<p> From the inception of the Reformation, Protestants have championed the doctrine of justification as <i>the</i> foundational core of their creed. In fact, it has often been said, then and now, that the doctrine of justification is <i>articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae</i>&mdash;the article upon which the church stands or falls. Yet, at the start of the twenty-first century there is strong dissent over this core doctrine. In recent years, this topic has attracted vast attention and stirred immense conflict within evangelical circles. Scholars are increasingly at odds as to how to define the doctrine, while questions abound concerning the role it plays in the soteriological, eschatological, and ecclesiological framework of the evangelical faith. At the center of the dispute are two opposing and well-respected evangelical leaders, John Piper and N.T. Wright.</p><p> The purpose of my project is to capture this contemporary debate on justification between John Piper and N.T. Wright&mdash;to aid in understanding the details of their debate in better measure. The primary question I will address is, <i> Are John Piper and N.T. Wright on a collision course, or are they two ships passing in the dark of night?</i> A secondary question will guide us towards an answer, &ldquo;How do two Protestant, evangelical, <i> sola scriptura</i> theologians arrive at such different places in relation to this essential doctrine?&rdquo;</p><p> I will first address how the doctrine of justification has been understood throughout the history of the church, starting with the apostolic fathers, then tracing the doctrine through the medieval church and culminating in the Reformation, as well as the Counter Reformation at the Council of Trent. Thus, this journey will highlight the soteriological views of the patristics, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Ockham and the nominalists, Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin. Putting the Piper and Wright debate into historical context is imperative to understanding their dispute. We will also look briefly at what has been termed the <i>new perspective on Paul</i>, a label which has been ascribed to Wright. Finally, we will look at the intricacies of John Piper&rsquo;s and N.T. Wright&rsquo;s doctrines of justification before answering the central question.</p>

<p> The main purpose of this research was to explore the ways the members of church-based small groups of various denominations in Southern California have experienced transformative learning, and to identify the factors that contribute to that experience. </p><p> A qualitative research was conducted. Purposeful sampling was used, and the data was collected by semi structured interviews between May to September 2015. The interviewees had at least two years of experience in a church-based small group and had experienced a major change in their worldviews and values. A total of 22 people from six different churches were selected. Data was analyzed using the program NVivo 10. </p><p> The data analysis was done in two main sections. In the first section the transformative learning experiences of the participants were discussed. Some of the transformative learning experiences of the participants had started outside the small group, but the small group supported the person during the hard time of transformation. In the second section factors that fostered transformative learning were discussed. Ten major themes came up: relationships, Bible, God, good examples, problems, ministry, Christian literature, willingness, preaching of the church and church retreats. The most prominent theme was relationship, which had two main subcategories: Small group and one on one relationships. Small group in itself had nine subcategories: praying, discussion, love, sharing, accountability, transparency, support, fellowship and safe environment. </p><p> Implications of the study were presented: the church should faithfully teach the Bible; the church should provide opportunities for the members to get connected and develop relationships; to foster transformation within the small group, besides studying the Bible, the leader should provide room for discussions, sharing and fellowship; to support the members during transformation the group should be a safe haven, the Bible should be taught, but also relationships should be nurtured by sharing, praying for each other and holding each other accountable; role models should be available; serving should be encouraged; the members should be exposed to Christian literature; joining sermon-based small groups should be encouraged ; the group leaders should be attentive to the Spirit&rsquo;s works and flexible to adapt their plans.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Sufism is explained in textbooks for high school students in the subject religious studies 1 and 2. To do this I have also summarized research on Sufism in Sweden. This thesis is based on three questions: What does recent science says about the purpose of sufism, its proliferation and its practice in Sweden and globally. Is the description of sufism multifaceted or not? What do the textbooks say about sufism? Do textbooks give a multifaceted picture of sufism, or is it unilateral? The results show that Sufism is more multifaceted and deeper and plays a bigger role than is apparent in religious books for high school, although even textbooks show a variegated picture of Sufism. Postcolonial theory and the orientalism theory presented by Edward Said are used in this thesis.

The purpose of this thesis is to make an unbiased presentation of the many facets of Byron's religious beliefs.

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The present thesis is a contribution to an unresolved debate in philosophy of education about the logical coherence of a particular account of Religious Education. The account of Religious Education at issue, which I call the liberal account, prescribes the teaching of religious understanding without religious belief. It stipulates that the aim of Religious Education is to teach pupils the meaning of religious propositions while leaving open the question of their truth. Underpinning the account are the assumptions that (i) no religious proposition is known to be either true or false and (ii) it is morally objectionable to teach questionable propositions as if they were known to be true. Opponents of the liberal account argue that it is logically incoherent. Their argument rests on two premises: (i) that religious propositions constitute an autonomous epistemological class or 'form of knowledge', and (ii) that understanding a form of knowledge involves holding certain propositions of that form to be true or false. If both premises are sound, it follows that religious understanding necessarily involves religious belief. The aim of the present thesis is to show that this challenge to the logical coherence of the liberal account of Religious Education is unsuccessful. I argue that the second premise is sound but the first is not. The second premise, that understanding a form of knowledge involves holding certain propositions of that form to be true or false, is an extension of an argument about language in general made by Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein claims that 'If language is to be a means of communication there must be agreement not only in definitions but also (queer as this may sound) in judgments' (Wittgenstein, 1953, Section 242). That is to say, language-users must reach agreement not only on how words are connected to each other (agreement in definitions) but also on how words are connected to experiences (agreement in judgments). The process of fixing experiential criteria necessarily involves accepting the truth of certain contingent propositions. I contend that Wittgenstein's argument can properly be extended to individual epistemological classes, with the exception of the class of necessary propositions. The validity of the first premise, that there is a religious form of knowledge, turns on the method of verification of religious propositions. I argue that religious propositions are propositions about divine persons and, as such, are verified in exactly the same way as propositions about human persons. Gods, like other persons, comprise minds and bodies (or minds and a relation to the material world analogous to 'having a body'), so religious propositions can be distributed without remainder over the familiar epistemological classes of mental and material propositions. Pupils can be taught what religious propositions mean with reference to other propositions of the same epistemological kinds and without reference to distinctively religious experiences. It follows that the aim of teaching for religious understanding without religious belief is logically coherent.

The prolific Turkish author Harun Yahya attracted international attention after thousands of unsolicited copies of his large-format and lavishly illustrated book Atlas of Creation were sent free of charge from Istanbul, Turkey, to schools, universities and state leaders worldwide in 2007. This book stunt drew attention to Islamic creationism as a growing phenomenon, and to Harun Yahya as its most prominent proponent globally. Harun Yahya is allegedly the pen name of the Turkish author and preacher Adnan Oktar. Behind the brand name “Harun Yahya”, a highly prosperous religious enterprise is in operation, devoted not merely to the debunking of Darwinism, but also to the promotion of Islam. Backed by his supporters, Oktar channels vast financial resources into producing numerous books, dvds, websites and lately also television shows promoting his message. The aim of this dissertation is to shed light on the Harun Yahya enterprise by examining selected texts published in the framework of the enterprise. It describes, analyzes and contextualizes four key themes in the works of Harun Yahya, namely conspiracy theories, nationalism/neo-Ottomanism, creationism and apocalypticism/Mahdism. The dissertation traces the development of the enterprise from a religious community emerging in Turkey in the mid-1980s to a global da‘wa enterprise, and examines the way in which its discourse has changed over time. The dissertation’s point of departure is the notion that the Harun Yahya enterprise and the ideas it promotes must primarily be understood within the Turkish context from which it emerged. Drawing on analytical frameworks from social movement theory and rhetorical analysis as well as contemporary perspectives on Islamic da‘wa and activism, the study approaches Harun Yahya as a religious entrepreneur seeking market shares in the contemporary market for Islamic proselytism by adopting and adapting popular discourses both in the Turkish and global contexts. It examines how the Harun Yahya enterprise employs rhetorical and argumentative strategies in order to promote not merely a certain interpretation of Islam, but also increasingly Adnan Oktar and the Harun Yahya enterprise itself, by rhetorically placing its efforts into a cosmological framework.

<p> The author presents that Cuban house churches lack leaders who can evangelize their own people without help from Christians of other countries. This is a problem in ministry for the indigenous house church leaders in Cuba. The project was &ldquo;experimental research,&rdquo; in which an intervention in evangelism training was introduced and then evaluated. He recruited 60 participants and used a 40-item Evangelism-Ready Checklist to measure participants&rsquo; perceived confidence levels in their ability to do evangelism. The researcher interviewed 60 participants and searched for indicators of increased confidence levels in students&rsquo; ability to do evangelism on their own. The true picture of the participants&rsquo; confidence in their evangelism-readiness was to take into account their sense that some topics were not covered sufficiently. Both the quantitative data and their interview data at six months post revealed great confidence and was combined with qualitative interview data to give the full picture. Recommendations were offered on how the evangelism training course could be improved.</p>

No description available.

No description available.