Other Religion Commons^™

The Art Of Dying As The Art Of Living: Exploring Buddhist Death Meditation As A Path To Human Flourishing, Kayla Stock

Obsculta

Can spiritual practices that inform our ideas about death alleviate fear of death? Can they lead to human flourishing? To explore these questions, I will examine the Buddhist practice of death meditation, assessing the practice both theologically and scientifically, then discussing the merits of this practice toward the purposes of human flourishing. I will end with an exploration of the potential ministerial applications of Buddhist death meditation.

The Community God Intended For His Children, Andrew Remick

Obsculta

This essay reviews the design and context of Rachel Ellis’s portrayal of the Communion of Saints created in 2003-2004 as part of the rebuilding and expansion of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta, Australia, in suburban Sydney. Her contemporary rendition of this ancient Christian tradition invites pilgrims visiting the Cathedral to contemplate the universal call to holiness anew through its depiction of an intergenerational and multicultural assembly journeying together as a holy community toward Christ's light. A virtual tour of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is available at https://parracatholic.org/st-patricks-cathedral-virtual-reality/ and https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=Zxh9H7REqwb&play=1&utm_source=4&utm_source=4

Homily: On The Transfiguration, James Voeller Ofm

Obsculta

The glorious event of the Transfiguration prepared the apostles in advance for the passion of Christ. This Gospel narrative in Mark has implications for vocational service. The present reflection is an exhortation for those who preach to “wake up the world”.

A Startling Injustice In The Protestant Reformation: The Contrasting Theologies Of Martin Luther And Thomas Muntzer As Seen In Their Responses To The Reformation Of The Common Man, 1525, Tonya Toutge

Obsculta

Compares the theologies of reform held by Thomas Müntzer and Martin Luther specifically as their theologies played out in re-sponse to the Peasants’ War of 1525. Müntzer and Luther. This comparison places Müntzer over and against Luther.

Tracing Moral Injury In Us Wars And Implications For The Year 2050, Robert A. Jensen

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Throughout conflicts in history, the psycho-spiritual construct known today as “moral injury” can be found. This term was coined in 1994 out of conceptions of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to describe intense shame and guilt aspects resulting from military service. The challenge comes with extrapolating this injury in the wake of nuances in terminology about related symptoms in conjunction with an evolving consciousness in identifying invisible military-related injuries. With current research and a historic pattern of unnamed moral injuries, this study explores the following: How did military chaplains address moral injuries without this construct? What are Unitarian Universalist (UU) military …

Developing A Strategic Model For Deacons As Servant Leaders Within New Church Plants, Christopher Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The office of deacon is vital within the local church and often varies from one congregation to another. There are many misconceptions concerning the role and responsibilities of deacons. The Bible clearly defines deacons as those who function as servant leaders. The purpose of this project is to address the biblical, theoretical, practical and personal observations that will assist new church plants in equipping potential candidates for the office of deacon, as servant leaders. The project will address vital areas of deacon ministry that will include; discovering the history of deacon ministry, the biblical qualifications for a deacon, the relationship …

Kreeft's "Between One Faith And Another: Engaging Conversations On The World's Great Religions" (, Elizabeth Pearson

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Faces Of Bg: Diverse Backgrounds, Many Stories, One Community, Holly Shively

Honors Projects

If you ask people who have been around Bowling Green State University for at least a decade, they’ll tell you the university seems more diverse, but some people find that, based on statistics, the university isn’t diverse enough. Despite BGSU having roughly 77 percent of students being between the ages of 18 and 21 years old and 78 percent being white, smaller communities flourish within the larger BGSU community. FacesofBG.com is a website that explores diversity at Bowling Green State University through the motto “Diverse backgrounds. Many stories. One community.” Through educational components like diversity in the local news and …

The Influence Of Religion On The Criminal Behavior Of Emerging Adults, Christopher Salvatore, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Recent generations of young adults are experiencing a new life course stage: emerging adulthood. During this ‘new’ stage of the life course, traditional social bonds and turning points may not be present, may be delayed, or may not operate in the same manner as they have for prior generations. One such bond, religion, is examined here. Focusing on the United States, emerging adulthood is investigated as a distinct stage of the life course. The criminality of emerging adults is presented, a theoretical examination of the relationship between religion and crime is provided, the role of religion in emerging adults’ lives …

Review Of Telling Tales About Jesus: An Introduction To The New Testament Gospels, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Article reviews the book, Telling Tales about Jesus: An Introduction to the New Testament Gospels, by Warren Carter.

Reframing Identity In The Age Of Authenticity, Daphne Edmonston

Masters Theses

Many in American culture have either actively or passively adopted the idea that authenticity is one of the highest virtues, if not the highest. The cultural ideal of authenticity states that personal identity and meaning are found within oneself. Being true to ‘the real you’ is the path to meaning, pleasure, and flourishing. This way of framing personal identity proves to be insecure, unstable, and leads to a lack of flourishing. In contrast, a Christian view of authenticity provides stability and security and leads to the possibility of flourishing in this life as well as for eternity. There is a …

Emotional Re-Engagement After Deployments: Using Attachment Principles With Relationship Resources For Post-Deployment Relational Enhancement, Rob Fasnacht

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The understanding of attachment theory helps one to overcome personal and relational problems that are exacerbated by past traumas. This thesis project focused on how long durations of separations, especially in a military setting, may trigger symptoms from past traumas, which may impede relational secure attachments to friends and family. A survey was crafted and answered by over 100 adults, including military members, military dependents, and non-military civilians. The results were analyzed to discover how often people were separated from loved ones, the length that perhaps caused problems, and the feelings that developed. A literary review of books and scholastic …

An Examination Of Children’S Ministry Volunteer Development From Pastors And Laity In The Local Church, Kenneth Warren

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Developing children’s ministry volunteers in the local church is crucial to the sustenance of the body of Christ. Children’s ministry volunteers should be viewed as capable partners with both parents and church leaders in fulfilling the Great Commission. All volunteer ministries of the church matter, but those serving in children’s ministry have the unique opportunity to shape the lives of individuals who could serve the kingdom for a lifetime. Children’s ministry volunteer development is valuable because kingdom advancement hinges on lay ministry development as described in Ephesians 4:11–16. For this project, the researcher surveyed children’s ministry volunteers and pastors in …

A Strategic Spiritual Formation Study Based On The Book Of Malachi, Rand Muender

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A review of current literature on spiritual disciplines demonstrates the need for a pastor to successfully implement an exegetical preaching methodology toward spiritual formation. The goal of this project is to answer: “What impact would a strategic spiritual formation study based upon the Book of Malachi implemented by a pastor have on a local church that is below 200 in attendance?” Incorporating the results of surveys sent to pastors within The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia having below 200 in attendance, this project will review theological, historical, and exegetical, perspectives and principles for a biblical methodology for spiritual formation.

Ministry And Nonprofit Finance: A Guide To Promote Awareness, Stewardship, And Compliance, Larry Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Scripture addresses few topics more frequently than that of finances (e.g., Prov 3:9, Matt 6:21, Ecc 5:10). Given this, and the legal aspects of ministry and nonprofit finances, it is imperative that such organizations ensure awareness of, and compliance with, financial requirements and best practices; this encompasses not only leaders, but also board members and staff/congregation of the organization. All these aspects are fused together under the term “stewardship”–properly and conscientiously managing the assets of another (or of others). This thesis reviews current literature, scriptural guidance, and established best practices to outline optimal practices for ministries/nonprofits. Additionally, this thesis uses …

Perceptions Of Religious Music In A Southern U.S. Public Middle School: A Case Study, Emily Marie Mercado

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Intercultural experiences can result in increased knowledge of and positive attitudes towards unfamiliar cultural groups (Neto, Pinto, & Mullet, 2016; Vuoskoski, Clarke, & DeNora, 2017). Deardorff’s (2006) intercultural competence process framework provides a method for exploring and categorizing elements of intercultural competence including attitudes, knowledge/skills, internal outcomes, and external outcomes.

This narrative instrumental case study examined the perceptions of one middle school choir teacher, choir students, the student teacher, the parents, and the vice principal when implementing a researcher-designed unit titled: Religious Choral Music from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Worlds. The choir teacher offered a unique perspective as an …

Partnership Between Islam And Palliative Care At Swedish Health Services, Hodo Mohamud, Renee Rassilyer-Bomers, Samantha Bohn, Greg Malone, Hilaire Thompson (Faculty Capstone Project Committee Chair), Eeeseung Byun (Committee Member), Margaret Heitkemper (Committee Member)

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

The spiritual practice of Islam is considered one of the three major monotheistic religions. Islam is the second largest religion in the world with 1.6 billion followers; about 3.5 million of those live in the U.S.1 The number of Muslims in the U.S. is projected to double by 2030.1 Additionally, the number of adults age 65 and older in the U.S. is projected to double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060.2 As the U.S. population ages, many healthcare workers are often too overwhelmed to handle the varying and intricate social, economic, familial, spiritual, and cultural needs …

Nurturing Church As A Biblical Strategy To Recover A Healthy Church Within South Korean Churches, Jinwook Kang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There are many churches in South Korea, but not too many healthy churches. A healthy church should have a proof of early church from the Acts. It is impossible to be a healthy church only with a number of people, buildings, programs, and new church planting. The goal of this thesis is to suggest healthy biblical church using early church as a model and propose strategy. This study will first take a look at what is a healthy biblical church. A healthy biblical church is a nurturing church. Conventional church has a lot of nurturing programs, but this thesis compares …

Sikh Self-Sacrifice And Religious Representation During World War I, John Soboslai

Department of Religion Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper analyzes the ways Sikh constructions of sacrifice were created and employed to engender social change in the early twentieth century. Through an examination of letters written by Sikh soldiers serving in the British Indian Army during World War I and contemporary documents from within their global religious, legislative, and economic context, I argue that Sikhs mobilized conceptions of self-sacrifice in two distinct directions, both aiming at procuring greater political recognition and representation. Sikhs living outside the Indian subcontinent encouraged their fellows to rise up and throw off their colonial oppressors by recalling mythic moments of the past and …

Succor In Smoke: A Historical And Comparative Analysis Of Incense And Moxibustion As Similar Agents Of Edification And Self-Cultivation, Hannah E. Matulek

Black & Gold

Since its origins in the Shang Dynasty nearly 3,000 years ago, traditional Chinese medicine has undergone many dramatic shifts and adapted to a wide range of cultural, social, religious and foreign pressures. One of the most notable changes is the attribution of the etiology of disease (as well as general poor health and behaviors) from volatile and dissatisfied external forces to manageable internal forces. This allowed for a flourishing of thought in Chinese medicine, for once granting an individual the power to influence his or her own health. Three religions—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—were also introduced to China at this time, …

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883: Petrus L. Bergström, Abby Bloeser, Julia Dimoutsikos, Paloma Hernandez

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883 (Class of 1884)

Petrus Bergström was a senior at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, in the fall of 1883. His name appears in the college catalog of 1883 – 1884, along with his birthplace, the year of his birth, and a few other facts. From this start, we researched the genealogy and family history of Petrus Bergström. This paper contains a short biography of Petrus Bergström, a report on his ancestors, a report on his descendants, and some open questions for further research.

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883: Gustaf Sven Swenson, Ryan Thornton, Samuel D. Jones, Nathan Black

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883 (Class of 1884)

Gustaf Swenson was a senior at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, in the fall of 1883. His name appears in the college catalog of 1883 – 1884, along with his birthplace, the year of his birth, and a few other facts. From this start, we researched the genealogy and family history of Gustaf Swenson. This paper contains a short biography of Gustaf Swenson, a report on his ancestors, a report on his descendants, and some open questions for further research.

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883: Algott Holmén, Emily Brooks, Grace Carpenter, Morgan Collazo

Augustana Seniors Fall 1883 (Class of 1884)

Algott Holmén was a senior at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, in the fall of 1883. His name appears in the college catalog of 1883 – 1884, along with his birthplace, the year of his birth, and a few other facts. From this start, we researched the genealogy and family history of Algott Holmén. This paper contains a short biography of Algott Holmén, a report on his ancestors, a report on his descendants, and some open questions for further research.

A Critical Interpretation Of Olivier Roy: On Globalization, The Cosmopolitan And Emerging Post-Secular Religiosities, Joshua Rey Ramos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is that secularization transforms religion into religiosity. In other words, the secular breaks apart religion, or rather, 'deculturates' religion from a cohesive, collective body embedded within a particular society and within a traditional culture towards an individuated, and existential experience of faith within the autonomous religious subject. There are various reasons for this shift, as there are various consequences. Globalization, which is modernization writ large, is the dominant paradigm through which I conceptualize these changes. The theorist whose work I use as a lens to interpret secularization, religion and societal transformation is Olivier Roy. Roy's theories are of …

The Phenomenon Of Rome: On Roads, Refugees, And Teilhard De Chardin, Jon Radwan

CHDCM Publications

Teilhard de Chardin’s understanding of creation as an evolutionary process is used as a lens for studying Roman roads and refugees. A shorter version of this essay was published in Seton Hall University 2018 Core Trip, pages 28-33. This draft has been submitted for potential publication in Writing Rome: A Spiritual Journey, Kelly Shea ed.

Lightning Bolts From Pentecostal Skies, Martin Wells Knapp

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Theology, Phenomenology, And The Divine In King Lear, Kent R. Lehnhof

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In what follows, then, I would like to think through Levinas's ideas on transcendence and ethics in such a way as to map out a new pathway for approaching Shakespeare's great tragedy. As unorthodox as it may sound, I propose to shed light on the darkling religiosity of King Lear by turning-not to the theological doctrines of early modem Christians-but to the postmodern ethics of a twentieth-century Jew."

The Power In Multiplying: Growth In New Religious Movements, Nicole Wrobel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Starting in November of 2016, a documentary series aired on the original network A&E where it continues to capture the attention of thousands of viewers in America. Scientology: The Aftermath, starring the well-known King of Queens and Dancing with the Stars actress Leah Remini and former senior executive of the church of Scientology International and Sea Organization Mike Rinder, aim to reveal the "truth" that hides behind the church of Scientology. The show interviews ex-practitioners who claim their lives have been deeply impacted by the church and who want to assist in revealing the shocking stories of abuse and harassment …

Women In Music: Letting A Long Story Be Long Contemplating Women’S Sonic, Musical, And Spiritual Experiences In Prehistory, Deborah J. Saidel

Theses and Dissertations

Situated within deep history, this study explores the auditory and spiritual lives of Paleolithic women. It considers their personal agency in mediating the spiritual power of sound and how doing so contributes to a multifaceted musicality. The theoretical framework involves a wide spectrum of topics, from ways of rethinking the writing of history and reckoning with time, to sound studies and the study of acoustics in ancient sites, to a critical examination through a feminist lens of normative disciplinary scholarship in anthropology and archaeology, religious studies, and musicology. I explore potential audio-visual-lithic relationships for their implications for deepening an understanding …

Paulo Freire And Liberation Theology: The Christian Consciousness Of Critical Pedagogy, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"In this article we expand our work towards intersections and relationships between liberation theology and Paulo Freire. While Freire addressed liberation theology in his writings fairly sporadically (e.g. »The Politics of Education« [1985]), there is no doubt that he »lived a liberating Christian faith« and »significantly contributed to the thinking of liberation theology« (Kyrilo 2011, p. 167). Now that Paulo Freire is no longer with us, arguably the best way to reinvent his works for the present moment is through dialogue with Peter McLaren: Freire’s close friend, »intellectual relative« (Freire 1995, p. x), and one of the key contemporary thinkers …