Practical Theology Commons^™

Counseling In The Already, Not Yet: Reflections On The Work Of The Christian Counselor Through An Eschatological Lens, Haley Rae French

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article reflects on the work of the Christian counselor through an eschatological lens, specifically exploring the notion of what it means to counsel in the “already, not yet.” The counseling process is presented as a place in which the dialectics of this eschatological tension are present and outworked. Pain and suffering are encountered and explored as the counselor stands in solidarity with the sufferer, and yet the Christian counselor also anticipates hope and the power of change in the present, particularly as ushered in by the eschatological Spirit of God. To this end, …

How Jesus Communicates #Metoo: A Perspective On Intergenerational Trauma And Healing In The Atonement, Pamela F. Engelbert

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article offers a practical theological praxis of how the church may participate in Christ’s atoning ministry of healing towards persons who have experienced sexual violence. Drawing from the theory of intergenerational trauma, it uses the mentioning of “the wife of Uriah” in Matthew’s genealogy to convey how Jesus identifies with survivors of sexual violence. The article then focuses on the hypostatic union to establish how Jesus provides ontological healing in the atonement for said survivors. It concludes by demonstrating how Matthew’s Gospel calls radical disciples to a healing praxis of listening to stories of the disenfranchised, thereby pointing towards …

Expanding God's Redemptive Fractal: Spirit-Centered Counseling And The Transformative Wisdom Of Jesus, Bill Buker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic of the …

The Spirit, Change, And Healing: Toward A Spirit-Centered Model Of Healing, Edward E. Decker Jr., Bill Buker, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spirit-centered counseling is an approach to counseling that makes full use of Spirit-centered spirituality as well as techniques and interventions used within Spirit-centered faith groups. An emphasis is always on the importance of being aware of, and experiencing, the Spirit and utilizing this awareness within the counseling endeavor. Three orienting assumptions are delineated to provide direction for the specific practices and methods of Spirit-centered counseling that prepare the way for Spirit-directed changes. Of special importance are the pneumatological imagination, Holy Spirit empowerment, and the development of a trialogical encounter, within which the counselor and the person seeking counseling experience the …

Editorial: A Special Issue And A New Venture!, Andrea C. Walker Ph.D., Edward E. Decker Jr., Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Special editorial by Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward E. Decker, Jr. introducing the special issue dedicated to the subject of "Counseling and the Spirit."

Front Matter: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), [email protected]

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Counseling And The Spirit: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), [email protected]

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

A special issue of Spiritus dedicated to exploring the role of the Holy Spirit in the Counseling profession. Guest editors, Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward Decker, collected essays on the subject of the Spirit and counseling in anticipation of the launch of the new ORU Counseling Journal.

Adult Catechesis: Cognition And Application For The Christian Life, Jason D. Gudim

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Gudim, Jason D. “Adult Catechesis as Formation and Habitus for the Christian Life.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 127 pp.

The Small and Large Catechisms are a central part of confessional Lutheran theology. Catechism instruction is built into the practice of confirmation. But for many Lutherans, catechesis stops at confirmation, with some never opening their catechisms again. Built into the Great Commission as a disciple-making process are both baptizing and teaching. Catechesis fits the model in that the people of God are guarding the truth of Scripture that has been handed down to them generation by …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 4

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 4.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Understanding Discipling And Mentoring Through An Exegetical Analysis Of Exodus 18:13-23 And Judges 2:6-17, Joy Jones-Carmack

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

The Ministry Of The Spirit, Prophetic Witness: A Theological Model For Prophets, Matthew C. Larson

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Much of Christianity today neglects the role of the prophet. Christians who do acknowledge prophetic ministry commonly limit the impact of prophecy. Pentecostals, who embrace the role, often do not have a full biblical understanding of what a prophet is and what a prophet is to do. The project first builds a theological framework for the function of prophets and prophecy within the ecclesial community. From the theological framework, a model of the prophethood of believers is developed to encourage prophetic ministry that is inclusive, exercises discernment, and is faithful to the witness of Jesus Christ. The prophetic model is …

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Person-Centered Disability Awareness Seminar In A Congregational Setting, Joshua H. Jones

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

People with disabilities and their families frequently experience barriers toward inclusion and belonging in multiple spheres of life. These barriers are also present in Christian congregations. However, many congregations express a godly desire to love people with disabilities and their families without these obstacles.

The Old and New Testaments provide examples of how God’s people sought to love people with disabilities in their midst creatively and intentionally in response to God’s gracious actions, invitation, and command. Recent research in disability studies routinely highlight the necessity of being attentive to the uniqueness of each person with disabilities and his or her …

How Shall The Trees Clap If They Have No Hands?, Nancy L. Dresser

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 3

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 3.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

From Vice To Virtue: Contours Of Idolatry And New Obedience, Michael Fieberkorn

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Fieberkorn, Michael T. “From Vice to Virtue: Contours of Idolatry and New Obedience.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2021. 290 pp. What are the specific contours of life lived in accordance with God’s will? That is the primary question this dissertation seeks to answer. Discerning the particular shape of Christian sanctification is difficult. Radical Lutheranism attempts to define sanctification simply as “love,” which lacks the specificity necessary to adjudicate between competing and mutually exclusive claims concerning Christian morality. Theologians attempting to address this insufficiency by incorporating virtue ethics within a Lutheran theological construct must clearly articulate the particularly Christian telos.

Reading …

Jesus In, With, And Under The Spirit: The Spirit's Presence And Activity In Christ In The Sacrament Of The Altar, Brian A. Gauthier

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Contemporary theological scholarship has seen a turn toward pneumatology and the use of a pneumatological lens for exploring and [re]considering Christian doctrines. Spirit Christology has long been considered the first major, successful work in this movement of scholarship which has come to be called Third Article Theology.

This study proposes to consider the Lord’s Supper pneumatologically through use of a Trinitarian Spirit Christology. Three primary aspects of a traditional account of the Lord’s Supper will be the subject of pneumatological reimagining. Spirit Christology will inquire into the Spirit’s presence and activity in the presence and activity of Jesus through his …

Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” For Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

Master's Projects and Capstones

This work suggests that we consider a new, working definition of post-Christianity. This new paradigm is in response to Western Christian thought being too dominant a force that fails to take into enough account other global experiences— like those of Japanese Christians. These reflections are based on scholarly opinions claiming that Christianity is a “global culture,” and ultimately argues for more international inclusivity in Western Christian thought and institutions, especially regarding the Asia-Pacific. Moreover, this paper illuminates how iitoko dori allows Christian thought to peacefully coexist in Japan’s greater society. The research also explores specific Japanese cultural practices that make …

Exploring Missional Partnership Practices Between The Littleton Church Of Christ And Her Peruvian Missionary Partners Through Dwelling In The Word, Justin L. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which twelve individuals from two churches on two continents (North and South America) came together via video conference to explore missional partnership practices. These two churches connected through a common missionary and utilized a spiritual discipline called Dwelling in the Word to cultivate relationships, thereby creating a pathway to shared discovery of partnership practices. The problem I identify at the beginning regards transactional partnership, which commonly propels churches toward relationships that treat the other as unequal partners through unilateral, top-down interactions. In response, I present a perichoresis-inspired …

Go & Make Disciples: The Biblical Foundation For Discipleship In The Way Of Jesus, Ryan May

Senior Honors Theses

What are Jesus’ foundational teachings that lay the groundwork for discipleship in the church today? Within this paper, I will seek to work through the initial section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to distill the essential theological lessons of Christ on discipleship. After introducing some important cultural realities concerning the state of discipleship in the church today, Matthew 5 will be thoroughly engaged. Beginning with a discussion on cultural, literary, and theological backgrounds, the passage will be broken down section by section to discern key truths expressed for the modern church. The paper will conclude with further reflection questions …

Praying Together In Unity, Greg Peters

White Papers

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews - Spiritus 6.1 (Spring 2021), Daniel King, Michael A. Donaldson, Robert Mcbain, Christopher J. King, Cletus L. Hull, Iii, Daniel D. Isgrigg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Reviews

Edith Prakash. Yesterday, Today, and Forever: The Extraordinary Life and Ministry of Tommy Lee Osborn. Daniel King ............................................175

Chris E. W. Green. Sanctifying Interpretation: Vocation, Holiness, and Scripture. 2nd ed. Michael A. Donaldson .................................................................177

Leulseged Philemon. Pneumatic Hermeneutics: The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theological Interpretation of Scripture. Robert D. McBain......................180

Daniela C. Augustine. The Spirit and the Common Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of God. Christopher J. King .................................182

William Blaine-Wallace. When Tears Sing: The Art of Lament in Christian Community. Cletus L. Hull, III .....................................184

Gene L. Green, Stephen T. …

Pentecostalism And Coronavirus: Reframing The Message Of Health-And-Wealth In A Pandemic Era, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

One of the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the religious responses that it has generated. For contemporary Pentecostalism in particular, which is a religion that preaches and teaches a theology of human flourishing through the principles of prosperity, the negative effects of the coronavirus on people proved a theologically challenging endeavor. Pronouncing curses on evil or blaming Satan for it in human life has always been part of the means to achieve health and wealth for contemporary Pentecostals. This is very much the case in Africa where the instrumentalist use of religion as a means of personal and …

Covid-19, Science, And Race: A Black Pentecostal Engagement, David Daniels

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

A Black Pentecostal engagement of COVID-19, science, and race points towards a rapport between the Spirit-empowered Movement and health sciences where religious and secular (science) actors are respected agents in the public arena with each offering valuable perspectives and resources to pivotal conversations about public health in this case. In this article, it is argued that the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) represented in the episcopal letters of Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., the presiding bishop of COGIC from 2007 to 2021, demonstrate a religious perspective that possesses a critical perspective on engaging health science during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

The Limited Impact Of Pentecostal Interracialism On Systemic Racism In The Usa, Harold D. Hunter

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre demands a careful review of the impact of systemic racism on Christian communities. This study starts by looking at early Pentecostal interracialism in the USA. There is a striking difference between those churches that founded the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PFNA) and those who were not invited or even barred. The renewed ascendancy of white supremacy forces a review of black Pentecostal victims who suffered discrimination, violence, even death. Pentecostals who would extend Jim Crow laws into the heavenly realm need to revisit the founders’ emphasis on repentance, reform, and restitution.

Pentecostal Culture, Or Pentecost Of Culture?: Transformation, Paradigms, Power, Unity, Dimitri Sala Ofm

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article will explore the relationship between Pentecostals and the broader cultures we inhabit. It will acknowledge that, like all religion, Pentecostalism can tend to create a culture within itself (a “Pentecostal culture”), which at times effects a withdrawal of its adherents from the surrounding world. This necessitates a conscious decision, first to navigate away from that tendency where it exists, and then to define a positive role for Pentecostalism within culture, viz., the transformation of civilization (a “Pentecost of culture”). Thereby the article proposes a more extensive definition of the baptism of the Spirit, looks at how God is …

Towards A Pentecostal Conscientizing Praxis Of Mass Culture Engagement: Contrasting Pneumatologies Of Amos Yong And Simon Chan, Monte Lee Rice

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This essay notes promises and problems with Pentecostal cultural engagement through its dualistic “spiritual warfare” cosmology. I propose a promising foray by forging Amos Yong’s and Simon Chan’s theologies of cultural engagement. For both employ their Asian particularities towards addressing cultural phenomena in manners that distinguish their contrasting yet I shall argue, complementary pneumatologically themed theologies of culture. Yet neither have engaged methodological disciplines of cultural analysis and critique. In response this essay suggests a Pentecostal conscientizing praxis of mass culture engagement, in conversation with Amos Yong and Simon Chan. This essay concludes by suggesting need for discerning possible prophetic …

Global Poverty And Transnational Pentecostalism In The Middle East, Eric N. Newberg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Driven by the impact of global poverty, large numbers of documented and undocumented workers from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa have migrated to countries in the Middle East. Many of these migrant workers are Pentecostals. The article provides a survey of Pentecostalism in the Middle East and reports on the findings of ethnographic research on transnational Pentecostals in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. Compelled by the pressures of globalization, these migrants find better economic prospects as contract workers than they could as free laborers in their home countries. Transnational Pentecostals in the Middle East derive spiritual, social, economic, and …

The Name Of Jesus In Luke-Acts With Special Reference To The Gentile Mission, James Shelton

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Peter declares “There is no other name . . . by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12); yet later he says, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (10:34–35a). Are there then those among the Gentiles who follow God without hearing the name of Jesus, or are all who have not heard the name lost? The question, often posed in “either/or” discourse terms, fails to understand the meaning and scope of the name of Jesus and the urgency of the mandate …

Three Unique Theological Themes Of Oral Roberts’ Preaching, Julie Ma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The study examines three unique theological themes of Oral Roberts: “Seed-faith,” healing of the whole being, and the “Fourth Man.” Since his message was a reflection of his theology, I also investigate his theological formation, informed particularly by his experiences such as miraculous healing.

In Memoriam: Dr. James B. Buskirk (1933–2020), James Shelton, Arden C. Autry Phd, Sally Jo Shelton

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

James Buskirk is honored as the founding Dean of ORU’s Graduate School of Theology. A Master of Arts degree was already in place; Buskirk was tasked with establishing a Master of Divinity, a Doctor of Ministry, and a PhD in theology—each fully accredited. During his tenure, faculty and student numbers increased along with denominational diversity. The MDiv and DMin achieved accreditation. The PhD was not started, however, as Oral Roberts dealt with competing financial priorities. Roberts’ declared decision not to offer a PhD led to Buskirk’s departure. He remained on good terms personally with Roberts. Buskirk’s effect on others is …