Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

Antoniyar Kōvil: Hindu-Catholic Identity At The St. Anthony Shrine In St. Mary’S Co-Cathedral, Chennai, Pj Johnston

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article combines ethnographic description of the practices of Hindu and Christian visitors of the St. Antony Shrine in Chennai with the observation that this material cannot be understood using the standard world religions paradigm that essentializes Christianity as exclusivistic. Drawing upon the visual and material culture of the shrine in light of premodern and Vatican II templates for inculturation and the negotiation of religious difference, the article highlights overlap between Tamil Hinduism and the Tamil Popular Catholicism of the site to argue that the beliefs and practices documented should inform descriptive and normative accounts of Catholic Christianity. Because Tamil …

The Perceived Need For Spiritual Development Among Female Church Of Christ Students At Harding University, Anessa Westbrook

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This work explores how female students perceive their need for personal spiritual development. In a male-dominant structure, women may question their need to develop spiritually. Three areas of college life were investigated to see how they influenced female students’ perception of their own need for spiritual development: pre-college experiences, classroom experiences, and co-curricular religious activities. The research questions focused on these three areas in an effort to identify what was most effective in achieving spiritual growth among female students from a Church of Christ background. A survey was conducted among a sample of 610 sophomore female and male students.

Results …

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 …

A Culture Of Religious Liberty, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

It is a commonplace to say - as Pope Benedict XVI did in his 2005 Christmas Address to the Roman Curia - that the Second Vatican Council gave "a new definition to the relationship between the Church and the modern State." This is true enough. But the Council's initiatives were more daring than that. It is closer to the truth to say - as many have, including in so many words Pope Benedict - that the Fathers at Vatican II took up a complex set of questions about important human activities, both personal and social and with a long tradition …

Racial Integration In One Cumberland Presbyterian Congregation: Intentionality And Reflection In Small Group, Carolyn Smith Goings

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Negative attitudes toward racial minorities and consequent maltreatment of non-Whites continue to be a crisis in America. The crisis of racism is still realized in phenomena such as residential segregation (Bonilla-Silva, 2014), health disparities (Chae, Nuru-Jeter, & Adler, 2012; Chae, Nuru-Jeter, Francis, & Lincoln, 2011), and in the not-so-uncommon unjust arrests and imprisonment of persons of color (Alexander, 2012). Improvement in race relations through the development of meaningful cross racial relationships in racially integrated settings is one avenue that may lead to reduction of racism (E. Anderson, 2010; Fischer, 2011; Massey & Denton, 1993). Christian congregations are common settings in …

The Transformative And Healing Powers Of Compassion, Forgiveness, And Wonder, Anna C. Eriksson-Marty

Senior Theses

Since time immemorial, humankind has struggled to coexist peacefully together. As human beings, we strive on our relationships with each other and, yet, with actions of hatred and prejudice, we seem to consistently destroy those very relationships we value so deeply. Our current society is plagued by fear, which seems to run more rampant now – more than ever – with assistance of our rapidly evolving communication technology. The question must be asked, “How can we end this madness and heal ourselves into a kinder and more fulfilling future?” By providing up-to-date scientific research on the human emotions of compassion, …

Walking Together: Living Fearlessly, Loving Boldy, Anna M. Malone

Student Publications

In this paper, I give an account of my capstone for the Religious Studies major. I tell about the research project-turned-applied-learning, and how my research as a Mellon Summer Scholar ’15 led me to start a prison ministry between Gettysburg students and the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex. I reflect on what I have done, how God has worked, and what I have learned. This is far from a typical research paper; then again, this was far from a typical research project.

Occupy Judaism: Religion, Digital Media, And The Public Sphere, Ayala Fader, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides an analysis of Occupy Judaism, an explicitly religious expression of Jewish protest, which occurred simultaneously with Occupy Wall Street, the direct-democracy movement of 2011. Occupy Judaism, like Occupy Wall Street, took place both in physical spaces of protest in New York City and digitally, through mobilizing and circulating debate. The article focuses on the words and actions of Daniel Sieradski, the public face and one of the key founders of Occupy Judaism, supplemented by the experiences of others in Occupy Judaism, Occupy Wall Street, and Occupy Faith (a Protestant clergy-led initiative). We investigate what qualified as religion …

James Baldwin And James Cone: God, Man, And The Redeeming Relationship, Rea Mcdonnell S.S.N.D.

Obsculta

Originally written as a graduate paper in 1972 as part of a Master of Arts in Theology. See http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/sot_papers/439/

Tunisia’S Young Islamists: Religious Or Revolutionary Zealots?, Sawyer French

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ennahda’s many compromises during Tunisia’s transition have prompted assessments that the party has alienated its base, especially by not taking more traditionally Islamist stances on issues like sharī‘a. This paper draws on interviews with young Tunisian Islamists and assesses how they have responded to Ennahda’s compromises. Although some young Islamists are disappointed that Ennahda did not pursue more hard-line Islamist stances, many actually share the leadership’s progressive position on certain religious issues. Interestingly, young Islamists were far more angered by Ennahda’s compromises on ‘revolutionary’ issues than they were by its compromises on ‘religious’ ones. This paper ultimately argues that …

God In Pre- And Post- Genocide Rwanda: Understanding People’S Perspectives, Ben Weinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

After the slaughter of over a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in 1994, God remains an important part in the life of many Rwandans. In this study, 11 Rwandans including survivors, perpetrators, and refugees, were interviewed to provide their perceptions of God before and after the genocide. Through the use of these interviews and various studies on evil, coping, and trauma, this research intends to understand both the shift in belief before to after the genocide and the factors that caused the shift to occur. Informant testimony provides evidence of the way that God and Christian theology has …

Youth Narratives Of The Conflict In Northern Uganda, Ellen Eichelberger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Narratives are an essential method of communication that create windows into human experiences. Narratives are also responsible for generating the societies in which they are told, or are shaped indelibly by the societies generated by more powerful narratives. In a post-conflict environment where society has been destroyed by decades of violence, the power of narratives to influence society is heightened. Such a postconflict environment is that of northern Uganda, as it emerges from the violence of the war between the LRA and the UPDF. Due to the heightened powers of narratives, it is necessary to give attention to what those …

Theravada Buddhism And Dai Identity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James Granderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This ethnographic field project focused upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Buddhism manifests itself in daily urban life, the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well as important events wherelay people and monastics interacted with one another. This research was intended to fulfill a need to observe how Theravada Buddhism influences Dai lives on the mundane level.This involved a several week study period in …

Existential Avalanche The Lived Experience Of Climate Change In Dolpo And Mustang, Nepal, Keegan Mcchesney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Himalayan communities stand precariously in an era of phenomenological uncertainty. Climate change is merely a lens through which we may observe and begin to understand such localized modern complexities. The people of the Tarap Valley in Dolpo, Nepal have experienced an increase in avalanches, snow leopard attacks and unpredictable precipitation patterns in recent years. In upper Mustang, Nepal, people have endured the harshest winter in generations and suffered from reduced water access. Environmental, climatic and weather related changes in both Himalayan districts have severely impacted traditional livelihoods and led some to adopt modern means of adaptation. Despite the scientific evidence …

Mind Within The Body The Presence And Importance Of Mental Health Within Traditional Tibetan Medicine, Reta Flynt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this Independent Study Project was to identify aspects of mental health within the traditional Tibetan medical system that are both taught in the classroom and carried out in clinical practice, with a primary focus on the importance of maintaining mental health. Throughout the research process, aspects of illness etiology, diagnosis, treatment processes, and influence from Tibetan Buddhism were found to be deeply connected in maintaining mental health within patients of Traditional Tibetan medicine. As well, much emphasis was found on the mind's influence on the physical wellbeing of an individual, suggesting that mental and physical health are …

The Social Institution And Inscription Of Child Marriage In The Terai Region Of Nepal, Alexandra Baer Chan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Marriage is typically considered to be one of the foundations of the family unit, and family is thought to be one of the pillars of society. Because marriage is such a primary social concept, its forms and functions may be taken for granted, despite the fact that it is culturally dependent. For example, the idea that one must be in love in order to get married may be more cultural ideal than universal idea—and is thus not true of many cultures. Arranged marriages are still performed in many parts of the world, and can be means of building kinship circles …

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.

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

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

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 …

A Mixed Bag: The Inter-Religious Marriage Experience In Bali, Chelsea Bhajan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to investigate how marriage customs as well as the perception of religion and its role in daily and family life changes within the context of religious plurality. This study specifically focuses on the experience of interreligious marriages on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in both Bahasa Indonesia and English in north and south Bali and minimally in east Bali. Twenty-one respondents were garnered in seventeen interview sessions. Findings showed a variety of means of dealing with this plurality, including choosing to follow only one faith, practising aspects of several faiths together and …

I Am Who I Am: The Book Of Exodus And African American Individuality, Joseph L. Kirkenir

Student Publications

Scholars often attempt to construct collective ideologies in order to generalize the beliefs and views of entire populations, with one target population frequently being the African American community during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, doing so fails to recognize the individuality of the population’s members and, especially in the case of the country’s oppressed Blacks, establishes a system where assumed notions and ignorant ideas abound. One might argue that the popularity of the book of Exodus in the time’s African American expressive outlets indicates that there did exist a collective ideology based upon the biblical narrative. However, …

A Christian Critique Of The Antimodern Quest: Challenge And Opportunity, John Wesley Taylor V

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Christ's Response To The Last, The Least, The Lost, The Left Out - Is The Church Living Up To Christ's Standard?, Jerry Staples

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a plethora of statistics concerning how many un-churched people there are in the United States and the socioeconomic ladder does not discriminate who fits this lost category. Yet, the concern of this project deals with the gang member, drug dealer, drug users, pimps and prostitutes. The intent is to take outreach to the street through cook outs, Holy block parties, street revivals and the like. The rationale of this project is to show how one can reach, teach and keep this group of people, the potential dangers, and positive consequences associated with it. The potential value of this …

Making Disciples Of Jesus Christ: Implementing An Effective Discipleship Strategy For Churches In America, Victor Ogundiran

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Various research findings on spiritual formation in the America church reveal that the current state of making disciples of Jesus Christ who are observing all that Jesus has commanded is woefully grim. This author believes what we have in place for making disciples is inadequate, unimplemented, or both. The purpose of this thesis project is to explain the current state of spiritual formation in the American Church and the reasons why it falls short of God's desire and design. This effort will include and incorporate research from at least 20 churches to see what discipleship systems they are using, if …

Dharma And The Free Market: Reconciling Buddhist Compassion With A Market Economy In Post-Socialist Mongolia, Yazmeen Mendez Nuñez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this inductive ethnographic study, I explore the unique social and theological pressures placed on Mongolian Buddhists after the wake of free market transition in Mongolia. It utilizes the Buddhist virtue of compassion as a lens by which the study might examine how Mongolians balance their spirituality and commitment to Buddhist ethics with new roles as rational agents in an emergent free market. In this study I draw on narratives from thirteen subjects as well as extensive participant observation to examine the ways that Mongolian market reform has guided social paradigms of ethic that present ethical contradictions with Buddhist dharma, …

An Effective Prayer Training Model For Church Growth: Centered On Wangsung Presbyterian Church In South Korea, Geunbae Hwang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate biblical church growth, specifically studying South Korean pastors roles concerning the healthy church and spiritual reinforcement, with a limited focus and application to WangSung Presbyterian Church and other churches in South Korea. This project primarily utilizes the New Testament, as well as literature on church growth and healthy spirituality. In addition, references specifically regarding church growth and statistical information from Korean church ministries will also be used. This project shares a new alternative way for the growth of churches: A prayer-training model as the most effective method for church growth. A healthy …

Monetary Effervescence: A Sociological Theory Of Religion Applied To Money, David J. Worley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project attempts to answer the question "What holds the construction of money together?" by asserting that it is money's religious nature which provides the moral compulsion for people to use, and continue to uphold, money as a socially constructed concept. This project is primarily descriptive and focuses on the religious nature of money by employing a sociological theory of religion in viewing money as a technical concept. This is an interdisciplinary work between religious studies, economics, and sociology and draws heavily from Emile Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life as well as work related to heterodox theories of …

Mormonism And The Family (Forum), Terryl Givens

English Faculty Publications

When we speak of the family in Mormonism, the term can mean many things. There is an idealized Mormon family, the one described in church magazines, General Conference talks, and Mormon public service commercials. There is the family of the Mormon theological tradition, stretching endlessly off into the eternities, bound together with temple ordinances, the forever family of Mormon bumper stickers. There is another family, product of a more speculative bent in Mormon theology, which comes of an eschatological reading of the Abrahamic covenant, and which imputes to a temple-sealed Mormon couple the right to an endless seed, a posterity …

Slaves To Contradictions: 13 Myths That Sustained Slavery, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

People have a fundamental need to think of themselves as “good people.” To achieve this we tell each other stories – we create myths – about ourselves and our society. These myths may be true or they may be false. The more discordant a myth is with reality, the more difficult it is to convince people to embrace it. In such cases to sustain the illusion of truth it may be necessary to develop an entire mythology – an integrated web of mutually supporting stories. This paper explores the system of myths that sustained the institution of slavery in the …

Servant Leadership And African American Pastors, Clarence Bunch

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Robert Greenleaf (1977) took a follower’s, rather than a leader-centric, point of view of leadership by describing a leader as one who leads by serving. He identified a leader as one who sets other people’s needs above his or her own. He argued that motivation of leaders must begin with the conscious choice to serve others. Greenleaf’s concept provides the basis for a theoretical model of servant leadership. This dissertation examines the extent to which African American pastors exhibit servant leadership characteristics, using the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). A sample of 358 African American pastors from 11 …