s larger project in the Dialogue of creating a Verus Israel distinct from historical Judaism, his admission of salvation to these ultimate Judaizers is hard to understand. The following article examines this fissure in his project by positioning Justin in tension between Paul and Marcion. Dialogue 47, which takes up the relationship between Christ-faith and the law, is shot through with the language of Galatians and Romans 14–15, and Justin tends in a …

Contrasting Portrayals Of Children In 1 Samuel, A. James Murphy

School of American and Global Studies Faculty Publications with a Focus on History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion

Scholars have developed a number of interpretive methods and approaches to the Bible over the last century. Perhaps the first new approach of the twenty-first century is child-centered, or childist interpretation. Child-centered critical readings are largely an outgrowth of feminist interpretation, which has illuminated biblical figures like Sarah, Esther, and Paul’s writings on women in new ways for decades now. Unlike female interpreters, however, every one of us has been a child! Yet similarly, those of us who use this approach typically do so in conjunction with other lenses (e.g., archaeological, historical, literary, or rhetorical) with which to read the …

Review Of W. B. Patterson, Thomas Fuller: Discovering England’S Religious Past, Brooke Conti

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Focusing On The Child Next To Jesus In Mark 9:33-37, A. James Murphy

School of American and Global Studies Faculty Publications with a Focus on History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion

Child-centered, or childist, interpretation is one of the newest academic approaches to critically reading the Bible. With cues from feminist criticism and other methods, scholars begin by looking for passages that touch on children or contain child characters. Then, rather than focusing upon typical main characters, scholars draw the reader’s foremost attention to the child, reading the actions and words of other characters, narrator, even the author in relation to the child. Sometimes we use this approach to learn more about children historically, and peoples’ views of them. We may also use this approach along with literary methods to understand …

Sola Fide The Relevance Of Remembering The Reformation, Erik Herrmann

Concordia Pages

This two-part publication presents Erik Herrmann’s essay on the ongoing relevance of Martin Luther’s Reformation in light of its 500th anniversary, as well as his sermon on “sola fide” (faith alone), one of the hallmark slogans of the Reformation, which he preached on the 500th anniversary, October 31, 2017.

Grassroots Impacts On The Civil Rights Movement: Christian Women Leaders’ Contributions To The Paradigm Shift In The Tactics Of The Southern Christian Leadership Conference And Its Affiliates, Wook Jong Lee

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the historical factors that built grassroots movements during the civil rights era of the United States. These movements were produced by Christian women leaders, and they influenced a crucial transition in the leadership of the civil rights movement. Through their training and mobilizing tactics, women civil rights leaders utilized grassroots leadership to help major civil rights organizations, such as SCLC, SNCC, CORE, COFO, and the NAACP, work closely with local black people in the South who struggled with their underprivileged circumstances. This project investigates the key role of the grassroots leadership of Christian women leaders, which led …

Alexander The Great, W. B. Godbey

William B. Godbey

No abstract provided.

Inefabilidad Y «Percepción Espiritual» En San Juan De La Cruz: 'No Halla Modo Ni Manera Ni Símil' [Nii,17,3], Elizabeth Wilhelmsen

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

Este estudio concierne la inefabilidad en San Juan de la Cruz, cuyos textos brindan una dimensión, privativa, 'apofática' así como una positiva, 'teofática'. El fontivereño destaca que la experiencia mística -no obstante ser rayo dionisíaco de fruición en la tiniebla, un paradójico «subir bajando»- se desborda en una singular expresión bivalente, ya en prosa, ya en verso lírico. A fin de ilustrar en algún grado su sutil y profunda realización de órdenes analógicos de aprehensiones que atañen a la unidad sustancial del alma y cuerpo así como al alma misma, nos incumbe meditar con esmero sobre sus explicaciones precisas y …

The Waldenses: Historical Perspectives From The Writings Of Ellen G. White, Kathleen Demsky

All Books

Excerpts from: White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy. Mountain View: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911. Chapter 4. White, Ellen G. Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists. Basle: Imprimerie Polyglotte, 1885. Chapter 57.

The Unselfishness Of God And How I Discovered It, Hannah Whitall Smith

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Chaplains In Leadership Development And Conflict Management: A Reflection On Acts 15:36-41, Boubakar Sanou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Contra Haereticos Accingantur": The Union Of Crusading And Anti-Heresy Propaganda, Bryan E. Peterson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the intersection of crusading and heresy repression in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. The event that encapsulates this intersection was the Albigensian Crusade, a two-decades long conflict that befell the south of France, or Occitania. The papacy, aligned with northern lords and other willing Christians, took up arms to defend the Church from the Cathar heresy’s corrupting influence. This conflict marked a new development in Christian acts of violence. While the Church had crusaded against many different enemies—even branding some as heretics—before 1209, the Church had never called a crusade for the explicit purpose of …