Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Doubt, Faith & Certainty [Review] / Thiselton, Anthony C., Rebecca Murdock

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Book Review

Good Places For All (Calvin Shorts), Mark D. Bjelland

Calvin Press

This short book invites readers into a deeper understanding of cities and suburbs and the challenges they face. Because places play such an important role in human well-being, loving our neighbors includes caring for and cultivating good places for all. Despite their great prosperity, North American communities are beset with challenges: fiscal crises, concentrated poverty, fragmentation and division, failing schools, unaffordable housing, and lack of community feeling. Good Places combines a biblical framework with an exploration of how cities, neighborhoods, housing markets, and transportation systems work. Readers will find themselves challenged to extend Christian hospitality beyond the walls of their …

Beneficial Mourning By Inmates Who Have Lost A Significant Person, James Bradley Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Incarceration is already replete with loss before someone of significance to an inmate dies. The prison environment challenges every aspect of grieving, and failing to effectively mourn pathologizes grief, reduces quality of living, and results in behaviours that cause recidivism. It is a poignant interaction between this researcher in his role as a chaplain and a particular inmate that provides the impetus for this study. This study begins with a qualitative meta-synthesis that examined 10 qualitative articles and dissertations published over the last 30 years to explore how some inmates manage to effectively grieve the loss of a significant person. …

John Calvin’S Two-Fold Notion Of Faith And The Possibility Of Faith Formation: The Emerging Genevan Church’S Understanding Of Faith And Its Relation To Pastoral Care, Isaias D'Oleo Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

The purpose of this study is to explore John Calvin’s two-fold notion of faith in the 1559 edition of the Institutes and its central implications for pastoral theology in the emerging Reformed tradition, in order to reclaim a broader and contextualized understanding of pastoral care and its relation with faith formation. To that end, this article will focus on the ways the emerging mid- sixteenth century Reformed church in Geneva applied the Calvinian notion of faith to pastoral theology. Some applications of such an understanding for the church today are also explored, especially for the modern American-Dutch Reformed church.

Should We Read Bavinck's The Philosophy Of Revelation As An Apologetic-Of-Despair Work?, Isaias D'Oleo Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

In dealing with arguments against the Christian faith in his book The Philosophy of Religion, Herman Bavinck uses a series of argumentative strategies. One of these strategies is the apologetic of despair. This study tries to figure out whether this strategy tends to be observed in most essays of the book or its use is only circumstantial.

Advent Devotional Guide 2019, Belmont University

Advent Devotional Guides

No abstract provided.

Covenant: An Exploration Of Restorative Justice In The Los Angeles Unified School District, Isaac Cardenas

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Moral Ecology, Disabilities, And Human Agency, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This paper argues that human agency is not simply a function of intrinsic properties about the agent, but that agency instead depends on the ecology that the agent is in. In particular, the paper examines ways that disabilities affect agency and shows how, by paying deliberate attention to structuring the social environment around people with disabilities, we can mitigate some of the agential impact of those disabilities. The paper then argues that the impact of one’s social environment on agency isn’t restricted only to those agents that have disabilities, but also characterizes all human agency. All of our agency is …

Holiness Clergy Bureau, W. B. Godbey

William B. Godbey

No abstract provided.

The Emergence Of A Lay Esprit De Corps: Inspirations, Tensions, Horizons, Christopher Pramuk

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Likening the Ignatian tradition as embodied at Jesuit universities to a family photo album with many pages yet to be added, the author locates the “heart” of the Ignatian sensibility in the movements of freedom and spirit (inspiration) in the life of the community. There are no fixed entry points or criteria of inclusion and exclusion for Ignatian lay educators save a desire to share in the questions proper to all the university disciplines that pull us toward a horizon beyond ourselves. Nevertheless a number of creative tensions endemic to Jesuit apostolic life from the beginning and also new challenges …

A Survey Of The Pneumatology Of Ellet Joseph Waggoner In His Published Books And Pamphlets From 1883 – 1916, Ingram R. London

Papers

The ministry of Ellet J. Waggoner and Alonzo T. Jones made an indelible mark on the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its theology through their proclamation of what has been coined “The 1888 Message.” In consequence, Waggoner has been studied extensively in Adventist academia as well as by laypersons. However, much of this study has focused on biographical data, interpersonal conflict between Waggoner and Ellen White, and most of all, Waggoner’s soteriology and Christology.

Despite the intense interest in Waggoner, no study to date has been published with a systematic explanation of Waggoner’s pneumatology. The purpose of this study was to …

The Role Of The Black Church In Addressing Collateral Damage From The U.S. War On Drugs, Donald L. Perryman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research is a qualitative examination of African American pastors from urban communities who address the needs of congregants and/or local communities affected directly, or indirectly by mass incarceration. The Black Church, because of its unique sociocultural location and historic role as resource for Black social and economic problems, must help supply the answers to the devastating collateral damage of mass incarceration that primarily affect children and families. The study sets out to understand urban pastors’ perceptions of the role of the Church in the post mass incarceration era. Specifically, the study examines the unique contributions of the African American …

"Let Us Make 'Adam": An Edenic Model Of Personal Ontology, Marla A. Samaan Nedelcu

Dissertations

Personal ontology studies human constitution and human nature, an increasingly debated topic in Christian theology. Historically, the most prominent models of personal ontology in Christian theology have been substance dualist models. More recently, physicalist models have offered prominent alternatives.

This dissertation studies the conflict of interpretations between these two major model groupings. By applying a canonical theology, it then presents an Edenic model of personal ontology that can address the current conflict of interpretations. To achieve this end, the dissertation briefly analyzes substance dualism and physicalism according to the rubrics of constitution and nature, using a model methodology. It then …

The Theological Significance Of The Relations Of Freedom And Time In The Sciences And Humanities: An Evaluation Of The Contributions Of David Bohm And Pauli Pylkko, Michael F. Younker

Dissertations

The concepts of freedom and time underlay all other philosophical and theological questions. This dissertation addresses the natures and relations of freedom and time and their impact upon theological reflection, primarily through the works of the philosopher of science, David Bohm and the philosopher of the humanities, Pauli Pylkkö. These two representatives come from the two competing cultures of the sciences and humanities, which illustrate the deep philosophical conflict that has emerged between these cultures concerning the natures of freedom and time. Specifically, the paradigmatic contributions of Albert Einstein's four-dimensional 'timeless space-time' (with timeless freedom) alongside Bohm, on the one …

Martin Luther: Master Of Paradoxes, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

Martin Luther, the great German and Protestant reformer sees himself as following this biblical tradition of speaking in paradoxes. This paradoxical quality about Luther’s theological ideas evades easy explanation or simplistic interpretation. Some consider that Luther’s theological genius enabled him to view both sides of an issue. Others stumble over his paradoxical and apparently conflicting statements. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and critically evaluate some of Luther’s usage of paradoxes in his writings.

Finding God In Community, S. Joseph Kidder, Jonny Wesley Moor

Faculty Publications

"God exists in community. Before the angels, before the universe, before perhaps time itself, the Father, Son, and Spirit shared a continuous love that can exist only in community.¹ Community is God’s primal manifestation of existence and reality. When God created humanity, He intended for us to be able to relate to Him, so the Lord made us male and female (Gen. 1:27), counterparts equal but distinct in community. Jürgen Moltmann argues that truly knowing something involves being able to participate with that entity.² For example, rather than learning physics merely to recite formulas and laws, …

Awana Together: Empowering Parents As Spiritual Mentors For Their Children, Sara-Jane Heacox Sosa

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The post-Christian culture in the United States presents a significant challenge to the spiritual growth of adults and children. At Plymouth Covenant Church, ministry leaders recognized that young parents often lacked a biblical foundation. Many did not feel competent to lead their children spiritually. These parents needed a vibrant personal faith as well as good role models and encouragement. As a result, ministry leaders designed a more effective way to empower parents as spiritual mentors for their children. They created a new ministry that would provide personal faith development for parents, a supportive faith community, family-focused programming, and solid biblical …

Redemptive Penology Vs. Exclusive Retributive Justice, Samuel Chuks Japhets

Masters Theses

Grounded on long-standing penal notions of exclusive retributivism inherited from classical theorists, Ancient Near East lex talionis, and theonomist penology, the United States federal sentencing and corrections system aims to administer just desert sentences on offenders, to curtail crimes. This exclusively retributive model of criminal sanction is, presumably transformative and innately capable of dispensing holistic justice to society, victims, and criminals. However, the preponderance of high rates of recidivism raises the question of whether this exclusively retributive doctrinal framework that drives the federal penology empirically results in a redemptive administration of penal justice, especially to the offender. Given the traditional …

The Baptist Tradition And Religious Freedom: Recent Trajectories, Samuel Kyle Brassell

Honors Theses

For my thesis, I have focused on the recent religious freedom bill passed in Mississippi and the arguments and influences Southern Baptists have had on the bill. I used the list of resolutions passed by the Southern Baptist Convention to trace the history and development of Southern Baptist thought on the subject of religious freedom. I consulted outside scholarly works to examine the history of the Baptist tradition and how that history has influenced modern day arguments. I compared these texts to the wording of the Mississippi bill. After conducting this research, I found that the Southern Baptist tradition and …

Life Of Lucius B. Compton, The Mountain Evangelist, Or, From The Depths Of Sin To The Heights Of Holiness, Lucius Bunyan Compton

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

God's Mercy And Justice In The Context Of The Cosmic Conflict, Romero Luiz Da Silva

Master's Theses

Problem

When it comes to the right balance concerning God’s character of mercy and justice in relation to His dealings with sin in its different manifestations, a number of theologians, as well as Christians in general, have struggled to harmonize the existence of these two attributes in all God’s actions toward sinners. This difficulty has led many to think of divine mercy and justice as attributes that cannot fit together in what is called the cosmic conflict between good and evil. This, therefore, demands a theological study based on Scripture as a whole to draw solid findings in response to …

Ordered Steps, Or, The Wards Of India : A Biograpy Of The Lives Of Ernest Fremont Ward And Phebe Elizabeth Cox Ward, Missionaries To India, 1880-1927, Ethel Ellen Ward

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Women In Ministry: How Conflicts Between God's Purpose And Church Doctrine Impact The Efficacy Of Female Church Leaders, Nicole L. Davis

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The following research was a biographical narrative that examined the lived experiences of male and female church leaders and their perspectives on the social, moral, and religious implications of female church leadership. The purpose of this research was to explore the ideologies and identities of women leaders within the faith ministry, the definitions of ministry and leadership, the role of women in church ministry, and their understanding of marketplace ministry. I employed conflict resolution theories relating to power, change, and mental modeling as the basis of analysis for evaluating the impact of church policies and practices on the utilization of …

The Quest Of Vision: Visual Culture, Sacred Space, Ritual, And The Documentation Of Lived Experience Through Rock Imagery, Aaron Robert Atencio

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This document will approach the multifaceted concepts that arise through the study of rock art and the cultivation of culture and belief through vision. Through this document the audience will encounter conceptual ideas regarding belief systems, ritual, experience, cognition, sacredness, and space/landscape — and how these are all essential dynamics that take place in the processes that cultivate the Shoshone visual culture. This document will employ an anthropological lens on the mentioned subject matters, while also approaching these concepts with an interdisciplinary curiosity of how they intermingle; creating a cohesive experience that focuses on these processes which empowered these people[s] …

Toward Engaging The Secular: Charles Taylor's Modern Social Imaginaries, Human Flourishing, And Theological Method, Jenifer A. Daley

Dissertations

Increasing secularization seems to fly in the face of Christian proposals for a Scripture-only principle for theology. The question that this dissertation explores is "How will Christian theology tackle the resulting church-society impasse in a way that is both faithful to Scripture and intelligible contemporaneously without appearing to privilege one aspect over the other?" That is, "What form should theological method take to efficaciously engage the secular?" This study suggests that the answer might lie in an innovative fusion of Scripture with borrowed concepts from secular culture. Thus, this dissertation responds to the problem of the need for robust, multidimensional …

The Language Of The Spirit In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word spirit is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Holy Spirit, and the Spirit are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the God. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit ( rûah ) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy …

The Law Of Moses: An Overview, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

During the last week of his life, Christ was confronted by a group of Jewish authorities who asked him, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). Christ’s answer, that one should love God with all one’s heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:5), as well as one’s neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18), was then followed by the assertion “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Clearly, in Christ’s day the law of Moses was regarded as providing crucial instruction regarding one’s behavior both with one’s fellow man and with God, and …

Grace At The End Of Life: Rethinking Ordinary And Extraordinary Means In A Global Context, Conor M. Kelly

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Catholic Social Ethics And Public Health: Searching For A Liberating Bioethics, Alexandre Andrade Martins

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This article argues that the option for the poor offers an ethical imperative to analyze bioethical issues that are not restricted to the traditional discussion on the use of medical technology and the health professional-patient relationship. The author presents a bioethics in a liberationist key that integrates Catholic social teaching into healthcare issues and ethical challenges to promote justice through a public system based on the right to healthcare. This essay be­gins by examining the option for the poor, presented by Catholic social teaching, and how it relates to healthcare. Then, it analyses data and studies showing the relationship between …

The Leftist Political Parties In Light Of Simone Weil's Criticism: The Workers' Party Case, Alexandre A. Martins

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

Given the socio-political context of Latin American countries and their leftist and center-leftist parties that had governed some countries since the beginning of the 2000’s, this essay will present Simone Weil’s anthropology of a rooted people towards social justice guided by a spirituality of supernatural justice. This anthropology supports her criticism of political parties that this essay will use to examine the Brazilian context and its Workers’ Party that gov­erned the country for over thirteen years and ended its tenure after a process of impeachment. Although Simone Weil seems to be pessimistic as to whether multiparty or monoparty political systems …