Boyce Digital Repository (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
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Addressing Issues Related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Self-Identifying Christians in the Asian American Church
Get PDFIn the past two decades, a significant number of revisionist literature has been published by queer Asian theologians challenging orthodox teachings on homosexuality and gender identity. The issue that the Asian American church faces today is pressure from society and culture to contextualize the Scriptures in order to affirm same-sex relations and reject gender normative behavior. This thesis seeks to analyze and critique queer revisionist writings, provide biblical correctives and plausibility structures for the Asian American church. The purpose of criticizing the works of queer Asian theologians and providing biblical correctives is to prevent unorthodox teachings from permeating the church and leading believers astray. The reason for providing plausibility structures is to help the church learn how to reduce the marginalization of those who experience same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria as well as to help retain friends and family members of LGBT self-identifying Christians in the Asian American Church. As the Asian American Church engages LGBT self-identifying Christians with convictional kindness and love the church is urged to remain faithful to the Word of God
Establishing a Framework for Female-Gendered Embodiment in a Redemptive Context
Get PDFThis study establishes an ontological framework for defining female-gendered embodiment, proposing a definition which is scripturally grounded and ontologically-based. If a woman does not comprehend her essential purpose and ontological nature, she may perform duties and responsibilities, but the richness of her living within her God-given design will be diminished—to the detriment of the individual, the family, the church, and society as a whole. Likewise, women, families, and churches will suffer when women are communicated an incomplete definition of their ontological meaning (e.g. a strictly functionally-based or roles-derived meaning). Though gender is the central topic of much present-day evangelical scholarship, evangelical scholars typically do not have a shared, working definition of the term. This research articulates a theological paradigm to identify female-gendered embodiment, distinctively engages the only known theological model for defining women ontologically (by Evdokimov), establishes a framework to define female-gendered embodiment ontologically, and assesses the framework from various perspectives. The proposed, original taxonomy of gendered embodiment serves to foster cross-boundary discussions toward the objective of defining female-gendered embodiment within theological anthropology
Learning to Live in a Grace-Centered Marriage at Freedom Church in Lincolnton, North Carolina
Get PDFLEARNING TO LIVE IN A GRACE-CENTERED MARRIAGEAT FREEDOM CHURCH IN LINCOLNTON,
NORTH CAROLINA
Steven Robert Benson, DEdMinThe Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Matthew David Haste
This project seeks to equip members of Freedom Church in Lincolnton, North Carolina to live in Grace-Centered Marriages. Chapter 1 presents the history and ministry context of Freedom Church, the partnership with Grace Roads Counseling Center and the goals of this project. Chapter 2 provides exegesis of two main passages of Scripture (Ephesians 5:21-33; Genesis 3 and 4) to show the redemptive design of how grace matures our character, identities and relating styles. Chapter 3 presents resources for the historical, contemporary views and philosophies, purpose and practices of marriage available. Chapter 4 describes the project itself, recounting the content and teaching methodology of the specific course curriculum. Chapter 5 evaluates the efficacy of the project based on completion of the specified goals. Ultimately, this project seeks to equip Christians with the confidence to live the gospel of grace in their marriages
Tertullian’s Baptismal Spirituality in His De Baptismo and Its Value Today
Get PDFTertullian wrote extensively on the subject of baptism. Tertullian’s mention of baptism is surveyed throughout his corpus. Special attention is paid to his De Baptismo and other pre-Montantist works. Tertullian’s De Baptismo 18 has received significant use by Presbyterians, Baptists, and Stone-Campbellites. De Baptismo 18 is exegeted in context, interpretations of the text by David Wright, Everett Ferguson, and Brian Brewer are analyzed, and the value of Tertullian’s baptismal theology for today is assessed
Equipping Husbands at Cornerstone Bible Church in Westfield, Indiana, to Grow As Spiritual Leaders in the Home
Get PDFD.Ed.Min., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020ABSTRACT
EQUIPPING HUSBANDS AT CORNERSTONE BIBLE
CHURCH IN WESTFIELD, INDIANA TO GROW
AS SPIRITUAL LEADERS IN THE HOME
Andrew Edward Miller, DEdMin
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Robert D. Jones
This project examines Scripture to establish a biblical theology for spiritual leadership within the home and equips men to become better leaders through content delivered in a workshop format.
Chapter 1 provides context for the project and outlines goals, rationale, and methods undergirding the proposed training. Chapter 2 examines four passages men should consider as they think about leading in the home and develops a biblical theology for how husbands might approach growing as spiritual leaders. This chapter impresses upon men the importance of understanding their spouse and the need to lead as a servant. Chapter 3 surveys the writings of various thought leaders on the topic of leading biblically. Specifically, materials related to the marital relationship are examined and compared. Chapter 4 puts forth a summary of curriculum to be utilized for eight hours of training and equipping. Chapter 5 offers a summary of findings, an assessment of results, and a reflection upon proposed changes in future iterations of the project
When Does Personhood Begin?
Get PDFChapter 1 introduces the main research question to be answered: when does personhood begin? The chapter outlines the context of the debate, explains the importance of this issue and its relevance to Christian life, and presents the thesis and methodology of this dissertation.Chapter 2 sets a foundation for the debate by explaining the biological facet, which is a general revelation that God displays to the whole world. Referencing scientific literature, this chapter presents a biological overview of the human embryo’s development from a fertilized ovum, and explains scientific terms that appear in later discussions.
Chapter 3 reviews the development of the concepts of personhood and soul throughout history. This chapter examines words in the original biblical language that refer to the soul or to the image of God, in order to clarify Scripture’s description of the components of a person and Scripture’s definition of Imago Dei.
Chapter 4 compares creationism and traducianism, two major theological schools of thought on the soul’s origin, and argues that traducianism is more plausible and consistent with biblical and scientific data.
Chapter 5 systematically analyzes biblical descriptions of embryonic and fetal development, in a reversed chronological order (i.e. from the fetal stage back to conception), to argue that Scripture assumes full personhood for every human being from the moment of conception.
Chapter 6, relying on conclusions from previous chapters, responds to various lines of challenges that undermine the personhood of embryos. This chapter is organized by stages of embryonic development and covers topics such as the personhood of twins and the ontological identity of an early embryo.
Chapter 7 explores personal eschatology and Christology, two themes in systematic theology that relate to embryonic personhood.
Chapter 8 makes practical applications to ART and embryonic stem cell research, two contemporary bioethical issues closely linked to embryonic personhood
Equipping Students of Chaparral Hills Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, to Meditate on the Bible
Get PDFDoctor of Educational Ministry, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020This ministry project was designed to equip students of Chaparral Hills Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas to meditate on the Bible. The purpose of equipping was to increase knowledge and student confidence in the practice of biblical meditation. Chapter 1 explains the context, rationale, purpose, goals, and methodology of the project. Chapter 2 describes the biblical practice of meditation based on the exegesis of the following passages: Psalm 1:1-6, Psalm 63:1-8; Psalm 119:15-16, 23-34, 97-98; Joshua 1:8, and 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. Chapter 3 reviews and synthesizes literature discussing meditation from Catholic and Protestant traditions to gain a better understanding of how Christians have practiced meditation as well as analyzing strengths, weaknesses and proposed changes from other doctoral projects. Chapter 4 details the implementation of the project from creation through analysis of statistical results of the project. Chapter 5 presents an assessment of the purpose, goals, strengths, and weaknesses of the project, and concludes with suggested changes, theological and personal reflections
The Role of the Unpaid Elder in Southern Baptist Churches: A Mixed Methods Study
Get PDFScripture teaches that leadership was created by God, a concept illustrated by the creation mandate to man to subdue the earth (Gen 1:28-29). As Michael Wilder and Timothy Paul Jones point out, leadership was not something that God put into place after the Fall, but it was God’s plan from the beginning for man to exercise the dominion of the rest of creation. However, as a result of the fall, man needs leadership and guidance in order to fulfill the purposes that God has set forth. Institutions need leadership, and the Church is no exception.
Benjamin Merkle asserts that while church polity is not the weightiest decision that a church will make, adopting a biblical form is essential for the health of the church as it determines who leads and teaches the church. In recent years there has been a growth of the use of elder leadership in congregationalist churches and the increase in elder leadership has included the use of unpaid elders. While there is much prescriptive literature for the role of unpaid elders in Southern Baptist churches, there is little empirical research that describes the roles that unpaid elders are assuming in their congregations.
The purpose of this explanatory sequential, mixed-method study was to understand the role of the unpaid elder in Southern Baptist churches. In the quantitative phase 146 churches with unpaid elders completed a survey related to their experience with unpaid elders in their church. The focus of this thesis was on the ways that unpaid elders are shepherding and teaching. Churches that fit the selection criteria were invited to participate in the qualitative phase.
Nine interviews were conducted with 5 paid elders and 4 unpaid elders from 5 churches in the qualitative phase. The interviews were composed of open-ended questions that asked the elders share how their unpaid elders were involved in shepherding and teaching in their churches. The top three ways unpaid elders were shepherding were through teaching, preaching, and providing church oversight. The top three ways unpaid elders were teaching were through preaching, small groups, and one-on-one discipleship
Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, . . . and C. S. Lewis? Two Revolutionary Philosophical, Moral, and Cultural Critiques
Get PDFPh.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020This dissertation is a critical comparative analysis of two twentieth-century works of profound philosophical, moral, and cultural criticism: C. S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man (1944) and Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944). Written during, and greatly influenced by, the horrors of WWII, both works attempt a theoretically rigorous and substantive account of the seemingly precarious state of affairs for humanity in their times. And yet, intriguingly, there appears to be no reciprocal influence (or even an awareness of the other) in either direction between the authors. Notwithstanding, the authors explore many common themes including the following: the history of Western civilization, the nature of reason and rationality, human nature, the subject-object relation, the question of ethical normativity, the human struggle against and conquest of nature, the increasing detachment of science from practical life, the encroaching dominance of industry and technology in the form of a growing technocracy, and the resulting loss of personal liberty and dignity through increasing forms of dehumanization in mass culture and society. In this regard, both works belong to the prominent corpus of twentieth-century conservative and radical critiques of the excesses of Enlightenment thought—a distorted view of rationality, a groundless system of morality, and a dehumanizing approach to culture—or Enlightenment rationalism.
For both assessments, the fate of Western civilization rests on a knife edge, while the diagnosis, prognosis, and proposed solutions they prescribe could not be more drastically different in their final analysis. The authors approach the past and present unfolding of this human drama from two radically different points of view on the ideological spectrum—on the one hand, Lewis the traditional, evangelical Christian, and, on the other, Adorno and Horkheimer, atheistic neo-Marxists, and founding members of the Frankfurt School and critical theory. In spite of the fascinating historical background and context of their writing, few scholars have examined these thinkers and their works together.
This dissertation argues, by way of critical comparative analysis, that Lewis, given his Christian theological and philosophical foundations, provides the more cogent and coherent evaluation of the problems for Western civilization due to the excesses of Enlightenment rationalism than the critical theorists Adorno and Horkheimer. The argument in defense of this thesis begins with a critical summary and analysis of the main lines of thought contained in Lewis’ Abolition and Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic, each treated separately. The goal is to provide the reader with a careful exposition and explication of the two works, drawing on current scholarship in addition to providing new insights where possible. Next, I provide a critique of the two works based on three central themes: rationality, morality, and culture. I give special attention to the many fascinating similarities between Lewis and Adorno and Horkheimer, while also concentrating on the key differences in their overall theories, evaluations, and conclusions. The primary goal is to demonstrate the superiority of Lewis’ philosophical arguments, his greater prophetic and poetic vision, and the truth of the Christian worldview over against the atheistic, neo-Marxist alternative propounded by Adorno and Horkheimer
Training Biblical Counselors to Address Mid-Life Issues at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California
Get PDFThis project is designed to train biblical counselors at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California to address issues specific to middle-aged believers. Chapter 1 presents the ministry context of Kindred Community Church and the goals of this project. Chapter 2 provides exegesis of five passages of Scripture (Psalm 19:7-9; Proverbs 1:1-7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; 2 Peter 1:3-4) to demonstrate that the Scriptures are sufficient to address the life issues of a middle-aged believer in Christ. Chapter 3 surveys the literature from both the fields of secular psychology and Christian counseling and demonstrates that there are specific issues which are observed to be common among those in the middle-aged population. Chapter 4 describes the content of the course curriculum and the practical plan for its implementation in the church. Chapter 5 is an evaluation of the ministry project based upon the specific goals which have already been articulated. This project aims to equip the counselor to minister compassionately and biblically to the middle-aged population at Kindred Community Church, thereby fulfilling the church’s mission statement “to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ.