Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Leadership Succession From Matthew’S Gospel: Passing The Baton Of Leadership To The Next Generation, Allen H. Quist

Great Commission Research Journal

This article examines Matthew’s gospel drawn from social and cultural texture analysis to discover principles of biblical leadership succession. It provides a summary of principles about leadership succession, including that it: (a) starts with honorable leaders, (b) is an ongoing process, (c) is a family affair, (d) focuses on Christ’s authority with leaders as His agents, and (e) is action oriented. From the principles, this article infers five Christian ethical responses for organizational leadership: (a) it begins with a leader’s honor and then reveals itself in the leader’s life, (b) it is a continual process for the best interest of …

Whither Church Planting?, Hutz Hertzberg, Francis Lonsway

Great Commission Research Journal

Church planting is a clear response to the gospel command to spread the good news. While the term “church plant” may not be shared across Christian traditions, its meaning and goal are universally embraced. What is also clear, however, is the fact that the establishment of a new plant does not guarantee its success. Likely the critical factor in denomination, free, or independent church expansion is the nature of the individual or team assigned or commissioned to spread the good news.

Evangelism At The Family Altar (Butsudan), Michael Wilson

Great Commission Research Journal

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). This is the hope of all Japanese people who come to Christ for salvation. They long to see their loved ones—their household—believe in Christ, too. However, all too often, they are counseled to forsake their families who remain enmeshed in religious rituals to demons.

Book Review: Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60: Being Church For All Generations By Edward H. Hammett With James R. Pearce, Mark Platt

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Vintage Church: Timeless Truths And Timely Methods By Mark Driscoll And Gerry Breshears, Aaron James Meraz Sr.

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Returning To The Sources: The Literature Of Christian Librarianship, Gregory A. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

By definition, a research study explores new intellectual territory yet builds on previous inquiry that has led up to it. However, many sources that explore the connections between Christian faith and the information professions fail to acknowledge the existence of prior discourse on the subject. The author has assembled a database of more than 450 sources that discuss topics such as philosophy and ethics of librarianship from a Christian perspective; the mediation of Christian/religious information in various library contexts; Christian, religious, and theological publishing; and more. Insights from these sources can help readers develop professionally and engage in productive dialogue …

Sub-Ordination: Mary Magdalene, The Church, And The Ordination Of Women, Richard Bishop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Roman Catholic Church maintains that it cannot ordain women to the priesthood due to a lack of biblical warrant. The Church therefore relies upon the traditional concept of a Bridegroom-Bride relationship (read: Christ and His Church), which they say can only be maintained if a male priest serves as the representative of the invisible Christ for his Bride during the Eucharist. In this essay, we shall explore the role and treatment of Mary Magdalene and women in early texts and show that they actually did have prominent positions within at least some early Christian communities. Texts were altered, and …

Reflections On The Asymmetry Of The Tetragrammaton, Ethan Annis

Collected Faculty Scholarship

The Tetragrammaton are the four Hebrew letters for the word God, yud hey vahv hey, that God used to reveal himself to Moses. The name is commonly translated as He brings into existence whatever exists. People do not know how the name was pronounced. When the Temple existed, it was pronounced by the High Priest once during the high during the High Holidays each year. The name was probably once ubiquitous in the Tanak but was largely replaced by the Masoretes between the 6th and 10th C AD

Hope Possessed Or Hope Postponed: Paul’S Presentation Of The Believers’ Present Justification And Future Hope In Romans 5-8 In Comparison To N.T. Wright’S Future Justification Perspective, Levi S. Baker

Senior Honors Theses

Over the past three decades, New Testament scholars of the Reformed tradition and the “New Perspective” have debated whether the Apostle Paul’s Christian theology about the Law and salvation was in agreement with the teaching of mainstream first-century Judaism regarding the Law and the salvation of God’s covenant people. Among these New Perspective scholars is the Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright, whose works will be considered in this paper. The Reformed position’s insistence that the imputed righteousness of Christ is the grounds of believer’s present justification and hope has been challenged by Wright, who has proposed an alternative view on …

The Covenant And Christ’S Presence In Eucharist, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle B liturgical readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2009: Acts 9:26-31; Ps 22; 1 Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15:1-8. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

The Religious Other As Neighbor, Lawrence Frizzell

Selected Works of Lawrence E. Frizzell

Many stories are told about antagonism between Christians and Jews, especially in countries with a large Jewish minority. The history of persecution should be told along with the lessons learned for our time. A brief review of examples whose participants were neighbors, either in reality or in principle, may be instructive. This paper will move through the centuries in a rapid survey, recalling friendly contacts or benign exchanges between Christians and Jews.

Tribute To Dietrich Reinhart, Osb, Dale Launderville Osb

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Totally Devoted: Developing A Holistic Spiritual Formation Course For Western Christian College, Stanley N. Helton

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports research results from a learning community composed of faculty, support staff, ministry leaders, and students who collaborated in a professor’s development of a new course proposal in Christian spiritual formation at Western Christian College in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The professor used qualitative research methods in the analysis and evaluation of the data produced by the group. The outcome of the project was ethnographic data that informed the creation of the course proposal that included new course application, course syllabus with course schedule, planned activities, bibliography, initial classroom assignments, and initial assessment tools.

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 …

Equipping Parents To Be Spiritual Leaders In The Home, Douglas J. Schoelles

ATS Dissertations

The goal of this project was to effect a positive cognitive, affective, and behavioral response in parents from two Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations to lead their households in spiritual disciplines. The project consisted of four consecutive Sundays of preaching on faith forming in the home coupled with encouragement of the practice of a specific faith habit. These sermons were preached in tandem with four teaching sessions that reiterated the role of parents as spiritual leaders and concentrated on training families to engage in four faith habits in the home. Teaching tools were distributed to facilitate implantation of faith …

Nathaniel Hawthorne And His Biblical Contexts, Conor Michael Walsh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The majority of criticism and scholarship devoted to the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne takes for granted the relationship between Hawthorne and the Bible, focusing instead upon theology and philosophy. This work proposes that the Bible was an important and pervasive influence in Hawthorne's fiction. The Bible provides Hawthorne with numerous resources for both his artistic and moral concerns. At a basic level the Bible provides a popular platform that allows Hawthorne to immediately connect with his contemporary audience who were intimately familiar with the Bible. More importantly, though, are the vast examples and perspectives of the human condition and human …

The Sky Is Wide Enough: A Historico-Critical Appraisal Of Theological Activity And Method In Africa, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This essay presents and critiques the methods and claims of the principal theological schools and camps of African theology. While situating them in their historical context, it examines their respective claims as the best representative or expression of theological activity in Africa. The historico-critical appraisal of these African theological schools generates some useful lessons on the nature and method of theological reflection in Africa, particularly the necessity of taking experience and context seriously.

Papacy In Paganism: The Great Schism Of Palamon And Arcite, Samantha Kathleen Diaz

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales in the historical context of the Great Schism of the Catholic Church, during which time Chaucer lived and was writing the Canterbury Tales. It compares this work with Giovanni Boccaccio’s Teseida Delle Nozze d’Emilia and analyzes the way in which the two literary works critique the conflict in the Catholic Church in that time period, as well as giving hints to Chaucer’s views on these events and of the Catholic Church as a whole.

Anis Of Dolma Ling: Buddhist Doctrine And Social Praxis Through The Monasticism Of Tibetan Nuns In Exile, Amy L. Mann

Scripps Senior Theses

The figure of the Tibetan Buddhist nun as a female monastic is situated within a matrix of complexities and contradictions that are constituted by textual and doctrinal sources, Tibetan social views on gender and female monasticism, and experiential realities. In order to understand the situation of nuns, one first must understand that monasticism, mainly the order of monks, has been a highly respected and financially supported institution in Tibetan society for centuries. However, because the histories of Tibetan nuns and female renunciants have gone primarily undocumented, their lineages and stories are much more opaque than those of Tibetan monks. Therefore, …

The Preliminary Assessment And Incidence Of Sexual Identity Issues At Liberty University, Jessica L. Buker

Senior Honors Theses

Currently, homosexual identity development is discussed through various models: stage model theory and milestone events. Different researchers propose their own models of homosexual identity development. These models may have different stages, but have the same underlying themes which are acceptance, attitude changes, frequent disclosure, and increased social contact with other homosexuals. There was a great need to develop an appropriate measure of homosexuality to be used by the Student Care Office at Liberty University. The measure could be used to asses and obtain a preliminary measure of incidence of the people who met our criteria for being included in the …

Stem Cell Order Was Immoral And Unnecessary, Nicanor Austriaco

Theology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Jesus And The Trinity, Lois E. Malcolm

Faculty Publications

In the New Testament and in the work of contemporary Trinitarian theologians, the experience and power of the Spirit emerge as central features in understanding the relation between the Father and the Son and the meaning of the Trinity.

Im Zeitalter Der Globalisierung Den Dreieinigen Gott Bekennen -- Eine Lutherische Stimme, Guillermo C. Hansen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating The Missional Church By Alan Hirsch, Gordon E. Penfold

Journal of the American Society for Church Growth

No abstract provided.

Buddhist Thoughts On The Battle For God: Is Fundamentalism A Good Reason To Ditch Religion?, Philip Novak

Collected Faculty Scholarship

"Not long ago I taught a seminar on science and religion that required three fo the most widely read gospels of the so-called new atheism: Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion, Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell, and Sam Harris's The End of Faith. As I read along, I found the Buddhist in myself in large agreement. after all, Gotama himself had been highly skeptical of the God-idea, involving as it often did an onmipotence he could not square with either the world's suffering or his belief in human freedom." ~ from the article

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: April 2009, John W. Cooper, Ronald J. Nydam, John Rottman, Mary Hulst

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

Reflections on Prayer
3 - Can Prayer Really Change Things? by John W. Cooper
5 - God Hears the Prayers of Many by Ron Nydam
6 - A School of Love and Prayer by John Rottman
8 - “Amen!” by Mary Hulst
10 - Praying Around the World Roundtable Discussion

Departments
14 - Making Connections
15 - Continuing Education

The Marian Library Newsletter: Issue No. 55, University Of Dayton. Marian Library

Marian Library Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 44 No 1 - April 2009), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

Editor’s Notes - 7 / Articles / Religion in Biblical and Reformed Perspective by Paul J. Visser - 9 / The Missional Approach: Reconsidering Elenctics (Part 1) by Cornelis J. Haak - 37 / The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit by Brian A. De Vries - 49 / The Gospel in Word and Deed: Johan Herman Bavinck's Missiology and Its Application for Today by Pieter C. Tuit - 74 / Missiology: Some Reflections from Asian Contexts by Hidalgo B. Garcia - 94 / A Reformed Missional Perspective on Secularism and Pluralism in Africa: Their Impact on African …

Fathers, Foreskins, And Family Law, Dena S. Davis

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In the United States, a custodial parent has the right and responsibility to make medical decisions for one's child. But does that right encompass consenting for a surgical procedure for which there is little or no medical justification? What if the noncustodial parent opposed the procedure? And when is a child old enough to make the decision for him- or herself? How should a physician respond when asked to perform a surgical procedure when the decision is enmeshed in family controversy? These and other questions are considered in Boldt, a recent family law case decided by the Supreme Court of …

Book Review Of The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating The Missional Church By Alan Hirsch, J. D. Payne

Journal of the American Society for Church Growth

No abstract provided.