Mexico coming into light

Boston University Theology Library

The missionary interpretation of history by Richard Taylor Stevenson

Boston University Theology Library

Behind, Between, and Beyond Anthropomorphic Models

The plurality of models of ultimate reality is a central problem for religious philosophy. This essay sketches what is involved in mounting comparative inquiries across the plurality of models. In order to illustrate what advance would look like in such a comparative inquiry, an argument is presented to show that highly anthropomorphic models of ultimate reality are inferior to a number of competitors. This paper was delivered as a keynote address during the APA Pacific 2007 Mini-Conference on Models of God.

The Divine Action Project, 1988–2003

This article explores the state of the art in theories of special divine action by means of a study of the Divine Action Project (DAP) co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley. The basic aim is to introduce the DAP and to summarize its results, especially as these were compiled in the final “capstone” meeting of the DAP, and drawing on the published output of the project where possible. The subsidiary aim is to evaluate criticisms of theories of special divine action developed within the DAP.

Meanings of the Sabbath for Worship in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church

This study investigates the meanings and significance of the seventh-day Sabbath for worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In recent years, both the day and concept of Sabbath have attracted ecumenical attention, but the focus of scholarship has been placed on Sunday as the Lord's Day or Sabbath with little consideration given to the seventh-day Sabbath. In contrast, this project examines the seventh-day Sabbath and worship on that day from theological, liturgical, biblical and historical perspectives. Although not intended as an apology for Seventh-day Adventist practices, the work does strive to promote a critical and creative conversation with other theological and liturgical traditions in order to promote mutual, ecumenical understanding. Historical research into the origins and nature of the principal day for weekly Christian worship provides a starting point for discussion on Sabbath. Reconsideration of the relationship between Judaism and early Christianity in recent studies suggests that the influence of Judaism lasted longer than previously supposed, thereby prolonging the developmental process of Sabbath (seventh day) to Sunday. A possible coexistence of Sabbath and Sunday in early Christianity offers an alternative to perspectives that dichotomize Sabbath and Sunday from Christian antiquity onward, and thus for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, suggests biblical and historical validity for their Sabbath worship practice. Recent theological perspectives on Sabbath and Sunday are examined, particularly those of Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann and Pope John Paul II. While all three of these theologians stress the continuity of Sabbath and Sunday and speak mainly to a theology of Sunday, they do highlight the significance of Sabbath—which is relevant to an interpretation of seventh-day Sabbath worship. The study concludes that the seventh-day Sabbath is significant for worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church because it symbolizes the relationship between God and human beings, reminds humanity of the creating and redeeming God who acts in history, and invites persons to rest and fellowship with God on a day sanctified by God.

An Historical and Theological Analysis of Campus Crusade for Christ's Evangelistic Practice in Two American University Contexts

This dissertation, an exercise in practical theology, consists of a critical conversation between the evangelistic practice of Campus Crusade for Christ in two American university contexts, Bryan Stone's ecclesiologically grounded theology of evangelism, and William Abraham's eschatologically grounded theology of evangelism. It seeks to provide these evangelizing communities several strategic proposals for a more ecclesiologically and eschatologically grounded practice of evangelism within a university context. The current literature on evangelism is long on evangelistic strategy and activity, but short on theological analysis and reflection. This study focuses on concrete practices, but is grounded in a thick description of two particular contexts (derived from qualitative research methods) and a theological analysis of the ecclesiological and eschatological beliefs embedded within their evangelistic activities. The dissertation provides an historical overview of important figures, ideas, and events that helped mold the practice of evangelism inherited by the two ministries of this study, beginning with the famous Haystack Revival on Williams College in 1806. Both ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and at Washington State University, inherited an evangelistic practice sorely infected with many of the classic distortions that both Abraham and Stone attempt to correct. Qualitative research methods detail the direction that Campus Crusade for Christ at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and Washington State University have taken the practice of evangelism they inherited. Applying the analytical categories that emerge from a detailed summary of Stone and Abraham to qualitative data of these two ministries reveals several ways evangelism has morphed in a manner sympathetic to Stone's insistence that the central logic of evangelism is the embodied witness of the church. The results of this analysis reveal the subversive and pervasive influence of modernity on these evangelizing communities—an influence that warrants several corrective strategic proposals including: 1) re-situating evangelism within a reading of the biblical narrative that emphasizes the present, social, public, and realized nature of the gospel of the kingdom of God rather than simply its future, personal, private, and unrealized dimensions; 2) clarifying the nature of the evangelizing communities and their relationship to the church; and 3) emphasizing the virtues that characterize a new evangelistic exemplar who is incarnational, intentional, humble, and courageous.

The Practice and Understanding of the Eucharist in the United Church of Christ: A Practical Theological Study

This dissertation explores the complexity of the understanding and practice of the Eucharist in the United Church of Christ as revealed in a textual analysis of the UCC Book of Worship (1986) and a qualitative study of five representative UCC congregations. Little has been written on this topic, save for several brief articles on the history of the theology of the sacrament in the two bodies that merged to form the UCC in 1957: the Congregational Christian Churches (CC) and the Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R). This dissertation advances the topic through a practical-theological study that brings into critical conversation contemporary eucharistic practices in five congregations and a historical theological analysis of liturgical traditions in the UCC and antecedent denominations. Through this conversation, the study articulates common themes of a UCC eucharistic theology and explores implications for ongoing theology and practice in the denomination. The introduction explicates the methodology employed in this study, guided by Don Browning's work. The first two chapters present the findings of the focus group interviews and an interpretation of those results respectively. Chapter three analyzes the eucharistic liturgies in three historic books of worship used in the E&R heritage. In chapter four, two of the antecedent resources utilized in the CC tradition are analyzed. The short-lived Hymnal of the United Church of Christ, published in 1974, includes liturgies that would find fuller expression in the 1986 Book of Worship. That hymnal is examined in chapter five. Chapter six interprets the two services of "Word and Sacrament" found in the Book of Worship. Chapter seven offers a comparative analysis of the focus group findings and the theology inherent in the Book of Worship. The final chapter offers strategic recommendations for revised theory and practice. The conclusion points toward areas for further research: it propels a critical conversation around the notion of covenant, Christ's presence in the meal, and who can receive and officiate at the Eucharist. This dissertation concludes that the UCC lives within a balance of multiple, complementary theologies and challenges the denomination to make stronger connections between the meal and mission, reconciliation, and tradition.