History of Christianity Commons^™

The Beautiful Mystery: Examining Jonathan Edwards’ View Of Marriage, Russell J. Allen

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

In contemporary evangelical circles, Jonathan Edwards has gained wide popularity for his theological writings and vital role in the First Great Awakening. However, despite these often romanticized views, Edwards nonetheless stood in the midst of an eighteenth century society that began to develop new norms for sexual practice and new legal guidelines to support them. In order to combat what he saw to be a decaying moral culture, Edwards took a strong stance on marital issues, often to the displeasure of his congregation. What lay behind these convictions was a deep theological understanding of the sanctity of marriage. These views, …

Future Views Of The Past: Models Of The Development Of The Early Church, John Reeve

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

Models of historiography often drive the theological understanding of persons and periods in Christian history. This article evaluates eight different models of the early church period and then suggests a model that is appropriate for use in a Seventh-day Adventist Seminary. The first three models evaluated are general views of the early church by Irenaeus of Lyon, Walter Bauer and Martin Luther. Models four through eight are views found within Seventh-day Adventism, though some of them are not unique to Adventism. The ninth model, proposed by the author, is expressed colloquially for the sake of simplicity and memorability: The good …

Wesley And Charisma: An Analysis Of John Wesley's View Of Spiritual Gifts, Dojcin Zivadinovic

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

18th century English reformer, John Wesley is one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity. As a key theological leader behind the first religious awakening (1730-1760) in England and America, Wesley is often credited for setting the stage for the contemporary Charismatic and Pentecostal ideas. This article’s purpose is to clarify John Wesley’s attitude towards the doctrine of Spiritual Gifts and especially towards the more dynamic charismas such as the gifts of healing, the gift of prophecy, exorcism of evil spirits and speaking with tongues. Especially important for understanding Wesley’s thought is his opposition to Calvin’s cessationism, …

A Garden Locked, A Fountain Sealed: Female Virginity As A Model For Holiness In The Fourth Century, Lindsay Anne Williams

Master's Theses

Despite centuries of Christian theologians and lay Christians alike assigning and/or accepting an entrenched misogyny in the writings of Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, close examination of their work on its own terms and in its own time reveals that, in fact, they did not hold women in lesser esteem than men. Rather, time and again, in the writings of these Latin Doctors of the Church, women were promoted as exemplars of holiness and sanctity often in excess of their male counterparts and commonly as didactic tools used to lead their fellow Christians down a more righteous path. The following thesis …

Gustavo GutiéRrez – Liberation Theology & Marxism, Todd Cameron Swathwood Jr

The Kabod

Since 1968, liberation theology has emerged as a prominent feature of religion and politics, particularly in South America. Originally stemming from the writings of Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, this at-once theological and overtly political ideology decries the institutionalized violence of the world’s capitalist society on the poor and oppressed, and argues that God is particularly concerned with the plight of the suffering masses. Christians should therefore make assistance of these poor souls their highest priority, and advocate for any and all methods of alleviating suffering, especially those that work from the premise that society must be toppled and rebuilt for …

Revisiting The Afterlife: The Inadequacies Of "Heaven" And "Hell", Christopher P. Davis

Fidei et Veritatis: The Liberty University Journal of Graduate Research

This paper deals with some of the ambiguities that are associated with the intermediate and final states after death. Whereas many in the church have dismissed these concepts as myths of the ancients, this discussion shows how the grounding of such beliefs in the Hebrew mindset was the key to Jesus’ own teachings about the afterlife. The argument begins by developing a biblical anthropology over against the modern naturalistic anthropologies that have largely dominated the philosophical and theological scenes. From here we look at the Old Testament concept of the afterlife, and how the modern view that the Hebrews were …

The Eucharist In An Unarticulated World, Tim Sensing

Graduate School of Theology

Ethnographic data from the lived experiences of teenagers participating in the weekly observance of the Eucharist provided rich data for an application of Bakhtinian approaches to discourse in order to inform current practice. Bakhtin’s understanding of dialogism and heteroglossia asserts that all discourse communities are located in historical situations that involve complex interactions. Each utterance takes meaning from its “actual social life.” Bakhtin gives priority to utterances that occur in context and focuses on the intentional negotiation of meaning and interpretation between author and reader, or, in this case, researcher, participant, and community. The research provides opportunity for teenagers to …

Models Of Conversion In American Evangelicalism: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge And Old Princeton, And Charles Finney, Mark B. Chapman

Dissertations (1934 -)

The most commonly referenced definition of evangelicalism, David Bebbington’s ‘quadrilateral,’ includes conversionism as one of four key definitive features, and most other definitions also reference conversion as characteristic of evangelicalism. This dissertation examines the adequacy of the use of conversion in such a defining role through a careful consideration of a variety of dimensions of conversion among three key representatives of evangelicalism: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, and Old Princeton Seminary (as represented by its first professor, Archibald Alexander, and especially by his protégé Charles Hodge). One cannot talk about conversion as a key to evangelicalism without understanding what is meant …

The Foundation Of Cistercian Monasteries In France 1098-1789: An Historical Gis Evaluation, Jon Eric Klingenberg Rasmussen

Masters Theses

Historical geography focuses upon those relationships which have shaped the evolution of place and landscape over time. One fundamental approach used to achieve this objective is the set of theories associated with spatial diffusion. This includes the spatial and chronological paths, the periodicities and rates of spread, as well as the identification of areas of void or avoidance. An emerging trend in historical geography is the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A GIS provides the researcher with the necessary tools to re-evaluate and challenge long-standing interpretations of any given event, historical or otherwise, as well as develop new insights …

South Carolina Conference Journal 2015, United Methodist Church. South Carolina Conference

South Carolina Conference Journal

THE JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF The United Methodist Church Southeastern Jurisdiction

VOLUME I 2015

Price: $30.00 per year paid in advance by subscription only (Volumes I and II included)

Edited for the Conference by KENNETH L. NELSON Secretary of the Annual Conference

Florence Civic Center Florence, South Carolina

June 7-11, 2015

"They Cannot Forbear Crying Out", David R. Thomas

ATS Digital Resources

No abstract provided.

Evidence For The Historical Jesus: Is The Jesus Of History The Christ Of Faith?, Gary R. Habermas

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The subject of the Historical Jesus is perhaps the most popular religious topic in settings such as university and seminary classrooms, written volumes, and doctoral dissertations. Unlike many of these more formal situations, the question-and-answer format utilized throughout this text allows plenty of space to develop additional angles. Hence, the backtracking, necessary repetition, as well as viewing the subject matter from a variety of perspectives allow the conversation to deepen significantly before moving ahead. In the process, it is our hope that new ideas will be expressed and developed. The overall purpose is to provide a historical context for the …

Late Medieval Mediterranean Apocalypticism: Joachimist Ideas In Ramon Llull’S Crusade Treatises, Michael Sanders

The Hilltop Review

The thirteenth century witnessed dramatic changes that transformed the medieval world and remain important today. The violent changes caused by the War of the Sicilian Vespers and Spiritual Franciscan movement popularized the apocalyptic ideas of the twelfth-century Italian abbot, Joachim of Fiore. The abbot's historical paradigms of biblical history influenced many southern Europeans, including the medieval mystic, missionary, and philosopher Ramon Llull (c. 1232-1316). Llull dedicated his life to converting the world to Catholic Christianity using a variety of means, including evangelical missions, Neoplatonic philosophy, and crusades. Llull's crusade treatises, the Tractatus de modo convertendi infideles (1292), Liber de fine …

On The Symbolic Nature Of Evangelization, Steven Drapalik

Obsculta

Still often viewed as an action belonging solely to missionary societies, Catholic understanding of evangelization is lacking. Refusal to evangelize is refusal to act as a symbolic reality of Christ in the world, i.e. the Mystical body of Christ - the Church. This paper will demonstrate how evangelization is the primary way in which the Holy Spirit actualizes the Church as symbolic reality of the Mystical body of Christ in the world. When Catholics evangelize, their actions of witness and proclamation constitute participation in a process Louise-Marie Chauvet terms symbolic exchange whereby subjects kenotically give of themselves in order to …

Charles Lewis Cocke Papers, Beth S. Harris

Finding Aids: Guides to the Collections

Personal and professional papers of Charles Lewis Cocke, educator, founder and first president of Hollins University, and Baptist layman.

Lost Prophets: Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, And Early Montanism, Brice Andrew Larson

Seminary Masters Theses

ABSTRACT The dearth of reliable primary source material on the New Prophecy has led to a proliferation of interpretations of the character of the movement. However, a careful examination of the New Prophecy’s preserved sayings, the writings of Tertullian, and the movement’s earliest critics preserved by Eusebius and Epiphanius reveal a movement steeped in the Christian tradition that came into conflict with other Christians because of their willingness to pay ministers and their passive understanding of the charisma of prophecy.

The Celtic Way: Order, Creativity, And The Holy Spirit In The Celtic Monastic Movement, Fiona Leitch

Senior Honors Theses

The Celtic monastic movement lasted hundreds of years and is responsible for much of the spread of Christianity to the West. Much of the movement’s success can be attributed to the Celtic Christians’ understanding of the importance of the role of creative culture and order as well as an openness and responsiveness to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is these three things working in tandem that influenced the success of the Celtic monastic movement. Although the movement ended a thousand years ago, it can offer guidance and wisdom for carrying out ministry today. A case study of Cuirim …

Illness And God's Will, John Sherret

Senior Honors Theses

Originally, God never put sickness on people. After the fall, the early history of man as recorded in the Bible further demonstrates Him refraining to use sickness. However, once the law was instituted God began to use sickness as a punishment. In the Old Testament, sickness was always defined as a curse and never a blessing. It was used by God to curse people for disobeying the law. In the New Testament, God was seen healing the multitudes instead of cursing them. Through the atonement of Jesus, believers have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Healing …

Capitulation Or Resistance? The Response Of The Catholic Church To Nazi Mistreatment Of Jews, Dabo Li

Black & Gold

This essay examines the role of the Catholic Church in the Nazi racial persecution of Jews that culminated in the Final Solution. Recent historical studies have made revealing discoveries despite the steadfast refusal of the Vatican to open up its most important archives. For an institution with higher moral calling, how did the Catholic Church react to the uptick in German anti-Semitism under Adolf Hitler? Using some most up-to-date research findings—as well as its own synthesis—this essay addresses this question by breaking up the Church hierarchy into the institutional and the individual, local levels. It demonstrates that, through a policy …

The Predestination Debate: A Harmony Of Corporate Election And Individual Election, Bradley Smith

Senior Honors Theses

The topic of predestination has been discussed throughout church history in the work of men like Augustine, Pelagius, Calvin, Arminius, and Barth. Corporate election seeks to reconcile some problematic areas of Calvinistic and Arminian theology by arguing that in the same way that God chose the nation of Israel through His election of Abraham, so He also chose the Church through His election of Jesus Christ. Despite this view’s seemingly convincing evidence, Scripture points far beyond its main tenets. God’s unconditional election of individuals ought to be foundational to the understanding of corporate election. This study will discuss and interact …

Luther And The Jews: An Exposition Directed To Christians On Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism, Defense, And Legacy, Megan Wilson

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is an analysis of the historical relations between reformer Martin Luther and the Jewish people. Its primary purpose is to defend Luther’s image as a prominent figure in Christian history while considering the possibility of his anti-Semitic views. This thesis focuses particularly on a number of Luther’s written works in order to achieve this goal, with a secondary concentration on historical and incidental defenses that can be used to exonerate him. This thesis also serves to inform contemporary Christians of the controversy surrounding these views and the result of his legacy in more recent centuries.

Documentary As Exorcism: Resisting The Bewitchment Of Colonial Christianity, Michael Broyles

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Documentary as Exorcism: Resisting the Bewitchment of Colonial Christianity by Robert Beckford.

An Evil Threat To Marriage, Children And The Future: Queer Theory, "The Passion Of The Christ," And Evangelical Political Rhetoric, Richard Wolff

Journal of Religion & Film

This article employs queer theory to analyze Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ (2004) for its portrayal of queer characters (Satan and Herod) in contrast with non-queer (Pilate and Claudia, Seraphia, Simon the Cyrene, and Mary, Christ’s mother), and how it depicts the former as evil and the latter as good. In particular, these contrasts involve self-indulgent or predatory sexual expression versus a healthy marital relationship, and evil versus loving influences over children, who represent hope for the future. Finally, the article looks at the film’s heavy marketing to American evangelicals and how the symbolic representations in the …

Irenaeus Of Lyons: A Defense Of Recapitulation, Mathew Thomas Hollen

Seminary Masters Theses

Abstract This work sets out to explain the atonement theory of Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus’ atonement theology is often described simply as “Christus Victor” but I argue that is simply a narrow sliver of the wider atonement theory of recapitulation. In this thesis I systematically try to expound what it is Irenaeus believed and why he believed it. In the first chapter I explain the problem at hand and a short biography of the bishop. In the second chapter I seek to summarize the Gnostic school of Valentinianism, which is the key opponent against Irenaeus writes in his best-known work …

First-Century Biblical Canonization, James B. Joseph

Eruditio Ardescens

No abstract provided.

The Uneasy Pulpit: Carl Henry, The Authority Of The Bible And Expositional Preaching, Kevin King

Eruditio Ardescens

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 50 No 1 - April 2015), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

EDITORIAL: "Why We (Still) Speak" Calvin Theological Journal: Vols. 1.1 to 50.l, by decades by Arie C. Leder - 6 / ARTICLES: Dating John Davenant's De Gallicana controversia sententia in the Context of Debate over John Cameron: A Correction by Richard A. Muller - 10 / Spiritus Propheticus: Spirit and Prophecy in Calvin's Old Testament Exegesis by Keith D. Stanglin - 23 / Protestant Preaching: Its Strengths and Weaknesses by H. de Leede and F. Stark - 43 / The Worship of the Reformed Church and the Creation of Its Service Book by Abraham Kuyper - 59 / …

Quakers And Slavery: The Development Of An Anti-Slavery Society, Ryan P. Murray

Selected Honors Theses

Quaker protests against slavery started as early as 1682, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and continued on through their work with the Underground Railroad and numerous other anti-slavery movements. But in those days of Christianity supported slavery, why is this group known as being against slavery? History reveals that early Quakers were just as involved in slavery as others during that time. The questions then are: why are the Quakers remembered most for their contributions to abolition when they too had kept slaves? And, was their anti-slavery work so effective that it causes history to forget their early support of the practice? …

Deposito Diademate: Augustine’S Emperors, Peter Iver Kaufman

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

To assist colleagues from other disciplines who teach Augustine’s texts in their core courses, this contribution to the Lilly Colloquium discusses Augustine’s assessments of Emperors Constantine and Theodosius. His presentations of their tenure in office and their virtues suggest that his position on political leadership corresponds with his general skepticism about political platforms and platitudes. Yet careful reading of his revision of Ambrose’s account of Emperor Theodosius’s public penance and reconsideration of the last five sections of his fifth book City of God—as well as a reappraisal of several of his sermons on the Psalms—suggest that he proposes a radical …

Mirrored Images: The Passion And The First Crusade In A Fourteenth-Century Parisian Illuminated Manuscript (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale De France, Ms Fr. 352), Susanna A. Throop

History Faculty Publications

This lavish mid-fourteenth-century Parisian illuminated manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 352) combines a description of the Holy Land with an abridged version of the history and continuations of William of Tyre in Old French known as the Eracles. It is both visually familiar to scholars and under-studied. Several of its Gothic panel miniatures, especially folio 62r, the conquest of Jerusalem, have been published more than once, yet the manuscript's illumination programme as a whole has not been assessed since Jaroslav Folda's 1968 doctoral dissertation. Analysis of folio 62r in the context of both the full illumination …