Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Common Sense Theology: An Analysis Of T. L. Carter's Interpretation Of Romans 13:1-7, Joshua Alley

Senior Honors Theses

Common sense theology has been a part of American theology since the time of the Revolution when Evangelicals incorporated ideals from the Scottish didactic Enlightenment into their thought. This paper deals with the work of one particular author, T. L. Carter, and his interpretation and exegetical work on Romans 13:1-7. It deals with the two major presuppositions of his common sense theology, namely that interpretations of any passage of Scripture will adhere to common sense and will result in a value-based ethic. Following this is an analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of Carter's methodology.

Early Carthusian Script And Silence, Bennett Gilbert

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

At its founding and during its first three decades, the Carthusian order developed a distinctive and forceful concept of communication among the members and between the members and the extramural world. Saint Bruno’s life, contemporary twelfth-century exegesis, and the physical situation of La Grande Chartreuse established the necessary context in which this concept evolved. A review of historical background, the relevant documentary texts, and early development demonstrate the shaping of two steps in this concept. Close reading of the principal testimonies of Carthusians Bruno, Guigo I, Guigo II, and some other witnesses, as well as of some passages in Saint …

Experiencing Our Only Comfort: A Post-Reformation Refocus In The Heidelberg Catechism, Jan Van Vliet

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Last year marked the 450th anniversary of the publication of the Heidelberg Catechism. In celebration of this momentous occasion and as a reminder of the contemporary applicability of this highly-regarded confessional document, this essay examines the earliest and most complete Puritan commentary extant: that of second-generation Puritan thinker William Ames (1576–1633), protégé of William Perkins (1558–1602), the “father” of the Puritan movement. We examine methodological considerations and two topical issues that arise when the venerated Catechism is placed in the hands of a practically oriented, post-Reformation divine for whom theology was none other than “living to God”: Theologia est doctrina …

Emerging From The Shadows: Civil War, Human Rights, And Peacebuilding Among Peasants And Indigenous Peoples In Colombia And Peru In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Charles A. Flowerday

Anthropology Department: Theses

Peacebuilding in Colombia and Peru following their late-20^th and early 21^st century civil wars is a challenging proposition. In this study, it becomes necessary as indigenous peoples and peasants resist domination by extractive industries and governments in their thrall. Whether they protest nonviolently or rebel in arms, they are targeted for human-rights violations, especially murder, disappearance and displacement. The armed actors, state, insurgency, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, destroy civic institutions (local or regional government) and the civil (nonprofit) sector and replace them with their own authoritarian versions. Therefore, peacebuilding has emphasized rebuilding civic institutions, civil society and local …

Contesting Faith, Truth, And Religious Language At The Creation Museum: A Historical-Theological Reflection, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, attempts to demonstrate the flaws in contemporary science and to offer an alternative explanation of human origins and biological complexity rooted in a specific reading of the biblical narrative. This effort, however, is paradoxically rooted in the worldview of modern science and the Enlightenment. This article will examine the Creation Museum’s definitions of faith, truth, and religious language and will compare these definitions to those of mainline Protestant Christianity to uncover the historical and theological presuppositions of Creationist and mainline Protestant engagements with contemporary science.

Sacra Domus: The Anglican House Church In Theology And Context, Alan Andraeas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The author is an evangelical Anglican priest with a recently formed sacramental house church. Though the house church movement is gaining popularity, no formal guidelines or methodologies exist which address this trend from a liturgical and sacerdotal perspective--even within his diocese. Because of this void, he will examine the following critical issues:

* What are the scriptural foundations for mandating the use of liturgy?

* What are the biblical, theological, and historical precedents for house churches?

* Can there be a complementary union between priestly liturgy and the house church model?

Without guidance from other `reference parishes,' the need for …

La Gloire Ou La Croix: The Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy, Independent Churches, And Nouvelles Fois In Antsirabe, Alexander Koch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The histories and characteristics of five different Christian churches within Antsirabe, the FLM, FPLM, FLMAK, MRE, and Shine, reveal telling examples of how Malagasy Christians negotiate their religious lives within the personal, local, and national contexts. Although a two-dimensional representation does not do justice to the intricacies of each church’s individual situation, all five generally fall onto the spectrums of “historic” to “modern,” “traditional” to “innovative,” and “national” to “local,” with the FLM in the former classification, and nouvelles fois in the latter, and the independent churches falling somewhere in between. Analyzed across seven comparative and two investigative categories, three …

Justification And Sanctification In The Southern Baptist Church In West Virginia; Implications In Worship And Practice Of Faith, Todd Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate the doctrines of justification and progressive sanctification and its implications in the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia. In the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia, there seems to be much confusion concerning the subject of justification and sanctification in the life of the believer. This confusion appears to grow out of a misunderstanding of sanctification and its relationship to justification from the error of Roman Catholic doctrine of blending justification and sanctification. The result of this study will expose the disparity of understanding concerning these doctrines and produce a teaching resource …

What Kind Of Confession Is The Augsburg Confession?: "I Shall Speak Of Your Decrees Before Kings, And Shall Not Be Put To Shame" (Psalm 119:46), Steven D. Paulson

Faculty Publications

What is the genre of the Augsburg Confession? Knowing this identifies the meaning and use of the document historically and presently. The confession is apocalyptic, despite the disparaging place this genre has held in recent theology. The case comes especially from Martin Luther’s own correspondence of the time and his later recollection of the events given in his 1542 Genesis lectures. In the Genesis lectures Luther connected Augsburg to the conflict Rebecca had come to in the case of primogeniture and Jacob. The first table of the commandments came into strange conflict with the second: the law of authority conflicting …