Thesis (D.W.S.)--Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-173).

My thesis examines the connection between scripture and contemporary American poetry. Scripture is inherently poetic, employing devices that require analysis and explication. Poets drawing from scriptural text for narrative, language, or form are not looking to replace scripture, or even enhance it. Poets create new experiences in language, and their writing can illuminate the poetics of scripture. My thesis will examine work by three contemporary poets who have imitated, alluded to, and re-created scripture: Jacqueline Osherow's "Scattered Psalms" from 1999 collection Dead Men's Praise; Louise Glück's 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection The Wild Iris; and Morri Creech's "The Testament of Judas" from his 2001 collection Paper Cathedrals. Each of these texts investigates the metaphor "Man is like God"—a metaphor which Allen Grossman argues is the most important in Western civilization—from a unique and yet scripturally archival point of view. At the same time, each features a strong individual speaker, one of the hallmarks of contemporary poetry. Osherow identifies the speaker of her psalms as a version of herself, explicitly personalizing her poetry. Glück's speaker is isolated, and is defined as she speaks to both God and her garden but is heard by neither. Creech's Judas is concerned solely with his personal experience with and understanding of Jesus. Emphasizing the individual makes poetry a personal rather than shared experience. It becomes the individual speaker's responsibility to establish his/her relationship with God based on how they perceive God and how they represent him through language.

The Seminaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were organized to provide religious education for high school and junior high school students. Inspirational devotional programs are a part of the class procedure in the Seminaries designed to create a spiritual tone in this religious education. Objectives of these devotional periods are:1. To encourage students to reflect and meditate on spiritual subjects.2. To provide opportunities and experiences for student participation in planning and presenting inspirational devotional programs.3. To establish in the classroom an atmosphere or setting which will stimulate the study of scripture and sacred history, thus serving as a lead into lesson work.This project involves a discussion of techniques of planning and producing inspirational devotional programs in the Seminary. In it outlines are given for fifty-nine devotional programs to accompany the fifty-nine lessons outlined in the Teacher Manual which was published in 1961 by the Department of Education of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the Seminary course in Church History and Doctrine.While these devotional programs do no satisfy the daily needs for the entire year, they do serve as an outline for a minimal devotional activity and provide a pattern for further planning by teachers and students.

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This dissertation explores the influence of Reformation representational anxiety on early seventeenth-century poetic depictions of Christ. I study the poetic shift from physical to metaphorical portrayals of Christ that occurred after the English Reformation infused religious symbols and visual images with transgressive power. Contextualizing the juncture between visual and verbal representation, I examine the poetry alongside historical artifacts including paternosters, a painted glass window, an emblem, sermons, and the account of a state trial in order to trace signs of sensory “loss” in the verse of John Donne, George Herbert, Aemilia Lanyer, and John Milton. The introduction provides a historical and poetic overview of sixteenth-century influences on religious verse. The first chapter contrasts Donne’s sermons—which vividly describe Christ—with his poems, in which Christ’s face is often obscured or avoided. In the chapter on George Herbert's The Temple, I show how Herbert’s initial, physical portraits of Christ increasingly give way to metaphorical images as the book progresses, paralleling the Reformation’s internalization of images. The third chapter shows that Aemilia Lanyer’s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum makes use of pastoral conventions to fashion Christ as a shepherd-spouse, the divine object of desire. In the final chapter I argue that three poems from John Milton’s 1645 volume can be read as containing signs of Milton’s emerging Arianism. Depictions of Christ in the poetry of Donne, Herbert, Lanyer, and Milton reveal the period’s contestation over images; the sensory strain of these metaphorical representations results in memorable, vivid verse.

Raja Krishnacandra Ray (1710-1782) was a relatively high-ranking aristocrat in eastern India who emerged as a local culture hero during the nineteenth century. He became renowned as Bengal's preeminent patron of Sanskrit and as an ardent champion of goddess worship who established the region's famous puja festivals, patronized major innovations in vernacular literature, and revived archaic Vedic sacrifices while pursuing an archconservative agenda as leader of Hindu society in the area. He is even alleged in certain circles to have orchestrated a conspiracy that birthed British colonialism in South Asia, and humorous tales starring his court jester are ubiquitous wherever Bengali is spoken. This dissertation explores the process of myth-making as it coalesced around Krishncandra in the early modern period, emphasizing the roles played by classical ideals of Hindu kingship and print culture as well as both colonial and nationalist historiography.

While aspects of mysticism appear in the poetry of both George Herbert and Henry Vaughan, the general consensus among critics has acknowledged the mysticism of Vaughan while ignoring its roots in Herbert's writings. Among the leading authorities on the poetry of Herbert, there has been a general tendency to dismiss, ignore, or explain away mystical elements. A study of representative works by prominent critics to ascertain their positions on this issue reveals not only what can be known for certain about Herbert's theology, but also the interpretations that have been offered for his most famous poems. While these interpretations are useful, the discerning reader must look beyond them, both to the tradition of mysticism and to the Bible, to understand the intensely personal nature of Herbert's spiritual journey. Only then can the full extent of his influence on Vaughan be understood.

Children like it simple, powerful and compelling, don't they? The "spirit" of this book makes the art of thanksgiving for children a simple, powerful yet compelling force. I Did It! I Said Thank You is a collection of short and simple thanksgiving notes for children during this month of thanksgiving and all throughout the year. Through the eyes and heart of a five-year old, we have captured and compiled short focused notes about the true essence of "why" and "what" children are thankful for. We have attempted to organize and compile it into daily reasons for thanksgiving for a whole month to preserve this all important "trigger" for children all around the world. "THANK YOU" is an "eight-letter word" so simple, yet so powerful and profound. Children are taught to include the art of thanksgiving in their quiver of manners and vocabulary. Children can and will learn about the valuable gift of thanksgiving through vivid visual illustrations and the compelling simple thanksgiving notes. This book is written for all children in every nation and every continent who want to simply say THANK YOU to the eternal source of all things precious and for the gift of life. Join us as we explore the world of thanksgiving through the eyes and heart of a kid. Enjoy! / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1081/thumbnail.jpg

Restoration and Renewal! Does that sound familiar? If you desire constant inspiration in your journey to total restoration and renewal this thanksgiving season, this devotional is for you. This devotional looks up!! It conveys through anecdotes, stories, wisdom applications and Godly life-principles this simple but powerful truth. Be thankful always! This is not just as a seasonal devotional for thanksgiving, it is a priceless gift to the reader activating a genuine heart of gratefulness as a lifestyle in the process of restoration and renewal. Come along with us as we take you along this incredible journey of restoration and renewal. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1086/thumbnail.jpg

During the period between 1640 and 1700, over forty works were produced by authors identifying themselves as “T. S.” In the field of early modern literary studies, one T. S. has been particularly important to scholars because of this author’s imitative version of John Bunyan’s popular allegory titled The Second Part of the Pilgrim’s Progress (1682). This work by T. S., who has become known as Thomas Sherman, achieves minor success and prompts Bunyan to write his own authentic sequel. My research has uncovered an attribution history that identifies four additional texts—Divine Breathings (circa 1671); Youth’s Tragedy (1671); Youth’s Comedy (1680); Divine Breathings, the Second Part (1680)—and credits all of them to a Thomas Sherman. Of the five works attributed to this author, the most impressive printing history belongs to the earliest offering, Divine Breathings, or a Pious Soul Thirsting after Christ in a Hundred Pathetical Meditations, which appears in over 60 printings from 1671 to 1883 in England, Scotland, and North America. My research scrutinizes this attribution history and raises questions about identifying this T. S. as Thomas Sherman. Based on internal and external evidence, I argue that T. S. is not the author of Divine Breathings but establishes his authorial identity as an imitative writer who actively participates in the genre of Protestant meditational literature by providing sequels (i.e., Divine Breathings …the Second Part and Second Part of the Pilgrim’s Progress).