Spelling suggestions: "subject:"biblical studies|heology"" "subject:"biblical studies|mtheology""
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Sowing stories deep in the soul| Transformative biblical storytelling ministry with adolescent young womenJohnson, Joyce Elaine Gill 25 March 2016 (has links)
<p> "Sowing Stories Deep in the Soul" is a creative, interactive workshop model focused on "Transformative Biblical Storytelling Ministry with Adolescent Young Women" to meet the need for this course within the Congress of Christian Education of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist State Convention of Indiana. Adolescent young women and leaders participate in the study of Scripture as ancient stories within an oral/aural media experience and performance paradigm to elicit positive impact. Qualitative research findings show a relationship between internalizing stories, applying them personally, performing them by heart, and the impact of transformative spiritual formation for adolescent young women.</p>
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Royal priesthood| The new exodus framework of 1 Peter 1|1--2|10Chamy, F. A. 16 December 2016 (has links)
<p> Peter presents a new exodus framework by inserting throughout the letter quotations and allusions to the OT that reference to the exodus narrative or its theological and eschatological interpretations in Isaiah and selected psalms. Most of these allusions are in key programmatic passages of 1 Peter. Through a redemptive-historical reading of 1 Peter, this thesis seeks to understand Peter's background and motifs. This study carefully examines the structure of 1 Pet 1:1–2:10 and the function of the OT allusions in their literary context. After analyzing the OT references, this work follows their development in salvation history, beginning in the exodus narratives and then through the Prophets and the Psalms. Finally, we see how the author of 1 Peter applies the Christological fulfillment of such allusions, and what are the eschatological implications for Peter’s readers as the new covenant church.</p>
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Understanding and Qur'anic revelation| The dynamic hermeneutic of Irfan A. KhanAzmat, Tanveer 28 January 2017 (has links)
<p> The dissertation explores the Qur’anic hermeneutics of Irfan A. Khan (b. 1931), a significant contemporary scholar of the Qur’an and modern western philosophy. It demonstrates that Khan’s Qur’anic hermeneutic is a paradigm shift as compared to classical Qur’anic hermeneutic and provides a substantive theory and methodology of Qur’anic interpretation. </p><p> For Khan, Qur’anic God is perpetually active in new creation and new guidance. Since the sum total of all current existences is new creation, therefore it requires fresh guidance. Therefore, Khan considers the Qur’an a primary guide for us, as if it were just revealed. Khan proposes that readers should exert themselves directly to understand the Qur’an with their own mind, developing a personal relationship with it. The readers must keep the Sunnah of the Prophet in front of them. The Prophet and his Companions read the Qur’an in their existing socio-historic situation, purified themselves, and changed their socio-historic reality. The current readers should also follow the Sunnah in this sense. Finally, for guidance Qur’anic God has been systematically guiding humankind through prophets. After the Prophet Muhammad we are in post-prophetic stage. Thus, the Prophetic Movement changed into the Qur’anic Movement. Therefore, the responsibility of interpretation rests squarely upon humankind in the absence of any prophet. </p><p> Philosophically speaking humankind’s understanding is limited by its epistemic system. The lower bound of our epistemic system is apprehending Reality, but we always fail to apprehend it as an organic whole. The upper limit of our epistemic system is what we can think. Understanding happens between these two bounds. When we understand texts we convert textual symbols into images, manipulate the images, and get insights about the world of the text in front of us. However, it is only when we act upon it that we find the truth of our textual insights. Since our epistemic capacities keep on increasing due to advances in science, technology and the arts, it is possible to understand the same text in a deeper way in future. Thus, Qur’anic understanding is a continuous process that requires its new concretization in each historic epoch.</p>
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Sight in the tempest| Suffering as participation with Christ in the Pauline corpusDavey, Wesley Thomas 06 December 2016 (has links)
<p> The letters of Paul testify to the prominent role that suffering played not only in the life of the apostle, but also in the lives of the communities to which he wrote. Startlingly, Paul does not express either surprise or frustration at suffering’s presence, but instead identifies it as an essential feature of Christian existence: suffering (in some way) derives from union with Christ, and thereby shares in Christ’s own suffering. Although the concept of “suffering as participation with Christ” (SPC) has received some attention within contemporary scholarship, I argue that the conversation would be enriched by the addition of a project that offers detailed readings of key moments in which SPC appears in Paul’s writings, that accepts all the letters in the Pauline canon as equally valid witnesses to “Paul’s thought,” and that uses the findings generated by this exegetical-canonical reading strategy to produce a Pauline “theology” of SPC. The thesis of the dissertation is that (the canonical) Paul’s theology of suffering—read from the tripartite perspective of exegesis, canon, and theology—builds on three foundational convictions (i.e., Christology, eschatology, and cosmology) out of which four correlative commitments emerge (i.e., suffering as salvation’s “prerequisite,” Christ’s suffering as democratize-able, all Christian suffering as participation in Christ’s suffering, and suffering as the site of a profound experience of the love of God in Christ). (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>
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The oath of God in HebrewsBlythe, Jimmy G., Jr. 02 December 2016 (has links)
<p> The author of Hebrews is concerned that the persecution of a spiritually immature and discouraged Christian community may cause them to relinquish their mission and lose certain rewards inherent to obedience. He argues that God swears an oath in Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 in order to assure his people of the certainty of his promises (Heb. 6:13–20). He demonstrates that specific elements of the divine oath have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, guaranteeing the eventual consummation of the inaugurated promises of this oath and providing certain benefits that enable Christians to fulfill their divinely appointed mission. These embattled saints can endure attacks from their enemies because Jesus Christ is the anointed king who will utterly defeat his enemies, and he is the promised priest after the order of Melchizedek who grants direct access to his heavenly throne for the power to persevere faithfully in the last days. Therefore, the thesis is that the author of Hebrews views Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 as oaths of God, reassures his audience by proving that God is bringing to completion all the elements of his oaths, and encourages them to take advantage of the benefits provided by God’s oaths.</p>
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The impact of technology and consumerism on sermon delivery methodologyChandler, Michael J. 07 December 2016 (has links)
<p> The project director conducted the current project to improve his sermon delivery practices and skill level, better equipping him to combat the consequences of exposure to technology and consumerism in his congregation. He researched the impact of technology and consumerism on the ability of his listeners to absorb and retain sermon content. Once he identified consequences of exposure to technology and consumerism, the director researched which sermon delivery characteristics or mechanics he could use to abate such consequences. The director then implemented a sermon delivery methodology in his preaching to abate such consequences by consistently employing the identified characteristics and mechanics. He measured the effect of the delivery methodology on his listeners’ cognition through the use of a pre-test and post-test, administered to project participants. Surveys contained statements related to each participant’s ability to understand and remember the content of the director’s sermon in relation to various delivery characteristics and mechanics. Subjects responded to statements on a scale using strongly agree, agree, not sure, disagree, and strongly disagree. Comparative analysis of survey results before and after project implementation revealed that consistent use of the identified delivery characteristics improved his listeners’ ability absorb and retain sermon content.</p>
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Measuring Christian-voodoo syncretism in some Haitian Christian churches in the north of HaitiPaul, Vilmer 24 November 2016 (has links)
<p> This study created a method for measuring the presence of Christian-voodoo syncretism in three Protestant denominations in the north of Haiti. Estimates of voodoo practice among Christians have ranged from 50% to 75%, a;though it is unclear how these percentages were derived. The researcher created a Voodoo-Protestant Scale (VPS), which tests for the presence of fourteen Christian-voodoo syncretistic practices and fifteen Christian-voodoo syncretistic beliefs. The VPS was written and administered in Creole, but the study contains an English translation. A scoring system for the VPS is also explained in Chapter Three, in which four points are counted for "strongly agree" and two points are counted for "agree" responses to <i>syncretistic practice</i> questions (PQs), and two points are counted for "strongly agree" responses and one point is counted for "agree" responses to <i>syncretistic belief </i> questions (BQs). Zero points were counted for "neutral," "disagree" or "strongly disagree." The VPS therefore had scores that ranged from zero to 88. The VPS allowed the researcher to make determinations about the extent of syncretism within the population (the percentage of the participants) as well as the depth of syncretism for each participant (the VPS score itself). The VPS was administered to 218 individuals who attended churches in the Church of God, Baptist, and Evangelical denominations in four urban areas (Milot, Plaine du Nord, Cap-Haitian Petite-Anse and Vaudreuil) and in three rural areas (Grand Bassin, La Jeune, and Maliarette). First, with respect to extent, the researcher discovered that 212 of 218 participants evidenced some syncretism of some kind (97%)—only 6 of 218 showed no trace of Christian-voodoo syncretism. Second, with respect to depth, the researcher discovered that 84 of 218 (39%) evidenced low syncretism (VPS scores from 1-14), 94 of 218 (43%) evidenced intermediate-level syncretism (VPS scores from 15–30), 25 of 218 (11%) evidenced high syncretism (VPS scores from 31–48), and 9 of 218 (4%) evidenced super-high levels (VPS scores from 50–88). Thus, these results offer a more nuanced picture of Christian-voodoo syncretism in Haiti. The study concludes with recommendations for church leaders.</p>
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The backgrounds and meaning of the image of the beast in Rev 13|14, 15Liu, Rebekah Yi 29 November 2016 (has links)
<p> Problem: This dissertation investigates the first century Greco-Roman cultural backgrounds and the literary context of the motif of the image of the beast in Rev 13:14, 15, in order to answer the problem of the author’s intended meaning of the image of the beast to his first century Greco-Roman readers. Method: There are six steps necessary to accomplish the task of this dissertation. These steps are taken in the form of the exegetical studies which are done in six chapters, respectively. Following the introductory chapter, the second chapter is a brief history of the historical interpretations of the image of the beast in Rev 13:14, 15, starting with the interpretations from scholars of the first three centuries and continuing on to the present. This historical survey in Chapter 2 demonstrates that an in depth exegetical study of the image of the beast is much needed. Chapters 3-6 were an attempt to make up for this deficiency by providing an exegetical study of the image of the beast motif in its original cultural and literary context of the book of Revelation. Chapter 3 is a study of the image-of-the-beast motif within its immediate context of Revelation 13. Chapters 4-6 provide a study of the image-of-the-beast motif in the latter half of Revelation, i.e., Revelation 14-20, with Chapters 4-5 studying the image-of-the-beast motif in the chapters (Revelation 14-16, 19, and 20) in which this term occurs, and Chapter 6 studying this motif in the chapters (Revelation 17, 18) in which this term is absent. Conclusion: As I have come to see it, the narrative of Rev 13:14, 15 depicts the attempt of an unholy trinity to counteract God’s goal for the plan of salvation, i.e., the restoration of Imago Dei in human beings in the last days by creating the image of the beast on Earth. The image of the beast is an end time entity, comprised of a community of people who reflect the character of the dragon, and has the three-fold religious-economic-political power to impose false worship on Earth. The image of the beast is best identified with the end time Babylon the Great of chapters 17-18.</p>
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A Researched Understanding of the Theology of Congregational Worship in the Bayside Church of Christ, Virginia Beach, VirginiaLucas, Michael T. 27 March 2019 (has links)
<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to answer the question, “What is the theological understanding of congregational worship in the Bayside Church of Christ, Virginia Beach, Virginia?” The Bayside Church of Christ, Virginia Beach, VA is an independent, middle-size church which is conservative in matters of theology, doctrine, and cultural worldview. The church has experienced healthy membership growth in demographic, racial, and ethnic integration, but faces potential challenges in sustaining congregational worship that reflects its diversity. It was the researcher’s concern that the issue was due to the absence of an identifiable, articulated, and implemented theology of congregational worship in the context of the church’s changing demographics. The church needed to understand and adapt to its evolving membership diversity so that greater participation, vitality, and mutuality in its congregational worship would be ensured. </p><p> The goal of the ministry project detailed herein was to identify the theology of congregational worship in the Bayside Church of Christ and assess whether authentic participation, vitality, and mutuality reflective of the church’s diverse membership exist. It was believed that the church would benefit from a theological understanding and evaluation of its congregational worship in light of the church’s diverse nature. The ministry project investigated and assessed the worship beliefs, experiences, and perceptions of the members. Formalized instruction was also offered on the role of diversity, inclusion, and vitality in congregational worship. </p><p> The ministry project concluded that a study of congregational worship in the Bayside Church of Christ led to greater awareness of the existing worship theology being shaped by the congregation’s changing ethnicity and demographic makeup. It is believed that increased understanding can in turn increase participation, mutuality, and spiritual growth for the membership. This work is offered in the hopes that the Bayside Church of Christ along with other researchers, church leadership boards, and congregations will benefit from the effort to understand and improve congregational worship in Churches of Christ that possess ethnic, racial, and demographic diversity.</p><p>
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The priesthood of all believers and the missio Dei| A canonical, catholic, and contextual perspectiveVoss, Henry J. 26 April 2014 (has links)
<p> Recent writers on the priesthood of all believers have challenged the doctrine’s biblical warrant, historical pedigree, and value for contemporary ecclesiology. This dissertation responds to these challenges in three ways. It first identifies the priesthood of all believers as a canonical doctrine based upon the royal priesthood of Christ and closely related to the believer’s eschatological temple-service and offering of spiritual sacrifices (Chs. 1–3). It secondly describes its catholic development by examining three paradigmatic shifts, shifts especially associated with Christendom (Chs. 4–6) and a suppression of the doctrine’s missional component. Finally, the dissertation argues that a Christian doctrine of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a Christocentric-Trinitarian understanding of the <i> missio Dei</i>. This suggests there are especially appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father (<i>latreia</i>), to the Son (<i>diakonia</i>), and to the Holy Spirit (<i>martyria </i>). A canonically and catholically informed priesthood of all believers leads contextually to particular ecclesial practices. These seven practices are 1) Baptism as public ordination to the royal priesthood; 2) Prayer; 3) <i> Lectio Divina</i>; 4) Ministry; 5) Church Discipline; 6) Proclamation; and 7) the Lord’s Supper as the renewal of the royal priesthood.</p>
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