It is not known if there is a statistically-significant difference in Christian worldview scores between mature adult participants who have completed the Fellows theological training program and adult participants who have not. The Fellows program is an andragogy-based, 33-week long theological training program developed by church leadership. The…

Although scholars have analyzed Muscular Christianity as it has emerged throughout European and American cultural and religious history, this dissertation explores and unearths how scholarly attention is not currently being focused on how Evangelical college football coaches are utilizing Muscular Christianity to ground their coaching philosophy…

The study explores the following question: Within Exod 25-40, why is it emphasized repeatedly that the craftspeople, who build the tabernacle and its accessories, are filled with "hokmah" and the Spirit of God, and what significance does this have for understanding the tabernacle and the theology of the Pentateuch? A closely related…

The intent of this study was to investigate the teleological priorities of Christian higher education. As a sample size, the study drew from the Christian College Consortium that features leading liberal arts institutions. From a review of the literature, four historical epochs emerged with different defining features: the age of faith, the age of…

"I Wonder...Gaining Wisdom and Growing Faith Through Scientific Exploration" is an intergenerational science curriculum designed to be used in congregations. The goal of this curriculum and the theoretical work underpinning it is to counter the perception that people of faith cannot also be people who possess a scientific understanding…

This dissertation examines the development of the Old English vocabulary for fear under the influence of the Latinate discourse of Christian doctrine. The first chapter arranges the Old English words for fear into etymologically organized families and describes their incidence and usage across attested corpus of Old English, using the Dictionary…

The purpose of this content analysis research was to develop a biblical-theological model of Cognitive Dissonance Theory applicable to pedagogy. Evidence of cognitive dissonance found in Scripture was used to infer a purpose for the innate drive toward consonance. This inferred purpose was incorporated into a model that improves the descriptive…

This dissertation is a linguistic approach to theology informed by the philosophical work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. It is situated in the construction of Puerto Rican identity in the elliptic Puerto Rican geography of the island and the Puerto Rican immigration settlements on the mainland. Its goal is the truthful proclamation of the Gospel to the…

This study builds on a small, under-acknowledged body of educational works that speak to the problem of an overly technical focus on teaching, which negates a more authentic consideration of what it means to teach, including an exploration of the spiritual and moral dimensions. A need for educational change and the teacher's authentic way of…

This dissertation explores the recent work on spiritual practices in the academic discipline of Christian spirituality, gathering together the strengths of various conceptions of practice from the literature and developing a rigorous definition of a Christian spiritual practice: Christian spiritual practices are things God enables Christian people…

This Doctor of Ministry project builds upon the Church's catechetical commission to form adult Christian disciples, capable of revealing the kingdom of God. It is rooted in the Vatican II teaching found in "Lumen gentium," chapter five: all the baptized are called to partake in the Church's mission by virtue of their universal call to holiness.…

The intent of this study was to explore the variance of epistemological development in pre-ministry undergraduates across different institutional contexts, using the Perry Scheme as a theoretical lens. Semi-structured interviews were employed in order to elicit information from participants that revealed their personal perspectives regarding their…

Evangelical institutions of higher education began introducing programs of social work education after 1960 during a period of academic reform and dramatic social change. Public dialogue increasingly acknowledged impoverishment as a reality in America, and the renewal of social concern among evangelicals stimulated interest in education for the…