This book gallery contains monograph publications by Pepperdine University faculty members or staff on the subject of religion. Each entry contains a link through which the user may access or purchase the publication.
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The History of the Restoration Movement in Illinois in the 19th Century
James L. McMillan and Thomas H. Olbricht
2020
The Stone-Campbell Movement resulted from a confluence of several international efforts to restore the life and faith of the first century church in the nineteenth century. The Movement in the twenty-first century claims about five million members around the globe. Illinois played a pivotal role the early years. In 1880 there were more members of the movement in Illinois than in any state in the United States or in any country in the world. We elaborate upon the various religious tributaries involved from the beginning and have depicted churches, leaders, members, educational institutions, books, journals, and organizations in their various and wide-ranging manifestations. Authors of earlier published histories of the Movement in Illinois did not have access to some important primary sources that the authors of this new history have been able to utilize, including correspondence, books, periodicals and ephemera located in libraries, personal collections, historical societies and online. A significant number of these sources have been digitized just for this project. Illinois readers will identify the roots of the Movement in their region and readers elsewhere will recognize insights that impact the total Movement and forces related to their own situation.
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The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Nature and Text of the Diatessaron
Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola
2019
This volume combines some of the leading voices on the composition and collection of early Christian gospels in order to analyze Tatian's Diatessaron. The rapid rise and sudden suppression of the Diatessaron has raised numerous questions about the nature and intent of this second-century composition. It has been claimed as both a vindication of the fourfold gospel's early canonical status and as an argument for the canon's on-going fluidity; it has been touted as both a premiere witness to the earliest recoverable gospel text and as an early corrupting influence on that text. Collectively, these essays provide the greatest advance in Diatessaronic scholarship in a quarter of a century.
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The History of Christianity: Facts and Fictions
Dyron B. Daughrity
2019
Christianity has been accused of being misogynistic, pro-slavery, and anti-science, and some say it is finally beginning its long decline. This book provides an entirely different side to the stories about this faith.
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Profiles of Notable Missourians: For the Missouri Bicentennial
Thomas H. Olbricht
2019
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Missouri (2021) entry into statehood, this book describes the lives and important contributions of thirty-four famous Missourians. Written by a famous Missourian, Dr. Thomas H. Olbricht, the book combines biographical information with a fresh approach of the author’s own reflections, memories, and connections with the subjects. Whether you are a Missourian or not, you will come to appreciate Missouri’s surprising influence on the State, the country, and the world.
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Staying the Course: Fifteen Leaders Survey Their Past and Envision the Future of Churches of Christ
Thomas H. Olbricht and Gayle Crowe
2019
In thriving churches, the leadership would include ministers, but also might include medical doctors, attorneys, business men and women, teachers, carpenters, judges, accountants, nurses, bakers, and so on.For three years, the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference undertook to ask fifteen well-respected senior leaders in the Churches of Christ to tell their own stories of their history into positions of leadership and influence. Each was also asked to articulate his or her vision for the future of Churches of Christ. All authors are beyond age seventy, all have terminal degrees in their field, and all have stayed within the fellowship of Churches of Christ. They include Fred D. Gray, Carolyn Hunter, Lynn Anderson, John T. Willis, and eleven others. These essays witness to the shaping work of God in the lives of notable church leaders, and perhaps also give hope to the readers for seeing God’s work in their own lives.
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Rising: The Amazing Story of Christianity's Resurrection in the Global South
Dyron B. Daughrity and Project Muse Project Muse
2018
Pundits regularly declare that Christianity is dying. And in a way they are correct. Its golden age of influence is long gone in Western Europe, and similar trends are happening in North America. But while it slowly dies in the West, Christianity has been coming to life in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
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Bat, Scalpel, Sheepskin, Beneath the Cross: Narratives on the Life of Gail Eason Hopkins
Thomas H. Olbricht and Leah G. Hopkins
2018
Dr. Hopkins played major league baseball, became an orthopedic surgeon, and obtained graduate degrees in the sciences and Biblical Studies. He perceived his central commitment to be to Jesus Christ. He has served as an elder in Churches of Christ and on the board of Christian Colleges. Dr. Hopkins’ life is told by admiring relatives and friends.
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Martin Luther: A Biography for the People
Dyron B. Daughrity
2017
"I will not recant anything.''
Martin Luther: A Biography for the People is a fresh retelling of one the most significant figures of the last millennium. Not written primarily for theologians, but rather for a general, twenty-first-century audience, Martin Luther traces- Luther's early life, education, years as a monk, and teaching career
- Luther's conflicts with political and religious authorities
- Luther's 95 Theses and his narrow escape from death in the aftermath
- Luther's soaring gifts yet his unsettling flaws
- Luther's impact on our world today, from Bible translation to anti-Semitism
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Hope in the Age of Climate Change: Creation Care This Side of the Resurrection
Chris Doran
2017
It is difficult to be hopeful in the midst of daily news about the effects of climate change on people and our planet. While the Christian basis for hope is the resurrection of Jesus, unfortunately far too many American Protestant Christians do not connect this belief with the daily witness of their faith. This book argues that the resurrection proclaims a notion of hope that should be the foundation of a theology of creation care that manifests itself explicitly in the daily lives of believers. Christian hope not only inspires us to do great and courageous things but also serves as a critique of current systems and powers that degrade humans, nonhumans, and the rest of creation and thus cause us to be hopeless. Belief in the resurrection hope should cause us to be a different sort of people. Christians should think, purchase, eat, and act in novel and courageous ways because they are motivated daily by the resurrection of Jesus. This is the only way to be hopeful in the age of climate change.
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Grace and Peace: Essays in Memory of David Worley
Thomas H. Olbricht, Stan Reid, and David Ripley Worley
2017
These essays are presented by the family, friends, and colleagues of David Worley of blessed memory. David Worley was an extraordinary man of many talents and interests. David was born and raised in Texas, and was educated at Abilene Christian and Yale. Upon receiving a PhD in New Testament, he and his growing family moved to Austin, Texas, where he lived until his untimely death by cancer. David's family owned a series of broadcasting stations. Over his lifetime he was interested in the media, venture capital investments, church life and music, and mission efforts in Russia, Africa, New Zealand, and elsewhere. He taught courses as an adjunct professor at various colleges and served as president of the Austin Graduate School of Theology and chairman of the board of the Institute of Theology and Christian Ministry, St. Petersburg, Russia. Even his close friends knew little of the magnitude of his activities. What was clear, however, was that he served one Lord--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nothing can be more challenging to a complacent life than these essays about the activities and commitments of David Worley.
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Understanding World Christianity: India
Dyron B. Daughrity and Jesudas Athyal
2016
In this exciting volume, Dyron B. Daughrity and Jesudas M. Athyal offer an introduction to Indian Christianity that has been desperately needed by scholars, students, and interested readers alike. Rich in experience and knowledge, Daughrity and Athyal introduce readers to the vibrancy of Indian Christianity like no other authors have done before.
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To Whom Does Christianity Belong?: Critical Issues in World Christianity
Dyron B. Daughrity
2015
In this exciting new volume, an anchor to the Understanding World Christianity series, Dyron B. Daughrity helps readers map out the major changes that have taken place in recent years in the world's largest religion. By comparing trends, analyzing global Christian movements, and tracing the impact of Pentecostalism, interreligious dialogue, global missions, birth rates, and migratory trends, Daughrity sketches a picture of a changing religion and gives the tools needed to understand it. From discussions of sexuality and afterlife to contemporary Christian music and secularization, this book provides a global perspective on what is happening within Christianity today.
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Mapping Christian Rhetorics: Connecting Conversations, Charting New Territories
Michael-John DePalma
2015
The continued importance of Christian rhetorics in political, social, pedagogical, and civic affairs suggests that such rhetorics not only belong on the map of rhetorical studies, but are indeed essential to the geography of rhetorical studies in the twenty-first century. This collection argues that concerning ourselves with religious rhetorics in general and Christian rhetorics in particular tells us something about rhetoric itself―its boundaries, its characteristics, its functionings. In assembling original research on the intersections of rhetoric and Christianity from prominent and emerging scholars, Mapping Christian Rhetorics seeks to locate religion more centrally within the geography of rhetorical studies in the twenty-first century. It does so by acknowledging work on Christian rhetorics that has been overlooked or ignored; connecting domains of knowledge and research areas pertaining to Christian rhetorics that may remain disconnected or under connected; and charting new avenues of inquiry about Christian rhetorics that might invigorate theory-building, teaching, research, and civic engagement. In dividing the terrain of Christian rhetorics into four categories―theory, education, methodology, and civic engagement―Mapping Christian Rhetorics aims to foster connections among these areas of inquiry and spur future future collaboration between scholars of religious rhetoric in a range of research areas.
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The Faithful Creator: Affirming Creation and Providence in an Age of Anxiety
Ron Highfield
2015
In The Faithful Creator, seasoned professor and author Ron Highfield presents an overview of creation, providence and the problem of evil. He explores a wide range of issues, including the biblical accounts of creation, the dialogue between theology and science, models of providence, philosophical problems of evil and the proposals of open theism and process theism. Both accessible and scholarly, The Faithful Creator is an ideal text for classroom use.
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God, Freedom and Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture
Ronald Highfield
2013
Does God's all-encompassing will restrict our freedom? Does God's ownership and mastery over us diminish our dignity?
The fear that God is a threat to our freedom and dignity goes far back in Western thought. Such suspicion remains with us today in our so-called secular society. In such a context any talk of God tends to provoke responses that range from defiance to subservience to indifference. How did Western culture come to this place? What impact does this social and intellectual environment have on those who claim to believe in God or more specifically in the Christian God of the Bible?
Professor of religion Ron Highfield traces out the development of Western thought that has led us our current frame of mind from Plato, Augustine and Descartes through Locke, Kant, Blake Bentham, Hegel, Nietzsche--all the way down to Charles Taylor's landmark work Sources of the Self. At the heart of the issue is the modern notion of the autonomous self and the inevitable crisis it provokes for a view of human identity, freedom and dignity found in God. Can the modern self really secure its own freedom, dignity and happiness? What alternative do we have? Highfield makes pertinent use of trinitarian theology to show how genuine Christian faith responds to this challenge by directing us to a God who is not in competition with his human creations, but rather who provides us with what we seek but could never give ourselves.
God, Freedom and Human Dignity is essential reading for Christian students who are interested in the debates around secularism, modernity and identity formation.
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Chosen Nations: Pursuit of the Kingdom of God and Its Influence on Democratic Values in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain and the United States
Christina L. Littefield
2013
At the heart of the biblical myth of chosenness is the idea that God has blessed a people to be a blessing to others. It is a mission of solemn responsibility. The six British and American thinkers examined in this study embraced the myth of chosenness for their countries, believed that the liberties they enjoyed were inherently tied to their Protestant faith, and that it was their mission to protect and spread that faith, and its democratic fruit, at home and abroad.
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A Woman Called: Piecing Together the Ministry Puzzle
Sara Gaston Barton
2012
The call to ministry is profound and life-changing, one that women are often forbidden to answer. In this sensitive and moving memoir Sara Barton speaks openly and vulnerably about how the conflict has played out in her life.
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Church History: Five Approaches to a Global Discipline
Dyron B. Daughrity
2012
This lively book not only unpacks the history of Christianity, but also explains how church history is created and organized. Different from traditional church history textbooks, the book:
Has a global emphasis, rather than an exclusively Euro-American one;
Explains the discipline of church history in addition to the content;
Is readable, engaging, and inviting to new students;
Makes church history accessible rather than stressing obscure dates and names. -
Reflections on My Life
Thomas H. Olbricht
2012
Thomas H. Olbricht grew up in Churches of Christ, has taught in several of their universities, and has given religious lectures on six continents and in most states in the United States. He has met most leaders in Churches of Christ globally. He has been active in several religious and rhetoric societies and has worked with leaders in all these organizations to bring about changes over the past sixty years.
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The Harp of Prophecy: Early Christian Interpretation of the Psalms
Brian E. Daley and Paul R. Kolbet
2011
The Psalms generated more biblical commentary from early Christians than any other book of the Hebrew and Christian canon. While advances have been made in our understanding of the early Christian preoccupation with this book and the traditions employed to interpret it, no study on the Psalms traditions exists that can serve as a solid academic point of entry into the field. This collection of essays by distinguished patristic and biblical scholars fills this lacuna. It not only introduces readers to the main primary sources but also addresses the unavoidable interpretive issues present in the secondary literature. The essays in The Harp of Prophecy represent some of the very best scholarly approaches to the study of early Christian exegesis, bringing new interpretations to bear on the work of influential early Christian authorities such as Athanasius, Augustine, and Basil of Caesarea. Subjects that receive detailed study include the dynamics of early Christian political power, gender expressions, and the ancient conversation between Christian, Jewish, and Greek philosophical traditions. The essays and bibliographic materials enable readers to locate and read the early Christian sources for themselves and also serve to introduce the various interdisciplinary methods and perspectives that are currently brought to bear on early Christian psalm exegesis. Students and scholars of theology and biblical studies will be led in new directions of thought and interpretation by these innovative studies.
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A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations
Daniel A. Rodriguez
2011
Daniel Rodriguez argues that effective Latino ministry and church planting are now centered in second-generation, English-dominant leadership and congregations. Based on his observation of dozens of cutting-edge Latino churches across the country, Rodriguez reports on how innovative congregations are ministering creatively to the next generations of Latinos. In-depth case studies reveal how gifted leaders are reaching beyond their own demographics to have lasting impact on their wider communities.
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The Changing World of Christianity: The Global History of a Borderless Religion
Dyron B. Daughrity
2010
With convenient maps, helpful statistics, and concise histories of each of the world’s major cultural blocks, The Changing World of Christianity is a dynamic guide for understanding Christianity’s new ethos. From Ireland to Papua New Guinea, Argentina to China, South Africa to Russia, this book provides a clear and encyclopedic look at Christianity, the world’s largest and most global religion.
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Mikveh: The Relationship of Jewish Ritual Immersion and Christian Baptism
Barry D. Fike
2009
Most Christians understand baptism as an undeniable doctrine of early Christianity. What most don’t grasp is that this practice goes far beyond the confines of Jesus and John the Baptist to some of the earliest recorded stages of the people of God, meaning that it has always been a part of the plan of God for the redemption of mankind. In this book, Barry Fike goes back into the Hebrew background of the concept of Christian baptism into the Jewish understanding of this ritual of cleanliness to show that our present understanding needs to have some backdrop to correctly identify a practice that has been discussed for at least 2000 years among Christians. While this isn’t the last word on the subject, it does raise significant questions and undeniable facts that need to be looked at in their original context both sociologically and theologically.
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Jesus and Marginal Women
Stuart L. Love
2009
The Gospel of Matthew recounts several interactions between Jesus and "marginal" women. The urban, relatively wealthy community to which Matthew writes faces issues relating to a number of internal problems including whether or how it will keep Jesus's inclusive vision to honor rural Israelite and non-Israelite outcast women in its midst. Will the Matthean community be faithful to the social vision of Jesus's unconventional kin group? Or will it give way to the crystallized gender social stratification so characteristic of Greco-Roman society as a whole? Employing social-scientific models and careful use of comparative data, Love examines structural marginality, social role marginality, ideological marginality, and cultural marginality relative to these interactions with Jesus. He also employs models of gender analysis, social stratification, healing, rites of passage, patronage, and prostitution.
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Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh to South India
Dyron B. Daughrity
2008
Bishop Stephen Neill (1900-1984) was one of the most gifted figures of world Christianity during the twentieth century. Once referred to as a «much-tempted, brilliant, enigmatic man» his voluminous writings reveal little about the scholar himself. From his birth in Edinburgh to his stellar student career in Cambridge to his meteoric rise through the clerical ranks in South India, Bishop Neill’s life was also riddled with discord.