Boyce Digital Repository (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Not a member yet
7153 research outputs found
Sort by
Diaspora Missiology: Understanding Biblical Hospitality as a Means to Develop Church Planting Strategies Among Unreached Peoples in the United States
Get PDFThis thesis develops an understanding of biblical hospitality as it evaluates diaspora missiology in order to help create an effective strategy to reach unreached peoples within the borders of the United States. Chapter 1 surveys the literature that has contributed to the study of diaspora missiology and biblical hospitality as well as stating the research problem that will be addressed. Chapter 2 surveys the theological understanding of biblical hospitality as it relates to the diasporas peoples within the biblical context. Chapter 3 looks at current migration numbers and the types of societies to which the diasporas belong. It also looks at current church planting strategies to establish the need for understanding biblical hospitality and the role that it plays in reaching the diasporas with the gospel. Chapter 4 looks at some churches and mission organizations that currently have effective strategies in place to reach the diasporas in the United States. Chapter 5 will discuss the implications for the church based on the research presented and will aid in identifying potential effective strategies for churches to implement when ministering to UPGs and displaced peoples in the United States
The Grief of a Child: Counseling the Dynamic Heart of an Elementary-Aged Child Grieving Death
Get PDFThis thesis examines how caregivers can best counsel an elementary-aged child grieving death that considers the nature of a child’s developing heart. Chapter two argues that effective communication to grieving children begins with a clear theology of death and grief and that caregivers have no foundation of care to build on without thorough biblical definitions and descriptions of death and grief. Chapter three argues that effective communication must extend beyond a theology of death and grief, however, to include an understanding of the nature of a child’s dynamic heart. Once the interplay of a child’s thoughts, feelings, and choices within the context of their experience of grief is established, chapter four examines how the development of a child’s heart affects helpful counsel to those children. Finally, chapter five proposes some foundational methodologies before considering potential resources and general principles to help caregivers in their difficult role of providing help to a grieving child
Training Future Teacher and Leaders in Biblical Hermeneutics at Trinity Baptist Church of Valdese, North Carolina
Get PDFThis project was designed to train future teachers and leaders of Trinity Baptist Church of Valdese, North Carolina in biblical hermeneutics. The training process involved assessing and increasing the knowledge of current and potential teachers in hermeneutics foundations and principles. Chapter 1 introduces the ministry context of Trinity Baptist, along with the rationale, purpose, goals, research methodology, definitions, limitations, and delimitations of the project. Chapter 2 provides the biblical and theological basis for training future teachers. Cultural and even religious norms have diminished the relevancy of Scripture in today’s young people. It is the biblical duty of church leadership to train future teachers in the basics of Bible instruction and biblical hermeneutics. Chapter 3 underscores the foundation of the sufficiency of Scripture through practical examples. Chapter 4 details the curriculum and lesson plans for the eight-week study. Chapter 5 concludes with an overall evaluation of the project and suggestions for improvement and further development
“All Israel Shall Be Saved”: The Jews’ Conversion and Restoration in English Particular Baptist Thought, 1649–1815
No full textThis dissertation examines how the English Particular Baptists of the mid- seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries viewed the Jews, with a special emphasis on their future eschatological role. A central research question guides this study: what was the evolving understanding of the Jewish people among English Particular Baptists, and how did the eschatological concepts of Jewish conversion and restoration to the land of Canaan influence their larger understandings of socio-political and cultural events, and vice versa? The dissertation argues that English Particular Baptists accorded the Jews a central role in God’s redemptive plan, not merely with regards to Israel’s historical election as God’s chosen people but also as an essential people with a vital role in God’s unfolding purposes for humanity. Those covered in this study include Henry Jessey, William Kiffen, Thomas Collier, Hanserd Knollys, John Bunyan, Joseph Perry, John Gill, John Collett Ryland, Andrew Fuller, and Charles Spurgeon. The Jews occupied a significant place in English Particular Baptist life and thought, leading to real-world implications like the theological arguments employed to readmit the Jews in 1655 and the surge of domestic missions directed towards them with the establishment of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews in 1809. This dissertation shows how the doctrine of the Jews’ conversion and restoration developed during two centuries among the English Particular Baptists
Training and Multiplying Biblical Leadership Principles at Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Danville, Virginia
Get PDFThis project seeks to train current and potential D Groups leaders at Mount Hermon Baptist Church (MHBC) in multiplying biblical leadership principles to help them multiply their biblical leadership into others. Chapter 1 presents the project’s church context, rationale, purpose statement, goals, and research methodology. Chapter 2 provides an exegesis of four passages of Scripture (Gen 1:26-28; Num 27:12-23; Matt 10:1-5a; 2 Tim 2:1-2) to reveal twelve scriptural elements for biblical leaders in their multiplication of others as biblical leaders. Chapter 3 focuses on theoretical and practical issues related to training in multiplying biblical leadership principles, particularly three theoretical elements of biblical leadership multiplication and a model for multiplying leaders to utilize. Chapter 4 describes the project itself, starting with its preparation, continuing with its implementation, and then concluding with an overview of its content. Chapter 5 evaluates this project, while adding theological and personal reflection. Ultimately, this project seeks to train biblical leaders who will then multiply their leadership into others to develop them as biblical leaders for the sake of the gospel and the advancement of the kingdom of God
Biblical Meditation and the Visual Arts: A Method of Biblical Meditation for a Post- Christian, Visually-Saturated Age
Get PDFIn this post-Christian, visually-saturated age, Scripture-guided meditation on the visual arts can serve as a helpful method of biblical meditation. This dissertation argues that a method of biblical meditation—as outlined and practiced in Scripture—can make use of the visual arts as a biblically faithful and exhortative means for healthy biblical spirituality. This dissertation first establishes a strong definition of biblical meditation, contrasting biblical meditation with popular methods and understandings of meditation in today’s culture (particularly transcendental meditation), then presents its definition from Scripture and analyzes it throughout church history (paying special attention to the Puritans). Biblical meditation—a God-centered command for believers—is the careful thinking and pondering primarily upon God’s Word, but also upon God’s works (including his work of creation) and God’s ways, in accordance with Scripture. Biblical meditation is derived from and directed to a Triune God and is a God-given gift for the purpose of the believer’s maturity and sanctification. This project asserts a spirituality based primarily and predominantly upon sola Scriptura that then informs and transforms the understanding of all other avenues of learning as biblically-sound spirituality. Clarifying that the visual arts do not and cannot present new revelation, this dissertation argues that visual arts can be a healthy means for expressing biblical truth and encouraging believers. The dissertation then surveys the varied relationship of the church and the visual arts throughout history, after which a connection from the visual arts to biblical meditation is suggested as one possible method of biblical meditation. Examples are given from various periods of art history, including pieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, Thomas Cole, and Banksy. The last chapter discusses the relevance of applying biblical meditation to the visual arts and its value for the church and individual believers as they navigate a visually-saturated culture in the twenty-first century, as well as provides suggestions on how to implement this method. A development of the relationship between biblical meditation and the visual arts can become a healthy, regular practice for believers to incorporate as they grow into more mature, thoughtful followers of Jesus Christ
Missionary Sending and the Moravian Brethren
Get PDFThere is an increasing number of larger churches today taking back their New Testament responsibility of missionary sending from the agencies to which many had outsourced this task in the previous century. While this task seems more possible in churches with a larger staff and more plentiful resources, how can the more common small- to medium-sized churches take part? By even the most conservative estimates, the Moravian Brethren of the eighteenth century sent a remarkable quantity and quality of missionaries given their size. In this dissertation, I argue that cultural liturgies among eighteenth-century Moravians resulted in their remarkably high per capita sending rate, and that these cultural liturgies can be translated and exercised by twenty-first-century churches, creating a more conducive culture for missionary sending. The research I have compiled determines how the Moravians built a culture of sending within their communities and what processes they used to raise up and send out so many missionaries. I begin by building a model of Christian formation based on James Smith’s concept of cultural liturgies. Then, to distinguish the effects of the inherited culture of the Moravian Brethen from their eighteenth-century contemporary practice, I offer a history of the Brethren from their origins to the time of their underground period, specifically noting the effects of outside influences that led to missionary-culture-inducing values. After that, I provide a snapshot of eighteenth-century Moravian sending culture, giving particular attention to missionary sending cultural liturgies. Lastly, I give a distillation of contemporary missionary sending applications that can be contemporized and contextualized for local churches in the twenty-first century
Equipping The Members of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee with a Biblical Understanding of Gender and Sexuality
Get PDFThis project seeks to equip the members of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, with a biblical understanding of gender and sexuality so they may reach non-believers with the gospel. Chapter 1 explains the ministry context, goals, and research methodology for the project. Chapter 2 unpacks an exegesis of three Bible passages (Gen 1:26-28; Rom 1:24-32; 1 Cor 6:9-11) to demonstrate the biblical and theological basis for the project. Chapter 3 explains the historical and contemporary issues relating to gender and sexuality. Chapter 4 lays out a description of the project itself, which involves the teaching of the discipleship curriculum. Chapter 5 examines the results of the project, which includes evaluating the purpose, goals, and process of the project. The project’s chief aim involves equipping ordinary believers to witness effectively to people struggling with gender identity issues and non-biblical sexualities
Training the Congregation of First Baptist Church of Ray City in Ray City, Georgia, for Spirit-Reliant Evangelism
Get PDFThe purpose of this project is to train the congregation of First Baptist Church Ray City in Ray City, Georgia, for Spirit-reliant evangelism by combining a Sunday School curriculum designed to increase the congregants’ understanding of the Holy Spirit and his empowering presence for evangelism with a sermon series, taught alongside the curriculum that will equip FBC Ray City members to depend upon the Holy Spirit for evangelism. Chapter 1 argues the need to train church members to rely upon the Spirit in evangelism. The chapter outlines the context of First Baptist Church of Ray City in Ray City, Georgia, and the reasons for this type of training. It explains the project’s purpose, goals, methodology, key definitions, limitations, and delimitations specific to the project. Chapter 2 argues from a biblical and theological perspective that the church must see that God empowers his people through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who teaches and guides them in all truth and equips them with various gifts, to proclaim the gospel and advance his kingdom here on earth through their reliance upon him. Chapter 3 argues that throughout church history, the church has been evangelistically at its greatest when it has emphasized Spirit-reliance as the power to see the lost saved. Chapter 4 outlines the implementation of the project. Chapter 5 is an evaluation of the project, looking at its strengths and weaknesses. This project guided FBC Ray City’s membership to rely on the Holy Spirit as they strive to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world
Buying Local: An Inquiry Into the Ethical Dimensions of Place in Consumer Decisions
Get PDFThis thesis assesses the Buy Local Movement from a Christian perspective and argues that supporting a global market through personal buying choices has a greater potential to promote human flourishing for image bearers across the globe than restricting one’s buying completely to local sources. In chapter 1, I introduce the topic and survey the related literature. Chapter 2 is devoted to biblical and theological foundations for the debate, including human flourishing, the cultural mandate, natural law theory, and neighbor love. Chapter 3 explores economic factors such as the value of trade, the global wealth pie, division of labor, comparative advantage, competition, and protectionism. In chapter 4, ethical considerations are taken into account including income inequality, sweatshop working conditions, and the environment. The final chapter concludes my argument and shows practical ways it applies to Christians and churches