Other Religion Commons^™

Santería And Resistance In Tomás Gutierrez Alea And Juan Carlos Tabío’S Strawberry And Chocolate And In Fernando Pérez’S Life Is To Whistle, David S. Dalton

Journal of Religion & Film

The 1990s were a politically, socially, and economically turbulent decade for Cuba. It is neither surprising that it was during these years that the state amended its approach to religious freedom nor that it was during this time that Pope John Paul II made his historic visit to the island. Following the pontiff’s visit, the state amended the constitution and declared itself secular rather than Marxist, thus removing much of the stigma that believers had previously faced. In this article I analyze the relationship between the national cinema and religious freedom by showing that many Cuban directors challenged official constructs …

Perceived Patient Control Over Personal Health Information In The Presence Of Context-Specific Concerns, Prabhashi A. Nanayakkara

Doctoral Dissertations

Information privacy issues have plagued the world of electronic media since its inception. This research focused mainly on factors that increase or decrease perceived patient control over personal health information (CTL) in the presence of context-specific concerns. Control agency theory was used for the paper's theoretical contributions. Personal and proxy control agencies acted as the independent variables, and context-specific concerns for information privacy (CFIP) were used as the moderator between proxy control agency, healthcare provider, and CTL. Demographic data and three control variables— the desire for information control, privacy experience, and trust propensity—were also included in the model to gauge …

Are Christian College Students Equipped To Share Their Faith With Their Muslim Friends?: A Plan Of Action, Tim Orr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to Pew Research Center, the U.S. Muslim population will double by 2030. Training the church to reach this group of people is vital. This project proposes that the Christian college is the best resource to train students to reach their Muslim friends and neighbors for Christ because these institutions have at their disposal a rich reservoir of resources that are vital to providing the biblical, theological, missiological, sociological, and cross-cultural knowledge that is necessary to be effective witnesses for Christ. The project also identifies four important components to successful ministry to Muslims. The four components include spiritual vitality, cultural …

An Analysis Of Causes And Impacts Of Depression In Pastors, Derienzia Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Depression is becoming more common in pastors because of the stress and strains of ministry, as well as other personal issues. Therefore, this analysis looks into how different mechanisms such as social support and traditional religious values tend to function across different groups of the religious community. The purpose of this study is to understand the issues that would cause a pastor to become depressed and also to devise a plan of action that will provide alternatives to dealing with depression in a positive and healthy manner. This analysis will expand on existing literature and reports that argue on both …

The Transitioning Of A Non-Functional Church Into A Functional Church: The Great Commission Commandment Mandate, Charlie Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

From conception, America has embraced the Christian church as its cornerstone. However, as noted by Barnes and Lowry, “Church attendance has decreased substantially in recent years in comparison to the 1950s and 60s. The majority of Americans do not attend church on a regular basis.” This thesis project will research churches with regards to their effectiveness and will both isolate and analyze the characteristics of churches that fit into operative categories. A survey using a quantitative research instrument, such as the Likert Measurement Scale, will examine the New Hope Missionary Baptist Association of North Carolina. The survey’s purpose will be …

Leadership Principles And Applications For Establishing A Christ-Centered Church In South Korea, Dongho Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a Christ-centered, biblical Great Commission model for Presbyterian Church pastors in South Korea. Pastor Hanhum Ok said that there are many programs and forms without the spiritual vitality in the Korean Church. Many attractional churches attract people by relying heavily on programs that often alter the focus of believers onto the programs themselves and prevent them from focusing on Jesus Christ. To ensure that the church—the body of Christ—remains faithful to its biblical mandates, thesis project argues that the pastors must have leadership principles and applications in accordance to the Christ-centered biblical …

Watch Chöd Self: An Examination Of Chöd, Its Practitioners, And Its Music, Weston Conner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The practice of Chöd is a form of Vajrayāna meditation that involves cutting one’s attachment to one’s self and compassionately offering one’s body as a feast for various deities and spirits. This study examines the practice of Chöd in the context of Boudha, Kathmandu, where there is a large community of Chödpas, Chöd practioners. This work aims to document the history of the practice, the experiences of some current Chöd practitioners, and the role that music plays in Chöd. This knowledge was acquired through observing Chödpas, speaking with them directly, and sitting in on various learning opportunities to gain firsthand …

The Moon Festival And The Stories Behind, Haiwang Yuan

DLPS Faculty Publications

A presentation that traces the evolution of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival with regard to the elements that were added to the myth of the moon fairy and other elements needed for the celebration of the festival such as the moon cake and examines the differences between the Western and Chinese view of and attitude toward the Moon in history through English and Chinese literature.

The Rhetoric Of Tyranny: Callicles The Rhetor And Nietzsche's Zarathustra, Greg Whitlock

Sophia and Philosophia

Here I will work through the rhetoric of tyranny as practiced by Callicles and as reflected in Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, in particular. In Part 2 it will be shown that Nietzsche’s account of Plato as the complex figure with a Socratic exterior but a latent alternative ego of the tyrant, arrived at an image consistent with E.R. Dodds’ later thesis. Callicles the rhetor, featured as a student of Gorgias, embodies this alter-ego. In Part 3 we find Callicles and Zarathustra shared very similar beliefs once they overcame shame and gained honesty. Indeed, Callicles expounded a number of propositions foundational to …

A Strategic Plan To Develop A Healthy Church, Jeffrey Hackley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Not all churches are healthy; however, to be effective, churches must be healthy. The purpose of this thesis project is to assist pastors in developing strategies for church health. When the work of evangelism is a stated goal, the greatest catalyst for the community is the presence of a healthy church. This thesis project will clarify the biblical definition and purpose of the church and describe the characteristics of church health as suggested by experts. This thesis project will also share a brief history, vision, and ministry example of church health, and analyze and evaluate the current condition of Mount …

An Outreach Model For Melville Mission Church: Evangelizing The Mandarin Community In Markham North, Ontario, Canada, Benjamin Li

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

MMC is a conservative, traditional Cantonese-speaking immigrant church that has had stagnant growth since its relocation to the rural area of Markham North, Ontario, Canada in 2009. The purpose of this project was to propose a new outreach model to enable MMC to more effective in evangelizing the Mandarin-speaking community in Markham. The proposed new outreach model is a refined version of Alan Hirsch’s Missional-Incarnational Model which mobilized the church membership to engage with the unchurched community for the Gospel. The research for this project was accomplished through studying the Chinese demographics in Markham, and through surveys of 158 mainland …

Baha’I Sacred Architecture And The Devolution Of Astronomical Significance: Case Studies From Israel And The Us, Michael Steven Meizler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sacred architecture is a complex conglomerate of different ideals of a faith. Within modern terms, the Baha’i faith is an excellent example of modern sacred architecture. Within ancient times the architecture of temples and shrines oftentimes had celestial alignments meant to connect the adherent to the gods. With this in mind, the Baha’i faith is evaluated with the use of cartography, celestial measurements, orthophotography, and archival research to evaluate the significance of the Baha’i sacred architecture and the symbolism embedded within it. The Baha’i faith came out of Persia during the 19th century and relocated to Israel late in that …

A Manual For An Evangelical State Prison Chaplaincy, Aaron Mobley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis will include the practical guidelines for prison chaplaincy in local state Department of Corrections. The goal would be to develop an instruction manual for new evangelical ministers entering into the State Prison Chaplaincy. Prison chaplains are frequently unprepared for ministry to incarcerated individuals. Chaplaincy is a difficult position and the prison environment adds to the difficulty. Too often Chaplains are under trained which magnifies the complexity of the position. In the prison environment they are trained in security issues but the religious issues are left untouched. This manual will assist newly hired Chaplains to become better acquainted with …

Five Challenges To Disciple Making And Strategies To Address Them, Leonard Baldwin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In today’s society, the church has missed an opportunity to make a definite impact on the lives of the congregations. Disciple making has all but disappeared from the life of the church. This has left the church with a lot of members but very few disciples. The purpose of this project is to develop five strategies to help pastors and lay leaders address the discipleship challenges in the church. The five areas that will be addressed are theology, tradition, training, time, and transparency. Each challenge will be addressed individually and a strategy developed for that challenge. This project will provide …

A Call To Excellence: Leadership Training And Mentoring Manual For Women In Ministry In The Twenty-First Century, Verna Mazak

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The growth of women in leadership within the local church is at an all-time high. These women face tremendous obstacles as they seek to lead the twenty-first century church. This thesis investigates the role of African American women in the Black Baptist church to identify skills necessary for successful leadership within the denomination. Going beyond analysis and exploration, it answers the question of how to develop a training and mentorship program specifically designed to prepare African-American women for excellence in leadership. A survey of fifty church staff and members of various Black Baptist churches was conducted to determine the perspective …

Commencement Program 2016, Loma Linda University

Commencement Programs

CONTENTS

1 | Message from the President

3 | 2016 Events of Commencement

5 | The Academic Procession

7 | Significance of Academic Regalia

9 | The Good Samaritan

10 | University History Highlights

12 | Loma Linda University Song - "Healing Love"

13 | The Speakers

21 | The University Honorees

36 | The School Honorees

56 | The President's Award Recipients

66 | The Program

• School of Medicine, 67
• School of Pharmacy, 90
• School of Dentistry, 98
• School of Allied Health Professions - Allied Health Studies, Cardiopulmonary Sciences, Clinical Laboratory Science, Health Informatics and Information Management, Nutrition and …

Child Prostitution: Inadequate Response By The Church, Gabrielle Alexis

Masters Theses

Child sex trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained eighteen years of age. Based on that definition, there is an alarming number of children that are being sexually enslaved. This paper specifically focuses on child sex trafficking or child prostitution. It presents a detailed analysis of the extent of child prostitution worldwide, discusses the long-term effects of child prostitution, analyzes the adequacy of the Church’s …

Establishing The M7 Dream Builder Pastoral Care Ministry: A Christ-Centered Spiritual Oasis For Women-By-Women With Dreams Deferred, Sylvia Medley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the long standing problems of Christ-Centered pastoral care in the local church is the need for a practical innovative pastoral care ministry for women whose dreams have been deferred that not only provides healing, hope, and encouragement, but also incorporates the discipling culture of the Great Commission. Based on Matthew 28:19-20, Proverbs 13:12, and supported by surveys, development of an M7 network will culminate in an annual women’s conference. The establishment of the women’s center will consist of a three-part program utilizing a methodology of pastoral care developed specifically for women-by-women. It will include: 1) radical Christ-Centered programs …

Spirit-Empowered Discipleship In Acts, Yan Chai

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Discipleship study had unavoidably been focused on the Gospels, and rightfully so. Whereas missions and church planting tended to occupy centre stage in the study of the book of Acts, and discipleship was often overshadowed. Nevertheless, Spirit-empowered discipleship, undoubtedly, had played a crucial role in the explosive growth of the early church. The purpose of this project is to utilize the four “E” principles of discipleship implicit in Acts: empowerment, exhortation, encouragement and exaltation to galvanize growth in Faith Hope Love Chinese church. It shall investigate the discipleship pattern that existed, apply the underlying principles given, and subsequently, analyze the …

Maimonides’ Yahweh: How His Via Negativa God Influenced Rabbinic Judaism And Its Subsequent Misunderstanding Of Incarnational Christian Theology, Amy Downey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The life of Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) remains a mystery to many within evangelical Christianity while he is lauded as a “Second Moses” within Modern Judaism. In many ways, Maimonides is deserving of the title as his understanding of the nature of God being that of via Negativa created a rationale for rejecting the Messiahship claims of Jesus in Rabbinic Judaism. However, and one of the purposes of this dissertation, is to illustrate that Maimonides in his desire to create an anti-Christian apologetic regarding the Incarnation fashioned a Judaism that does not reflect the truths of the Tanakh (Old Testament) …

The Relationship Between Parental Attachment, Religious Coping, And Self-Esteem In Korean-American Adolescents, Paul Roh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the relationship between insecure parental attachment, religious coping, and self-esteem with Korean-American adolescents, investigating the mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between insecure attachment and negative religious coping. Two hundred sixty-one Korean-American adolescents aged 12 to 18 from Korean immigrant churches in seven states completed the survey questionnaire to assess their attachment relationship with their mother and father, religious coping strategies, and self-esteem. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations among the variables, and multiple regression analyses were used to detect the unique variance of father attachment in negative religious coping and the mediation effect of self-esteem on …

Maimonides’ Yahweh: How His Via Negativa God Influenced Rabbinic Judaism And Its Subsequent Misunderstanding Of Incarnational Christian Theology, Amy Downey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The life of Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) remains a mystery to many within evangelical Christianity while he is lauded as a “Second Moses” within Modern Judaism. In many ways, Maimonides is deserving of the title as his understanding of the nature of God being that of via Negativa created a rationale for rejecting the Messiahship claims of Jesus in Rabbinic Judaism. However, and one of the purposes of this dissertation, is to illustrate that Maimonides in his desire to create an anti-Christian apologetic regarding the Incarnation fashioned a Judaism that does not reflect the truths of the Tanakh (Old Testament) …

A Balancing Act: Reading 'Amoris Laetitia', Peter Steinfels, Paige E. Hochschild, William L. Portier, Sandra A. Yocum, Dennis O'Brien

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Five religious scholars provide commentary on Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis's 2016 apostolic exhortation on love in the family.

Interfaith Youth Core: Theology And Religious Commitment In One Of America’S Most Prominent Youth Interfaith Organizations, Megan A. Weiss

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis project explores the role of faith and theology in the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), one of the most prominent youth interfaith organizations in North America in order to determine whether this organization is aptly titled. Through the lens of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s assertions about the role of faith in interfaith dialogue and relations, and in light of Diana Eck’s definition and explication of religious pluralism, it analyzes IFYC’s methodology and programs in terms of whether they the foster personal religious commitment and engender the deeper theological dialogue that Heschel and Eck believe are necessary in interfaith work. …

The Spirituality Of Immersion: Solidarity, Compassion, Relationship, Michael E. Lovette-Colyer

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

While the term spirituality can be problematic, obscuring as much as revealing, immersion experiences cannot be understood fully without exploring the contours of what can only be described as spirituality. To the extent that they work, immersions effect change when they speak to the deepest longings of the heart. While manifesting in many different ways, the spirituality of immersion revolves around three major components: solidarity, compassion, and relationship. The spirituality of immersion is a developed relationality, a desire to enter into richer, wider, more expansive relationships with others, which naturally leads into deeper relationship with God.

The Oval Office Is Ready For Madame President: Predictors And Support, Brittney E. Souza

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The 2016 United States Presidential Election brings the revolutionary idea of a woman president with the Democratic candidate of Hillary Clinton. The current opposition for a woman president has been generalized gender stereotypes that she will be incompetent, too sensitive, temperamental and fickle with other world leaders. Many studies show that these arguments lack evidence in current female leaders and many commanding women in democracies have proven to be sufficient leaders to their male counterparts. Judeo-Christian traditions have permeated political voting and has acted as an important role in American public opinion on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. These …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Faith, Spirituality And Wellness Among Anishinabek, Roger A. Boyer Ii

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How To Impact A Nation: Leadership Lessons Learned From Jerry Falwell And The Moral Majority, George Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project seeks to enhance the leadership development of the next generation by considering the perceived strengths and lessons to be learned from Jerry Falwell and the leadership of the Moral Majority (MM). The commands of Christ call the Christian to engage the culture (Matthew 5:13-16). The trend in church leadership today is too often looking forward without having looked back. Wise church leaders do both and stand on the shoulders of great leaders who have gone before, thus accomplishing “greater things” (John 14:12) for the kingdom of God. Through a survey of current church leaders, and a sampling of …

Biblical Principles Of Small Group Ministry, Shawn Barr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Small group ministry models abound today, and so do the materials that provide the methodology for these models. However, there seems to be a dearth of resources that connect the methods with a theological foundation. This project will demonstrate the need for examining small groups from a theological aspect, and then examine the principles of biblical community as found in Scripture. These principles will then be measured through surveys of at least fifty participants in small group settings from several churches, including the churches where the author was the small group pastor for the last seven years and where he …

Exploring Intercessory Prayer As It Relates To Spiritual Warfare Preaching At Mount Zion Christian Church, Vernon Langley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The focus of this thesis is exploring the influence of intercessory prayer; from the standpoint of spiritual warfare preaching. Present day homiletics concentrates on the method of sermons by applying information within the message to a great story and powerful scriptural passages which is imperative to make the sermon thought provoking and applicable to contemporary congregations. However, there is another element to preaching the gospel, which has gotten considerably less attention in modern day study. How the evaluations of Divine powers of intercessory prayer operate behind the discourse, and spiritual powers of darkness that endeavor to obstruct the reception of …