Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Man's Modern Need For God: A Literary Apologetic, Matthew G. Jones

Masters Theses

This thesis argues that modern man’s attempt to dispense with God inevitably results in psychological, moral, and existential collapse, a reality most powerfully revealed through the literary works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Leo Tolstoy. Before Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God and called humanity to transcend traditional morality through the rise of the Übermensch, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy had already responded, not merely with philosophical counterarguments, but with stories that exposed the devastating consequences of life divorced from the divine. Through literary apologetics, this thesis examines the broader cultural and spiritual conversation taking place between these nineteenth-century thinkers and …

Reformational Thought In Three Universities, Derek Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

My grandparents, together with other post-WWII Dutch immigrants animated by Kuyperian thinking, immediately began building Christian schools in their new land of Canada. Eventually, they also built Christian universities. Redeemer College was established in 1981, just down the road from the Christian day schools my grandparents helped build.

Women And Puritanism: Establishing A Theological And Philosophical Framework For Women's Legal Rights In Seventeenth-Century New England, Karen A. Jones

Masters Theses

Using the framework of the modified germ theory, this thesis seeks to discover how the intersection of theology, philosophy, and law reveal the rationale behind the state of women’s legal rights in seventeenth century Puritan New England. The study mostly focuses on 1630-1690, since these sixty years represent the limit of Puritan hegemony in New England. During the 1690s, the Crown forced the northeastern colonies to conform to common law and subsequently expunge their laws of any hints of Puritan biblicism. The conclusion will address the ramifications of this change. The main body of this work, however, takes up Marylynn …

Resonances Of Universalism In Tolkien's Legendarium, Nick Polk

Journal of Tolkien Research

Presented at the inaugural Holy Moot, a survey of a collection of passages from Tolkien's writings that demonstrate having the resonances of patristic universalism is conducted. It is then argued that all Tolkien’s writings be investigated separately in their context, comparing the location of each item under investigation with one another, and explore their connections without syncretizing them into a monolithic construct. To do this, it is argued that a hermeneutical theory rooted in the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead is necessary. Concluding is a connecting of Whitehead's understanding of the expression of language with Tolkien’s own understanding of expression …

Evaluating Bad Theology And Making A Case For The Ethical Priority Of Religious Diversity In Tolkien Studies, Nick Polk

Journal of Tolkien Research

Presented at Oxonmoot in 2024, the aim of this paper is to present a selection of theological Tolkien criticisms for the purpose of evaluating them through practical theologian Leah Robinson’s definition of bad theology. The point is argued that bad theology in Tolkien Studies needs to be identified and understood as unethical and replaced with the openness of theologian John Thatamanil’s criteria for religious diversity. Concluding will be a promotion of religious diversity as an ethical priority and evaluative tool for future theological engagements within Tolkien Studies.

The Dialectics Of Faith: Kierkegaard, Irony, And Conversion, Douglas Zimmerman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kierkegaard, the 19th-century Danish philosopher, offers a profound perspective on conversion. According to him, conversion isn't a mere external change, but a deeply personal and internal transformation. It's about moving from a state of despair to faith. Kierkegaard believed that true conversion involves a passionate leap of faith, where an individual confronts their own subjectivity and makes a conscious, often paradoxical, choice to align themselves with their authentic values and spiritual beliefs. In his view, conversion is a constant process, requiring introspection, struggle, and a commitment to live authentically in the face of life's uncertainties. In order to communicate this …

Radical Hospitality: Height And Excess Of The Other And The New Host Self, Diako Alikhani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on Emmanuel Levinas’ ethical framework and its emphasis on the “height and excess” of “the Other,” this thesis explores and develops a sense of “radical hospitality” in Levinas and across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In particular, the thesis explores how encounter with the Other is not only marked by an overwhelming excess, but one which transforms the subject into what I call a “New Host Self:” Where the self is the host who greets the stranger with hospitality, it is ultimately the stranger—the refugee, the migrant—who transforms the host into someone new. Here, the host ultimately receives a gift …

New Paths In Jewish And Religious Studies: Essays In Honor Of Professor Elliot R. Wolfson, Glenn Dynner, Susannah Heschel, Shaul Magid

Purdue University Press Books

The work of Elliot R. Wolfson has profoundly influenced the fields of Jewish studies as well as philosophy and religion more broadly. His radically new approaches have created pioneering ways of analyzing texts and thinking about religion through the lens of gender, sexuality, and feminist theory. The contributors to New Paths in Jewish and Religious Studies: Essays in Honor of Professor Elliot R. Wolfson, many of whom are internationally renowned scholars, hearken from diverse fields. Each has learned from and collaborated with Wolfson as student or colleague, and each has expanded the new scholarly directions initiated by Wolfson’s groundbreaking …

Mythos And Meaning: Medieval Appropriations Of Mythological Types In The Consolation Of Philosophy And Later Western Literatures, Francis J. Hunter

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Often referred to as the last Roman and first medieval, Boethius, author of The Consolation of Philosophy, has been widely received as an unoriginal philosopher who sought to preserve Platonic thought as the Western Roman Empire fell. However, this essay features an investigation into the literary originality of Boethius who initiates a line of Christian and Platonic literatures to follow in the medieval European tradition. Boethius demonstrates himself to be a poet who makes great use of philosophy rather than as a philosopher writing poetry. Boethius’ poetic influence is felt most strongly in major aspects of Dante’s Divine Comedy and …

The Divine Comedy: A Work Of Medieval Mythology, Jamie Alexander

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior to The Divine Comedy (1308-1321), ideas about Purgatory were in the early stages of development. Purgatory had loose rituals surrounding its existence and it lacked depiction in written works. Yet in the following centuries, the fear of Purgatory and the practices of penance and indulgences reached a fever pitch, ultimately leading to the Protestant Reformation. Purgatory as a celestial location, and not just the “purgatorial fires” of the Bible, only began to develop in the twelfth century, but its fearful description and imagery in The Divine Comedy not only solidified previously nebulous understandings of Purgatory, but also increased anxiety …

Accounting For The Gift: Theology And Ethics In Accounting, Daniel Sebastian

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accounting is often assumed to be a neutral presentation of the facts of economic activities and actions. Its double-entry system means that it is always in balance and comports to the rigor of mathematical formulas, and it is taken to be a matter of empirical counting that lends it certainty as well. The dissertation argues that this description of accounting is inadequate. Accounting is better seen as a political tool and technology for producing trust that can help resolve social conflicts. As such, accounting is not value-neutral but carries within it a particular sociality that has moral implications. These moral …

Notes From The Cosmic Sea, James K.A. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Of Method: A Propaedeutic To Coleridge's Prose Works, Michael A. Granger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coleridge’s prose works, published and unpublished, demonstrate a thorough and critical testing and understanding of British and German philosophical responses to skepticism and the ability of philosophy to progress by maintaining a double-minded and conflicted suture of both the practical or imaginative eclipse of knowledge and theorizing the hypothetical epistemological absolute that explains the relativity of facticity. Any inadequate method of inquiry stagnates within attempting a purely figurative or purely demonstrative solution to skepticism. Thus, the appropriate way to approach Coleridge’s understanding of philosophy is the struggle to make inquiry adequate though progression. Coleridge’s methodological impulse originates explicitly in a …

The Single Father In The Christian Church And Their Struggles, Kennedy Abbott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project is about a severe but unseen problem in the church. The single fathers in the Christian church have been quietly struggling because many do not seek help. Caretakers of this single-father ministry identify and are aware of the struggle affiliated with single fathers, summarized from personal experience in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, this research elucidates the severity of the problem related to children separated from either parent, possibly leading to behavioral concerns in school, the community, and the home. The fundamental principles of this research derives from gathering data relevant to this research to support this …

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: A Classical Critique, Michael W. Cunningham

Liberty Theological Review

In 2005, American sociologist Christian Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” in his book, Soul Searching, The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. At the time, this phenomenon was heralded as a new “religion” for emerging generations, yet it ascribes to no formal text, deity, or doctrine. It serves as a self-focused compilation of secular philosophy, politics, culture, and spirituality flavored with fragments from popular religions. While there is no formal MTD doctrine, there are five affirmations: (1) A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on Earth, (2) God wants …

Is It A Requisite For A ‘Believer’ To Be Part Of The Formal/Institutional Church?, Dillon Cook

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

For the purposes of this paper, I attempt to wrestle with the question of whether or not it is a requisite for a “believer” (which turns out to be a loaded and ambiguous term) to be a part of a formal/institutional Christian Church. This is a difficult task to accomplish, and this, I admit. There is no way to answer this, truly with certainty. But Metaphysics are rarely grounded in “certainty.” This is true for many Christian Theological tasks as well. Nevertheless, this argument will be attempted by working with and off of the Black liberation theologian and philosopher, James …

Natural Christology: The Necessity Of Christ By Analysis Of Natural Religion, Jared Anthony Smith

Masters Theses

The hero’s journey [or the monomyth] and the perennial philosophy are two conceptions of human experience that popularize a single old idea: a common human plight recurs across time through humanity’s socio-cultural variety. The monomyth highlights this through narrative modes; the perennial philosophy does this through religious modes. Both distillations have garnered a Christian counterattack, being thought to dangerously depart from the gospel in their essence as they nonetheless borrow its language and timbre. Yet, their incorporation of the gospel ventures beyond appropriation. Supposing these secular notions esteem the recurrent human journey with any alacrity, a careful apologetic discerns and …

Monetary Muddles: Money And Language, Ethics And Theology, Tyler Womack

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a theological critique of political economy by turning to Wittgenstein in order to re-think what “criticism” is and can be. It diagnoses the current state of critical discourse about money as incapable of properly dealing with the confusions or illusions such criticism identifies as intrinsic to our ways with money and economic production and exchange. The dissertation argues that while political economic critiques and heterodox theories of money rightly challenge the economic orthodoxy’s individualism and its illusions of an apolitical money and an autonomous market economy, these “social” critiques are caught in a Geltungslogik that dichotomizes “value” …

Impassioned Wonder: Theosis And The Place Of Reason In Gregory Nazianzen’S Theological Orations, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The theologian is situated between two realities: the revelation of God and the transcendence of God. It would seem that all of theology should be a matter of reckoning with these two extremities. Without transcendence, we have no God. Without revelation we have neither starting point, nor guide, nor aim; theology becomes pointless speculation. We must know God, and yet, not know him. He must remain far beyond any language to describe or any image to depict, and yet, we must describe him. Theology lives in the middle of these, neither putting God into a box nor holding God above, …

The Theological Structure For Forming Christian Vocational Spirituality: A Practical Method For The Whole Of The Christian Life, Yong Sub Sim

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

The Christian church works for reconciliation between God and his creatures through Jesus Christ. For this, the church calls people and helps them hear, understand, recognize and receive the Spirit of God through Jesus. This dissertation explains this process as walking with, working with and following Jesus.

This dissertation builds a theological structure for forming “Christian vocational spirituality” as the whole of the Christian life reconciled with the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. This theological structure guides the process through which a human being becomes a true Christian being, and a Christian being becomes a true human being reconciled …

A Defense Of The Resurrection Miracle And Critique Of The Hallucination Theory, Joshua James Smothers

Masters Theses

Many Christian scholars simply laugh at the notion of the Hallucination theory. However, while it is laughable that the hallucination theory claims the disciples of Jesus all shared a hallucination in which they saw their beloved friend risen from the grave, there is more to the hallucination theory than meets the eye. This thesis defends the resurrection using history while critiquing the hallucination theory. Jesus did rise from the grave in the same physical body that was crucified at Calvary, and the disciple's claims of seeing a risen Jesus are true and can be proven with fact and evidence.

Biblical Anthropology: Foundations And Teaching Models, Hebert Davi Liessi, Lucicleide Maria Da Silva Liessi

All Books

Human beings have searched for meaning in different ways over the millennia. This book presents how God sees the human being from a biblical-grammatical perspective through the book of Exodus. The sense of existence has new sources, with God and his purpose for each individual and humanity being the main ones. In addition, this book analyses and offers possibilities and models for teaching biblical anthropology to university students.

From Modernity To Post-Modernity: The Apologetic Legacy Of Paul Tillich, Michael W. Cunningham

Liberty Theological Review

Paul Tillich, dubbed an “apostle to the intellectuals,” was one of the twentieth-century’s influential and infamous theologians. Tillich’s apologetic of doubt, method of correlation, and non-traditional lifestyle challenged the cultural and religious norms of his day. The study of Paul Tillich’s theology provides perspective on the origins of subjective apologetics and process theology. His focus on ontology made his works accessible and famous. It put the human at the center of the process as they reasoned up to God instead of accepting unquestioned authoritative doctrines. By embracing existential doubt, he connected to the masses by appealing to the “being” and …

Why John Piper’S Doctrine Of Salvation Is Incompatible With Scripture, Joshua Zigan

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis details and responds to a biblical contradiction created by John Piper’s soteriology. The contradiction is characterized by God’s operation in salvation according to Piper and the biblical doctrine of God’s nature. The Christian God and the inerrancy of the Bible are presupposed.

An argument is posed showing the contradiction using Scripture and Piper’s soteriology. Conclusions made are (1) that Scripture implicitly teaches that all people possess the free will to choose whether to have faith in Christ and repent, (2) no person possesses the ability to save himself, (3) faith in Christ and repentance are the only two …

Bonhoeffer On The Interaction Of Theology And Philosophy: Christological Redescription, Joseph D. Carson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Setting an example of philosophical theology in his own writings, Bonhoeffer can help contemporary theologians navigate the interaction between theology and philosophy. Predominantly discussing Sanctorum Communio and Ethics, this essay outlines how Bonhoeffer offers a paradigm of Christian engagement with philosophy. Bonhoeffer utilized the insights of philosophy by (1) critiquing its idolatrous nature and (2) Christologically redescribing its creative concepts in service to theology. Giving an account of Bonhoeffer’s critique and positive use of philosophy, this essay argues that Bonhoeffer’s paradigmatic view of theology and philosophy is a helpful resource for contemporary Christians. Specifically, a dialectic of antithesis and …

I'M A Philosopher. We Can't Think Our Way Out Of This Mess. (The Intelligence Of Love), James K.A. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Personhood, Threshold And Equality, Benjamin Leon Williamson

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Whether abortion and infanticide are permissible has been debated for a long time in philosophical literature and continues to this day. In this paper, I will assume without argument that one’s view about the moral status of the fetus and newborn will determine what side he/she comes down on in this debate. I am also proceeding with the assumption that personhood is not a conventional or linguistically effective device that has little or no connection to reality. Persons exist and personhood itself is real. With that being said, I will defend a more controversial claim that will undoubtedly stir a …

Augustine's Diverse Epistemology: Love, Reason, And Presupposition, Joseph Carson

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

In Saint Augustine’s works, especially in The City of God, The Confessions, and On Free Choice of the Will, he offers three features integral to his epistemology: love, reason, and presupposition. By love, Augustine argues that virtuous lovers of God will know the Truth more than those with disordered loves. By reason, Augustine held that reason must guide the journey to Truth. By presupposition, Augustine claimed that the search for Truth only starts from Christian doctrine. While modern philosophers might see a tension when simultaneously holding these three principles in his epistemology, Augustine claimed they were mutually …

Designating The Greatest Possible Being, Corey M. Walton

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Anselm’s famous ontological argument has not been found wanting for critics who question its soundness or validity. In spite of the sustained contestation, the argument has managed to continue to persist even after thinkers have declared it defunct. In the spirit of the pursuit of novel ways to analyze and reconsider the argument, I have attempted to develop a way to defend the argument from contemporary critiques. In this article, I have proposed an account of the argument with an alternative interpretation of Anselm’s concept of graded existence as well as his conceivability thesis. I have also reduced the scope …

David Hume And Intelligent Design: A Counter Criticism, Benjamin Martin

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

David Hume, the celebrated Scottish philosopher of the 18th century, wrote a work entitled Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, in which he provides a detailed criticism of several theistic arguments. In the Dialogues there are found 3 interlocutors, each of whom approaches natural religion from a different philosophical standpoint. Cleanthes is the character upon whose argumentation we will mainly focus, as he is the defender of the a posteriori argument from Intelligent Design. Philo, another interlocutor, is a philosophical skeptic who opposes Cleanthes' arguments. Out of the three, many consider Philo's positions to be representative of those of Hume himself. The …