<p> The Researcher has coordinated and attended a <i>Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Pilot Group</i> with eight Korean minister&rsquo;s wives a few years ago, hosted and mentored by Dr. Sunny Song. The experience with Korean ministers&rsquo; wives with the Pilot Group gave conviction of the possibility of small group dynamics for change and upgrade of transformation of women in leadership. This research discovered several factors why a <i> Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Group</i> could work well. All the members were continuously reminded and reshaped with new understanding about emotional aspects of inner being, relationship, and spirituality. The researcher believes that the <i>Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Group</i> can be an advanced ministry model besides other small group dynamics for pastors&rsquo; wives to healthier and deeper relationship with God and among church members.</p>

<p> This study examined how aesthetic leadership behaviors relate to or express leaders&rsquo; personal cohesion of inner self. The hypothesis asserted that (a) leaders who were exposed to prolonged/profound trauma and did not work through this trauma may retreat their identity into their leadership role, attempting to epitomize the ideals of their movement to escape from the pain; (b) once their identity is confined to the pursuit of embodying their movement&rsquo;s values, these leaders may feel compelled to sacrifice everything including intimacy, rest, and health, for the prototypical ideals, and live in a constant state of hyper-arousal (fight or flight) and social constriction (Schick, 2011); (c) in this state, leaders may be capable of abnormally high performance outputs with expansive, lasting impact&mdash;but this performance may be indicative of brokenness and disintegration from oneself; and (d) leaders&rsquo; personal coherence will be observable in their aesthetic actions. For disintegrated traumatized leaders, the fracture was hypothesized to be aesthetically expressed in hyper-prototypicality as a leader, with simultaneously observable difficulty in maintaining healthy self. In a companion study, a hybrid hermeneutical personal narrative approach was utilized to analyze the parallel texts of <i>Testament</i> (Francis, 1226) and the <i> Life of St. Francis</i> (Thomas of Celano, 1246) to examine the inner cohesion of Saint Francis of Assisi, as well as the parallel texts of <i> This is That</i> (Semple McPherson, 1923) and <i>Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America</i> (Sutton, 2007) in the examination of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson&rsquo;s cohesion of self. The study demonstrated that research of a leader&rsquo;s inner person requires study of multidimensional aesthetic exchanges rather than aesthetic action alone. Role development in the family also shaped leaders&rsquo; understanding of calling and expectations. Additionally, aesthetically expressed disintegration of core identity appears to have triggered the embrace of ministry lifestyles that sustained hyper-arousal. Finally, four variables emerged as the primary causal factors in the disintegration of both leaders&rsquo; personhood: (a) intense/overbearing parental influence, (b) overwhelming desire to have widespread impact, (c) skewed understanding of God or personal application of the gospel, and (d) lack of capacity to process trauma&mdash;variables that leaders in numerous contexts may experience. </p>

<p>Since the advent of Gutenberg&rsquo;s printing press (AD 1455) to the present day, the Bible has been translated into nearly 2,500 languages and reproduced six billion times. Its influence on western culture can hardly be denied. And the Bible has never been more accessible in a variety of formats than it is today. This is why the statistics on biblical literacy in America are startling. The Pew Research organization found that atheists, agnostics, and Jews scored five percent higher on religious knowledge surveys than Christians. Additionally, out of twelve Bible knowledge questions, Mormons scored 7.9 while Christians only scored 6.2. The Barna Group also found that biblical literacy is declining among Millennials (ages eighteen to twenty-nine). For example, only thirty-seven percent of Millennials could name the first five books of the Bible and only eight percent could name the first five books of the New Testament. </p><p> In response to the widespread problem of biblical illiteracy in the local church, this project designed and deployed a biblical literacy, small group training course for disciples at Eastpoint Church. The purpose of this project was to encourage believers to learn the contents of the Scriptures in the context of community. Prior to the biblical literacy course, participants took a biblical literacy test that gauged their knowledge and understanding of biblical themes and content. After the ten-week course, the participants took the same test and filled out a qualitative questionnaire that measured their experience in the course and their personal learning habits. The result of deploying the curriculum was that disciples showed a marked increase in their knowledge and understanding of the Bible&rsquo;s contents and themes. </p>

<p> The analysis in this thesis is centered around a technical examination which I conducted based on the Pseudo-Clementine research of Bernhard Rehm, Georg Strecker, H. U. Meijboom and F. Stanley Jones along with the inquiry of Brenda Dean Schildgen regarding the reception of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament. The first goal is to revise the Markan Pseudo-Clementine correlations of Rehm, Strecker and Meijboom. The second goal is to present a more correct and accessible list of Markan correlations for future research of the reception of scripture into the Pseudo-Clementines. The third goal is to determine which author or authors of the Pseudo-Clementines used the Gospel of Mark and to what purpose. The most important goal is to further the scholarly research on the reception of the Gospel of Mark. It is my hope that this research prompts scholars in the future to search more thoroughly for the reception of Mark in the PseudoClementines.</p>

<p> The doctoral project was developed to implement a 14-week program of the intentional practice of the spiritual disciplines within the leadership of Calvary Chapel Chelmsford. A curriculum was designed to encourage the use of the spiritual disciplines, thereby increasing spiritual growth in the lives of the leaders. </p><p> Chapter 1 details a ministry problem faced by Calvary Chapel Chelmsford that prompted the development of the program to intentionally practice the spiritual disciplines. It develops the research author's context of ministry, hypothesis, scope of the problem, and theological foundations. </p><p> Chapter 2 provides a literature review of works that are related to the field of inquiry. It examines the types of spiritual disciplines, the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and the types of Christian spirituality. It reviews other scholarly studies in the field of the practicing spiritual disciplines. </p><p> Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching the project, including the development of the spiritual disciplines program material, the purpose and goals of the assessment instrument, the method of their administration, and the procedures for data collection. </p><p> Chapter 4 presents the results of the accumulated data and the analysis of the data. Details confirming the project hypothesis are presented. The experience of five participants is delineated, and common experiences are isolated and detailed. The chapter concludes with a summary and interpretation of the results of the study. </p><p> Chapter 5 presents the research author's observations and examines the root cause of the problem. The research author provides recommendations for those who desire to conduct a similar project. The research author concludes by citing the benefits of the program for other churches in a New England context.</p>

This project involved a close literary analysis of the three texts of Esther. The results of the literary analysis indicated that the texts displayed different textual tendencies and also represented God, the four main characters, and some minor characters, differently. The texts were then presented to real readers for an empirical study of their perceptions of the characters. The empirical data indicate some support for the difference in perception expected from the literary analysis. Readers of the AT considered the king to be more just, Mordecai to be more just and moral, and less dominant, and Esther to be more moral, than in the other two texts. Readers of the BT considered Mordecai more dominant than in the other two texts. For the justice of the king and the justice and morality of Mordecai they rated the BT between the AT and the MT. Readers of the MT considered the king to be less just and Mordecai to be less just and moral than in the other texts. However, for the dominance trait they rated Mordecai between the AT and BT. They also rated Esther between the AT and BT on the morality trait. Some of these effects, however, were modified by the factors of gender and religious affiliation. The literary analysis also suggested that there is a difference in the moral reasoning level between the three texts. This was indirectly supported by the empirical study. The fact that all except one of the differences in perception were related to the character traits of justice and morality indicates that the character traits which are most obviously related to the ethics involved in the text were the ones for which real readers perceived differences. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This project involved a close literary analysis of the three texts of Esther. The results of the literary analysis indicated that the texts displayed different textual tendencies and also represented God, the four main characters, and some minor characters, differently. The texts were then presented to real readers for an empirical study of their perceptions of the characters. The empirical data indicate some support for the difference in perception expected from the literary analysis. Readers of the AT considered the king to be more just, Mordecai to be more just and moral, and less dominant, and Esther to be more moral, than in the other two texts. Readers of the BT considered Mordecai more dominant than in the other two texts. For the justice of the king and the justice and morality of Mordecai they rated the BT between the AT and the MT. Readers of the MT considered the king to be less just and Mordecai to be less just and moral than in the other texts. However, for the dominance trait they rated Mordecai between the AT and BT. They also rated Esther between the AT and BT on the morality trait. Some of these effects, however, were modified by the factors of gender and religious affiliation. The literary analysis also suggested that there is a difference in the moral reasoning level between the three texts. This was indirectly supported by the empirical study. The fact that all except one of the differences in perception were related to the character traits of justice and morality indicates that the character traits which are most obviously related to the ethics involved in the text were the ones for which real readers perceived differences. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This project involved a close literary analysis of the three texts of Esther. The results of the literary analysis indicated that the texts displayed different textual tendencies and also represented God, the four main characters, and some minor characters, differently. The texts were then presented to real readers for an empirical study of their perceptions of the characters. The empirical data indicate some support for the difference in perception expected from the literary analysis. Readers of the AT considered the king to be more just, Mordecai to be more just and moral, and less dominant, and Esther to be more moral, than in the other two texts. Readers of the BT considered Mordecai more dominant than in the other two texts. For the justice of the king and the justice and morality of Mordecai they rated the BT between the AT and the MT. Readers of the MT considered the king to be less just and Mordecai to be less just and moral than in the other texts. However, for the dominance trait they rated Mordecai between the AT and BT. They also rated Esther between the AT and BT on the morality trait. Some of these effects, however, were modified by the factors of gender and religious affiliation. The literary analysis also suggested that there is a difference in the moral reasoning level between the three texts. This was indirectly supported by the empirical study. The fact that all except one of the differences in perception were related to the character traits of justice and morality indicates that the character traits which are most obviously related to the ethics involved in the text were the ones for which real readers perceived differences. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This project involved a close literary analysis of the three texts of Esther. The results of the literary analysis indicated that the texts displayed different textual tendencies and also represented God, the four main characters, and some minor characters, differently. The texts were then presented to real readers for an empirical study of their perceptions of the characters. The empirical data indicate some support for the difference in perception expected from the literary analysis. Readers of the AT considered the king to be more just, Mordecai to be more just and moral, and less dominant, and Esther to be more moral, than in the other two texts. Readers of the BT considered Mordecai more dominant than in the other two texts. For the justice of the king and the justice and morality of Mordecai they rated the BT between the AT and the MT. Readers of the MT considered the king to be less just and Mordecai to be less just and moral than in the other texts. However, for the dominance trait they rated Mordecai between the AT and BT. They also rated Esther between the AT and BT on the morality trait. Some of these effects, however, were modified by the factors of gender and religious affiliation. The literary analysis also suggested that there is a difference in the moral reasoning level between the three texts. This was indirectly supported by the empirical study. The fact that all except one of the differences in perception were related to the character traits of justice and morality indicates that the character traits which are most obviously related to the ethics involved in the text were the ones for which real readers perceived differences. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Depts. of Comparative Literature and English, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 11, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2932. Advisers: Herbert J. Marks; Judith H. Anderson.