Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

“These Are Written”: Toward A Cruciform Theology Of Scripture By Peter H. Nafzger, Greg Michael

Concordia Journal

Nafzger encourages the church to recognize the limitations of the doctrine of inspiration as the central guide to understanding Scriptures and to move towards an understanding of Scriptures that focuses on a Trinitarian economy of salvation and centers in the Christ event.

Proper 21 • Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32 • September 28, 2014, Kent Burreson

Concordia Journal

The preacher is encouraged to give attention to the rhetorical structure of the pericope that reconstructs a conversation between Yahweh and Israel through Ezekiel, although decidedly from God’s perspective.

Proper 14 • Job 38:4–18 • August 10, 2014, David Maxwell

Concordia Journal

In keeping with the flow of the book of Job, the preacher should replace the listener’s sense of indignation with a sense of wonder at God’s majesty and his grace.

Martin Luther’S Platzregen In Action The Changing Face Of Global Christianity, Douglas Rutt

Concordia Journal

The study of the momentous demographic shifts in Christianity that have taken place in the past two decades has become a growth industry of sorts.

God’S Word Produces Faith And Fruit Reflections From Luther’S Understanding Of The Sermon On The Mount, Robert Kolb

Concordia Journal

In his comments on the Sermon on the Mount in 1538 he made clear that the community’s light was to shine with good works, which meant specifically “the exercise, expression, and confession of the teaching of Christ and faith and suffering for its sake.”

The Gospel In Singapore - The Impact Of Civil Religion And Civil Law, Mark Madson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Madson, Mark, J. “The Gospel in Singapore: The Impact of Civil Religion and Civil Law.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2015. 240 pp.

The author explores the development of civil religion in the Republic of Singapore, paying special attention to its sources in English common law, Confucianism, and the Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) ideology of economic pragmatism. Colonial and modern civil religious law, including the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of 1990, serve as the basis for analyzing the interaction of the state and traditional religious traditions. The Singapore Story, as told by Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP, provides a …

Worshipping Meaningfully: The Complementary Dynamics Of Liturgy And Theology In Worship, Joseph Omolo

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Omolo, Joseph, T. "Worshipping Meaningfully: The Complementary Dynamics of Liturgy and Theology in Worship." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 242 pp.

This dissertation is a work in systematic theology which explores the relationship between liturgy and theology in the current scholarship of liturgical theology. It examines how the complementary dynamics of liturgy and theology enhance the appropriation of meaning experientially and conceptually in the Christian assembly and thereby making worship meaningful event. Worship is meaningful when the Christian assembly encounters the Triune God in his word and sacraments and the assembly responds in praise, prayer and thanksgiving. In such encounter …

Proyecto Curricular Educación Teológica Por Extensión, Marcos Kempff

Artículos educación teológica

Proyecto curricular Educación Teológica por Extensión

Formación Del Seminarista Luterano, Marcos Kempff

Artículos educación teológica

Formación del seminarista Luterano

A Theology Of Creation Lived Out In Christian Hymnody, Beth Hoeltke

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Hoeltke, Beth June “A Theology of Creation Lived Out in Christian Hymnody.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 308 pp.

A seminal article written by Lynn White in the mid-1960’s indicted Christianity as a major cause affecting the ecological crisis of the day. White emphasized that the Christian tradition practiced domination rather than dominion and ownership rather than stewardship. Since White’s article Christian theologians have challenged his interpretation. One of the unexamined sources of the church’s teaching on creation is hymnody. This dissertation examines this source. Hymns play a vital role in the church’s teaching as they have the ability to …

Christian Hope Among Rivals: Life-Organizing Stories As Narrative Theodices, Michael Zeigler

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Zeigler, Michael. W. “Christian Hope among Rivals: Life-Organizing Stories as Narrative Theodicies.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 270 pp.

This dissertation answers the following: How is Christian hope distinct from others? The answer given is that Christian hope is distinct from its rivals because it expects the God of Jesus to bring the world to conform to the word of the promise he made to Abraham. This answer arises from an approach to Christian eschatology that differs from what has become typical. Current studies in eschatology focus on an internal use attributes, that is, a use fitted for derivation and …

"It Was He Who Gave Some To Be": Toward An Understanding Of The Role Of The Female Prophet In The Lutheran Church, Ann Murphy

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Murphy, Ann I. "'It Was He Who Gave Some To Be': Toward an Understanding of the Role of the Female Prophet in the Lutheran Church." STM thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2014,131 pp.

This thesis addresses some of the ambiguities and inadequacies in Lutheran theological reflection regarding the prophetic office and attempts to integrate theological constructions pertaining to revelatory spiritual gifts, inspiration, the Ministry, and women's roles in the church so that they more consistently inform one another.

Shaped By The Spirit: Spirit Christology As A Framework For Preaching Sanctification, Jonathan Rusnak

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Rusnak, Jonathan W. "Shaped by the Spirit: Spirit Christology as a Framework for Preaching Sanctification." S.T.M. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2014. 128 pp.

This thesis offers an account of preaching sanctification grounded broadly in the trinitarian economy of salvation and specifically in the person and work of Jesus Christ as receiver, bearer, and giver of the Holy Spirit. Grounded in atonement theory alone, other accounts of preaching sanctification are unable to address any number of concerns that arise in the sanctified life. In addition, atonement theory alone does not ground an account of preaching sanctification that maintains the nexus indivulsus of …

Promissio Spei God's Eschatological Action In The Church, Richard Aaron Davenport

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Davenport, Richard A. "Promissio Spei: God's Eschatological Action in the Church. “Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2012. 213 pp.

This dissertation, a work in systematic theology, examines the nature of Christian hope in the context of current scholarship in systematic theology. Its goal is to assess the way in which Christian hope is rooted in God's word of promise and the extent to which that promise affects Christian life. The eschatological outlook presented in Scripture shows that God's promises, and the hope that they offer, are presented to all of creation. This dissertation investigates the process by which the communication of …

An (Enduring) Ecclesiology Beyond The Cultural Captivity Of The Church, Chad Lakies

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This dissertation is located within the larger conversation about ecclesiology as it is emerging in our post-Christian era. Its effort is both theoretical and practical. Not only will it provide a theological account of the church, but it will do so for the sake of reflective practitioners who are looking for guidance in navigating and negotiating our post-Christian culture in the effort to form faithful Christians. Thus, this dissertation will articulate an ecclesiology of the Christian life, thereby enabling the church to diagnose, assess, and respond to contemporary instances of its own cultural captivity so that it might better embody …

Life In The Spirit: A Post-Constantinian And Trinitarian Account Of The Christian Life, Andrea Snavely

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Snavely, Andrea D. "Life in the Spirit: A Post-Constantinian and Trinitarian Account of the Christian Life." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2013. 235 pp.

Post-Constantinians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas have re-imagined the Christian as a follower of Jesus, critiquing natural theology's dominance that eclipses seeing Jesus' life as the "content" of a Christian's life. However, they lack an answer to the "energy” question, of how one lives like Jesus, because their theologies are based on Logos-Christology. This dissertation proposes that a complementary Spirit-Christology provides the answer to the “energy" question by describing Jesus' life as receiver, bearer, and giver …

Luther On Idolatry: A Lutheran Response To Contemporary False Belief, Michael Lockwood

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Lockwood, Michael A. "Luther on Idolatry: A Lutheran Response to Contemporary False Belief." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2013. 303 pp.

The first step in solving any problem is to understand the problem. As Christians we know that Christ is the solution to the human plight. Yet what exactly is this plight? And why do so many people feel no need for the solution he provides? Luther's answer is that people feel no need for the true God until they are disenchanted with the false gods they have put in his place, which they think can provide all they need.

In …

“Doing Justice: Paradoxical And Doxological Dimensions”, John Nunes

Theological Symposia

Dr. Nunes explains how Lutheran World Relief uses the concept of contributive justice in their work.

Christian Justification After Nihilism, Joel Meyer

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Meyer, Joel P. "Christian Justification after Nihilism." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary,2012. [235] pp.

This dissertation addresses the problem that nihilism presents to Christian faith and life. North Atlantic Christians live in an age when nihilism is a normal condition. The world does not appear to have one clear and unquestionable meaning. Instead, each of us has convictions about the world that we hold dear. But we realize that other people hold drastically different convictions than our own, and we have no absolute way of determining the validity of one set over another. So they appear to us as values, rather …

A Theology Of Religious Change, David J. Zehnder

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Zehnder, David, J. “A Theology of Religious Change.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2011. 218 pp.

This essay sets up a dialogue between the sociology and psychology of religious change (conversion’s human side) and conversion (theologically defined) to prove that empirical research into change experience, ideology as an attracting force to religion, and social networks’ influence on conversion does not threaten theology’s assertions but can help to clarify theology’s tasks in communicating to various audiences. Science helps theology through a correlational model of interaction developed in the study. The correlational method first asks of science: Why do people change religiously? Once …

Doctrine After Foundationalism, Robert Lewis Fossett

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Fossett, Robert, L. “Doctrine After Foundationalism.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2011. 250 pp.

This essay argues for an account of Christian doctrine that will bring to light the lingering entrenchment of foundationalism within the context of religious discourse and will show this entrenchment for what it is: a confusion inherited from the Enlightenment (and ultimately from Plato). In its place I offer an account of doctrine that is more explicitly Christological than what is currently being offered in the modern discussion on doctrine and that at the same time, moves the conversation past the assumptions of foundationalism. A properly Christian …

“Made In Each Other:” John Scottus Eriugena’S Conception Of The Human Person As A Unifying Vocabulary For Trinitarian Metanarrative And Anticartesian Phenomenology, Carey B. Vinzant

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Vinzant, Carey B. “Made in each Other: John Scottus Eriugena’s Conception of the Human Person as a Unifying Vocabulary for Trinitarian Metanarrative and Anti-Cartesian Phenomenology.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2010. 260 pp.

This study sets forth an account of the human person, drawn primarily from the thought of John Scottus Eriugena, which integrates the metaphysical account of personhood set forth by Trinitarian theology (especially John Zizioulas) with the phenomenological one set forth by certain Anti-Cartesian philosophers (especially John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and Gabriel Marcel). These two schools of thought have in common the conviction that uniqueness and relation to other …

Problems In A Movement-Towards A Mutual Hierarchy Social Model Of The Trinity, Jeffrey Dukeman

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Dukeman, Jeffrey, A. “Problems in a Movement: Towards a Mutual Hierarchy Social Model of the Trinity.” PhD diss., Concordia Seminary, 2010. 241 pp.

Many chief adherents of a social model of the Trinity, which posits community as the ultimate ontological category in Trinitarian discourse, exhibit a hierarchy-equality polarity or tension in various aspects of their Trinitarian thought. Typically, social Trinitarians “resolve” this tension by emphasizing or choosing one side of the polarity, either hierarchy or equality, over the other. This results in an inadequate accounting for full sociality among the divine persons, where such sociality requires, among other things, both …

The Integration Of The Volga Germans Into American Lutheranism, Richard Allen Davenport

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This paper traces the incorporation of Lutheran Volga Germans arriving in this country between 1870 and 1910 into American Christianity and identifies factors in their affiliation with American church bodies. It analyzes whether Lutheran bodies identified the Volga Germans as a distinct ethnic group among German immigrants in America and recognized the specific challenges and adaptations necessary to work among them. Where Volga German congregations were established, the factors which decided joining one denomination over another are explored. Specific theological, ecclesiastical, and cultural issues that determined whether a group of Volga Germans aligned with one church body versus another are …

No Beauty We Could Desire-A Lutheran Evaluation Of C. S. Lewis' Sehnsucht, Jonathan Graf

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Together, the experiences and glimpses of what Lewis called' Joy' or Sehnsucht served as the central thread of his life" and provided him with the ontological lens through which he viewed reality. 13 It is the plan of this paper to further examine Lewis' treatment of Sehnsucht" by engaging it in dialogue with a Lutheran theological perspective. In doing so, there are two main objectives that I hope to accomplish. The first objective is to demonstrate that the experience of Sehnsucht should not be merely dismissed or fully embraced; rather, it should be placed within a proper theological narrative that …

Can God Be Persuaded A Discussion Of The Immutability Of God In Luther's Catechesis On Prayer, Timothy Roser

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Roser, Timothy, W. "Can God Be Persuaded? A Discussion of the Immutability of Godin Luther's Catechesis on Prayer." Ph.D. Diss., St. Louis, MO: Concordia Seminary, 2005.197pp.

Different doctrines of God bring different understandings of Christian prayer. Open theism teaches a mutable God who can be persuaded by our prayer, that is, have human will imposed upon His choice and course of action. This study responds with Martin Luther's unique defense of the immutability of God and his perspective on human will's place in Christian prayer.

Chapter one reviews the teachings of open theism involving divine mutability and the consequent practice …

Historia Aliste Y Aliet, Jerjes Ruiz

Artículos educación teológica

Historia ALISTE y ALIET

"These Are Written" Toward A Cruciform Theology Of Scripture, Peter Nafzger

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Nafzger, Peter H. "'These Are Written' : Toward a Cruciform Theology of Scripture." Ph.D. diss .. Concordia Seminary, 2009. 244 pp.

This dissertation is an attempt to ground the Christian theology of Scripture in the trinitarian economy of salvation. Rather than approaching the Scriptures with the assumptions, concepts, and categories that have governed the modem "battle for the Bible," this account locates the Scriptures in the theology of the Word of God. In the biblical narrative this Word is found in three forms: Jesus Christ is the personal form of the Word of God who was sent by the Father …

An Obedient Defense Of Disobedience: The Brothers Of The Common Life And The Boundaries Of Religion, Carol Geisler

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Geisler, Carol A. "An Obedient Defense of Disobedience: The Brothers of the Common Life and the Boundaries of Religion." Ph.D. diss., St. Louis: Concordia Seminary, 2008. 237 pp.

Like many of their contemporaries, the priests, clerics, and laity of the fourteenth century spiritual movement the devotio moderna wished to imitate the lifestyle of Christ, his apostles, and the earliest Christians. Inspired by the preaching and ideals of the movement's founder, Geert Grote, these men and women of the Low Countries came to be called the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. They pursued the apostolic life in communities, following …

Luther's Two Kinds Of Righteousness And His Wartbug Postil, Makito Masaki

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This study discusses how Luther exhorted people to live the Christian life. Luther understood the Christian life as a life of the saved sinner in himself and in his community. He understood that Christians live lives defined by two kinds of righteousness; that is, righteousness that God bestows, and righteousness that they produce. This study will be carried out by reviewing this basic understanding of what the Christian life is, and by examining Luther's preaching material, specifically a set of sermonic writings called The Wartburg Postil. The thesis of this survey is that in The Wartburg Postil, Luther used the …