Honors Projects

“This I say not as one doubting”: Traditions of the Apostle Thomas from the Beginning of the Common Era through 800 CE

Janna Y. Strain — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:01:16 PDT

Historically, Thomas has a rich identity. Much of the apocrypha was named for the "doubting" disciple, such as The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas the Contender, and The Acts of the Apostle Thomas, yet these traditions do not address Thomas's story from The Gospel of John. In fact, Thomas becomes the favored disciple in The Book of Thomas the Contender and logion 13 of The Gospel of Thomas. In The Acts of the Apostle Thomas the disciple leaves Rome to evangelize in India where he is eventually martyred. Today, he is still revered in South India as the messenger that brought Christianity to the country and pilgrims travel to his tomb in Mylapore. These traditions portray Thomas as anything but doubtful.

With the discovery of The Gospel of Thomas and The Book of Thomas the Contender in the Nag Hammadi library, scholarship on Thomasine traditions in early Christianity has increased, but scholarship of the Mediterranean and India have remained relatively isolated. This paper seeks to discuss the earlier history of Thomas as a religious icon, from its initial appearances in the first century through its earlier developments in India, and evince not only the historical progression linking those traditions, but also the thematic development across time and regions.

The Sick Person and Science: The Role of Religion in Medicine and Modernity

Daniel J. DeWeert — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:27:47 PDT

The secularization thesis predicts that science will eventually render religion useless due to inherent incompatibilities. Modern discourses have created a similar conflict between scientific competence and more humanistic aspects of medicine. I will use the secularization thesis to analyze the unusual role of medicine as both a scientific discipline and a venture into the moral realm. Religion affects the way humans understand nature, which impacts the possibility of the scientific method as well as the role of the sick person in society. Though individuals have always been healers, institutionalizing healthcare through the creation of hospitals indicates a profound shift of values. The Greeks did not share these convictions, and thus did not have a mechanistic view of science nor a community responsibility towards healing.

I will argue that non-scientific modes of competence are ancient. Christianity has contributed to these values by building upon the contributions of the ancient Greeks, bringing forward shifts in both realms—scientific and moral—that have created the paradigm in which modern medicine exists. The persisting religious values and assumptions in medicine provide a practical example of the secularization thesis applied and overcome; they illustrate how a “scientific” discipline is inextricably bound to religion, both historically and in contemporary expectations. These foundations have never gone away; religious assumptions remain crucial for the scientific and moral capacities of the modern doctor. Medicine provides a lens to evaluate the role of religion in today’s pluralistic and secular society.

The Evolution of Sacred Dance in the Judeo-Christian Tradition

Jade Luerssen '67 — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:36:37 PDT

The universe is permeated by rhythm, harmony , and patterned movement--the movement of stars through the galaxy, the rotation of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the seasons, the cycle of birth, growth and death. Therefore, it is perfectly natural that man respond deeply and significantly to these ordered rhythms that make up his life, his world , and his universe .

Nearer Neighbors: Unitarian Universalism, Liberal Protestantism, and Eclectic Faith-assembly

Garrett M. Rapp — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:09:29 PDT

Unitarian Universalism (UUism), the product of unification between the sects of Unitarianism and Universalism in the 1960s, owes much to its nineteenth-century provenance among various increasingly liberal groups of Protestantism. In my paper I describe Unitarianism’s differences and similarities with nineteenth-century Protestantism by means of the common trends and developments of secularization. I will argue that the mode of eclecticism that modern UUism employs to differentiate itself from its liberal Protestant progenitors preserves Christian preconceptions of the nature of fulfillment and religious truth. Additionally, I will discuss some of the assumptions inherent in UU’s eclectic process of faith-construction, and argue that, though UU discourse has long sought with urgency to differentiate itself from Christianity, it nevertheless preserves the framework of a liberal Protestant religious worldview.

For You Are All One in Christ (Gal 3:28): The Role of Women in the Pauline Churches

Sarah Casey — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:09:28 PDT

This paper seeks to demonstrate the fundamental importance of women in Paul's ministry. Contrary to many modern interpreters, I suggest that Paul had an inclusive attitude toward women–an attitude that was rather extraordinary for his times. Paul's inclusive attitude was however not maintained in the later Christian churches. I suggest that this loss of inclusivity has led people to read Paul incorrectly, through the lens of the Deutero-Pauline literature and the later church, rather than letting Paul's letters stand on their own. Through a literary-historical analysis of the authentic Pauline letters I will try to show the various and substantial roles that women played in Paul's churches and how their importance in Paul's churches was linked to Paul's larger theology. Like many other issues addressed in Paul’s letters, his perspective on women continues to be debated by Christians and scholars alike in order to better understand the ancient customs and traditions of the religion and how they shape modern practice.

Radical Moral Theology: Existentialists and Analysts Negate Christendom

Steven Hughes '68 — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:16:31 PDT

For some years now the split in philosphy has been between the linguistic analysts and the existentialists. Now it seems that a similar split is emerging at the far left of the theological dialogue.

Early Kierkegaard and the Zen Koan: A Study in Religous Experience

Gregory R. Dell '67 — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:07:02 PDT

Religous experience is a puzzling phenomenon . It has appeared extensively throughout the history of man as a primary element in shaping his culture....I will try to examine the nature of the religious experience as it is conceived by the existential theologian Soren Kierkegaard and the Lin Chi or Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Further, I hope to point out the similarities of their methods in attaining this level of experience.

Prophecy from the Apostles to the Second Century Church: A Paradigmatic Expression of Historical Inquiry

Gwendolyn L. Gebhard '67 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:10:38 PDT

The historian impatiently awaits inspiration for adequate expression to convey the meaningful patterns his catalogue of dates and names has become for him. Hew can he convince another that his interpretation "corresponds to facts"? The problems of New Testament historical investigation, sharpened since the probings of Bul-Bultmann, remain with us.

Papal infallibility

Judith A. Giffrow — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:13:40 PDT

This paper has as its purpose to promote understanding of one of the great misunderstandings within and without the Roman Church...Papal Infallibility. While the writer does not presuppose to be qualified to pass "judgement" on the subject, it is nonetheless hoped that the readers will find the paper of interest and will come to a better understanding of Papal Infallibility even if they find they are not able to "accept" it as a part of the "genius" of Roman Catholicism. It seems to the writer that the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility has become as controversial as the problem of scriptural inerrancy versus modern science.

The Concept of Resurrection with Special Emphasis on the Views of Rudolf Bultmann

Carol J. Miller '67 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:23:19 PST

The concept of the resurrection of our Lord has been a point of confusion for many, both formal students of theology and thinking lay people.

“A Place of Paramount Peace”: The Unofficial Nationalism of an Officially Peaceful Movement

Kari Irwin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:21:46 PST

In this paper, I argue that despite the Sanstha’s official message of peace, ecumenism and tolerance, the group’s rhetoric and activities reveal an unofficial side of the Sanstha that may foster intolerance, fundamentalism, and, possibly, a Hindu nationalist agenda. This connection is not to be found at an official, or even public, level. In order to accurately assess the movement’s role as a transnational Gujarati Hindu movement, we must reach a middle ground between the currently polarized scholarship, and critically, but empathetically, examine the Sanstha’s objectives as a global movement.

The Gospel of Thomas and the Historical Jesus

Jennifer LaBrenz '06 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:09 PDT

The New Testament Gospels offer two different pictures of Jesus: there is Jesus of Nazareth, and then there is Jesus Christ. The distinction between these two figures is most clear in terms of time period, either before or after Easter. Most people, particularly members of the Christian tradition, are more familiar with the post-Easter Jesus Christ, the divine savior who was crucified and resurrected. But pre-Easter, Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure, a first-century Palestinian Jew. Christ is not Jesus' surname; it is a title given to him by those who believed him to be the christos, or Messiah.

To Ourselves and Others: Toward a Human Ethics of Relation

Zachariah B. Summers '03 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:05 PDT

The project that follows is my attempt to respond to two serious problems within the field of ethics. Firstly, I believe that too many ethical systems begin with an abstracted conception of how human beings should act in the world, only afterwards taking account of a conception of the way we are in the world, a conception that becomes deeply influenced and distorted by the ethical imperatives already formed. This type of ethical approach is characterized by unfounded metaphysical assumptions about a certain type of nature lurking below the surface of the world, marking out that which is good and that which is evil. I find this type of ethics problematic, for, instead of asking how we should act based upon an existing world, it asks how we should act based on a description of a non-existent world, a world distorted by the imperatives formed before we can even begin; the reason this method of ethical practice is problematic is that, in overlooking our experience as human beings, in twisting its descriptions of the world to fit those ethical imperatives it wishes to push, it pushes actions that are often politically ineffective, frequently misunderstood, and always subject to the sort of refutation and conflict brought on by a disagreement with the flawed worldview formed by the system itself. Secondly, I am troubled by the difficulty that arises in practicing any ethical system in the world; quite simply, this project begins with the admission that to exist in a world with others is an often overwhelming proposition, a proposition that is complex beyond perhaps our wildest imaginings. Yet, most ethical systems operate through a mode of simplification that seeks to clarify the complexity of experience in order to prescribe action as unambiguously as possible. This mode, however, is a dangerous one, because ethical concerns and dilemmas are rarely simple, and the move to make these concerns unambiguous all too often dismisses complex considerations within them, simplifying richly complex issues and thereby positing a false understanding of the way we should conduct ourselves in the world. This simplification leads to a great deal of misunderstanding and dogmatism, and, thereby, to a great deal of hate, oppression and pain in the world. I will attempt to respond to these problems by arguing for a practicable ethics that grounds itself in the complex reality of human experience.

From Matthew to the Mishnah: A Study of the Sources of The Protevangelium of James

Laura Arnold '07 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:04 PDT

The Protevangelium of James (PJ) is what scholars refer to as a non-canonical Christian text, which means that PJ is a text written by a Christian author (around 150 CE), but that the text was not accepted into the body of literature that was eventually canonized. PJ's exclusion from the canon most likely resulted from its unique and unfamiliar stories. The text includes stories of Mary's birth, her sanctuary-like bedroom, her dedication and childhood in the Temple, her betrothal to a widower named Joseph, the miraculous birth of Jesus in a cave, her continued status as a virgin after Jesus's birth, and her actions that saved Jesus from Herod's men, who had been sent to kill all the male children under two years old, by wrapping him in swaddling cloths and hiding him in an oxen manger. But despite the fact that these stories deviate from what we now know as canonical tradition, PJ's absence from the list of ecumenically approved texts does not mean that it can be dismissed as inconsequential to early Christian communities, and it does not justify scholars' failure to engage PJ as an important text for the study of early Christianity.

Who's in Charge? An Examination of Societal Impacts on Gender Roles in American and English Witchcraft

Austin J. Buscher '06 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:03 PDT

Since its genesis in the 1970s, American Witchcraft has shown itself to be one of the most forward-looking and tolerant religions in the area of women's roles and gender theory. Women leaders, gay couples, and even polyamorous relationships are all tolerated and encouraged within American Wiccan theology. Although Witchcraft was formed in England in the 1950s, with its move to the U.S. in the 1960s, it was soon appropriated by the growing American feminist movement. With this collation, Witchcraft has become one of the largest and most long-lived new religious movements in America. However, there are many differences between American Witchcraft and English Witchcraft which raise some questions as to the influence of social settings on religious traditions. These differences have led to a differing treatment of gender in both religions. Gender roles and homosexuality are treated very differently in American and English Witchcraft. This raises the natural question: are the different treatments of gender in these two traditions a result of social circumstance, or do they represent a natural theological evolution? Although other possibilities exist which could have influenced the ways in which American and English Witchcraft view gender, such as the private lives of the founders themselves, for the purposes of this paper I will examine the social situations which surrounded the development of these two traditions and the ways in which the interpretations of rituals and sacred texts changed the way the traditions operate.

Building a Viable Muslim Community in Central Illinois: The Development and Implementation of Acculturation Strategies at the Islamic Center of Bloomington-Normal

Daniel Glade '05 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:03 PDT

Developments in the American Muslim community over the last thirty years reveal a notable shift from individualist responses towards the exigencies of survival in a hostile foreign environment to a more community-based attempt to build a viable and lively Islamic environment in the United States. This shift was made possible by three factors including the expansion of Westem Islam through immigration and conversion in recent years, changing American popular attitudes towards Muslims, and developments abroad-particularly in the native countries of immigrant communities. Although responses to changing conditions vary both geographically and situationally, most Muslim communities have responded with some form of planned community building supplemented by a pluralistically guided approach to acculturation and recourse to communal defense structures.

The Protestant Church in East Germany

Sara Lieb '98 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:02 PDT

In 1996, I spent four months studying in what was formerly East Berlin. During that time, I met people from across the United States as well as Germany. I made many friends who are either agnostic or atheist. The reasons for these beliefs among Americans were most often based on negative experiences with a church, anger towards God because of various tragedies, or on a misunderstanding of Christianity. In my conversations with citizens of the former East Germany, I discovered that their communist beliefs did not allow them room for loyalty to the Church or even to God; as one acquaintance told me, "I am a Communist. I believe in me." It was through conversation with such individuals that I began to see the vital need for change in the Church. In Germany, members of churches are usually over 50. In the U.S., "non-denominational" churches are attempting to attract college students by modifying their programs to fit students' lifestyles; but there is also a lot of resentment toward these churches, making "Christian" seem like a dirty word. I discovered that many similar efforts to make the church "youth-friendly" have been made in Germany and throughout Europe, receiving mixed reactions.

From Violence to Salvation: Toward a Method of Cult Study With the Branch Davidians and Aum Shinrikyo

Brian Nowicki '99 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:01 PDT

Since the People's Temple massacre in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978 that resulted in at least 900 dead by either suicide or murder, cults have occupied a ominous position in the consciousness of popular culture and academic study, ranging from accusations of brainwashing by psychopathic leaders to stereotypical communes comprised of the dysfunctional dregs of society to simple dismissal by academics concerned with the serious study of religion. Cults in contemporary popular culture are a distinctly ''unpopular" phenomena, to borrow David Bromley's word. Certainly, the word cult itself would seem to conjure up notions of mass suicide and brainwashing. Yet how accurate is such a generalization and how do such generalizations temper the study of cults? I would suggest that cults study is biased by this unpopularity such that the development of a new methodology is imperative to understanding cults and ensuring that further tragedies can be prevented.

A Road Less Traveled: Soteriology in Islam

Brian Christopher Smith '93 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:43:00 PDT

When constructing a general description for "soteriology," one must be aware of the potential scope of the term. The word "soteriology" means "doctrine of salvation" or "way of salvation." Generally understood, one can speak of "soteriologies" and imply that there is more than one way to understand salvation, more than one doctrine of salvation. It should be noted that all religious systems do not share a universal soteriology. If soteriology is not universally understood, how may one study it? A particular religious system may hold that its contentions are singularly veridical and that other understandings are false, while another religious system may have a different, less rigid understanding of salvation. One might take a single religious system's understanding of salvation and test all other concepts of salvation against that "standardized" concept But the elevation of one religious system's understanding does not allow one to observe what is unique about other religious systems. The study of religions should assume that all religious systems can stand on their own. One must assume that everything is true.

Unity Before Orthodoxy: An Investigation into Second and Third Century Resurrection Theologies

Sharon L. Stowe '01 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:42:59 PDT

This paper will explore three aspects of the previously named theologians (and Marcion, whose ideas are recorded only in others' texts): analogies the author uses to illustrate his resurrection ideas, opponents the text addresses, and as a result of these, the resurrection theology the author purports. Analogies will be studied for the purpose of later demonstrating the unity of those who supported the physical resurrection. The similarities in their language and analogies is in stark contrast to the lack of similarities in the analogies used by those who support a spiritual resurrection.