Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Reevaluating The God-Human Relationship Through The Psychological Origin Of Sin: A Comparative Theology Of Schleiermacher And Kierkegaard On The Doctrine Of Sin, Brandon Tsark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In his The Concept of Anxiety, Kierkegaard’s decision to have Haufniensis acknowledge Schleiermacher’s contribution to the doctrine of sin continues to raise questions regarding Schleiermacher’s influence on Kierkegaard’s intellectual development. These questions also serve to underscore the general need to locate Kierkegaard properly within the larger context of religious and theological studies in the nineteenth century. Our project here seeks to address these questions with a comparative theology of Schleiermacher and Kierkegaard on the Christian doctrine of sin. I argue that Kierkegaard is right to credit Schleiermacher as a source of inspiration in The Concept of Anxiety because of …

Vulnerability In Times Of War: The Necessity Of The Moral Third, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Vulnerability as a critique of the one-sidedness of the principle of autonomy is at risk of overemphasizing the positive dimension of vulnerability. Moreover, in the discourse on vulnerability, the threat of dehumanization (or moral vulnerability) has not been scrutinized enough ethically. Therefore, the ethics of vulnerability is insufficient when faced with the force of war that requires the conceptualization of vulnerability for political-ethics. The Russian war in Ukraine demonstrates this weakness in a striking way: the called-for openness to the other as well as an active form of nonviolence, as promoted by Judith Butler, may not be an option in …

Is "Divine Hiddenness" Evidence For Atheism? A Response To J. L. Schellenberg, Jim Beilby

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

The problem of divine hiddenness is an objection to Christianity that claims that a perfectly loving God would make his existence more obvious than it, in fact, is. The philosopher, J. L. Schellenberg has argued extensively there are some people who fall into the category of "non-resistant nonbelievers," people who desire to believe in and be in relationship with God, but who cannot due to the lack of evidence for God's existence. Schellenberg argues that the existence of non-resistant nonbelievers is incompatible with God's being perfectly loving and all-powerful. In response, I argue that even if there are nonresistant nonbelievers, …

The Problem Of Religious Peer Disagreement: A Response To Harold Netland, Jim Beilby

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

The problem of religious peer disagreement is this: suppose there are people that are your "epistemic peers" - they are just as intelligent, informed, and sincere as you - but they reject your religious beliefs. Does the existence of skeptical epistemic peers force Christians to withhold or evidentially support their religious beliefs? In this paper, I critique Harold Netland's work on religious peer disagreement on three fronts: (1) his identification of epistemic peers, (2) his understanding of the epistemic implications of religious peer disagreement, and (3) the viability of his demand for additional evidence as a response to instances of …

Japan, Anime, And Theology, Kaz Hayashi

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

This poster presents two publications related to Japan, anime, and theology. While each publication is different, they both ask “How do Japanese anime and popular culture reflect the beliefs of the people, and how can we view these beliefs from a biblical theological lens?” The book Anime, Philosophy, and Religion explores the diversity of anime themes and content by an international group of scholars. The article “Holograms and Idols: The Image of God and Artificial Transcendence in the Cultural Phenomenon of the Japanese Vocaloid Hatsune Miku” argues how the popularity of hologram concerts reflects the universal human desire for a …

Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology Through Mythology With The Maker Of Middle-Earth By Austin M. Freeman, Alex (Oleksiy) Ostaltsev

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

The powerful and highly informative definitions that Freeman applies to Tolkien’s Middle-earth phenomenon in the title of his book create a productive interpretational framework. Myth and mythology in Inklings’ writing were always understood, in an almost Jungian way, as a cultural paradigm flexible enough to embrace the free creativity of the playful human mind and a philosophical postulate, or credo, of the humanistic religious intuition of Christianity. In Freeman’s interpretation, Tolkien’s literary myth in some ways requires a theological background, which, in its turn, leads to inevitable dogma, a statement that reveals the sensitive mechanics of literary myth as it …

Otherworldly But Not The Otherworld: Tolkien’S Adaptation Of Medieval Faerie And Fairies Into A Sub-Creative Elvendom, Elliott Thomas Collins

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Through a comparative analysis of Lothlorien and the medieval stories of Lanval and Sir Orfeo, this article attempts to shed some light on how the inherently pessimistic and recursive nature of Tolkien's sub-creation affects his adaptation of medieval Faerie into a sub-creative elvendom born of the creative instincts of the elves. In doing so, the article also questions Tolkien's adherence to parameters of Faerie and characteristics of elves as laid out in OFS.

Artificial Intelligence And Human Hope, Michael Paulus

SPU Works

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Creative Disobedience: Dorothee Sölle's Political Theology And Ethics For U.S. Christian Contexts, Dannis Matteson

Dissertations

This dissertation adapts Dorothee Sölle’s concept of creative disobedience to account for those histories of obedience to structures of domination and to foster moral agency that disrupts and dismantles structures of domination. The first two chapters contextualize and summarize Dorothee Sölle’s critique of obedience and her warning against the way in which the obedient social character yields a “Christofascist” society. Chapter II considers the extent to which Christofascism already exists in US society today through Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry’s study of the political and cultural prevalence of Christian nationalism. Chapter III contextualizes Dorothee Sölle’s theoretical critique of …

A Research Into The Influence Of Jewish Priests, Scribes, And Canonical And Non-Canonical Jewish Apocalyptic Literature On M Materials, Rajesh Sebastian

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

M materials refer to any content in Matthew that is not found in Mark and Luke and hence considered to be not part of the hypothetical Q. Questions are raised regarding the source and historical reliability of M materials. Many scholars consider M narratives to be fictional. Research work has been lacking among Matthean scholars to identify a source for M narratives. The primary goal of this research is to identify the Jewish priests as a plausible source of some M narratives. The research also attempts to unravel the reason for the Jewish apocalyptic influence on M materials and argues …

The Inability Of Negative Higher Criticism To Undermine The Biblical Portrait Of Jesus Christ, Brett Arthur Seybold

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Paul Tillich described, the attempt of historical criticism to find the empirical truth about Jesus of Nazareth as a failure. John Dominic Crossan described this lack of consensus among critical scholars regarding the person of Jesus as “a bad joke.” This lack of consensus by skeptics, as well as their shared reluctancy to abandon the task of attempting to make sense of who Jesus Christ truly was historically serves as the backbone of this dissertation where I argue that Jesus transcends negative higher criticism in particular and the post-Christian mindset in general. I argue that He constitutes a suis generis …

Archaeology And Hauntology: An Ongoing, Stalled Conversation, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is certainly possible that we might learn to better acknowledge the spirits of our ancestors who came before us, as well as to recognize them in such ways that we also learn to embrace the ‘woven density’ of our own lives, our histories and our communities. By doing so, we might begin to discover that the spirits we had thought were removed from our modern, secularized world never fully left us, just as the irrationality of our humanity cannot be fully tamed via a reductive, rational and scientific outlook on life. There are, as Bruno Latour had frequently argued, …

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination Of The Eternal Now” 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月） (July 1931) §1 Of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft Of 2 Jan 19); Translated By Christopher Southward; Revision And Expansion Underway, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination of the Eternal Now” (July 1931) 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月）

§1 of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft of 2 Jan 2019)

Translated from the Japanese by Christopher Southward; Revision and Expansion Underway, October 2023

Reframing Space: Religion, History, And Memory In The Early Documentary Film Of The Yugoslav Space, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper examines cinematic representations of religion and religious communities in the early cinema of the Yugoslav space. This paper introduces the readers to the rich heritage of the cinema of the Yugoslav space by providing 1) the first study of the representations of religion and the concepts of faith in the early film, and 2) novel approaches in reading religion and history through film. Film is used as a primary rather than supplementary source in historical research on diverse religious and ethnic communities in this part of the Balkan Peninsula. This is the first study that investigates the importance, …

Peele’S Black, Extraterrestrial, Naturalistic Critique Of Religion, Jonathan D. Lyonhart

Journal of Religion & Film

While Jordan Peele’s films have always held their mysteries close to the chest, they eventually granted their viewers some climactic clarity. Get Out (2017) used an 1980s style orientation video to clear up its neuroscientific twist, while Us (2019) had Lupita Nyongo’s underworld twin narratively spell out the details of the plot. Yet Nope (2022) refuses to show its hand even after the game is over, never illuminating the connection between its opening scene and the broader film, nor a myriad of other questions. As such, critics complained that it stitched together two seemingly incongruent plots without explanation; one where …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 4

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 4.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Christ The Preeminent, Firstborn, And King - Colossians 1:13-20, Elisabeth Nieshalla

Biblical Studies Student Projects

Who is the Son of God? Jesus Christ is the obvious central figure in the New Testament, which consists of four distinct accounts of his life and ministry and numerous other books and epistles pointing others to follow and give their lives to him. Reading through the Old Testament, however, Christ the Son, the second person of the Trinity, seems to be strangely absent, at least upon first glance. In Colossians 1:13-20, though, the apostle Paul helps us to see the creative and redemptive role of Christ from the beginning, displaying his divine nature, supremacy and authority over all of …

The Lord's Providence To Work Evil For Good - Genesis 50:15-21, Elisabeth Nieshalla

Biblical Studies Student Projects

Genesis, the great first book of the Bible, concludes with a redemptive and reconciliatory scene between Joseph and his brothers that strikes the heart of those. Joseph had endured much hardship at the hands of his brothers, having been sold by them into Egyptian slavery and then thrown into prison when he was falsely accused of sexual assault by Potiphar’s wife. Through it all, however, he remained faithful to God and was entrusted with authority over all of Egypt to lead them through a famine that would have otherwise devastated the entire region. This scene in Genesis 50 testifies to …

The Son's Easy Yoke And Light Burden: A Biblical Theology Study Of Matthew 11:25-30, Keegan Matheson

Biblical Studies Student Projects

Matthew 11:25-30 is a rich passage that reveals the nature of God's revelation to His people and the spiritual rest that He generously offers to them. This paper discusses both of these prominent themes and how they connect this passage with the rest of God's grand story. Furthermore, this paper addresses the implications of this passage on the life of a disciple.

Ezekiel 36:24-28: God Promises Salvation For The Sake Of His Name, Emerson Claire Jones

Biblical Studies Student Projects

Ezekiel 36:24-28 is an important passage both for the original audience and for modern day Christians. In this paper, the connections between this passage and the rest of the biblical narrative will be addressed. Why is God saying that He will give Israel a new heart? What is the motivation of God's action? How should we respond today? What led Israel to be in this position? These are all questions that will be addressed.

A Biblical Theological Analysis Of Isaiah 11:1-10, Kaeley Sells

Biblical Studies Student Projects

Fear, unrest, and hopelessness were just some of the emotions that marked those living in Judah during the time that Isaiah was writing. Following the realization of the reality that Judah is to be destroyed, Isaiah was motivated to give prophetic words of encouragement to the people. He wrote to shed light on the great plan God had for His people and the ultimate righteousness, hope, and peace that He promises His people. For many today the emotions of fear, restlessness, and desolation are everyday occurrences as people wrestle with hopelessness amidst a world that seems to be falling apart. …

"The Opium Of The People" - The Effects Of Soviet State Atheism On The Muslims Of Central Asia, Joshua Hughes

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the Soviet Union’s approach to Islam in the Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and the effects that these policies have had on believers following the collapse of the Soviet Union. As the first nation to adopt atheism as official policy, the Soviet Party-state employed many tactics to suppress Islam in the region through violence, propaganda, and strict control. Relying on existing literature written on the topic, I begin by offering a historical analysis of the attacks on Islam in the 1920s and 1930s. In an attempt to expand the scope of English-language …

Disciple Making Starts At A Different Point Today, Brad Ransom

Great Commission Research Journal

Disciple-making starts at a different place today than it did forty years ago. Knocking on a stranger’s door today is unlikely to be effective for people distant from the gospel as is characteristic of today's generations. We must now view evangelism as a process and we must have a non-judgmental acceptance of all people. We must be willing to change to communicate the gospel in a way persuasive way.

Survey And Questionnaire Design For Church-Based Research, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

To better understand behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes in churches, survey research can be very useful, especially to test a hypothesis that we believe to be true. Before creating a survey or questionnaire, the phenomena being examined need to be well understood and appropriate measures chosen. The items included in the survey need to measure the concepts desired and should be clear and unambiguous. The survey should be laid out to motivate maximum participation and minimize biased responses. This article provides many principles for how to accomplish these goals and to ensure that the research undertaken is credible.

How A Novel Research Framework Resulted In Fruitful Evangelism And Discovery: Introducing Ethnoscopy And Spiritual Patronage, L. Lynn Thigpen

Great Commission Research Journal

Faced with an unusual question from a Cambodian friend who had heard stories from God’s Word, I embarked on a quest for an answer. He worshipped an unusual and unfamiliar object and wondered whether he must abandon it to serve Christ. I knew he did, but I needed to explore the meanings ascribed to that object of worship to communicate the gospel more clearly, just as Paul did in Acts 17 while in Athens. According to Jesus’ parable of the soils in Matthew 13, fruitful evangelism involves understanding. How might individual missionaries and evangelists aid in that crucial need? With …

Need-Oriented Evangelism: Encountering, Embracing, And Experiencing God, Petr Činčala, Allison Sauceda

Great Commission Research Journal

This article provides a fresh perspective on evangelism by reflecting a belief in the Triune God--the source of saving truth and loving community. Mission is part of God’s nature; he is the ultimate Missionary. Mission happens naturally whenever children of God intentionally invite and facilitate God’s presence. Over time, the word “evangelism" has become contaminated by myths, a false understanding of God, and unpleasant religious experiences and practices. Genuine evangelism addresses the most burning issues of people’s lives and should be treated as such. True evangelism involves caring about, praying for, and sharing with people. The practical part of this …

Book Review: Multiplying Leaders In Intercultural Contexts: Recognizing And Developing Grassroots Potential By Evelyn And Richard Hibbert, Mark D. Wood

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Church Plantology: The Art And Science Of Planting By Peyton Jones, David Thiessen

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Portraits Of Global Christianity: Research And Reflections In Honor Of Todd M. Johnson Edited By J. Gina Zurlo, Joe Handley

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Smart Church Finances: A Pastor’S Guide To Budgets, Spreadsheets, And Other Things You Didn’T Learn In Seminary By George Hillman, Jr., And John Reece, Walter Castro

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.