Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Still Sticking To The Big Brother: History, German Protestantism, And The Ukrainian War, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

It has often been revealed, in the great historical upheavals of contemporary history, that a quick, situational ad-hoc assessment and reaction is not the strength of German Protestantism. This was the case after the collapse of Imperial Germany (Kaiserreich) and the sovereign church regiment (Landesherrliches Kirchenregiment; summus episcopus) in 1918, as well as after the end of the Second World War, when German Protestantism was long at odds with democracy and Adenauer's ties to the West.4 The Peaceful Revolution in the GDR in 1989 (during the civic uprisings of 1989/90 in the other Central European countries) also surprised the leaders …

A Discourse Of Modernization Of Religion In The Soviet Ukrainian Study Of Religion, Oleg Kyselov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The paper explores the Soviet scientific atheism discourse on the evolution of religion in the modern world. The author argues that the modernization of religion was a key concept for Soviet scholars, which was used to criticize religious trends of that time.

The article focuses on the published works of Soviet Ukrainian scholars, which discussed the definition of modernization of religion, its reasons, and the spheres of its manifestation. The current research focuses on the modernization of religion and the peculiarities of scientific atheism in Soviet Ukraine.

The author argues that there were no differences between religious modernism and modernization …

Introduction By The Guest Editor, Valentyna Kuryliak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

We bring to your attention a special issue dedicated to Christian denominations on the territory of Ukraine. The issue is dedicated to the most difficult periods in the history of Ukraine, namely three wars, two of which were in the 20th century, and the third of which began in 2014 and has been in an active phase since 2022.

...This August issue of OPREE is divided into two parts. The first part contains articles devoted to the period from 1900 to 1945. During this period, the authors from different denominational backgrounds analyze the state of Christian denominations and the challenges …

Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Swbs): Measuring Spiritual Well-Being In International Contexts, Rodger K. Bufford, Raymond F. Paloutzian

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a 20-item measure of self-perceived spiritual health. Developed in the 1980s, it includes 2 subscales with 10 items each. Responses are made on a 6-point continuum from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree with no neutral point; 9 of the items are negatively worded to minimize response biases. The US samples show good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Content validity was established in construction. Expected correlations with religion and spirituality indices, social and psychological mea-sures, and physical functioning and demonstration of expected group differences support criterion validity. Factor analysis commonly shows 2 factors corresponding to …

Saint Jude's, January 1, 2023

Saint Jude's

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Waltham, MA

Saint Jude's Finding Aid

Newsletter Catholic Deaf Of Detroit, January 2023

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Detroit, MI

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit Finding Aid

Deities’ Rights?, Deepa Das Acevedo

Faculty Articles

A brief commotion arose during the hearings for one of twenty-first-century India’s most widely discussed legal disputes, when a dynamic young attorney suggested that deities, too, had constitutional rights. The suggestion was not absurd. Like a human being or a corporation, Hindu temple deities can participate in litigation, incur financial obligations, and own property. There was nothing to suggest, said the attorney, that the same deity who enjoyed many of the rights and obligations accorded to human persons could not also lay claim to some of their constitutional freedoms. The lone justice to consider this claim blandly and briefly observed …

From Building To Dwelling: Unfolding Infinity Through Bioregional Fulfillment, Sanjana Bhatnagar

Pitzer Senior Theses

The causes of anthropogenic climate change touch every feature of our modern-day existences. Approaches to sustainability tend to focus on material actions, but unsustainable practices are guided by an ontological orientation of individuality and human exceptionalism. This thesis provides an alternate account of being that decenters individuality through weaving the metaphysics of Fazang of the Huayan School of Mahayana Buddhism with the metaphysics of Martin Heidegger. To encompass the whole of the relational network that constitutes and conditionally defines our existence, I expand Heidegger’s account of locales as relational sites which are put forth solely by humans to an account …

Reawakening Rochester: The Leadership Styles Of Bishop James E. Kearney, Maria G. Wild

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

Throughout their vocation, Catholic priests are assigned to a parish within their diocese, oftentimes without their consultation, and are called to engage with that church to increase the liveliness and faithfulness of its parishioners and encounter others within the surrounding community. While the geographic location of priestly assignments will impact the immediate influence that one can have on a group of people, it is the inherent identity and leadership abilities of the priest that will dictate the trajectory of the lives of people that will proceed them. After being assigned to the Diocese of Rochester, NY in 1937, The Most …

Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

“Why are we the way that we are?” is one of the hardest questions to answer because it requires grasping the origin of human beings. This has left philosophers and theologians in century-long debates on forming a “cosmogony of ontology” (i.e., how the origin of the universe informs the human condition). The concept, “original sin” was developed by a North African theologian named Augustine (354 – 430 CE). Augustine’s reading of Genesis 3, and inaccurate translation of Romans 5:12, taught that a person is born morally culpable for a fault antecedent to their existence. This way of thinking about the …

The Life Of The Theological And Theoretical Leader, Teryl Baker

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

How The Lukan Beatitudes Must Form A Christian Leader's Values In A Capitalistic Culture, Jeff Gossman

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

This article examines the general terminal and instrumental values of Christian leaders and the values of capitalism and capitalistic culture. Using the socio-rhetorical method, this article analyzes the Lukan Beatitudes (Luke 6:20–26). The study pays close attention to social and cultural textures in Luke’s Gospel to make sense of the extreme propositions in Luke 6:20–26. The social and cultural textures of limited good worldview, apocalyptic ideology, and sect typologies illuminate multiple values that should inform Christian leaders. The remainder of the article evaluates the Christian values of the Lukan Beatitudes in conversation with a capitalistic culture’s values. The study reveals …

Predictors Of Trust Between The Southern Baptist Pastor And Congregation, Jared Thompson

Dissertations

Trust is at a low point in American life regarding institutions in general but particularly the church. This study examined the relationship between a Southern Baptist pastor and the congregants that he serves. Specifically, a model was proposed in which perceived consistency between words and actions, perceived warmth, and perceived competence predict trust in the pastor from the congregation. To test this model, a quantitative study with a survey design was performed. A survey was created using a combination of instruments for authentic leadership, behavioral integrity, competence, warmth, and trust. The survey was distributed through digital mediums to Southern Baptist …

Toward A Biblical And Missiological Framework For Transformational Advocacy In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Michelet William

Dissertations

Problem

Adventists have been inconsistent in dealing with inequality and injustice in society, swaying between silence, accommodation, positional statements, and direct advocacy approaches. Although advocacy has become more prominent among Adventist thinkers since the end of the twentieth century, there is a lack of empirical data which answer questions related to contemporary Adventists' beliefs and practices in relation to advocacy in the context of mission. Concomitantly, there does not yet exist a documented or articulated Adventist missiological perspective on advocacy.

Research Questions

(1) What part, if any, has biblically-based social advocacy played in Adventist mission history? and (2) What do …

Organizing (Eternal) Identity And Identification: An Upward Glance Into Religious Institutions, Casey M. Stratton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation disrupts at least two religious spaces: First, scholars religiously adhering to (social) scientific norms, and second, people identifying with religious organizations (i.e., churches). First, we begin constructing a theoretical lens using poststructural ideas offered by Foucault, Derrida, and Bakhtin to read and disrupt (religious) discourse. Second, we complicate organizational identification as a concept, deeming it fixed and fluid—a paradox within religious discourses that endorse Truth and Perfection. Here, we draw from the communication constitutes organization (CCO) approach. Third, we further curate the lens by applying poststructuralism, identification, and CCO in a specific context: The Church of Jesus Christ …

Divine Democracy: Examining The Intersection Of Religion And Politics In Civil Religion, José Andrés Serrano

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This thesis seeks to build upon and provide a new interpretation of civil religion in the United States. In it, the history of civil religion from the 1960s, starting with Bellah, to the 2010s will be analyzed for any themes still used in the 2020s. Similarly, understanding what a religion is within this time frame will be broken apart and examined to see how it paralleled the evolution of political understanding. Building upon its history, the paper will break into four prominent chapters: Is American Democracy Like a Civil Religion?, Religious Characteristics in the American Government, American Democracy as a …

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Adventist Development And Relief Agency In The Conditions Of War In Ukraine, Valentyna Kuryliak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study presents two positions of Ukrainian Adventists in relation to volunteer work in the conditions of war. The first position is professional, which involves the provision of charitable assistance to people from the Adventist Relief and Development Agency in Ukraine. Such charitable assistance is based on the principle of charity and is aimed solely at providing the necessary assistance to victims. The second position is to also assist the affected members of the Seventh-day Adventist Churches, as people who do not have professional volunteer training. With the second category of helping Adventists, a number of controversial issues tend to …

Russia’S False Claims To Holiness And Spiritual Superiority, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Among the many reasons given by President Putin and Patriarch Kirill, the secular and spiritual heads of the Russian Federation, for waging a totally unnecessary yet exceedingly cruel war against Ukraine is that Ukraine is allegedly a front for the corrupt and voracious West which aims to partition Russia. These two and their retinue claim that their synthesis of holiness and moral superiority is destined to cleanse the world of decadence.

Representation Of Religious Minorities In Lithuanian Confessional Education, Iveta Klimavičiūtė

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article analyzes the situation of religious minorities in a Christian dominated sociopolitical environment in Lithuania through the confessional religious education (RE) system. Representation of religious minorities based on confessional model thus raises questions on majority and minority religions’ coexistence, whilst the latter neither legally, nor normatively experience such linkage with the State as majorified religion does. The empirical part of the study, based on content analysis of curricula and teaching aids, reveals that although tolerance of other religions is mentioned, there is also a visible hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church, and of Christianity in general. Non-traditional religious communities …

Iron Curtain Of Fear: Theological Interpretations Of Data About Attitudes Of Christians Towards Refugees From Surveys In Central Europe, Michal Opatrný, Paul Michael Zulehner, Jozef Žuffa

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study aims to combine the data from three different but mutually inspired surveys of theologians about attitudes and feelings of Christians towards the so-called refugee crisis in Europe in 2015. The study combines the data from surveys in German speaking countries and from Czechia and Slovakia and focuses on attitudes (defense, skepticism, welcome) and feelings (angry, worry, hope). Topics like authoritarianism or attending Sunday services show the connections between practicing of Christian faith and readiness to receive or reject refugees. In the second part the study offers an interpretation of the results from the combining of the data for …

Analysis Of The Contributions To The Statement On The War In Ukraine Of The World Council Of Churches 2022, Kia Peränen

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This essay is structured around a review and analysis of the statement "War in Ukraine, Peace and Justice in the European Region" discussed at the 11th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2022 in Business Session 6. The material for the essay will include both the written statement and the related discussion that took place at the discussion on the topic. My intention is to draw on both the statement and the discussion to highlight strong and useful points, but also to try to bring to the surface the weaker or somewhat flawed arguments …

"Terrorist Design" Of The Russian Federation In The Destruction Of Churches In Ukraine From 2014 To 2023, Valeriy Bulatov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article highlights issues related to the justification by the Russian Federation for the destruction of places of worship on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the war in 2014. The ongoing war in Ukraine, which began with the annexation of eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014, has continued with a full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. The proclamation by the President of Russia, Putin, regarding "Russian freedom" was presented in its entirety in the destruction of the civilian population of Ukraine, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women, which is being carried out to this day …

Fooling The West: Top-Secret Work Of The Kgb Manipulating Protestants Of The Ussr Regarding Religions Outside The Ussr, 1954-1957, Oleksandr Korotaiev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article presents the issue of the use of the Protestant clergy by the Soviet special services in matters of intelligence and counterintelligence work abroad and among the Baptist World Alliance delegations that visited the USSR in the 1950s. The article contains the names of KGB agents and their secret pseudonyms and describes for the first time the specific areas of their intelligence work, which they conducted under religious cover in the interests of the KGB, the Soviet regime abroad, and in the USSR. The article also publishes excerpts from a top-secret KGB document (“Measures to strengthen the intelligence and …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Beliefs Related To Gender Equality In The Church Of Christ, Timothy J. Priestley

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, American Christian churches, including the Church of Christ, have grappled with the role of women in their congregations. As women have gained legal rights, expanded social roles, and access to leadership, certain churches, including the Church of Christ, have lagged in adapting to these changes. This study aims to understand the organizational change process within these churches, exploring why belief systems can be slow to change and how some congregations have successfully transitioned from a complementarian to an egalitarian stance related to women's leadership roles. The research employs a contextual lens, considering how human psychology influences beliefs …

Grasping Love : How Relationships Help Us Know God, Dennis Gregory Mcelyea

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lusting After God : Sexual Struggle As A Catalyst For Spiritual Intimacy And Healing, David L. Janvier

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Human Interaction With The Divine, The Sacred, And The Deceased: Topics That Warrant Increased Attention By Psychologists, Thomas G. Plante, Gary E. Schwartz, Julie J. Exline, Crystal L. Park, Raymond F. Paloutzian, Rüdiger J. Seitz, Hans-Ferdinand Angel

Psychology

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus many rituals and activities around prayer to an entity deemed divine or sacred. Additionally, many people–religious, agnostic, and atheists alike–report communication with their departed loved ones. During highly stressful times associated with natural disasters, war, pandemics, and other threats to human life, the frequency and intensity of …

Evaluating Church Hurt In The Black Church, Sheriyse Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Black Church has been a significant source of support for many African Americans and has served as a protective factor while meeting religious and spiritual needs. However, some studies have suggested that the Black Church can also be a source of trauma, betrayal, and abuse for some African Americans. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects between emotional manipulation, gender discrimination, spiritual bullying, and spiritual neglect on outcomes associated with church hurt and understand occurrences of church hurt using betrayal trauma theory. A nonexperimental, quantitative, correlational research design was used evaluate data from 155 African …

Correlates Of Christian Religious Identification And Deidentification Among Sexual And Gender Minorities: A U.S. Probability Sample, G. Tyler Lefevor, Lauren J. A. Bouton, Edward B. Davis, Samuel J. Skidmore, Ilan H. Meyer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Using a U.S. nationally representative sample of 1,529 sexual and gender minorities (SGMs), we examined the demographic and developmental correlates of Christian religious deidentification. We found that SGMs who were older, Black, cisgender men, and/or lived in the American South were more likely to identify as Christian in adulthood, relative to other SGMs. Those who were never Christian reported being more out to family and friends at earlier ages than those who were raised Christian. SGMs who were raised Christian, but did not identify as Christian in adulthood reported, more adverse childhood experiences and bullying than other SGMs. Sexual minorities …