Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0312. Adviser: Stephen J. Stein. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Dec. 12, 2006)."

The purposes of this study were to estimate: (a) the extent of biblical literacy among convenience samples of adults from randomly selected religious and non-religious groups, (b) the extent to which American adults are religious, and (c) the association between religiosity and biblical literacy.

Although a change of religious landscape in America in recent years has been suggested and widely accepted in the social sciences, most studies tend to focus on measures of religiosity and how it is changing. The subject of spirituality and its correlates seem to be mostly ignored. This study utilizes nationally representative data generated for the first time in General Social Survey (GSS) on the subject of spirituality to measure Americans' spirituality and daily spiritual experiences and their most significant correlates. In this study, most Americans (89%) showed to have some degree of spirituality and daily spiritual experiences. Moreover, variables of gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, religious origin, and residence in conservative region when growing up shown to be significant predictors of spirituality.

In this thesis I endeavor to discover and show the Unitarian and Patristic theological influences on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's long narrative poem Evangeline, with special focus on the poem's theological teachings concerning deification and descriptions of the spiritual experience of shining with divine light. In chapter one, I explore the theological climate of early nineteenth-century New England, focusing on the Unitarian and Transcendental movements and Longfellow's familiarity with both. In chapter two, I present an overview of the critical literature concerning the religious elements of Evangeline, beginning with reviews by Longfellow's contemporaries and ending with recent scholarship that calls for a new investigation of Unitarian influences on Evangeline. In chapters three and four, I look back to those Church Fathers who articulated the doctrines of deification and divine light in the second through fourth centuries. Through looking at the presence of the Church Fathers in Longfellow's writings, especially in the unexplored “Christian Fathers” manuscript lectures from the early 1830s, I show how the Patristic writers proved interesting and inspiring to Longfellow in the years leading up to the publication of Evangeline. Finally, in chapters five and six, I investigate in depth the religious elements of Evangeline, giving special attention to the keynote passages of 2.1 and 2.5, which include, respectively, theological teaching concerning deification and a description of the spiritual experience of shining with divine light. I conclude that though in 2.1 Longfellow articulates theological teachings that possess strong affinities with Unitarian doctrine, in 2.5 Longfellow concludes the poem with a characteristically Patristic vision of the deified heroine shining with divine light.

This research addresses an emerging scholarship examining relations between media, religion, and culture in contemporary society. Whilst it acknowledges the value of this growing body of work, the study is based on a recognition that an overwhelming concern with the contemporary scene has resulted in a neglect of the history responsible for the conditions of the present. Given the prominence of America as both a source and an object of this scholarship, moreover, the particular national context in which the institutions and practices of the US media have developed has been taken for granted somewhat. Oriented towards these perceived lacunae, this thesis examines the interaction between religion and film as an influence upon the development of American culture in the twentieth-century. The dissertation is divided into two main parts. The first of these is devoted to an extended discussion of the scholarly background to the research, and argues that the historical dimension of the interrelationship between religion and film in America is worthy of more attention than it has hitherto received. In particular, it stresses the fundamental importance of religion within the discourse of national identity in the United States, and posits the notion of a non-denominational American civil religion as a useful theoretical tool with which to examine Hollywood as a distinctively 'American' form of cinema. Part Two develops this position through a case study of The Birth of a Nation, directed by D.W. Griffith, and one of the most famous films of all time. Discussing the picture as a response to a crisis in American Protestantism, the study argues that the race controversy prompted by its Southern viewpoint was, to some extent, a function of Griffith's ambitions to revive the traditional religious bases of U.S. national identity via the medium of film. Furthermore, it suggests that the impact of Birth helped enact a broader transformation of American culture, wherein the cinema became instrumental in sustaining the belief that the United States was a nation uniquely favoured by Providence.

This thesis examines the role of Christianity in contemporary American culture using 1990s popular media as cultural artifacts. Building on theories of ideological analysis and hegemony, this project uncovers a balance between progressive and traditionalist ideologies in American culture with progressive ideologies most often superficially acknowledged and incorporated into dominant traditionalist Christian ideologies through hegemonic negotiation. An analysis of the popular Hollywood films The Last Temptation of Christ, Leap of Faith, Michael, City of Angels, Dogma and Keeping the Faith, illustrates this process by addressing Christian dominance in multicultural America, a backlash against feminism constructed through patriarchal and “family values” ideologies, and an integration of popular culture and traditionalist Christianity.

The “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) are a rising social group in America in the past two decades, but social scientists and the general public know quite little about this group. Using the pooled 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 GSS data, this study examines who the SBNR are and who is more or less likely to be SBNR controlling for other variables. Descriptive analysis reveals that, compared to the general U.S. adult population, the SBNR group has slightly more males, is slightly younger, has fewer racial minorities, is better educated, and is slightly higher in social class. Additionally, more SBNR are from the Northeast and West than the general population, are slightly more urban, fewer are currently married, fewer have children, more have had homosexual sex, and more were religious Nones when they were 16 years old. Logistic regression analysis of the SBNR finds that, holding other variables constant, Americans who are more educated, live in Northeastern or Western regions, have homosexual sex, or had no religion at age 16 are more likely to be SBNR than their respective counterparts. Those who are racial minorities, live in the South or the Midwest, are currently married, or have children are less likely to be SBNR than their respective counterparts. Gender, age, social class, full-time work status, and metropolitanism of area do not make a significant difference. The implications of the findings for the research of religion and spirituality are discussed.

This thesis examines the role of praying sacred curses as a means of exercising ecclesiastical discipline within the Christian church. Through a brief analysis of selected social issues challenging the church in the United States, Chapter One addresses the question concerning the appropriateness of punitive praying as a means of furthering the Gospel of Christ. The question, “Is it ever right to pray for the failure, destruction or harm of another person, especially when such prayer is made by Christians in the name of God?” guides the subject of this thesis from both theological and ethical perspectives. A word study on seven key Hebrew words used to designate a “curse” in the Old Testament is made in Chapter Two in an effort to provide the necessary background for the New Testament’s concepts and practices undergirding early Church discipline. The utilization of punitive prayers and the utterances of anathemas throughout the New Testament comprise Chapter Three and points to a significant dimension for church theology inside the community of faith. There is also evidence that such ‘killing prayers’ were used to check secular authorities hostile to the witness of the church. Perhaps the most interesting use of the sacred curse comes from the record of Jesus “cursing” a fig tree, which dies as a result. This tree seems to represent both the religious dimension of Israel and the authoritative rule of the state, each characterized by unbelief and a rejection of the message of Jesus. Chapter Four furthers the discussion concerning the ethical basis for a sacred curse, especially as reflected by the Ten Commandments, and more specifically, in the keeping of the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath. In conjunction with this sense of discipline, the argument is made that the love of God is often exemplified through the exercise of the curse because persons so affected may be drawn to repentance and seek after God as a result. Chapter Five concludes this study with an indictment on modern theology’s seeming failure to address matters of truth in social issues presently impacting both iv church and state in the USA. This chapter calls for the use of the sacred curse on the basis of local church unity and cohesiveness, while recognizing that such unity may be impossible to achieve. Because there may be no consensus inside the church regarding the exercise of a sacred curse, there is most probably no possibility of realizing the power of such prayers as a means of correcting social issues at odds with perceived truths. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Theological Ethics)

This thesis examines the role of praying sacred curses as a means of exercising ecclesiastical discipline within the Christian church. Through a brief analysis of selected social issues challenging the church in the United States, Chapter One addresses the question concerning the appropriateness of punitive praying as a means of furthering the Gospel of Christ. The question, “Is it ever right to pray for the failure, destruction or harm of another person, especially when such prayer is made by Christians in the name of God?” guides the subject of this thesis from both theological and ethical perspectives. A word study on seven key Hebrew words used to designate a “curse” in the Old Testament is made in Chapter Two in an effort to provide the necessary background for the New Testament’s concepts and practices undergirding early Church discipline. The utilization of punitive prayers and the utterances of anathemas throughout the New Testament comprise Chapter Three and points to a significant dimension for church theology inside the community of faith. There is also evidence that such ‘killing prayers’ were used to check secular authorities hostile to the witness of the church. Perhaps the most interesting use of the sacred curse comes from the record of Jesus “cursing” a fig tree, which dies as a result. This tree seems to represent both the religious dimension of Israel and the authoritative rule of the state, each characterized by unbelief and a rejection of the message of Jesus. Chapter Four furthers the discussion concerning the ethical basis for a sacred curse, especially as reflected by the Ten Commandments, and more specifically, in the keeping of the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath. In conjunction with this sense of discipline, the argument is made that the love of God is often exemplified through the exercise of the curse because persons so affected may be drawn to repentance and seek after God as a result. Chapter Five concludes this study with an indictment on modern theology’s seeming failure to address matters of truth in social issues presently impacting both iv church and state in the USA. This chapter calls for the use of the sacred curse on the basis of local church unity and cohesiveness, while recognizing that such unity may be impossible to achieve. Because there may be no consensus inside the church regarding the exercise of a sacred curse, there is most probably no possibility of realizing the power of such prayers as a means of correcting social issues at odds with perceived truths. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Theological Ethics)

This thesis starts by describing the legal foundation of religious liberty in the United States and the evolvement of the religion clause jurisprudence. Then follows an outline of the main legal theories on religious liberty. It continues to describe a case study conducted on how Americans citizens perceive the protection of their religious liberty. Upon this there is a chapter where the detailed findings from the case study are described in juxtaposition to the relevant jurisprudence and how this can be applied to the overall legal framework protecting religious liberty.  The final chapter is a discussion on what conclusions that can be drawn.