Missions and World Christianity Commons^™

The Discrimination Of Methodist Students At Oxford University, 1768, Nicholas M. Railton

The Asbury Journal

Discrimination and persecution are perennial features of church history. This paper deals with six Oxford students who were expelled from the university for what were called ‘Methodist’ practices and beliefs. Their university trial is analysed as are the support structures within the evangelical network in the eighteenth century. The paper sheds light upon the lives of the students post-exmatriculation.

Eldad And Medad’S Effusive And Momentous Worlds: A Diachronic View, David J. Zucker

The Asbury Journal

In Numbers 11, Eldad and Medad, two of the seventy chosen elders of the people of Israel remain in camp, while their counterparts join Moses at the Tent of Meeting. At the Tent, God takes some of the divine spirit that is on Moses and puts it on the elders, who then speak in ecstasy (others: prophesy, have a vision). Suddenly and simultaneously Eldad and Medad also speak in ecstasy (others: prophesy, have a vision). This article addresses how the text has been received and interpreted in the postbiblical world, largely in rabbinic writings, but also in religiously based homilies …

From The Archives: Amy Hinshaw And The History Of Nazarene Missions In The Woman’S Missionary Society, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

A Brief History Of Women At Asbury Theological Seminary, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

Understanding the past roles of women within the 100-year lifespan of Asbury Theological Seminary is an important exercise in institutional history. Educational institutions frequently experience turnover in students, faculty, and administration at high rates. Institutional memory frequently is held by a few older members of the faculty and staff and more importantly by the archives of the institution. Institutional memory provides the foundation for changing policy decisions, understanding the institutional mission, and following how previous administrations dealt with a constantly changing cultural and social context. In the case of Asbury Theological Seminary, this paper explores an institution rooted in the …

From The Editor, Robert Danielson Ph.D.

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Spiritual Friendship: A Metaphor For Integrating Attachment Theory Into Classic Christian Spiritual Direction, D. Gregory Mcelyea

The Asbury Journal

This article originated in the author’s doctoral dissertation. It refines and expands the literature review with respect to attachment processes in Christian spirituality. The central thesis is that insights from attachment theory, specifically as framed in Todd Hall’s “relational spirituality” model, can be integrated into the scope of classic Christian spiritual direction. The goal is to reimagine the dynamics of insecure attachment to God as expressions of dissonance in what Adrian van Kaam called the intrasphere, which includes the disciple’s emotional life, and the intersphere, which involves the disciple’s relational life.

In fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of …

Announcing The Vennard College Collection, Robert Danielson Ph.D.

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Ghost Theology: Christology And Integral Christianity, Pamela Bruns

The Asbury Journal

Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory has gained in popularity within various disciplines. When applied to Christianity, the theory creates a distorted Christian narrative which must divorce Jesus from Christ. This paper explores the effects of an Integral approach on Christology, specifically. It looks at the concepts of Integral Christianity through the work of Richard Rohr, Paul Smith, and Steve Harper. It considers the way scripture gets reappropriated into the Integral Christian narrative and offers a corrective to this syncretistic understanding of scripture.

The Role Of Christian Hospitality In Mission To The Diaspora Community, Angela Kalim

The Asbury Journal

Immigration enriches a country’s cultural landscape but also brings change to existing norms. Some people see immigration as a threat, but many missiologists see it as an opportunity from God for God’s church to engage the nations. In this paper, I will explore the role of Christian hospitality in mission to the diaspora community. I will first explore what Christian hospitality is, and how it is different from conventional hospitality by looking at how Christian hospitality was practiced in the Bible as well as in Christian tradition, specifically in the Benedictine community. Second, I will discuss the role of Christian …

The Life And Ministry Of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, Elaine B. Peters

The Asbury Journal

This paper examines the life and ministry of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, the first female physician sent to China by the Woman’s Board of Missions, as a case study in women’s medical missions in late Qing China. Drawing on archival and published sources, it traces Woodhull’s medical training, her twenty-eight years of service in Fuzhou, and the integration of healthcare, education, and evangelism in her work. The study highlights both the cultural assumptions shaping her missionary outlook and her sustained advocacy for Chinese women, whom she trained as medical and Christian workers, leaving an institutional and social impact.

Booking “Uncle Bud”: Reflexive Communication Scholarship In Writing A Religious Life, Abram J. Book

The Asbury Journal

Originally presented at the Nazarene Historical Society Annual Meeting on 19 March 2026 at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, this paper examines the scholarly writing process of exploring the popular Nazarene holiness preacher “Uncle Bud” Robinson from a communication studies approach. It reflects on how religious lives are sustained through communication rather than preserved through record alone. Uncle Bud Robinson’s influence endures because his story continues to circulate as cultural memory, shaped by narrative repetition, identification, and mediated remembrance across generations. Writing his biography thus becomes an extension of the same communicative process that once sustained his ministry—an act of …

John Wesley And The Jews, Nicholas Railton

The Asbury Journal

This article focuses on John Wesley’s attitude to Jews and his understanding of their place in the divine plan of salvation. Wesley attended some synagogue services and got to know Jews personally. His understanding of biblical prophecy was expressed most clearly in the explanatory notes on the Bible that were once the standard guide for Methodists. Wesley’s eschatology encompasses a belief in the future conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation in the Holy Land. British Methodism has drifted from these moorings, and this is reflected in the resolutions it passes on the State of Israel.

Why The New York Conference Was “An (Ineffective) Auxiliary Of The Colonization Society In Everything But Name”: Rejection, Apathy, (Lack Of) Funding, And (Its Own) Abolitionists, Philip Hardt

The Asbury Journal

Several years after the founding of the American Colonization Society (hereafter, ACS) in 1816, Methodist clergy and laymen in the New York Conference and especially in New York City began to support its twin goals of evangelization and emigration of free blacks to Africa. Of course, they did not expect the entire black population to emigrate. Instead, they (mistakenly, for the most part) thought many free blacks would prefer to leave the racism of America and start a new life in Africa. Their efforts, however, met with little success because of nearly unanimous black opposition, general white apathy, chronic financial …

From The Archives: Barbed-Wire Christians: Asbury, E. Stanley Jones, And Japanese American Internment Camps, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: "Love Divine: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology", Colton Castle

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

For All The Saints: Sanctification, Autism, And A Rethinking Of Sainthood, Dean G. Blevins

The Asbury Journal

This article explores the intersection of sanctification, worship, and autism within Wesleyan traditions, arguing that autistic persons embody a truer vision of sainthood by challenging the “cult of normalcy” that often governs congregational life. Drawing on historical perspectives of sainthood, theological anthropology, and contemporary disability theology, the essay reconsiders how worship practices shape or exclude neurodiverse participation. By reframing sainthood through neurodiversity, the paper proposes that autistic presence in worship offers both theological insight and ecclesial renewal, calling the church toward adaptive practices of hospitality, holiness, and community that reflect the Spirit’s inclusive work.

Positive Cosmology: On The Good Creation Into Which Christ Incarnated, Jason Horstman

The Asbury Journal

This article argues that a positive cosmology has been the majority report in the Christian tradition, which is to say that creation is good. Evidence of this report is highlighted from scripture, from the contemplative tradition, and from the hospitality tradition. Sin as a complicating factor in understanding creation as good is engaged, and a solution to this complication from the Christian monastic tradition is considered.

Encountering Angels In The Hebrew Scriptures, The Christian Scriptures, And The Qur’An, David J. Zucker

The Asbury Journal

Angels appear in the Hebrew scriptures, the Christian scriptures, and the Qur’an. They are very different from the contemporary “popular” view of angels. Sometimes in these three scriptures angels are acknowledged as simply being, other times they appear with, or interact with people. They generally have benevolent roles. At times, in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures they are recognized by humans, at other occasions they appear to be in human form and are not, at least immediately understood to be angels. In Hebrew, the most common word for angel is mal’akh, but a mal’akh can also be a human messenger. …

¡Salud! Sacrificing The Sacred Sip: A Critical Analysis Of The Impact Of The Spiritual Conquest On Alcohol Traditions In Central México, Elizabeth Vilchis

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

By thoroughly investigating the available primary sources, this thesis will convey the importance of the Mesoamerican inebriating drink pulque in both the ethos and mythos of ancient Nahua society, examining how the ritual use of pulque became problematic in the eyes of the Spaniards, by investigating the cultural and ideological contradictions or double standards that enabled the tensions, struggles, and violence with which the Spanish colonial regime repressed the ritual use of pulque. This thesis compares the Nahua ethos and mythos of pulque to the Christian ethos and mythos of wine, highlighting the parallels perceived by Spaniards in Central México …

Italian Missionary Activities In Georgia: Historical Legacy And Modern Inter-Religious Dialogue, Zaza Tsotniashvili

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the historical development, cultural contributions, and contemporary significance of Italian missionary activities in Georgia spanning seven centuries, from medieval Catholic presence through the traumatic Soviet period to the post-independence revival. Drawing upon Georgian, Italian, and Vatican archival sources, including the manuscripts of Arcangelo Lamberti, Cristoforo de Castelli, and Michel Tamarati, the study provides comprehensive analysis of Italian Catholic missionaries' multifaceted engagement with Georgian society. The research demonstrates that Italian missionaries, particularly members of the Theatine, Capuchin, and Augustinian orders, played roles extending far beyond religious evangelization, functioning as diplomatic intermediaries, medical practitioners, linguistic documentarians, ethnographic observers, and …

Patterns, Pressures, And Pathways : An Ethnographic Study Of Discipleship In Nepali-Speaking Immigrant Churches In The United States, Ram Kumar Budhathoki

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Records Of The World’S Christian Endeavor Union Arc2015-003 - Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Macarthur As Spirit: A Review Of Spirit Power: Politics And Religion In Korea’S American Century, Jieon Yoo

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.