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Much in Every Way: Employing the Concept of Race in Theological Anthropology and Christian Practice
No full textThis dissertation joins the growing body of theological reflection upon the issues raised by the survival, ubiquity, and evolving significance of racialized imagination and racial identity in the US. In contrast to other works, though, this project emerges from the Reformed tradition. Neo-Calvinism of the Kuyperian strain, though it has been criticized for producing (or failing to apprehend) the cancerous spread of Apartheid in South Africa, has nonetheless articulated a soaring vision of a pluriform eschaton and has denounced both the easily observable manifestations of racism as well as the deeper imagination-level toxicity that contemporary scholars have deployed critical tools to dismantle. This dissertation will argue that the basic confessional affirmations and criticisms of Kuyperian theology pertaining to human pluriformity and human inequality, respectively, provide an indispensable corrective for contemporary approaches to race in the US. However, the criticism that Kuyperian theology’s failings stem from a lack of concreteness and specificity—especially pertaining to bodies—will be elaborated, granted and extended. Nevertheless, critical tools can be deployed to build and not demolish the Dutch Reformed tradition. The constructive proposals that emerge from neo-Calvinist eschatology and pneumatology are too fertile to be ignored. In fact, the historical dispute regarding the role of Kuyperian theology in South African apartheid must be reexamined. It will be argued that the Kuyperian tradition, though it fails at critical junctures, must fulfill its proposed, pluriform eschatology by incorporating cultural tools that have mostly been ignored by those who traverse the black-white binary characteristic of theological and ethical reflection on race in the US. The black-white binary perpetually performs a dialectic in which oppressor and oppressed are locked and unfairly requires other diverse groups to choose sides. Revelation 7:9, frequently used to promote a generic appreciation for diversity, actually prescribes caution about siding with power in the form of capital. Ultimately, the kind of cosmopolitan, coalition-building, public theology and ethics which affirm and prescribe the interdependence of humanity for pluriform cultural tools can find biblical and theological voicing in what Kuyperian theology has historically confessed about creation, the image of God, and the future
The Making of a Barthian Postliberal: The Influence of Karl Barth on the Theology of Stanley Hauerwas
No full textThis dissertation is an investigation of the extent to which Stanley Hauerwas’s theological ethics are influenced by Karl Barth. Over and against a number of scholars who argue that Hauerwas is not Barthian but a Protestant liberal, I argue that Hauerwas is Barthian in at least two senses. First, he learns from Karl Barth how to reject Protestant liberalism. This is most obvious in Hauerwas’s insistence on keeping dogmatics and ethics together and in his rejection of Enlightenment notions of universalism. Second, he learns from Barth how to “theologize” in a manner that considers not just the content of one’s theology but the actual theological act as a practice that bears witness. Where Hauerwas’s theology does in fact resemble the theologies of Protestant liberals like Schleiermacher or Ritschl, he must be read as a postliberal, i.e. a theologian who returns to the questions of Protestant liberalism with Barthian presuppositions in mind
Narrative, Preaching, and Formation
No full textThis dissertation focuses on the place of narrative in the transformational encounter that can take place between hearers of sermons and God. Chapter 1 surveys the history and development of contemporary scholarship related to narrative preaching. It argues that most homileticians consider narrative either as a way of structuring sermons, or as a theological lens for explaining the broad work of God in history. Few scholars, however, have enlisted a narrative approach to investigate the encounter between God and humans that can take place in preaching. The remainder of the dissertation seeks to explore this relationship between narrative, preaching, and the transformation of human hearers. Chapter 2 addresses divine self-revelation from a narrative perspective. It argues God’s self-revelation is often incarnational, i.e., mediated in terms of human experiences. Narrative language and concepts are essential for interpreting human experience, therefore, a narrative perspective can shed light on the four movements of initial divine revelation, development of scripture, ongoing revelation, and Christian formation. Chapter 3 describes the centrality of narrative in the functioning and formation of the human mind. It argues that the human capacity to create and use narratives (or narrativity) is essential to human perception and identity formation. This section elaborates Paul Ricoeur’s concepts of narrative and metaphor to demonstrate the prominent role of narrativity in hermeneutics. Other scholars from the fields of psychology and neuroscience provide further evidence that narrativity is crucial to the functioning of the human mind and in the formation of human identity. Chapter 4 casts a vision for preaching that enlists narrative to weave together God’s action in the world with human interpretations of experience. The preacher as narrator facilitates a double-hermeneutic where humans encounter God as their experiences are re-interpreted in light of the gospel, and as new understandings of the gospel are discovered in light of their experiences. The conclusion suggests areas where ideas developed in this dissertation regarding narrative, preaching, and Christian formation might benefit from further study
The Fit Shall Inherit the Earth: A Theology of Sport and Fitness
No full textWhat does it mean, as a person of faith, to have, maintain, and even strengthen one’s physical body? What does it mean to “glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20) in a time when bodily perfection is popularly defined by advertising firms and food degradation has led to the worldwide obesity epidemic? This work addresses those questions and many others through theological engagement with sport, though it will pay particular attention to physical fitness as a subcategory of sport. Theology of sport has seen increased attention in recent years, but little has been said specifically about physical fitness.What is lacking is a critical examination of the theological implications and theological intersections of sport and fitness. Where is God in sport and fitness? What value might sport and fitness have for the Christian Church? Is there a good to be found
Framing Interreligious Encounters Theologically: Interpreting the History of Religions in Tropical Africa in Dialogue with John Mbiti and Wolfhart Pannenberg
No full textJohn Mbiti and Wolfhart Pannenberg both offer a tremendous amount of theological insight into Christianity’s relationship with other religions, albeit in vastly different cultural and ecclesial settings. While Mbiti writes extensively on the relationship between Christianity and traditional religions in Tropical Africa, Pannenberg reflects more broadly on Christianity’s place in the history of religions as a basis for his own dogmatics. This dissertation engages with the contributions of both scholars to construct a model that enables Christians and people of other faiths to theologically interpret interreligious encounters in a concrete and critically inclusive manner.
This study begins with an in depth examination of the encounter between African traditional religions and Christianity during the age of Western missions, a meeting that triggered important theological changes in both religions and serves as a concrete backdrop for my engagement with Mbiti and Pannenberg. Mbiti treats traditional religions as praeparatio Evangelica, arguing that they prepared African peoples to receive the gospel and thus remain a vital source for authentic Christian theology in the region today. Pannenberg proposes a theological reading of the history of religions that relates all faiths in light of their shared proleptic yearning for the unveiling of God at the end of history, an event which Christians believe to be revealed in the resurrection of Jesus. By evaluating both of their proposals in light of the data provided by the encounter between African traditional religions and Christianity, I critique Mbiti and Pannenberg and develop a new model that relates the two religions using the theological category of hope. This model can then be applied to other instances of interreligious encounter; empowering Christians and other people of faith to not only reflect theologically on encounters with religious others, but critically shape the new forms of faith that so often emerge from such interactions
30 - Ancient Near Eastern Pottery
No full textJar, Akkadian Empire, ca. 2300 B.C.E. - 2150 B.C.E.
Small Lamp, Iron Age II ca. 1000 B.C.E. - 550 B.C.E.
Large Lamp, Unknown date
Early Fuller faculty member, Dr. William LaSor, taught Old Testament from 1949-1980. LaSor arranged for a collection of Ancient Near Eastern pottery to be transferred to the Seminary in 1954.
The collection reflects LaSor’s emphasis on understanding the material culture and historical context of biblical narratives.
His research with artifacts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, helped lay the Seminary’s foundation for international biblical scholarship.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/exhibit_70thanniversary/1029/thumbnail.jp
Moving from \u27Have to Go to Church\u27 to \u27Want to Go to Church\u27: Exploring Ways to Make Church Engaging and Relevant to Tweenagers
No full textThere is an alarmingly high rate of decline in church attendance in most of today\u27s churches. Many studies focus on why young adults are leaving the church, but some studies have shown the decision to no longer attend church is being made as early as 9 and 10 years old. In order to reverse this trend, my research included interviews of church leaders, program leaders, program participants, and parents of the participants in churches with programming focused on tweenagers.
The themes that emerged from the interviews in terms of elements that are important to the retention of tweenagers include relevant teaching, sense of community, opportunities for contribution, diverse options for participation and contribution, and consistency of leadership. From these elements, I created a program in which tweenagers serve alongside adults on each ministry area of the church, rotating monthly through each ministry area, and serving in the same manner as the adults.
Results showed that tweenagers had changes in their sense of ownership of the church and their faith. In addition, the ideology of the program leaders changed as well. The program leaders realized the tweenagers were capable of far more than they had been given credit, and the program leaders realized they needed to raise their expectations of the young people and their ability to serve in the church as full members of the Body of Christ.
Mentor: Steven Sag
Appreciative Mentoring for World Horizons Personnel
No full textThe mission organization World Horizons (WH) has the goal of seeing its personnel involved in mentoring relationships for holistic fruitfulness. Mentoring is one person walking alongside another, and can incorporate discipling, coaching, or spiritual direction. In this dissertation, I examine the relationship between these mentoring aspects. I explore the life-giving approach to change as offered through Appreciative Inquiry (AI), and combine features of AI to create an appreciative mentoring process for spiritual formation.
I review the literature regarding facets of mentoring, AI, and spiritual practices in mentoring relationships. Adult learning theory, Dialogue Education and AI inform the development of an Appreciative Instructional Design (AID). My field research includes a content analysis, semi-structured triad interviews, and a focus group. Research findings surface the high points experienced by the mentoring participants, the valuable practices they observed, and their description of an ideal mentoring scenario for WH in the future.
I conclude that to attain an ideal appreciative mentoring process, WH must offer skills training and resources, within a solid structure provided by a mentoring staff committed to implementing the AID.
Mentor: Andrew S. Myer
Family Support, Violence, and PTSD Symptoms in Salvadoran Youth
No full textEl Salvador is identified as one of the most violent countries in the world. Growing up in such context, it is likely that Salvadoran youth experience a high risk for violence exposure, including different forms of physical violence. Familial and non-familial perpetrated physical violence are associated with negative mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Multiple studies document the protective role of family support in attenuating negative mental health outcomes in adolescents. This study examined the fitness of mediation and moderation models for family support on the relationship between familial and non-familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology in Salvadoran youth. Participants consisted of 797 Salvadoran youth aged 13-17 years old attending private and public schools. Both mediation and moderation models for family support, familial physical violence and adolescent PTSD symptomatology were significant. Family support did not mediate or moderate the relationship between non-familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology. Findings underscore the protective role of family support in attenuating the relationship between familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology. Clinical implications from this study highlight the importance of incorporating family-based interventions (e.g., family therapy, parent support) when providing psychological treatment for adolescents growing up in violent contexts in Central America
