Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

The Suffering Of God? The Divine Love And The Problem Of Suffering In Classical And Process-Relational Theisms., Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Not quite twenty-five years ago, theologian Ronald Goetz surveyed the landscape of late twentieth-century theology to find that “the ancient theopaschite heresy that God suffers has, in fact, become the new orthodoxy.”2 The shifting commitments and methodological assumptions contributing to this seemingly radical reorientation of Christian thought concerning the doctrine of God are varied and complex, but we might consider a few important questions to discern whether the theopaschite trend in contemporary theology powerfully and faithfully speaks good news in our time, and whether it does so more effectively than the classical doctrine of divine impassibility.

The Desert Of The Real: Christianity, Buddhism & Baudrillard In The Matrix Films And Popular Culture, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The movie The Matrix and its sequels draw explicitly on imagery from a number of sources, including in particular Buddhism, Christianity, and the writings of Jean Baudrillard. A perspective is offered on the perennial philosophical question ‘What is real?’, using language and symbols drawn from three seemingly incompatible world views. In doing so, these movies provide us with an insight into the way popular culture makes eclectic use of various streams of thought to fashion a new reality that is not unrelated to, and yet is nonetheless distinct from, its religious and philosophical undercurrents and underpinnings.

The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism In Its Jewish Context, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Chapter 5: "Monotheism and Worship in the Book of Revelation" is an excerpt from The Only True God. Copyright 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with permission of the University of Illinois Press. This excerpt, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, distributed, photocopied or posted on-line without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Jesus Christ As Poetic Symbol: Wilhelm Bousset’S Contribution To The Faith-History Debate, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Wilhelm Bousset, a leading member of the religionsgeschichtliche school and author of a seminal work on early Christology, Kyrios Christos, is typically regarded by reviewers of his work as a classic nineteenth-century liberal who sought a secure foundation for faith in the historical Jesus. However, this view of Bousset fails to appreciate the significant development of his theological perspective on the relationship between faith and history, a perspective that underwent a profound shift due to the influence of the English historian Thomas Carlyle and the Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fries. It is the influence of these two figures that enables …

Geschichte Und Historie: The Problem Of Faith And History, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Faith at the Intersection of History and Experience is the first study in English of the theology of the German Lutheran theologian, Georg Wobbermin (1869–1943), who has been called a “captain of the liberal rearguard.” Widely read and discussed in his own lifetime, Wobbermin’s theology fell into obscurity as dialectical theology rose to prominence in the years following the First World War.

Hege presents the major themes of Wobbermin’s theology, particularly his analysis of the relationship between faith and history and his development of a religio-psychological theological method that places faith at the intersection of history and experience. Wobbermin’s critiques …

Was Jesus Illegitimate? The Evidence Of His Social Interactions, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies that place Jesus into the social category of an illegitimate child. After surveying the evidence with respect to the situation of such individuals in first century Mediterranean and Jewish society, we shall proceed to examine whether Jesus' implied social status (as evidenced by accounts of his adult social interactions) coheres with what one would expect in the case of someone who bore the stigma of that status. Our study suggests that the scandal caused by Jesus' association with the marginalized clearly implies that he did …

Solov'Ëv And Schelling's Philosophy Of Revelation, Paul Valliere

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The connection between Solov'ëv's philosophy of religion and Schelling's has long been recognized but is difficult to clarify for two reasons. The first is Solov'ëv's nonchalance about citing sources. The paucity of direct references to Schelling in the work of a philosopher who has been called 'the last and most outstanding Russian Schellingian' is quite astonishing. The second reason is the ambivalence toward Schelling in Russian religious philosophy.

The Spirituality Of War, Paul Valliere

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Starting from the assumption that war, whatever else it is, is a matrix of values rooted in some type of spirituality, the article presents a brief typology of spiritualities of war: holy war, heroic war, and political (or "just") war. The article concludes by discussing implications of the typology for current reflection on problems of war and peace in the nuclear age. (A fuller treatment of the typology and its applications may be found in Paul Valliere, Holy War and Pentecostal Peace [New York: The Seabury Press, 1983]).

"The Lady And The Wench" : A Practical Theodicy In Russian Literature., Paul Valliere

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In the study of religion, it is important to distinguish broadly between two forms of theodicy: theoretical and practical. Both forms address the fundamental concern of all theodicy, "the justice of God," but they do so in different contexts and for different purposes.

The Concept Of History In The Thought Of Rudolf Bultmann And Reinhold Niebuhr, Joseph H. Bragg Jr.

Graduate Thesis Collection

The question of the nature and meaning of history has become increasingly important in contemporary thought. In theological circles, it has become the central theme of discussion. Thereare a number of reasons why this is so. The events of the times in which we live have brought about a definite rejection of any knowledge-equals-progress idea of history as well as a call for interpretation of the profound social crises which we confront. The widespread influence of existentialism, with its emphasis on relativism and subjectivism, has brought into question not only the nature of history, in terms of present reality, but …

A Study Of The Trinity In The Cappadocian Fathers, George W. Buck

Graduate Thesis Collection

The object in writing this thesis has been to pursue the theological development of the doctrine of the trinity in the Church of the early centuries through the writings of the Church fathers. It is a continuation of a former study, A New Testament Study of Trinity, a thesis submitted for the Bachelor of Divinity degree, which was received in July, 1952. This entire study has been an attempt to soak the self in the patristic writings and to arrive at a first-hand conception of the classical doctrine of the trinity, which we believe, is a creation of the fourth …

A Study Of The Historic Theories Of The Atonement, William F. Bromley

Graduate Thesis Collection

In one of his letters to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul sets forth as one of the basic facts of the primitive Gospel that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. "l In the same passage, he asserts that it is by this Gospel that men are saved - that is that there is a definite relationship between the death of Christ and the salvation of men. To define this relationship has been a task that has occupied the thinking of some of the greatest minds of the ages since the day that Jesus of Nazareth …

David Lipscomb's Doctrine Of The Church, Herman L. Barnett

Graduate Thesis Collection

David Lipscomb, editor of the Gospel Advocate for almost half a century, was a man of wide influence. He was intensely devoted to the cause of Christ. In the estimation of his admirers he "had a keener and deeper insight to the meaning of the Holy Scriptures and of God's dealings with the race than any other one man in all Christendom." Though such a judgement is open to question, the man becomes a fit subject for such a study as we have attempted to make.

God's Revelation Of Himself To Man, J. Wesley Adcock

Graduate Thesis Collection

We have chosen to treat this subject under three main headings: first, the revelation of God in nature; secondly, the revelation of God by His attributes; and thirdly, the relveation of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. These three division are to be dealt with in the order given above.

The Kingdom Of God Reflected In The Gospels, Donald George Ashton

Graduate Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

The Philosophy Of Paul, Julian B. Linkous

Graduate Thesis Collection

The title of this thesis, "The Philosophy of Paul," makes the assumption that Paul had a philosophy. Because this assumption is not universally acoepted oy students of the life of Paul, as noted above, we shall endeavor to show that Paul had a philosophy. In other words, we shall show that our assumption is valid. Our second purpose shall be to identify Paul's philosophy.

The Communion: A Psychological Examination, Walter H. Coburn

Graduate Thesis Collection

The symbolic meal, known as the Eucharsit, Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, and many other names is of peculiar interest to the Christian church. This thesis presents the results of a psychological examination of the teachings of the church present both in creeds, statements, and by individual writers.

The Old Testament Idea Of Holiness, John William Lambert

Graduate Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

The Intellect Of Christ, Francis O. Reisinger

Graduate Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

From Justice To Justification, John Burdette Charles

Graduate Thesis Collection

We will attempt to show that Paul's doctrine of justification was not an arbitrary replacement of the Jewish idea of justice but a natural necessity of man's nature and his society.

Some Eschatological Views Of The Fate Of The Wicked In Human History, Ormonde Stanly Brown

Graduate Thesis Collection

The writer expresses the hope that this treatment of an important subject may be found interesting--he knows this it can scarcely be found pleasant reading. It is our purpose to treat of the "eschatological views of the fate of the wicked"--Hell ideas entertained--"in human history". These are many. While most of them agree at some points, the range of ideas is broad, and "human history" is broad. We wish to emphasize our disinterest, for the purpose of this thesis, in eschatological views of the reward of the "good," save to say that, generally, this is but 'the other side of …

The Individual And The Kingdom Of God, Frederic A. Chandler

Graduate Thesis Collection

The Kingdom of God as depicted by Jesus Christ is the only human society that will effectually eliminate the conflict between the individual and society.

To prove this thesis, the succeeding chapter's will proceed as the nature of the subject dictates. First, as the individual human being is the fixed and unchangeable factor in this problem, the first step will be to give an adequate definition of a person. Next, since his conflict with his fellows reaches the very essence of his being when it touches his moral nature, morality will be defined and it will be shown what that …

Evidences Of The Divinity Of Jesus: As Recorded In The Gospel Of John, Shelley D. Watts

Manuscript Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

The Atonement, Benjamin F. Dailey

Manuscript Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.