Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Aimee Semple Mcpherson’S Pentecostalism, Darwinism, Eugenics, The Disenfranchised, And The Scopes Monkey Trial, Margaret English De Alminana

Selected Faculty Publications

This article posits that the cultural battle waged by Aimee Semple McPherson in concert with William Jennings Bryan over evolution and modernism was largely focused on a popular social theory linked to eugenics. On July 21, 1925, in the city of Dayton, Tennessee, a twentieth-century watershed event became a harbinger of the age: The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, popularly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. The public remembers the event as spotlighting the fundamentalist-modernist controversy with respect to the teaching of evolution in the public-school curriculum against the protests of fundamentalist Christians who advocated Creationism. The …

For The Wild: Ritual And Commitment In Radical Eco-Activism By Sarah M. Pike, Alda Balthrop-Lewis

The Goose

Review of Sarah M. Pike's For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism

La Lucha For Home And La Lucha As Home: Latinx/A/O Theologies And Ecologies, Jacqueline Hidalgo

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

No abstract provided.

Why The Covenant Worked: On The Institutional Foundations Of The American Civil Religion, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Scholars of American civil religion (ACR) have paid insufficient attention to the micro-level processes through which civil religious ideas have historically influenced beliefs and behavior. We know little about what makes such appeals meaningful to average Americans (assuming they are meaningful); nor do we know much about the mechanisms through which abstract religious themes and imagery come to be associated with specific policy aims, or what Robert Bellah called “national goals.” This article argues that a renewed focus on the relationship between civil religion and organized religion can help fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, I draw attention …

Kata Ostojic, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

Janja Majstorovic, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

The Language Of The Spirit In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word spirit is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Holy Spirit, and the Spirit are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the God. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit ( rûah ) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy …

Jagoda Duvnjak & Ana Komso, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

Beneficial Mourning By Inmates Who Have Lost A Significant Person, James Bradley Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Incarceration is already replete with loss before someone of significance to an inmate dies. The prison environment challenges every aspect of grieving, and failing to effectively mourn pathologizes grief, reduces quality of living, and results in behaviours that cause recidivism. It is a poignant interaction between this researcher in his role as a chaplain and a particular inmate that provides the impetus for this study. This study begins with a qualitative meta-synthesis that examined 10 qualitative articles and dissertations published over the last 30 years to explore how some inmates manage to effectively grieve the loss of a significant person. …

Melcher, Parsons, And Youngs' "The Bible And Disability: A Commentary. Studies In Religion, Theology, And Disability" (Book Review), Susan Casstevens

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

The Islam Of Europe: Challenges Of Governance, Erin Baranko

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As practicing Muslims become an increasingly large share of the population in Western European countries, governments encounter the challenge of preserving liberal democratic societies in the face of a force often considered to be in direct opposition to the values of those societies. This paper discusses the challenges of the governance of Islam in Western Europe and evaluates the validity of the perceived threat of Islam to European values. Through analysis of scholarly work and interviews with experts in relevant professional and academic fields, this paper identifies three myths about Islam that contribute to this perceived threat: Islam is anti-democratic, …

Natura Sanat: On Ecological Aspects Of Healing Miracles In Kalwaria Pacławska, Poland, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska

Journal of Global Catholicism

The subject-matter of my article is a change affecting the discourse on miraculous healings in a Catholic Marian sanctuary – Kalwaria Pacławska – run by Franciscan friars in the South-Eastern Poland and a way in which those changes affect pilgrims’ bodies. In Kalwaria Pacławska there meet, intersect and compete various religious and secular discourses and they all influence emotions and bodily sensations accompanying pilgrimage to this sacred site. One of those discourses has been introduced to Kalwaria just recently. The central element of the sanctuary is the miraculous image of Virgin Mary which is the goal of numerous pilgrimages from …

Authors' Introduction, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Magdalena Lubanska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Toward A Theology Of Transformation: Destroying The Sycamore Tree Of White Supremacy, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Celebration of Learning

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

Speech: An Authentic Theology, Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Collection Textual

Archbishop Tutu's writings on black theology. Typed with a few handwritten notes.

The Great Plans Of The Eternal God, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The concept that God had a plan from the beginning was clearly taught by the first generation of Nephite prophets in the sixth century BCE as it provided both them and their successors over the next thousand years with the background or context they could use to preach and explain the gospel of Jesus Christ to their people. The plan of salvation they taught made the relevance of the gospel of Jesus Christ for every individual born into this world perfectly clear. It explained the great blessings that would come to those who would repent and embrace all elements of …

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …

Maggay's " Global Kingdom, Global People: Living Faithfully In A Multicultural World", Stefana Dan Laing

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Blankenship's "The Mystery And The Masterpiece: The Message Of Marriage" (Book Review), Mary Ann Buhler

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Stark's "Why God?: Explaining Religious Phenomena" (Book Review), Scott Lloyd

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

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 …

Nuclear Alarmism And Climate Change Fatalism As A Secular Apocalyptic Religion, Sarah Ertelt 18

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

What Lies In The Gray: Creative Analytic Pieces On The Formation And Evolution Of Beliefs In Masxha, Robin Mwai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this project was to look at how members of Durban's Masxha township develop their belief systems and ideas about their world. This topic was developed out of a desire to better understand the factors that promote or inhibit individuals from changing their mind about topics relating to their community, society, and culture. I sought to gain a deeper understanding of the specific context of Masxha and the experiences and lives of those with whom I spoke.

To accomplish the goal of learning from lived experiences, this study employed a narrative inquiry approach. Using loosely-structured interviews involving eight …

The Mountain Stands: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Zulu Christians' Approaches To Spiritual Health, Makayla Lagerman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Spiritual health is a vital component of individual wellness that can be described in many ways; most commonly, it is thought of as the connectivity of the inner spirit to others, the world, transcendental beings, and more. From personal experience, I know that the state of my spiritual wellbeing can greatly impact my physical and mental health. For this reason, actively considered how to think about spiritual health for one of the first times in my life.

This project sought to explore Zulu Christians’ approaches to spiritual health in concurrence with my own. This was done by interviewing one Swazi …

Toward A Theology Of Transformation, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

Seeing Witchcraft, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

When Christians in Zambia struggle with witchcraft, they also struggle with African cultural and religious concepts that deal with life’s ambiguities and that require discernment. It is not by working against the cultural and religious heritage, but by working with it, as far as possible, that the pastor can identify the broken relationships towards which many witchcraft discourses point. However, before we place the concepts of witchcraft into the realm of superstition (as are the trends of mission Christianity) or the demonic (as are the trends of charismatic Christianity), the Church has the duty to look at the concepts, stay …

Allocutio: Articulating The Task For The Future Of African Catholicism, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay charts how Catholicism can become more indigenously African and respond better to African needs and concerns.

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

An overview of African Catholicism. Part Two: Retrospect and Prospect, third issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism. A summary of the work of Bradford Hinze, Mary Gloria Njoku, Matthias Scharer, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu, and Bernhard Udelhoven. Among the topics considered: African ecclesiology, African wellness and quality of life in Africa, interreligious dialogue in Africa, African Biblical scholarship, witchcraft and the Catholic Church.

Vincent De Paul And The Empowerment Of Women, Louise Sullivan

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

The year 2017, marking the 400th Anniversary of the birth of the Vincentian Charism, has proven to be one of celebration for the entire Vincentian Family. While thousands of women are taking part in these celebrations around the world, the role women played in the birth and development of the charism is often overlooked. To do so however, is to miss a singularly significant aspect of Vincent de Paul’s genius, namely, the mission of charity he confided to the laity and particularly to women. Vincent de Paul’s life and his works would become what they were and what they continue …