Homosexuality Religious aspects Christianity., Bible and homosexuality., African American churches., African American churches., Bible and homosexuality., and Homosexuality Religious aspects Christianity.

Although the Bible records over eight passages which directly condemns homosexuality, many African-American churches are silent on this controversial issue. The purpose of this thesis is to present information that suggests that the African-American church compromises on this Biblical principle, by embracing homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, both outside and within the church. The church leadership has chosen to either overlook or accept this lifestyle. Based on statistical surveys and interviews, this project will offer practical and Biblical solutions and advice to all churches and ethnic groups, assisting them in dealing with the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage. The focus would also minister to those individuals and families of those who are “enslaved” by this non-Biblical lifestyle.

Women in the Bible. and Women in the Bible.

The ancient Genesis creation myth is traditionally read as establishing a hierarchy between the genders, in which the masculine is dominant and the feminine is submissive. Jacques Lacan's self-identification theory establishes a similar hierarchy, despite being conceived far more recently in the twentieth century. In Lacan's conception, the male child must escape from the feminine influence of his mother in order to fully become himself. There is no space for the female in his theory, even a female child. Using each work, as well as John Milton's Paradise Lost and William Blake's Milton: a poem, this project traces the traditional interpretation of gender hierarchy through retellings of the biblical creation myth. The focus is on the two principle female characters who have emerged from Genesis and its retellings: Eve, the first woman of the biblical creation myth, Adam's wife and eventual mother of all; and Sin, Milton's creation, Satan's daughter and lover. Both traditional, misogynistic readings and feminist readings were consulted. The traditional interpretations established the subordinate feminine and were also concerned with the threat of feminine sexuality and the damaging, sometimes fatal influence the feminine has over the masculine. The feminist interpretations undermined these findings, instead reading representations of a feminine who is close to, if not equal to, the masculine. The results reveal a path that both challenges and reinforces traditional gender hierarchy. Finally, Genesis is revisited, this time through an application of Lacan's self-identification theory. Instead of Adam, however, Eve is found to occupy the space of the male child, negating the need to gender the space at all.

Bible as literature Study and teaching (Higher), Apologetics., Apologetics., and Bible as literature Study and teaching (Higher)

This transcendental phenomenology describes the experience of public college students who study biblical or biblically-informed literary texts that are taught merely as cultural documents in literature and humanities courses. Two primary theories informed this study: transformation theory in adult learning and the theory of literary apologetics. Furthermore, qualitative methodologies of data collection included journaling, individual interviews with 13 public college students, and focus groups. Data analysis included epoche, member checks, and horizonalization. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How do public college students describe their experiences with biblical or biblically-informed literary texts when they are taught simply as cultural documents? (2) How do public college students describe the effect or influence that different classrooms, contexts, or situations have on their experience of the phenomenon (the phenomenon being experiencing biblical or biblically-informed literary texts taught as cultural documents)? (3) What does this experience mean, if anything, to students’ spiritual or ethical formation? Using open-coding enumeration via Atlas.ti software produced six major themes: biblical literacy/illiteracy as cultural literacy/illiteracy; exploring biblical content in literature with/without proselytization pressure; technology/format preferences and the tensions of interacting with biblically-informed literature as cultural texts; instructor “passion,” “safe” facilitation, and student-centered literary discussion; literary study as a neutral zone; and literary study as empathically formative. Future recommendations include conducting the same study in different geographical settings, considering literature as character education in higher education, and further exploring literary study as empathically formative.

Persecution., Suffering in the Bible., Persecution., and Suffering in the Bible.

This dissertation argues that persecution in Galatians manifests the cosmic conflict between God and the present evil age. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of persecution in Galatians and the history of research. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Paul uses the theme of cosmic conflict to place the crisis in Galatia within a broader context of a conflict between God who has inaugurated the new creation within the present time and this present evil age. Chapters 3-4 examine Paul's theological context. Chapter 3 investigates a theme of cosmic conflict in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. Chapter 4 examines the theme in other early Jewish texts (Daniel; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Jubilees; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees; 4 Maccabees; 1QS; CD; 1QM). This survey reveals that Paul's iteration of the theme possesses continuity and discontinuity with other authors. Chapter 5 offers a historical reconstruction of the instances of persecution mentioned in Galatians. Four instances of persecution in Galatians are examined: (1) Paul the Persecutor (1:13, 23). (2) Paul the Persecuted (3:1; 4:13, 19; 5:11; 6:17) (3) The Opponents as Potential Targets (6:12) (4) The Persecution of the Galatians (3:4; 4:17-18, 29). Paul uses the theme of persecution to reshape the perception of the Galatian believers and to reveal the danger of the false gospel preached by his opponents. Chapter 6 identifies persecution as a specific manifestation of the cosmic conflict between God and this present evil age. Galatians 4:29 directly connects the phenomenon of persecution with the broader cosmic conflict. Paul does so by identifying typology in Genesis 21:9. In light of this understanding of Paul's use of Genesis, other significant passages on persecution in Galatians are reexamined to see how they fit within a cosmic conflict reading: 1:13, 23; 3:4; 5:11; 6:12, 17. In conclusion, chapter 7 offers three possible results of Paul's understanding of persecution as cosmic conflict. It then examines the significance of the thesis for global Christianity today.