Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

The Paradox Of Fear In Scripture: Humanity’S Fear Encounters The Fear Of The Lord, Denise K. Travanti

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research portrays a biblical theology of God’s presence in response to humanity’s natural fear when people are engaged in relationship with him. The Bible is framed with God dwelling with people and the absence of fear at the beginning of their existence and at the end of time in the new heaven and new earth. Fear arrives in the garden with Adam and Eve’s choice for autonomy and their relationship with God, and thus his presence, undergoes a change. From Moses through the Writings and the Prophets, then through the apostles’ experiences conveyed in the Epistles, the reality of …

Assessing The Feasibility Of An Online Gaming Ministry And Developing An Action Plan To Train Apologists For Outreach., Alexander R. Mooney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research project is to assess the feasibility of an online gaming ministry and to develop an action plan to train apologists for outreach. This study is necessary due to several key developments over the last few years, including the growth of social media and digital platforms, the rise of content creation on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and X, the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the need for digital ministry, and the overall growth of Gen Z in religion and faith. Because of these points, the need for developing digital ministry and online gaming ministry has grown. …

Incorporating Principles And Wisdom From Hospital Chaplaincy And Pastoral Ministry To Create A Ministry Model To Address Social Isolation And Loneliness In Black Churches, Albert A. Kemp

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

To address the growing and widespread epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, with special focus on Black churches, this dissertation developed a program with the following areas of application: 1) how healthcare trained chaplains can coordinate with churches to positively impact individuals identified as lonely and socially isolated with better social and physical health, 2) how principles of chaplaincy and pastoral care can mitigate and intervene competently when such people are identified, and 3) how the project’s model can be organized, taught, and incorporated into existing arenas of church ministry.

The purpose of the project was to create a ministry …

The Church As Provider Of Pastoral Care: Relational Presence, Narrative Listening, Preaching, And Advocacy In African American Missionary Baptist Churches In Southside Fort Worth, Texas, Michael R. Timberlake

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

Michael R. Timberlake, Sr.

May 1, 2026

THE CHURCH AS PROVIDER OF PASTORAL CARE: RELATIONAL PRESENCE, NARRATIVE LISTENING, PREACHING, AND ADVOCACY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCHES IN SOUTHSIDE FORT WORTH, TEXAS

The purpose of this research project is to restore and maintain the resiliency in the African American Missionary Baptist churches in the Southside of Fort Worth, Texas. The research identified a high level of importance for African American churches in Fort Worth to resemble the historic legacy of spiritual leadership, communal care, and social advocacy while ministering within contexts marked by racial and economic marginalization. Enabling practical …

Partners In Pilgrimage: Transforming The Journey Of Adolescence By Guiding Teenagers Toward Faithful Lives, Redefining Success, And Cultivating Connection To God, Abigail R. Weaver

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Adolescence is a formative period in which young people seek meaning, identity, and belonging while navigating a complex array of cultural, social, and developmental pressures. In suburban American contexts, these pressures are intensified by competitive academic environments, demanding extracurricular commitments, and pervasive societal expectations that equate worth with achievement. Drawing from my experience as a youth minister in suburban United Methodist churches, this dissertation examines how such forces shape the spiritual and personal development of 15- to 18-year-olds and explores the Church’s role in guiding adolescents through this landscape with wisdom and care.

Grounded in the Christian tradition and informed …

From Feeling To Faith: How Affective Experience Gives Rise To Religion, Asia Wewel

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This paper argues that religion is the intelligible, structured response to distinct pressures arising from within human experience itself. Drawing on Schleiermacher, Otto, Kant, and Becker, the paper traces religion's emergence through four phases. The first establishes that religious feeling is pre-conceptual and categorically distinct from ordinary emotion. The second works through Otto's correction of Schleiermacher: the genuinely religious encounter is not dependence intensified but the numinous. The third shows that Kant, arriving from an entirely different direction, reaches the same destination: practical reason diagnoses a radical evil the will cannot correct alone, demanding an ethical commonwealth that mirrors …

Immigrants: Neighbors Or Strangers? An Analysis On Christian Thought And Immigration, Mariah G. Rivera

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This thesis examines the relationship between Christian thought and perspectives on immigration in the United States, particularly in the context of the current Trump administration, which is focusing heavily on restrictive immigration policies. It explores the historical relationship between religion and government through government commissions, as well as changes in key immigration policies such as the “sensitive locations” guidelines affecting enforcement at and near places of worship. Drawing on biblical scripture, the thesis identifies key themes of loving the stranger, assisting the vulnerable, and obeying governing authorities, all of which inform Christian interpretations of immigration.

Through analysis of national and …

The Royal And Divine Garden: Cherubim And Vegetation Imagery In Solomon’S Temple And The Ancient Near East, Jack W. Sulewski

Global Tides

Solomon’s Temple is described in significant detail in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. It may surprise the reader to know that virtually all iconography included in the Temple’s design were standard forms of communicating religious concepts in the Ancient Near East. This can present some theological problems. Is Israel’s “use" of other pagan nations' religious symbolism an issue when communicating the holiness of God? To understand further the relationship between culture, politics, and Ancient Near Eastern religion, I spent one month doing archival research in England’s multiple museums analyzing ANE object collections. Through a report of my work, this essay …

On Dark Skinned Jesus Of Nazareth: Why Color Matters, Nicholas Berkel

MA Theses

This thesis examines the historical, religious, and cultural consequences of portraying Jesus as white within Christian art. Although Western art has overwhelmingly depicted Christ with white skin, archaeological, and contextual evidence supports a dark-skinned Jesus rooted in the ethnogeography of first century Palestine. The persistence of a White Jesus has shaped religious imagination and perception for centuries, reinforcing racial hierarchy and legitimizing systems of white supremacy. Through an interdisciplinary analysis combining biblical studies, Christian iconography, ethnography of ancient Semitic, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian peoples, medieval symbolism, modern mass-produced imagery, and Black thought, this study demonstrates how Jesus’ original complexion was gradually …

Timbre — A Transcendent Paradox?, Eugenia Siegel Conte

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Timbre, as ethnomusicologist Cornelia Fales writes, is “paradoxical” precisely because it is one of the most exacting processes in which the human body may sense and comprehend the source of a sound even as that comprehended sound is impossible to describe outside of metaphor or comparison. As one of the more recognizable qualities of sound but the most difficult to describe, timbre allows us to consider physical/emotional (affective) experiences of sound as a key aspect of faith and meditation. In this article, I examine physical-affective intersections of faith and meditation that often are key to praxes of worship, and show …

From The Heaviest, Dirtiest Depths To The Washy Ambient Clouds: Guitar Timbre In/As Schismogenesis In North American Christianity, Joshua K. Busman, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This essay argues that within the socio-cultural context of North American Christianity, the timbral qualities of electric guitar, with its long lineage as a site of cultural values conflict and identity negotiation, serves a theological function in the emerging and cohering sonority of digital worship. Using as comparative case studies the timbral qualities of delay and ambience as promoted and sold by Worship Tutorials as representing normative sonic values for these Christians, on the one hand, and the dialectic and schismatic deployment of distortion by the band My Epic on the other, we suggest that these timbral qualities become important …

Holidays, Religiosity, And Democratic Attitudes, Hannah Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Decades of research have linked religion and religiosity to support for democracy and authoritarianism. This study uses a temporal religious prime during national surveys – the European Social Survey and the National Election Survey – to identify the effect of religion on regime-type preferences. Jewish Israelis who took surveys on Friday or Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, expressed more openness to non-democratic governance. They also interpreted the word democracy in a more populist way. Furthermore, non-religious Jews were less democratic on the Sabbath and more interested in strongman rule than they were on days without the religious connotation. Similarly, more religious …

Voice Of My People: An Expression Of Welcome And Liturgical Justice For Afrodiasporic People In North American Catholicism, Marvand Roger Holland Ii

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Music has always been central to the lives of Black people. The Black religious experience is even more profound when expressed through music. It is therefore no happenstance that music is of great import as pertains to the spiritual lives of Black people, including Black Catholics. Faith is expressed through culture. It is through culture that the faith is realized and known. In this, is the essence of inculturation.

Anscar Chupungco states that if not inculturated, the liturgy of the local Church will remain at the periphery of people’s cultural experience. For this reason, it is imperative that Afrodiasporic music …

The Ghannouchi Test: The Compatibility Of Religious Ideas And Secular Democracy, Andrew P. Sheppe

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Secular, democratic societies and governments evolved out of religious societies and defined themselves partially in opposition to religious authority. This historical relationship has led to a debate about the compatibility between religious ideas and modern, secular society. Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde posited that secular, democratic societies still depend on religious foundations. Jürgen Habermas disagrees, claiming that processes of rational dialogue can provide sufficient support.

Two prominent twentieth century theologians, Reinhold Niebuhr and Abraham Joshua Heschel demonstrate that democratic systems are enriched and protected by theistic ideas, thus supporting Böckenförde’s dictum. However, they both recognize the importance of epistemic humility and a …

Derrida's Religious Secret, Dylan Joseph Scott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Derrida rethought the metaphysics of presence by deconstructing or rereading texts as literature according to the nonpresent play of différance. I present Derrida’s absolute secret as a distinct figure of nonpresence nowhere hidden and unknowable in principle. This absolute secret is reflected in the secret of literature: literature does not mean to say anything [ne pas vouloir dire]. It is also reflected in the secret of responsibility: every other (one) is every (bit) other [tout autre est tout autre]; one is absolutely responsible, in secret, to every other wholly other in secret. As figures of the nonpresent absolute secret, these …

Ib-Adat, Anum Naseer

Masters Theses

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Shepherds Of Loss: Religion And Grief In The Shenandoah Valley, Ewan Benjamin

Honors Projects

This study explores the relationship between faith leaders and religious communities with the human experience of grief, death, and loss. Inspired by the researcher's own experience, this paper argues that the United States has a generally uncomfortable relationship with death and hypothesizes that religious traditions can serve to assist with grief in a positive way. After interviewing six religious leaders in the Shenandoah Valley, two themes arose: the mystery of death and the concept of "making space" for the grieving, dying, and dead. In the paper's conclusion, the faith leaders make known their own concerns with death in the United …

Recovering The Lost Art Of Medicine: A Role For Ignatian Spirituality, Cecilia Motherway

College Honors Program

Throughout history, medicine or healing has been deeply associated with religion and spirituality, from the ancient Greek healing god Asclepius to the medieval monastic medical tradition and beyond. This lies in their common cause: addressing the vulnerability of our human existence. Humanity has long recognized that our suffering and death raise existential questions concerning our mortality that may require perspectives greater than biology and rationality can provide. However, at the turn of the 20th century, as medical technology rapidly advanced, raising the average global life expectancy by decades, the medical field removed all non-scientific, non-secular influences to position itself as …

Cultural And Religious Perspectives On Suicide And Healing, Arielle Friedman

be Still

This essay is built off of a paper I wrote in a college global health course on culture and mental illness. I have always been fascinated by cultural interpretations of illness & believe that as a future physician, it is my responsibility to educate myself and others on the complex interplay between religious ideologies & recognition/management of biological disease in order to provide appropriate patient-centered care.

Spirituality And Ptsd Outcomes Among Service Members And Military Veterans, Jennifer Urbina Dmsc, Pa-C

Lynchburg Journal of Medical Science

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent and debilitating condition among military service members and veterans, often co-occurring with moral injury (MI) and spiritual distress (SD). While conventional PTSD treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure-based therapies, and pharmacological interventions, growing evidence suggests that spirituality may play a vital role in improving PTSD outcomes. This paper explores the integration of spirituality in PTSD treatment, examining its potential to mitigate symptoms, enhance resilience, and facilitate post-traumatic growth. Military chaplaincy, spiritually integrated therapies, and Department of Defense (DoD) holistic health models provide frameworks for addressing the spiritual dimensions of PTSD. Studies indicate …

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 …

The Rise And Fall Of Religion: An Agent-Based Model Of Secularisation, Security And Prosociality, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, F. Leron Shults, Ross Gore, Konrad Talmont-Kaminski

Center for Secure and Intelligent Critical Systems (CSICS) Publications

The relationship between religion, society, and individual behaviour has been a subject of extensive inquiry, drawing upon a rich collection of historical and contemporary perspectives. The scientific study of religion at the social level has often found its roots in the foundational work of Durkheim (Durkheim, 1912), who posited that religion serves as a catalyst for social order and the promotion of prosocial behaviour. At the same time, Malinowski’s observations regarding the connection between ritual and anxiety have led to a number of lines of inquiry that have come to extend to other aspects of religion. Yet, taken together, these …

Addiction, Spiritualité Et Religion, Bechir Aouad, Père Edgard El Haiby

Horizons et Conjonctures

L’étude examine comment le vide spirituel mène aux addictions aux substances et aux comportements compulsifs comme substitut à la transcendance authentique. Elle analyse les dépendances comportementales telles que le jeu ou la sexualité compulsive et met en évidence l’influence de la dimension religieuse. Elle conclut sur l’importance d’intégrer la spiritualité dans le traitement pour offrir la force et la résilience nécessaires au rétablissement durable.

Mots-clés

Dépendance, Spiritualité, Religion, Addiction, Substance, Santé mentale, Réhabilitation, Toxicodépendance, Prévention, Support psychosocial, Substance psychoactive

الاعتقاد ضمن السياق المؤسّسي: النهج الفلسفي في مؤسّسات الإيمان, مرغريت الأسمر بو عون

Horizons et Conjonctures

خلاصة

يستكشف هذا المقال مفهوم الاعتقاد في الإطار المؤسّسي، مع التركيز على الجوانب الفلسفيّة للمؤسّسات العقائديّة أو الإيمانيّة. يتناول الجزء الأوّل فهم جوهر مؤسّسات الاعتقاد، ودراسة كيفيّة تشكّل هذه الهياكل المنظّمة وتوجيهها للمعتقدات الفرديّة داخل المجتمع. أمّا الجزء الثاني، فيتناول كيفيّة التلاعب بالمعتقدات داخل هذه المؤسّسات، مع تسليط الضوء على الآليّات والقضايا المرتبطة بإدارة المعتقدات الجماعيّة من خلال أمثلة واقعيّة.‏

كلمات مفتاحيّة

الاعتقاد، مؤسّسة الإيمان، الخطاب الديني والسياسي، الدين، فلسفة الدين‏

Résumé

Cet essai philosophique explore le concept de croyance dans un contexte institutionnel, en se concentrant sur les aspects philosophiques des institutions de croyance ou de foi. La première …

Measuring Religious Evil: Examining The Use Of Single-Item Measures In Religious Research, Tom Clark, Scott A. Desmond, Christoper D. Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Multiple-item indexes are ubiquitous within the sociology of religion. However, there are a growing number of articles in other disciplines that have advocated the use of single-item measures in specific circumstances. Using quantitative survey data taken from the United Kingdom, this paper contributes to this literature by exploring the impact of single and multiple item measures of religious evil on a series of social and political attitudes. The findings suggest that belief in the devil is the most consistent predictor within a multiple-item measure of religious evil and the multiple-item measure does not significantly outperform single-item measures. Indeed, the item …

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 …

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 …

Frozen Ii And Girls’ Spiritual Formation: How The Music Of An Animated Musical Resonates With Girls And Women, Cristen Mitchell

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Frozen II (2019) is a popular Disney animated movie for children and depicts striking spiritual elements while weaving in feminist practices such as justice and equity, and feminist theology through representations of female spirits and connection to the earth. Through this movie, its themes, and the historical exclusion of women in the church, this thesis seeks to show that representation of women in the divine is an important, and necessary part of the spiritual and psychological development of girls and women. The methods of this thesis include exploring the following synchronicities:

1. Parallels between feminist issues in the church and Walt …

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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 …