Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Open Access Articles

The Holy Heart, Cody Macmillan

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

No abstract provided.

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Bounding Down The Mountain Peaks, Andrew Bloch, Lindsay Bloch

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Poetry composed by Andrew & Lindsay Bloch.

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Ariel, Hayden Lukas

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Poetry composed by Hayden Lukas.

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Learning The Liturgy With Mr. Miyagi: The Case For Liturgical Catechesis, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Using the narrative of The Karate Kid as a guide, I will demonstrate that Christian formation is a matter of recontextualizing liturgical practices in the daily life of the believer, so that she knows when, where, and how to use the precogni¬tive spiritual habits formed by Word and Sacrament in Christian worship. This understanding challenges prevalent liturgical theology, which tends to assume an automatic connection—or worse, no connection at all— between worship and daily life, by highlighting the necessity of locating for believers the telos of the church’s rites and ceremonies in discipleship. Finally, I will provide concrete examples of …

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Grapho 2023, Ben Vanderhyde

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Lift Up Your Hearts

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Liturgy & Life: How The Divine Service Connects With The Rest Of The Week, Benjamin Janssen

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

On vicarage, I was blessed to spend many hours with a faithful member named Ginger, who, alongside her husband Walter, runs and operates the congregation’s robust food and clothing distribution center. This center is completely run by volunteer efforts out of the undercroft of the church and successfully feeds and clothes 150 families a month. This work both serves the neighbor in need and brings the congregation into contact with many of those living in the immediate community. In short, it is a blessing to the congregation and the surrounding community. Therefore, at the end of each service day, I …

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Members Of One Holy Body, Benjamin Leeper

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Poetry composed by Benjamin Leeper.

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Sursum Corda As A Call For Repentance And Faith, Sebastian Grünbaum

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This article examines Chemnitz's understanding and interpretation of the Sursum Corda in his work the Lord’s Supper. Chemnitz’s theological adversaries had been claiming that the Sursum Corda was evidence that the early church did not believe that the true body and blood were on the altar. They argued that the believer had to go up to the Lord (who sits on the right side of the Father) in faith and eat mere bread in this faith.3 Chemnitz aimed to correct this understanding by showing that the Fathers did not understand the Sursum Corda in this way but rather as an …

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Legends Of Light: Crafting Middle Grade Fantasy In The Tradition Of Catholic Philosophy And Medieval Visual Culture, Bernadette Lamb

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay promotes the writing and illustrating of middle grade literature that mirrors the wonder-inducing experiences of leafing through an illuminated manuscript and stepping into a Gothic cathedral. An examination of Catholic medieval visual culture moves into a discussion on its underlying philosophy and theology, which are profoundly centered on relational healing and the dignity of the human person. Christian writers including St. Pope John Paul II, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Josef Pieper, Madeline L’Engle, Dr. Bob Schuchts, Makoto Fujimura, and Andrew Peterson inform an exploration of mercy, forgiveness, and love as self-gift in the context of illustration and storytelling …

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Catechism Service, Jaron Melin

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

This service is organized in a simple manner for any congregation to use. Pastors and congregations are encouraged to use and adapt it for their worship. It was made brief to be printed as a worship-bulletin onto both sides of a single sheet of paper. Any part can be expanded to include more of the Small Catechism for further instruction and formation (e.g. questions and answers). Furthermore, Phillip Magness has put the Small Catechism to music which could be incorporated into this service so that people can learn the catechism by heart to music even in the midst of worship.

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Contestant Theology: Toward A Play Theology Of Religions, Greg Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How can a Christian theology of religions navigate the interreligious dialogical problems of 1) the inability to fully articulate faith, 2) the lack of persuasive religious language, 3) the reality of violence among religions, and 4) the liquescent “truth” of modern times? This dissertation answers this question with a theology of religions considered through the lens of play theology. Contestant theology navigates these problems as 1) a space of cooperation and contest which 2) incorporates assertiveness (exclusivism), compassion (inclusivism), openness (pluralism) and free participation (Trinitarianism) to 3) hold together enriching and diminishing relationalities among diverse religious peoples with a view …

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The Nature And Importance Of Christian Spirituality, Gilbert Perez

Obsculta

This short work is a meditation on Exodus 3:11, where Moses asks God who he is to do what God has commanded. Spiritual Theology has to do with the persons' interior life and its importance to theology and Christian life as a whole. Many Christians cannot explain in detail about their spirituality and it poses many problems as much as many opportunities what it can mean for Christian life if it is better understood.

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Blessed, Broken, And Shared, Joseph Penny

Obsculta

This paper seeks to boldly confront the evils of racism while simultaneously pointing to a renewed baptismal ecclesiology and a praxis of radical communion as a way forward. Venturing into the unknown, we will persevere onward to the road less traveled by briefly charting the Catholic Church's historical cooperation with White Supremacy. We will also celebrate the wisdom gleaned from Black and Latin American communities and their seemingly mundane yet deeply sacred rituals.

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The Fall And Natural Suffering, Andrew Banacos

Obsculta

Evolutionary theory poses several questions for Christian notions of origins: 1) common ancestry of all creatures rather than monogenesis; 2) the violent history of evolution as a challenge to the notion of a fall from paradise into sin, death, and suffering; and 3) the relationship between suffering and evil in light of evolutionary process. This paper seeks to address the concept of the fall in the context of dialogue between evolution and the Christian faith.

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Teresa Of Avila's Inward Journey To Spiritual Growth, Anne Cahill

Obsculta

This essay describes the basic structure of Teresa's understanding of spiritual growth as depicted in her seven "dwelling places" in the Interior Castle. It places emphasis upon where God invites our cooperation (cooperative grace) and where God acts alone(operative grace). It includes how this spiritual growth affects our prayer, and our relationships with other people.

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The Role Of Darkness And Trial In Spiritual Growth As Described In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Carrie O'Neil-Smith

Obsculta

This essay was written in Professor Michael Rubbelke's class titled "Growing into God: Spiritual Development in the Christian Tradition." The piece looks at darkness and trial and three resulting fruits of spiritual growth: humility, knowledge of one's true nature, and an experience of God's pure love as described in the fourteenth century work The Cloud of Unknowing.

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How To Talk About God: Origen And Gregory Of Nazianzus On Divine Transcendence And Theological Language, Coleman S. Kimbrough

Obsculta

This article discusses the doctrine of God of the early Church Fathers Origen and Gregory of Nazianzus. According to these two theologians, the tension between God's transcendence and God's immanence conditions the language we use to name and describe God. Such "God-talk" is necessarily limited by the ontological divide between the human and the divine. Using Origen and Gregory as reference points, I examine how the precise and careful use of apophatic, cataphatic, and analogical language is necessary to properly account for both God's eternal nature and God's work in the material world.

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Keeping Covenant: The Story And Scholarly Scrutiny Of David And Goliath, Peter Tran

Obsculta

The story of David and Goliath is a tale of courage, duty, and faith in God. What is taken for granted, however, is whether or not David was actually the one who killed Goliath. Some critical scholars have begun to question the long-standing claim that David defeated Goliath. So, who really killed him and what are the theological implications? A thorough examination will shed light on this question.

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Self-Revelation Of God In Jesus Christ As Love And The Kingdom Of God In Walter Kasper's Jesus The Christ, Hang T.H. Nguyen Op

Obsculta

This article is an examination of the Christology of Walter Kasper, a German Catholic cardinal and theologian. Through his work of Jesus the Christ, Kasper shows God’s self-revelation as love in the person Jesus Christ – the earthly and the exalted Jesus, who brings to human beings the message of his Kingdom, in which they can attain salvation, joy, peace, and justice.

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A Brief Analysis Of Contemporary Confucianism's Research On Feminine Topics, Jingzhi Pan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Although Confucianism has been recognized as a world religion for more than a hundred years today, recent research, which studies it as a religion, still seems numbed to or ignores day-to-day feminine topics like sexual crimes, domestic violence, male patronize, and even gendered religious value itself. More often, even if they announce they are studying the religion, people study Confucianism as a philosophy, an ethic, a phenomenon, a political strategy…everything else but a religion with transcendent values like other world religions. This essay will overview the research of contemporary Confucian feminine topics and analyze and argue their utilities in helping …

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A More Medieval Vision Of God, Louis Markos

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Chris R. Armstrong, Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians: Finding Authentic Faith in a Forgotten Age with C. S. Lewis (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos, 2016). 272 pages. $19.99. ISBN 9781587433788.

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A Plea For Reasonable Discourse About Lewis’S Views On Evolution, Charles A. Huttar

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Jerry Bergman, C. S. Lewis: Anti-Darwinist: A Careful Examination of the Develop- ment of His Views on Darwinism (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2016). xxiii + 136 pages. $21.00. ISBN 9781532607738.

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C. S. Lewis On Atheism, Joel D. Heck

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Lewis had a lot to say about atheists and atheism, mentioning the topic at least seventy-eight times in at least thirty books and essays. Having been an atheist himself, he understood Christianity from—as he put it—the outside. He held many of the same positions that atheists did in the 1910s and 1920s and for many of the same reasons that still influence people today. Although he did not compose any sort of systematic description, definition, or formal reaction to atheism, we can glean a great deal from his writings. Perhaps most important of all, Lewis knew quite a few atheists …

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Mere Christianity And The Moral Argument For The Existence Of God, Christopher A. Shrock

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis’s moral argument for the existence of God from Mere Christianity has been called the “most widely-convincing apologetic argument of the twentieth century.” It is concise and commonsensical. But Lewis’s argument has come under heavy fire in past decades, most notably from John Beversluis and Erik Wielenberg. This article offers an alternative reading on which the moral argument from the opening chapters of Mere Christianity is not only valid but also original and defensible. Unlike other moral arguments, Lewis deals in neither metaethics nor moral pragmatics. So he avoids prickly objections related to Divine Command Theory and accusations …

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Review Of C. S. Lewis’S Mere Christianity: A Biography, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of George M. Marsden, C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity: A Biography, Lives of Great Religious Books Series (Princeton, 2016). 262 pages. $24.95. ISBN: 9780691153735.

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Review Of Discussing Mere Christianity: Exploring The History, Meaning, & Relevance Of C. S. Lewis’S Greatest Book (Dvd), Jeff Gissing

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of a DVD and discussion guide: Devin Brown, Discussing Mere Christianity: Exploring the History, Meaning, & Relevance of C. S. Lewis’s Greatest Book (Grand Rapids, 2015). 120 pages. $12.99. ISBN: 9780310699842. Eric Metaxas (host), Discussing Mere Christianity: Exploring the History, Meaning, & Relevance of C. S. Lewis’s Greatest Book, DVD (Grand Rapids, 2015). 170 minutes. $49.99. ISBN: 9780310699859.

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Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

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Review Of C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity: The Crisis That Created A Classic, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Paul McCusker, C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity: The Crisis That Created a Classic (Carol Stream, Illinois, 2014). x + 230 pages + 8 pages of photographs. $14.99. ISBN 9781624053221.

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Review Of The Pilgrim’S Regress, Wade Annotated Edition, Arend Smilde

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of C. S. Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress, Wade Annotated Edition, ed. and introduced by David C. Downing; illustrated by Michael Hague (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2014). xxiv + 239 pages. $25.00. ISBN 9780802872081.

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Review Of The Lost Letters Of Cornelius Van Til To C. S. Lewis, Lyle W. Dorsett

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Jomo K. Johnson, The Lost Letters of Cornelius Van Til to C. S. Lewis (Philadelphia, 2012). Kindle Edition, 30 pages. $2.99. ASIN: B007WZAYNE.

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Full-Text Articles in Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

The Holy Heart, Cody Macmillan

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Bounding Down The Mountain Peaks, Andrew Bloch, Lindsay Bloch

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Ariel, Hayden Lukas

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Learning The Liturgy With Mr. Miyagi: The Case For Liturgical Catechesis, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Grapho 2023, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Liturgy & Life: How The Divine Service Connects With The Rest Of The Week, Benjamin Janssen

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Members Of One Holy Body, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Sursum Corda As A Call For Repentance And Faith, Sebastian Grünbaum

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Legends Of Light: Crafting Middle Grade Fantasy In The Tradition Of Catholic Philosophy And Medieval Visual Culture, Bernadette Lamb

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

Catechism Service, Jaron Melin

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Contestant Theology: Toward A Play Theology Of Religions, Greg Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Nature And Importance Of Christian Spirituality, Gilbert Perez

Obsculta

Blessed, Broken, And Shared, Joseph Penny

Obsculta

The Fall And Natural Suffering, Andrew Banacos

Obsculta

Teresa Of Avila's Inward Journey To Spiritual Growth, Anne Cahill

Obsculta

The Role Of Darkness And Trial In Spiritual Growth As Described In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Carrie O'Neil-Smith

Obsculta

How To Talk About God: Origen And Gregory Of Nazianzus On Divine Transcendence And Theological Language, Coleman S. Kimbrough

Obsculta

Keeping Covenant: The Story And Scholarly Scrutiny Of David And Goliath, Peter Tran

Obsculta

Self-Revelation Of God In Jesus Christ As Love And The Kingdom Of God In Walter Kasper's Jesus The Christ, Hang T.H. Nguyen Op

Obsculta

A Brief Analysis Of Contemporary Confucianism's Research On Feminine Topics, Jingzhi Pan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

A More Medieval Vision Of God, Louis Markos

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A Plea For Reasonable Discourse About Lewis’S Views On Evolution, Charles A. Huttar

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis On Atheism, Joel D. Heck

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Mere Christianity And The Moral Argument For The Existence Of God, Christopher A. Shrock

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review Of C. S. Lewis’S Mere Christianity: A Biography, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review Of Discussing Mere Christianity: Exploring The History, Meaning, & Relevance Of C. S. Lewis’S Greatest Book (Dvd), Jeff Gissing

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

Review Of C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity: The Crisis That Created A Classic, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review Of The Pilgrim’S Regress, Wade Annotated Edition, Arend Smilde

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review Of The Lost Letters Of Cornelius Van Til To C. S. Lewis, Lyle W. Dorsett

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal