Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-196).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

This dissertation examines Protestant narratives of post-1965 Korean American Christians, with regard to the formation of what it means to be Korean Americans. The focus of this dissertation is to find out how Korean Americans have reinterpreted their ethnic backgrounds and immigrant experiences in America based on the concept of God's chosen people in religious terms. They use this Christian identity for distinguishing themselves not only from Koreans but also from other minority groups in America. The chapter starts with an overview of the historical background of Korean Americans' pre-immigrant perspectives of America. Throughout Korea's history of despair under the colonization by Japan and the civil war followed by the national division, America has gained political, military and cultural hegemony over Korea, causing the emergence of so-called American fever, the idealization of American ways of life. This tendency motivated Korean Americans to leave their homeland for obtaining better social status and living conditions. These historical backgrounds have influenced the understanding of their post-immigrant lives in America. The following chapters discuss how Korean Americans make sense of their immigrant lives under the changing social contexts in both Korea and America. Pursuant to that goal, they investigate Protestant narratives in the sermons of influential Korean American pastors, testimonies and articles published in church magazines. In these narratives, the Christian symbols such as pilgrimage and Exodus sanctified their immigration by interpreting their transnational immigration as a sacred journey into God's Promised Land which they believed was America. Furthermore, their identification with the American Puritans and their manifest destiny to revive Christianity in America demonstrate their racial attitudes toward non-Korean ethnic groups in America. The commemorative Centennial Celebration of the Korean American church held in November, 2003 in the last chapter also serves as a stage where people weave diverse factors together to establish their group identities. For post-1965 Korean immigrants, Protestant narratives have contributed to the maintenance of Korean American identity as God's chosen people. They reflect the wish of Korean American to become a central group in mainstream American society as well as be part of American destiny as a global superpower, rather than to remain as a marginal group.

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This dissertation is a comparison of local church conditions in three German Protestant church districts during the National Socialist era: the Nauen district in the Brandenburg Church Province of the Old Prussian Union Church, the Pima district in the Saxon Evangelical Lutheran Land Church and the Ravensburg district in the Wurttemberg Evangelical Land Church. It focuses on the attitudes and roles of the pastors, curates and vicars who served in the primarily rural parishes of these districts, analyzes the effect of the 'national renewal' that accompanied the National Socialist seizure of power upon the church conditions in their parishes, and probes their own attitudes toward the prevalent religious nationalism of the day. Following a comparison of the controversies surrounding pastoral appointments in Nauen, Pima and Ravensburg, the study examines the nature and intensity of church-political conflict in each of the districts during the National Socialist era. Finally, the study closes with a consideration of clerical attitudes toward the National Socialist euthanasia programme and the antisemitism that led to the Holocaust. Drawing on official church correspondence at three levels (parish, district and land church), parish newsletters, accounts of meetings throughout the period, the study concludes that while these Protestant clergymen generally shared a common conservative nationalist outlook, the manifestation of the church struggle in their parishes took diverse forms. Parishioners in Nauen and especially Pima (but not Ravensburg) displayed a high level of interest in their churches in 1933, in part an effect of the strength of the national renewal in their regions. In Nauen, the church struggle was channelled into the quest for control of pastoral appointments. In Pima, the church struggle mirrored the course of events in Saxony as a whole, and included extreme 'German Christians,' radical members of the Confessing Church and a moderate movement for church

This research aims to carry out a historical analysis of "the contribution of Rainisoalambo, the father of revivals, to the indigenization of the Protestant churches in Madagascar" and also to enrich the field of historical research for the Church in Madagascar. The revival movement is rooted in the Protestant Church history, so this research is intended to study the concept of indigenization through the preaching, sermons and teachings of Rainisoalambo. There are two main Protestant churches in Madagascar: the Reformed Church (FJKM) and the Lutheran (FLM). The revival found within these churches inspired me to think about the power behind the Church growth in my country. Rainisoalambo contextualized the Gospel. He used indigenization as a strategy and its principles as a source of vitality for the Malagasy Protestant churches. He did not teach a new doctrine either. He helped the people of God to express their faith in Malagasy culture. In the 20th century, the revival movement shifted from the perception of mass conversion and dramatic social changes to the revitalization of God's people. Therefore, the fundamental question is: "What is the major contribution of Rainisoalambo as the father of revivals, to the indigenization of the Protestant churches in Madagascar?" My hypothesis is that the revival of Rainisoalambo made a major contribution to the indigenization of churches in Madagascar. Since "indigenization" is mainly the key word to be understood for this research, this study adopts a theoretical framework, which is informed by concept of cultural translation and phenomenological approach. Since this research uses a historical perspective, it is important to practice the historical methodology: data collection for primary and secondary sources, potential oral interviews, criticism of data through assessing the genuineness of information sources and the presentation of information in accurate and readable form. The analytical approach is adopted in this theoretical framework. In spite of times, the majority of data collected will be enough to accomplish this work. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

In the early twenty-first century, Americans have been showing a high interest in ghosts and hauntings, as evidenced by the overwhelming amount of supernatural media available. Despite this, there has been little anthropological research specifically investigating the relationship between popular ghost beliefs and America’s largest system of supernatural beliefs- Protestant Christianity. This study uses qualitative research methods to examine the beliefs of Protestants in Muncie, Indiana, and whether they participate in popular ghost culture. Results suggest that while Muncie Protestants do not generally believe in ghosts, they accept the possibility that demonic forces can haunt locations and interact with humans. Most of those informants who do believe in ghosts base their beliefs on personal experiences. However, in the case of demonic beliefs, this was not necessary. Informants state that their beliefs about demons are based on Christian media sources, such as literature and the Internet, rather than church teachings. Although the Muncie Protestants interviewed here consider it dangerous to participate directly in efforts to communicate with the deceased, most consistently watch reality television shows about the paranormal, as the media provides a degree of separation in which they can safely participate in ghost culture. / Department of Anthropology

This study examines the relationship between the first major religious revival in the New England colonies and the change from psalmody to hymnody in the mid-eighteenth century through an approach which integrates the two fields of theology and church music. The termination date is 1770, and the focus is Protestant congregational song in the three groups most influenced by Puritan thought: the Congregationalists, the Presbyterians, and the Baptists.While much has been written separately about the change in eighteenth-century sacred song and the Great Awakening itself, there has been little research that attempts to place the psalmody/hymnody issue within the larger context of the changing theological milieu. This study first examines the theological and ecclesiastical structures which provided the context for Reformed worship, and then explores how fundamental changes in those structures and thought systems impacted congregational song. In order to comprehend the major changes which occurred in the mid-eighteenth century in colonial America, chapters on the Reformed Church and the beginning and spread of psalmody, the New England colonies to 1700, and the beginning of English hymnody are included.Conclusions1. The primary conclusion of this study is that the Great Awakening is the single most important factor in the change from psalmody to hymnody in the New England colonies. It is not a peripheral factor as indicated in much of the research. Rather, it provides both the rationale and the means for the transition in church song. The Great Awakening represented a basic theological change from a theocentric to an anthropocentric viewpoint that subsequently required alterations in sacred song. The revival movement, through its evangelistic spirit, also provided the vehicle by which this change in psalmody was effected.2. The agitation of the 1720s as evidenced in the tracts and treatises did not affect the transition directly. However, it is indicative of the increasing discontent with traditional Calvinist theology.3. The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts were not a primary reason for the change, but met the needs of the new anthropocentric theology of the Great Awakening that required a new language of praise. / School of Music

Zugl.: Neuendettelsau, Augustana-Hochsch., Diss., 2005

Zugl.: Diss.