History of Religion Commons^™

Sacred Loss And Moral Authority: Religious Leadership And Identity Reconstruction In Post-Conflict Societies, Kimberly C. Kennedy

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

This paper examines how religious leaders shape narratives of identity formation and reconciliation in post-civil conflict societies where violence, defeat, or political transition produces moral injury and crises of meaning. By drawing on themes of justice, forgiveness, and accountability, religious leadership can wield moral authority to influence public perception, guide healing processes, and support transitions from active conflict to more stable forms of peace. The paper explores how religious leaders reframe narratives of defeat, particularly in cases where a community’s cause was endowed with sacred meaning, creating a crisis of faith. It argues that this work is best understood as …

"A Jewish Merchant Who Helped Rescue A Christian Church", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

During the Great Depression, the first United Methodist Church of East Florence, Alabama was at risk of being sold. However, local merchant, Louis B. Rosenbaum aided in the negotiation of the mortgage and ultimately ensured the community retained the church.

From Source And Summit To Parish Practice: A Qualitative Analysis Of Eucharist And Social Outreach, Erik Sorensen S.J.

Journal of Global Catholicism

A small-scale qualitative study in a Catholic parish situated in Ottawa, Canada, offers insights into the complex relationship between that community's worship and its commitment to social justice. This article brings the lived theology of this community into dialogue with the academic and magisterial perspectives on the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life. The dialogue is framed by the Theological Action Research Network's four voices of theology: operant, espoused, formal, and normative. This framework helps to center the marginalized theology of the faithful in the pews. In this case, the parish offered a dynamic theology of welcome …

“Ite Missa Est”: How Can The Altar Alter Attitudes And Actions?, Ebenezer Akesseh

Journal of Global Catholicism

This paper brings into focus the relationship between personal agency and so-

cial structure, demonstrating that what we celebrate on the altar forms within

us the proper dispositions that can help prevent the occurrence of corruption.

The first part examines corruption from a socio-cultural perspective and ex-

plains the incidence and effects of corruption. The second part discusses the

relationship between worship and the formation of actions and attitudes. It

highlights the need to embody the social implications of our celebrations. Using

responses from interviewees, the third part illustrates that the celebration of the

Eucharist shapes the commitments and conduct …

The Lived Liturgical Experience Of Non-Catholic Participants In The Roman Catholic Mass: Tactical Ecumenism In Overlapping Ritual Systems, Sarah Kathleen Johnson

Journal of Global Catholicism

In religiously diverse social contexts, liturgical practices anchored in one reli-

gious tradition often gather diverse communities. In such contexts, it is wise to

assume that people who are not Catholic may be present at any Roman Cath-

olic Mass. This article explores the lived liturgical experience of non-Catholic

Christians who participate routinely in the Roman Catholic Mass through a

mixed-methods study of a religiously diverse treble vocal ensemble that sings

weekly at Mass on a Catholic university campus. It describes how Catholic and

non-Catholic Christian singers interpret practices surrounding the eucharistic

meal in contrasting ways: non-Catholic Christians experience the …

La Santa Muerte And The Characteristic Damage Of Canonization, Ellen Webber

Journal of Global Catholicism

Devotion to La Santa Muerte, a Mexican folk saint who personifies Death, has

been condemned by the Catholic Church for its affiliation with Mexican drug

cartels. This article challenges mainstream interpretations of La Santa Muerte

devotion using the theological framework of characteristic damage, as defined

by Lauren Winner and Paul J. Griffiths. This framework understands liturgy

as celebrated by sinners in a damaged world, and therefore necessarily damaged

itself. As much as liturgy and Christian practice form us for good, they also per-

petuate damage. I argue that the sins present in La Santa Muerte veneration are

an expression of …

Negotiating Plurality: Korean Catholic Funerals As Lived Religion, Jieun Han

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines Korean Catholic funeral rites through the lenses of ritual

guidebooks and lived religion, arguing that Catholic funerary practice in Korea

has emerged through sustained engagement with Confucian and Buddhist tradi-

tions as well as modern nationalism. Focusing on Catholic manuals such as the

Sangjang yesik [Rites for Mourning and Funerals] and related texts, it traces how

officially sanctioned liturgical forms coexist with, accommodate, and reinterpret

indigenous ritual logics surrounding mourning, burial, ancestor veneration, and

care for the dead. Rather than viewing Korean Catholic funerals as a simple

localization of Roman rites, the article conceptualizes them as a …

Editor's Introduction, Brent H. Otto S.J.

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

"A Story Of The Beginning Of Old Brick Presbyterian Church", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

The article provides a general overview of the origins of the Presbyterian denomination and a history of the establishment of local Presbyterian churches in North Alabama.

"The View From Old Lagrange", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

A brief history of LaGrange Mountain and LaGrange College, the precursor to the University of North Alabama.

"State's First Black Church Was Started By Lightfoot", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

TimesDaily article by William Lindsey McDonald about the establishment of the first African American Church in Alabama, Church Spring and eventually the Greater Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, by the Reverend Robin Lightfoot in 1837.

"Lecture - Religions In The Shoals", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

A William McDonald annotated speech outline that details various early religions in the Shoals, Alabama from indigenous religious practitioners to the establishment of the first white and African American congregations. Faiths mentioned include Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Church of Christ, Catholicism, and Judaism.

"When The Methodist Came To Lawrence Hill", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

Speech outline about the Methodist history of Lawrence Hill, a settlement on LaGrange Mountain, in Leighton, Alabama. The location was the former site of the University of North Alabama's predecessor LaGrange College before its relocation to Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama and series of name changes.

Targum Jonathan (Tgj) On Isaiah 6, A Literary-Interpretative Translation, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

[1] The pointed text is from “Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6,” Sefaria Library, accessed August 16, 2026, https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Isaiah.6?lang=bi; the public domain source text on Sefaria is from The Chaldee paraphrase on the prophet Isaiah [by Jonathan b. Uzziel], Trans. Rev. C.W.H. Pauli (London: London Society’s House, 1871), 20–22, https://archive.org/details/chaldeeparaphra00uzzigoog/page/n36/mode/2up. A hyperlinked, alternative public domain version with textual variants is available as “51012: TgJ Is” in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL): Hebrew Union College, accessed August 16, 2026, https://cal.huc.edu/get_a_chapter.php?file=51012&sub=06&cset=H. Researchers can also view a superliner pointed text, see: “51012: TgJ Is,” CAL, accessed August …

Preserving Identity Under Totalitarianism: The Adaptation And Resilience Of Muslim Communities In The Soviet Union, Meltem Akıncı

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the methods employed by Muslim peoples in the former Soviet Union to preserve their traditional, spiritual, and religious identity under the systemic anti-religious policies, ideological pressures, and repressive measures of the Soviet totalitarian regime. Despite the Soviet authorities' efforts to rapidly secularize society and reshape public consciousness through scientific atheism, the enduring commitment of Muslim communities to their traditional values is clearly demonstrated. The study examines the closure of mosques, the restriction of religious rituals, and the severe obstacles encountered in performing daily worship. Furthermore, it thoroughly explores the role of Sufi brotherhoods …

Imperial Pedagogy And Religious Constraint: The Politics Of Islamic Education In The Kazakh Steppe Under Tsarist Rule, Kunduzay Yerimbetova, Bekmurat Naimanbayev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the evolution of the Russian Empire’s educational policies toward Islamic schools in the Kazakh Steppe from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1917 Revolution. While the early imperial administration initially tolerated Islamic institutions for pragmatic governance, the latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed a decisive paradigm shift toward systematic surveillance and restriction. Drawing on archival records and colonial administrative decrees, the study analyzes the implementation of the "Ilminsky system" and the compulsory introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet as tools for cultural assimilation and Russification. The research highlights the dual nature of colonial education: while the Tsarist authorities …

Consciousness Under Dual Pressure: Colonial Diglossia, Orthodox Missionary Activity, And Islamic Cultural Resilience In Late Imperial Kazakhstan, Aigerim Aliaskar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the relationship between religious identity, language, and educational experience in the context of the Russian Empire’s educational and Orthodox missionary policies in the Kazakh Steppe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The primary objective of the study is to analyze the spiritual-cognitive resilience of traditional Islamic educational institutions in response to the policy of Orthodoxization and Russification implemented by the tsarist administration through the system of Nikolai Ilminsky. The author examines the phenomenon of colonial diglossia which emerged during this period, wherein Russian-Christian texts were increasingly elevated as the administrative "High-variant," while the Kazakh-Turkic identity, …

From Humanitarian Aid To “Counterrevolution”: Foreign Assistance To Pentecostals In Soviet Ukraine And Its Criminalization By The Gpu–Nkvd, 1932–1935, Oleksandr Korotaiev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines foreign assistance to Pentecostal communities in the Ukrainian SSR and the mechanisms of its criminalization by Soviet state security agencies in 1932–1935. Drawing on GPU–NKVD criminal investigation files, secret police reports, party-state documentation, personal correspondence, and memoir sources, the study reconstructs transnational channels of humanitarian support, practices of resource distribution, and the transformation of survival strategies into objects of political repression.

Particular attention is devoted to two distinct models of foreign assistance. The Odessa case demonstrates a centralized system connected to the former leadership of the All-Ukrainian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith and transnational Pentecostal networks …

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Awards For Outstanding Papers Written In 2026

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

African or Middle Eastern History

American Indian Studies Indigenous History Award

Bertis L. and Anna E.C. Embry Award in Global Latter-day Saint History

Cultural History Award

De Lamar and Mary Jensen Award in European History

Eugene E. Campbell Award in Utah History

Family History Award

Fred R. Gowans Award in 19th Century American West History

Faith and Reason Paper Competition

History of Empire Award

History of the Family Award

Latin American History Award

Latino/Latina History Award

Leroy R. Hafen Award in North American History

Mark R. Grandstaff Award in Military History

Sechin Jagchid Award in Non-Western History

Women’s History Award …