Sociology of Religion Commons^™

Why The Covenant Worked: On The Institutional Foundations Of The American Civil Religion, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Scholars of American civil religion (ACR) have paid insufficient attention to the micro-level processes through which civil religious ideas have historically influenced beliefs and behavior. We know little about what makes such appeals meaningful to average Americans (assuming they are meaningful); nor do we know much about the mechanisms through which abstract religious themes and imagery come to be associated with specific policy aims, or what Robert Bellah called “national goals.” This article argues that a renewed focus on the relationship between civil religion and organized religion can help fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, I draw attention …

Social Support And Fundamentalism: Predictors Of Religious Internalization, David Sherman, Karl G. D. Bailey

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

We analyzed the relationships between religious internalization and social support, religious fundamentalism, and motivation for Divine and human relationships. 306 respondents from a religiously-affiliated university were recruited to completed an online survey. Our results suggested Divine relationships were most related to identification while fundamentalism was most related to introjection.

Supernatural Pilgrims: A Journey To A New Apostolic Reformation Congregation In The Ozarks, Samuel Wayne Gingerich

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Birthed out of the revival events of the 1990s, the New Apostolic Reformation is known for its charismatic leaders and provocative theology. As an emerging third wave Pentecostal movement, the New Apostolic Reformation is redefining the edifices of American Pentecostalism. While academics and journalists are currently focused on exposing the influence of some of its leaders such as C. Peter Wagner, Bill Johnson, Randy Clark, and Heidi Baker, there is little scholarship regarding the congregations and communities of believers who find themselves a part of this dynamic movement. This thesis takes a step towards understanding the larger story of the …

The Adventist Home: Networks Of Personal And Family Religious Practices, Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. Mcbride

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

A network analysis of personal and family religious media use identifies Bible reading as a core religious practice. Nodes representing reading Ellen White’s and other religious authors’ writings occupy a position between infrequently-accessed religious media and core practices; reading these authors points Adventists to the ‘greater light’ of the Bible.

Nurture And Church Member Well-Being In A Global Seventh-Day Adventist Sample, Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. Mcbride

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

We report a two-factor model of effective and failed nurture in the church—encouragement for wholeheartedness, efficacy in ministry, and belonging. Effective nurture explained a small amount of variance in well-being beyond controls including religious affiliation and behaviors, while failure to nurture explained substantial variance in religious stress and struggle.

The Pursuit Of Salvation, Krystal Joy Ragasa

Service-Learning | Student Scholarship

“Never waste your food,” my parents recited again at the dinner table. They continued, “If we had this much food growing up in the Philippines, we’d be so blessed. Please don’t take it for granted.” Throughout my childhood, nearly every family meal consisted of this conversation. My parents seized every opportunity to remind me of their early impoverished life in the Philippines. Their stories increasingly strengthened my gratitude for the life my brother and I were born into. Having back aches from stiff bamboo beds, depending on conveniently-priced junk food as nutrition, and rationing small portions among large families—these circumstances …

Addressing Homelessness Through Religion, Brian Nguyen

Service-Learning | Student Scholarship

Every time I pass by a man in the street holding up a piece of cardboard saying “Homeless, Will Work for Food”, a little girl standing next to her mother by the side of the road begging for money, or families sleeping in tents underneath bridges on vacant industrial property or by shopping malls, it makes me question why the US is able to spend billions to help poor countries in the world but hasn't solved its own problems. Reading Forbes magazine that ranked the 100 largest US charities in 2018, I am surprised to see many US charities such …

Editors' Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau, Kate Deconinck

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Bailey's "Race And Redemption In Puritan New England" (Critical Book Review), Jill D. Botticelli

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Religiosity, Parental Support, And Formal Volunteering Among Teenagers, Isaac Paintsil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few countries can boast of having the culture of formal volunteering seen in the United States. In explaining this phenomenon, many empirical studies have found religiosity significant in predicting behaviors among young adults, adults, and the elderly. However, teens (13 – 17 years) have not attracted much attention from researchers, though they possess the time and resources most needed to volunteer. Using data from the National Study on Youth and Religion (NSYR) Wave 1, this study examines the relationship between formal volunteering and teens’ individual (religious salience and religious experience) and collective religiosity (religious tradition, church attendance, and religious youth …

Queerness, Witchcraft, And Embodied Presence: Aesthetic Knowings Of What A Body Can Do, Megan Bigelow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Taking as a point of entry the critique of representation and affirming the limitations of the cuts that language makes, this capstone project explores the imbrications and assemblages between Foucault’s concept of subjugated knowledges, witchcraft and other body-based ways of knowing and being, and the consciousness of non-human forms such as plants and through the framework of non-representational theory, process philosophies, aesthetics, queerness, and the concept of difference itself.

Since such theories themselves are living, breathing entities, this capstone project explores the ideological split that has occurred between sacred and secular beliefs, moving through different figures such as nuns and …

Once Upon A Time...When A Revolution Evolved To A Civil War In Syria, Crystal M. Myers

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

This paper gives an overview of how the conflict in Syria has evolved from a revolution into a sectarian civil war. Power is maintained by the ruling Assad family through promotion of the Alawite minority within the government and military. Methods of persecution on the Sunni majority by the Assad government are discussed as well as a policy of strategic expulsion of the Sunni enclave to Idlib, a city on the outskirts of Syria (bordering Turkey).

Three Keys For Radical Activists, Aurora Castaneda

Culture, Society, and Praxis

No abstract provided.

Being A Prison Chaplain In A Godless Country: An Exploration Of The Czech Correctional Chaplaincy, Andrea Beláňová, Tereza Trejbalova, Bridget Kelley

Graduate Research Symposium (2018 - present)

Prison chaplaincy, along with religiosity in the criminal justice system, are widely researched in the US (e.g.,Maruna, Wilson, & Curran, 2006; Sundt & Cullen, 1998). The Czech Republic remains one of the most secular countries in the world; about 72% of the population does not identify with any religion or church (Pew Research Center, 2017). The religious landscape in the country lead to prison chaplains being a largely unexplored population, existing in the tension between a total institution and their church. Due to the lack of research concerning this population in the Czech republic, this study aims to examine the …

Engaging Sacred Space And Experiencing God In The Mountains: A Study Of The Non-Traditional Worship Environment Of Mountain Cathedrals, An Ecumenical Meetup Group Based In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brendan Isaiah Nixon

Geography ETDs

This paper focuses on the non-traditional Christian worship site of Mountain Cathedrals in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I argue that affectual and emotional responses are elicited from the congregants of Mountain Cathedrals through the process of sacralization. It is shown that Christian worship in a non-traditional outdoor setting affects the ways in which the congregants engage with, participate in, and create sacred space. I survey current literatures of sacred space, the contemporary Christian church, and non-traditional worships spaces. Using the literature as a backdrop, I utilize Mountain Cathedrals as a case study for understanding the ways in which sacred space is …

Evangelicalism And Peace And Conflict Studies: A Wheaton College Case Study, Sophia Bouwsma

Capstone Collection

Evangelicalism and peace and conflict studies are both salient topics in addressing current religious and political dynamics in the United States. Amid the realities and myths surrounding these topics, there are many complementarities and tensions between evangelicalism and peace and conflict studies, both real and perceived. One of evangelicalism’s most prominent academic institutions, Wheaton College, recently established a Peace and Conflict Studies Program, placing this program at the center of an unexpected relationship between peace and conflict studies and evangelicalism. This study examines the views of students in Wheaton’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program to explore how they see the …

Assessing The Personal Needs And Professional Issues That Hinder Credentialed Women In The Ohio Ministry Network: Egalitarianism And The Image Of God, Deedra Ann Shilliday

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

The purpose of this study was to discover if some local Assemblies of God (A/G) church practices differed from the denominational egalitarian theology. Credentialed women from the Ohio Ministry Network (OMN), a district of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, were surveyed. According to the survey results, time management, representation at OMN events, ministry connections, and exclusion from the leadership pipeline are the greatest challenges for credentialed women. The goal of promoting awareness of the personal needs and professional issues of credentialed women was actualized by integrating the literature review of imago Dei theology with an Ohio School …

"It Is Our Own Thing": The Expression Of And Limits To Enculturation At St. Joseph's Anglophone Parish, Kayleigh Kaminski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Down a small side street in the heart of Yaoundé, Cameroon, St. Joseph’s Anglophone Parish houses worshippers from the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country. Its members bring their cultural traditions to the church in the process of enculturation, and mass is filled with clergy-sanctioned elements of traditional culture, but beyond its walls, people still carry out the traditional practices that are deemed as “non-Christian” by the Church. This study seeks to examine the ways that traditional culture manifests itself both inside and outside St. Joseph’s Anglophone Parish, exploring the ways in which tradition is translated in the church …

A Study Of Stambeli In Digital Media, Nneka Mogbo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper explores stambeli, a traditional spiritual music in Tunisia, by understanding its musical and spiritual components then identifying ways it is presented in digital media. Stambeli is shaped by pre-Islamic West African animist beliefs, spiritual healing and trances. The genre arrived in Tunisia when sub-Saharan Africans arrived in the north through slavery, migration or trade from present-day countries like Mauritania, Mali and Chad. Today, it is a geographic and cultural intersection of sub-Saharan, North and West African influences.

Problematic Sexual Behavior And Religion Among Adult Jewish Males: An Initial Study, David H. Rosmarin, Steven Pirutinsky

Graduate School of Social Work Publications and Research

A growing body of research has tied religion to problematic sexual behavior in both positive and negative ways. On the one hand, religious belief and engagement buffer against incidence and severity of problematic sexual behavior, but on the other hand religiously affiliated individuals who engage in such behavior tend to experience spiritual struggles (negative religious coping) and poor psychosocial outcomes. No published empirical studies have examined these variables among adult Jewish males. In the present study, 94 adult Jewish males completed measures of religious belief/ practice, positive religious coping, spiritual struggles, and problematic sexual behavior. General and positive aspects of …

Unity And Diversity: How A Bilingual-Multicultural Congregation Reflects The Nature Of The Trinity In Unity And Diversity, Albert W. Triolo

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project used the lenses of adaptive change, transculturation, church size theory, love the stranger, led by the Spirit, unity and diversity in God’s family, imago Trinitatis, and missio Dei to study how action research interventions might affect a culturally diverse congregation. It was found that understanding culture is complicated, homogeneous units typically stay apart but do come together, crossing boundaries of homogeneity is difficult, ongoing education helps for transculturation, transculturation comes mostly through conversation, and people can experience Trinitarian equality through transculturation. In short, the Common Culture of a Community is Cultivated in its Context through Conversation and Communion.

Risen With Healing In Her Wings: An Ecclesiological Ethnography Of Three Young Congregations In St. Paul, Minnesota, Catrina Louise Ciccone

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This dissertation assumes that death and resurrection is the rhythm of life for all disciples of Jesus Christ, and that this baptismal pattern of dying in Christ and being raised to new life in Christ plays itself out in many penultimate iterations across our lives until our ultimate Death and Resurrection. As such, living in a cultural climate in which the white North American Christendom Church is captive to an ecclesiology of death, fixated upon and anxious about its imminent demise, this dissertation seeks to provide a counter-narrative: an ecclesiology of the resurrection occurring in this new missional era, a …

Sr. Ethel: On The Marriage Tribunal, Carter Pease

Ask a Sister: Interview Wisdom from Catholic Women Religious

I interviewed Sr. Ethel in January of 2019 regarding her life experiences as a woman religious. This paper includes a portion of the interview where she spoke about her work on a marriage tribunal as one of the most significant jobs in her time as a sister.

Kata Ostojic, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

Janja Majstorovic, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

Oneness In Everyday Life: Nonduality, Wholeness And Human Life After Awakening, Gibbons, Tom

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

In Advaita Vedanta a distinction is made between an experience of oneness and permanent awakening. The author argues that a nondual philosophy such as Advaita - as opposed to a direct experience of oneness – contains significant theoretical difficulties, which in turn are reflected in problems with actualizing nonduality in everyday human life. Alternative spiritual conceptions that might be more helpful in guiding the nondual aspirant in her spiritual life are examined, including the concept of “wholeness.” In the place of a reliance on an exclusive doctrine of nonduality, Jorge Ferrar’s concept of “Participatory Spirituality” and A. H. Almaas’s idea …

Categorical Modelling Of Conscious States, Baruss, Imants

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

In the last several decades, there has been an explosion of research concerning consciousness with some efforts at mathematical modelling. The purpose of this paper is to model conscious states using categorical constructions. In particular, this modelling captures temporality, the intentional structure of consciousness, and meaning fields, which provide the templates for occurrent events. The architecture of conscious states naturally lends itself to applications of category theory, more specifically to sheaf-like constructions in which the stacks over a site are topoi whose germs are the objects of the topoi. Each topos represents the potential experiential content of an individual where …

Psychotherapy In The Dream: A Phenomenological Exploration, Bustos, Nick

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Post-materialist ontologies offer a transformed worldview whose implications point toward the illusory nature of the separate self, or ego. Aligned with the literature of mysticism and perennialist spiritual models, this portends a significantly altered backdrop for the practice and discipline of psychotherapy, the underlying premises of which assume a strict existential dichotomy between patient and therapist. Kenneth Wapnick, preeminent scholar of the twentieth-century spiritual document of A Course in Miracles, provides a relevant model toward integrating spiritually-based, ego-negative states within psychotherapy practice. The author studied the lived experiences of eight psychotherapists, both practicing and retired, who practice according to this …

Ecopedagogy: Learning How To Participate In Ecological Consciousness, Peterson, Eric

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

This paper is the result of an inquiry into ecological consciousness through a participatory paradigm. The dialectical relationship between institutionalized education and consciousness is central to this inquiry’s focus. This exploration into ecological consciousness has lead to the following question: How can institutionalized education be designed, delivered, and experienced in a way that nurtures ecological intelligence, ecological consciousness, and more importantly, ecological activism? The ‘sense of self ‘is a central theme within the paper, and led to the conception of intraearthal and interearthal relationships as a way of communicating our need to identify as being in Earth. The author utilizes …

Jagoda Duvnjak & Ana Komso, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.