Other Religion Commons^™

Here Come The Nones! Pluralism And Evangelization After Denominationalism And Americanism, William L. Portier

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

This essay begins with a four-part overview of American Catholic history focused on the building and dissolution of an immigrant Catholic subculture. The final period, “Catholics and the Dynamics of Pluralism (1968-present)” leads naturally into a discussion of the demography of Catholics in the United States. Particular attention is given to the trend to disaffiliation among millennials and how best to interpret it. Pastoral and theological reflections on the demography of disaffiliation emphasize the need for the church in the United States to take on an evangelical form more suited to a pluralism that is post-denominational and post-Americanist, and how …

Liberation As Revolutionary Praxis: Rethinking Buddhism Materialism, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

While it is only in recent decades that scholars have begun to reconsider and problematize Buddhist conceptions of “freedom” and “agency,” the thought traditions of Asian Buddhism have for many centuries struggled with questions related to the issue of “liberation”—along with its fundamental ontological, epistemological and ethical implications. With the development of Marxist thought in the mid to late nineteenth century, a new paradigm for thinking about freedom in relation to history, identity and social change found its way to Asia, and confronted traditional religious interpretations of freedom as well as competing Western ones. In the past century, several attempts …

Assembly Required: Christ's Presence In The Pews, William L. Portier

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

When I attempt to articulate what I "get out of" going to church, I find myself increasingly emphasizing the real presence of Christ in the assembly. It has been almost 50 years since Vatican II, so it is well to recall what the council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy said in 1963 about that presence. It taught that in order to accomplish the work of salvation for which the Father sent him, Christ is always present in the church, especially in the church's liturgical celebrations.

Jewish, Christian – Or What? Questions Of Self-Designation In The 'Ascension Of Isaiah', Meghan Henning, Tobias Nicklas

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The Question of the “Parting of the Ways” between Jews and Christians has become a matter of debate again: is it really appropriate to speak about two more or less coherent groups going two different ways from a certain point in history – perhaps after Paul’s mission, after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE), or after the Bar-Kokhba War (132-135 CE)? Does the image of a tree with one root and two different trunks going into two different directions really fit what the extant sources tell us about the complexities of the past? Or shouldn’t we distinguish between …

A Blueprint For Buddhist Revolution: The Radical Buddhism Of Seno’O Girō (1889–1961) And The Youth League For Revitalizing Buddhism, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

In the early decades of the twentieth century, as Japanese society became engulfed in war and increasing nationalism, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions capitulated to the status quo. One notable exception to this trend, however, was the Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei (Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism), founded on 5 April 1931. Led by Nichiren Buddhist layman Seno’o Girō and made up of young social activists who were critical of capitalism, internationalist in outlook, and committed to a pan-sectarian and humanist form of Buddhism that would work for social justice and world peace, the league’s motto was “carry the …

A Modus Vivendi? Sex, Marriage & The Church, William L. Portier, Nancy Dallavalle, Christopher C. Roberts, Tina Beattie, R. R. Reno, Patricia Hampl, Luke Timothy Johnson, Leslie Woodcock Tentler, Paul Baumann

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

During the 1960s, nearly 80 percent of adult Americans were married. A recent analysis of U.S. census data reported that only 52 percent of adult Americans were married in 2009. That is the lowest percentage reported in the 100 years the Census Bureau has collected such information. The reasons for this dramatic cultural shift are well known: high rates of divorce; changing attitudes toward premarital sex; social acceptability of cohabitation; the weakening of the stigma surrounding out-of-wedlock births and single parenting; the postponement of marriage and children for academic or professional reasons.

Among those with only a high-school education or …

Rethinking Fideism Through The Lens Of Wittgenstein’S Engineering Outlook, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In an otherwise superbly edited compilation of student notes from Wittgenstein’s 1939 Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics, Cora Diamond makes a false step that reveals to us our own tendencies to misread Wittgenstein. The student notes she collated attributed the following remark to a student named Watson: “The point is that these [data] tables do not by themselves determine that one builds the bridge in this way: only the tables together with certain scientific theory determine that.” But Diamond thinks this a mistake, presuming instead to change the manuscript and put these words into the mouth of Wittgenstein. …

The Identity Of The Διψυχος In The Shepherd Of Hermas, Jeremiah Mutie

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Foreword To 'Sermons From Mind And Heart: Struggling To Preach Theologically', Brad Kallenberg, William Vance Trollinger

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

One does not flip through a car manual and mistake it for poetry. Nor does one pick up the Sunday comics and mistake them for a Physicians' Desk Reference. That is because native speakers seldom make mistakes of genre when reading ordinary English texts. Yet pick up a collection of sermons, and one may feel at a loss: What is going on here? What am I to make of these sentences? What sort of genre is this? What am I, as a reader, to expect (or not to expect) from a sermon, especially from a printed sermon? Should I expect …

Character, D. Michael Cox, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Character denotes the particular set of qualities, both natural and acquired, that serves to identify a person or community. These qualities are relatively stable and will be manifest as a consistency of act~ on that can be termed "integrity." Accordingly, in the context of Christian ethics, character names an established disposition (or set of dispositions) with respect to the particular conception of the . human good exemplified by Christ. Such character ts developed over time and, as such, can be formed either toward or away from virtues, understood as those intellectual and affective habits that enable the pursuit of excellence. …

Review Of Sandu Frunză, Dumnezeu Şi Holocaustul La Elie Wiesel: O Etică A Responsabilităţii (God And The Holocaust According To Elie Wiesel: An Ethic Of Responsibility), Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

In God and the Holocaust according to Elie Wiesel: An ethic of responsibility Sandu Frunza, professor of philosophy at Babeş-Bolyai University, explores the philosophy of Elie Wiesel, a Jewish scholar and holocaust survivor. Despite his prison camp experiences, Wiesel retains his faith in God. His experiences lead him to advocate an ethic of memory and alterity. Frunza relates Wiesel’s experiences, his approach to the problem of evil, and his ethic in conversation with contemporary philosophers and Jewish scholarship.

A Critique Of The Historiographical Construal Of America As A Christian Nation, John David Wilsey

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Christian America thesis has grown in popularity over the past thirty years. This essay will critique the Christian America thesis, and instead offer the assertion that America was founded as a nation with religious liberty. Six lines of critique of the Christian America thesis will be presented, and the essay will attempt to show the significance of religious freedom in the founding. America‘s history points to a mixture of sacred and secular ideas. The nation is defined more realistically by religious freedom rather than a Christian identity. Evangelicals can approach those who do not share their faith commitment in …

How Greek Tragedy Inspired Friedrich Nietzsche's Philosophy From "The Birth Of Tragedy" To "Ecce Homo", Marc Le Voir

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Review: God's Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions? Insights From The Bible And The Early Church, Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

An Appraisal Of The Esv Study Bible, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Holy Spirit Language…What Happened At Pentecost?, Donald L. Fowler

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Memorials 2009, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Reports Relating To The Sixtieth Annual Meeting Of The Society, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Teaching Engineering Ethics By Conceptual Design: The Somatic Marker Hypothesis, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In 1998, a lead researcher at a Midwestern university submitted as his own a document that had 64 instances of strings of 10 or more words that were identical to a consultant's masters thesis and replicated a data chart, all of whose 16 entries were identical to three and four significant figures. He was fired because his actions were wrong. Curiously, he was completely unable to see that his actions were wrong. This phenomenon is discussed in light of recent advances in neuroscience and used to argue for a change in the standard way engineering ethics is taught. I argue …

Inter-Generational Youth Ministry And The Solution To Volunteers, Steve R. Vandegriff

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Reports Relating To The Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting Of The Society, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Memorials 2008, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Modernism And Postmodernism, Brad Kallenberg, Ethan Smith

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The Global Dictionary of Theology is inspired by the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to the Global South. But it also reflects the increase in two-way traffic between these two sectors as well as the global awareness that has permeated popular culture to an unprecedented degree.

The editorial perspective of the Global Dictionary of Theology is an ecumenical evangelicalism that is receptive to discovering new facets of truth through listening and conversation on a global scale. Thus a distinctive feature of the Global Dictionary of Theology is its conversational approach. Contributors have been called on to …

Review: Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation To Hospitality, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Old And New Man In Ephesians 4:17-24, Lance T. Beauchamp

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Reports Relating To The Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting Of The Society, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Memorials 2007, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Review: Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions And Leadership In The Bible, Donald L. Fowler

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Descriptive Problem Of Evil, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Language is like the cane in the hand of the blind person. The better one becomes at getting around with the cane, the more he or she is apt to forget the cane but through the cane perceive the objects scraped and tapped by the other end. A defective cane may distort the world perceived by the blind person. So too, defective use of language threatens to muddy our understanding of the things we talk about. When discussing something as difficult as natural evils, a frequently undetected defect in our language use is “overly attenuated description.” In this piece, I …

Review: Biblical Faith And Other Religions: An Evangelical Assessment, Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.