Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Semana 06- Débora, Calvin University

Campus Ministries Resources

No abstract provided.

Introducción: Para Los Líderes Del Estudio Bíblico, Calvin University

Campus Ministries Resources

No abstract provided.

The Spirit Of A Weak God: Reimagining Divine Providence After The Critique Of Ontotheology, Wendy Theresa Crosby

Dissertations

The question of this dissertation is whether and how divine providence can function within the framework of a weak God theology. While theories of divine providence traditionally depend on a powerful God capable of bringing all to a good end, I argue that providence remains essential to Christian hope and participation even if God is rethought as weak. This dissertation develops a concept of providence within weak God theology through an understanding of the Holy Spirit which is non-totalizing and dependent on creation's response. Therefore, providence empowers human action rather than ensuring victory despite our actions.

The dissertation begins by …

Christ's Consequentialism In Light Of Abelard And Mill, John Witt

Masters Theses

An exegetical investigation of the ethical teachings of Christ seen throughout the Gospel accounts. Christ's consequentialist teachings are further clarified by investigating the works of Peter Abelard and John Stuart Mill. Brief reviews of modern consequentialists and utilitarians are given, and finally a cumulative formulation of a working Christian utilitarian ethic is formulated.

The Relationship Of Law And Grace In The Hermeneutics Of New Covenant Theology, Carlos J. Cruz Pacheco

Master's Theses

Problem

This thesis evaluates the offer by New Covenant Theology of an interpretation of salvation history that stands in criticism of interpretations offered by Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. Does New Covenant Theology demonstrate a distinctive view of the law-grace relationship that brings new perspectives on important theological and hermeneutical issues such as the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, and the Sabbath. Are New Covenant theologians correct in their claim that their system presents the best interpretation of salvation history, and of the law-grace relationship?

Purpose

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate New Covenant Theology’s hermeneutics by …

Sin And Its Place In The Experience Of Suffering: Presenting The Basis For A Sound Theodicy, Roman Wiens

Master's Theses

Topic

One of the most significant issues in theism is the obvious existence of evil and suffering. Thus many philosophers (especially Atheists) propose this fact alone negates the existence of an all-loving, omnipotent, and caring God. This attacks both the integrity of God and the coherence of the scriptural accounts. In response, theologians around the world proposed theodicies to show that the existence of a God, as portrayed in the Bible, is coherent with suffering in this world.

Purpose

The different approaches to this problem are categorized in four categories, outlined, and evaluated in one chapter about the most noteworthy …

The Hermeneutical Frameworks Of Fernando Canale And Fritz Guy: Sola And Prima Scriptura And The Science-Theology Relationship, Ryan Nicholas Claude Brousson

Master's Theses

This thesis presents research on the hermeneutical frameworks of sola and prima Scriptura and how they affect the science-theology relationship. It specifically focuses on the writings of Fernando Canale and Fritz Guy who hold opposing views on both sola and prima Scriptura and the relationship between science and theology. Canale argues for a sola Scriptura framework with science governed by theology, whereas Guy argues for a prima Scriptura framework with science and theology working independently of each other.

This thesis begins with a brief historical overview of the issues and then moves into describing Canale’s and Guy’s views. It ends …

An Evaluation Of The Definition Of Exhaustive Foreknowledge In The Writings Of Richard Rice, Dennis E. Akawobsa

Master's Theses

Problem

This thesis addresses the conflict of interpretation between Richard Rice’s model of God’s exhaustive knowledge of the future as a realm of possibilities and the generally accepted traditional model of God’s exhaustive definite knowledge of the future. In harmony with the traditional perspective, Richard Rice has affirmed God’s exhaustive knowledge of the past and the present. However, in contrast to the traditional perspective, he has denied God’s exhaustive definite foreknowledge of future free choices. According to Rice, God can know everything there is to know. This implies that, on one hand, the future does not yet exist, so God …

Diálogo: Antigo E Novo Desafio Para A Ética Teológica No Brasil, Alexandre A. Martins

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

De Moderatione In Sacra Theologia. Über Die Grenzen Theologischer Rede Bei Ludovico Muratori, Ulrich Lehner

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Cosmology, Mickey L. Mattox

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Sloth: America's Ironic Structural Vice, Conor M. Kelly, Christopher D. Jones

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

Individualism is a popular cultural trope in the United States, often touted for its promotion of industriousness and rejection of laziness. This essay argues that, ironically, America's brand of individualism actually promotes a more fundamental form of the very vice it purports to oppose. To make this case, the essay defines the unique form of individualism in the United States and then retrieves the classical definition of sloth as a vice against charity (not diligence), contrasting Aquinas and Barth with Weber to demonstrate that this peculiarly American individualist impulse undermines civic charity by reaping the benefits of civic relationships while …

Obadiah 1:21 Context, Text, Interpretation, And Application, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Latter-day Saints have frequently used the phrase “saviors on mount Zion” in relation to proxy temple work for the dead. This phrase comes from the twenty-first, and last, verse of Obadiah, a prophetic book in the Old Testament. But many people have little awareness of or experience with the previous twenty verses in the book, nor with the intriguing contextual questions those verses raise for understanding verse 21, with its phrase “saviours shall come up on mount Zion” (KJV1; note the British spelling with a u; used herein only in quotations). Furthermore, there has been little Latter-day Saint discussion of …

Buddha, Bhakti, And Brahman: Sebastian Kappen S.J.’S Dialogue With Indian Religions, Mathew Thekkemuriyil Antony, Idesbald Goddeeris

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This article analyzes how Sebastian Kappen S.J. (1924-1993), a social thinker and one of the most radical Indian liberation theologians, related to Indian religions. It argues that Kappen, in spite of his criticism of the caste system, also found inspiration in Hinduism. He especially appreciated the ontic and cosmic understandings of transcendence and immanence, the inclusive interpretation of the divine, and the religious approach to nature. In addition, Kappen also valued other Asian religious traditions, such as Buddhism and the Bhakti movement. Being an anti-institutional and anti-hierarchical progressive theologian, Kappen used Indian religions as a challenge to his own Christian …

Book Review: Dancing Bodies Of Devotion: Fluid Gestures In Bharata Natyam, Michelle Voss Roberts

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam. By Katherine C. Zubko. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014, xvii + 251 pages.

Editor's Introduction, Bradley Malkovsky

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The main theme of this year’s issue, “Yoga and God: Hindu and Christian Perspectives,” continues a theme taken up five years ago by this journal, called “Yoga and Christianity.” The articles appearing in the present issue tend to give more explicit attention to the challenge of reconciling Christian theology and spirituality with various yoga systems than did the essays from 2012. Unlike the purely negative approach taken in recent years by many Christian groups to the question of integrating yoga practice and philosophy with Christian spirituality and teaching, the first three authors here affirm the value of yoga practice for …

Issues In Christian Encounters With Yoga: Exploring 3ho/Kundalini Yoga, Michael Stoeber

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The paper begins by drawing out current issues that have been raised by critics concerning the contemporary practice of Hindu postural types of yoga in western and specifically western Christian contexts, with some illustrative reference to contemporary movements and schools, especially to Bikram Yoga. These are: cultural misappropriation; commodification; lack of moral pre-requisites; narcissistic attachment to bodily effects; occult influences; and doctrinal differences. The paper then explores specific aspects of the theory and practice of 3HO/Kundalini Yoga (3HO/KY) by Christians in light of these possible issues, showing how this tradition of Kundalini Yoga seems to skirt or side-step most of …

Yoga, Christians Practicing Yoga, And God: On Theological Compatibility, Or Is There A Better Question?, Andrea R. Jain

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Houston is a wildly diverse city; nonetheless it should come as no surprise that the Houston Chronicle “Belief” section frequently features stories about church expansions or declines, pastoral developments, and other reports on Christian communities. Christians, after all, make up over 70% of the city’s population. A provocative cover of a 2011 Belief section, however, shed light on a very different face of religion in Houston. The cover featured an image of local yoga teacher and entrepreneur Jennifer Buergermeister donning fashionable yoga attire and in the posture of a South Asian goddess, complete (thanks to clever photography) with six arms. …

Theōsis: A Comparative Study Of T. F. Torrance And Rāmānuja, Steven Tsoukalas

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This essay is an imaginative conversation as I engage two religious thinkers—the prolific Reformed theologian Thomas F. Torrance (1913-2007) and the great Vedāntin Rāmānuja (traditionally, 1017–1137). I will compare Torrance’s theology¹ of theōsis² (participation in the life of God) and theōria (contemplation as a way of participation in the life of God) with those of Rāmānuja. Though the words themselves were likely unknown to Rāmānuja, through his works one can see a notion of theōsis.

‘I Am The Living Bread’: Ram Mohan Roy’S Critique Of The Doctrine Of The Atonement, Ankur Barua

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A striking aspect of Vedantic Hindu and Christian devotional universes is the theme of the humanity of God. Jesus and Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental source of worldly reality, are also intensely human figures – they live with and amidst human beings, and they (seem to) suffer and, most intriguingly, even (seem to) undergo death. However, as one plumbs the doctrinal depths of these universes, various theological divergences begin to emerge, relating to the nature of the divine, the relation of the divine to the world, and the soteriological dynamics of the spiritual transformation of human beings. From a Christian …

KristapurāṆA: Reshaping Divine Space, Pär Eliasson

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

If a place is simply a physical location, the word space can be used for something shaped by mental processes. Physical places influence our lives by putting limits to the physically practicable, whereas spaces exercise their influence through mental processes like shaping our beliefs, values and sentiments. A space may be a mental superstructure based on an actual place, but, since its power is mental, it is not necessary that this place physically exists. One such space, with power to affect the lives of human beings, is heaven. Belief in heaven has had and still has great impact on …

Viewpoint: Fight Or Flight: Thomas Merton And The Bhagavad Gītā1, Steven J. Rosen

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Two commemorative events of landmark stature inspired the essay you are about to read: First, the year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s abrupt departure from our material vision. Second, 2018 is also the semicentennial celebration of a consequential publication: It was in 1968 that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda released his unprecedentedly influential Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. As we shall see, the trailblazing Western visionary, Merton, and this particular edition of the Gītā engaged in productive conversation with each other.

Book Review: Absent Mother God Of The West: A Kali Lover’S Journey Into Christianity And Judaism, Holly Hillgardner

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Absent Mother God of the West: A Kali Lover’s Journey into Christianity and Judaism. By Neela Bhattacharya Saxena. London: Lexington Books, 2016. ix + 208 pages.

Book Review: Longing And Letting Go: Christian And Hindu Practices Of Passionate Non-Attachment, Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Longing and Letting Go: Christian and Hindu Practices of Passionate Non-Attachment. By Holly Hillgardner. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, 174 pages.

Book Review: Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux): Christian Nondualism And Hindu Advaita, Edward T. Ulrich

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux): Christian Nondualism and Hindu Advaita. By J. Glenn Friesen. Calgary: Aevum Books, 2015, 592 pages.

Book Review: Ramana Maharishi: Interpretations Of His Enlightenment, Edward T. Ulrich

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Ramana Maharishi: Interpretations of His Enlightenment. By J. Glenn Friesen. Calgary: Aevum Books, 2015, 312 pages.

Book Review: The Gender Of Caste: Representing Dalits In Print, Claire C. Robison

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print. By Charu Gupta. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2016, 352 pages.

Book Review: To Be Cared For: The Power Of Conversion And Foreignness Of Belonging In An Indian Slum, James Elisha Taneti

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum. By Nathaniel Roberts. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2016, xv + 312 pages.

Book Review: Caste, Gender, And Christianity In Colonial India: Telugu Women In Mission, Kerry P. C. San Chirico

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Caste, Gender, and Christianity in Colonial India: Telugu Women in Mission. By James Elisha Taneti. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 203 pages.

Book Review: Constructing Indian Christianities: Culture, Conversion, And Caste, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of Constructing Indian Christianities: Culture, Conversion, and Caste. Edited by Chad M. Bauman and Richard Fox Young. Abington, UK: Routledge, 2014, xxiii + 264 pages.