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Robert Woods & Ines Jindra

By on November 13, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Knight, David A., Robert H. Woods Jr, and Ines W. Jindra. “Gender Differences in the Communication of Christian Conversion Narratives.” Review of Religious Research (2005): 113–134.

Abstract: Scholars have long sought to find the differences in the ways men and women communicate. Also, researchers have studied the field of religious conversion. Thisfirst-of-a-kind study has sought to find if gender differences arise when men and women communicate the story of their religious conversion. Forty structured in-depth interviews with 20 male and 20 female undergraduate students at a small, private Christian liberal arts university in the Midwest were used to address the stated research question. Five male and five females were selected from each grade level. A non-probability sampling procedure was used to select subjects. The final sample consisted of two Hispanics, one Black, and 37 White non-Hispanic participants. The average age of each participant was 20. Although some authors have suggested that conversion stories of men and women would be similar due to a rhythmic narrative formula and common structural elements, this study has found that significant gender differences in the communication of such narratives do arise in certain specific areas. The majority of men used adventurous metaphors, while the majority of women used peaceful metaphors to describe their conversion experiences. It was also found that the majority of men focused on themselves as the control character while most women focused on someone else. And, men described themselves as clever whereas women described themselves as foolish in their narratives.

Michael Buratovich

By on September 16, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Buratovich, Michael. “A Matter of Days.” Christian Scholar’s Review 35, no. 1 (Fall, 2005): 116-118.

Abstract: Instead of seeing all life as having descended from a common ancestor, Ross is a Progressive Creationist, contending that God episodically created, by divine fiat, different types of plants and animals to inhabit the earth over distinct periods of time; these episodic creations included, most recently, the miraculous creation of mankind. Third, sequencing of mitochondrial DNA from the haplochromines (cichlid fishes) of Lake Victoria, which is only 12,400 years old, has definitively shown that among fourteen fish species from distinct trophic groups (insect-eaters, fish-eaters, algae-scrapers, snail-crushers, shail-shellers and pedophages), only fifteen base substitutions have occurred amongst the more than eight hundred bases examined.

Robert Woods & Marsha Daigle-Williamson

By on May 7, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Alban Jr., Donald, Robert H. Woods Jr., and Marsha Daigle-Williamson. “The Writings of William Carey: Journalism as Mission in a Modern Age.” Mission Studies: Journal Of The International Association For Mission Studies 22, no. 1 (April 2005): 85-113.

Abstract: William Carey is reviewed as both product and producer of journalism, with an emphasis on the latter and its synergistic relationship to his mission work and the work of others. Carey’s philosophy of life was formed largely by the written works of his predecessors and contemporaries. Specifically, Jonathan Edwards, John Bunyan, Jeremy Taylor, Captain James Cook, and Robert Hall, among others, clearly affected his out-look on theology, missions, Bible translation, ecumenism, and a host of related topics. Writings by Cook opened Carey’s eyes to distant people, whom he evaluated in the light of his journalistically influenced theology. Consequently, Carey became concerned about the spiritual and moral state of the world abroad. His concern found expression in the Enquiry — a polemic for missionary work — and ultimately led him to Bengal, where his own attempts to influence people through journalism expanded. Carey’s own writings and those of his colleagues at the Serampore Mission are the most obvious examples of his journalistic works. But they hardly stand alone. Thus, after the authors describe the emergence and significance of the Enquiry and the Serampore Press, they refer to other publications printed either at Serampore or elsewhere in response to the press’ influence. Among these are works as diverse as textbooks, governmental publications, and periodical apologetics for Hinduism. The Serampore mission’s expansion of Indian literacy also is reviewed because of its relevance to understanding the influence of others’ writings on his life’s philosophy and work. It further helps to shed light on Carey’s distinct approach to evangelization, presented herein as a form of inculturation. Lastly, many would not have become readers of the mission’s works had it not equipped them to read through its network of native schools. The authors suggest that Serampore’s journalistic mission extended beyond the mere production of writings; it also included the production of a readership.

Michael Buratovich

By on April 16, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Buratovich, Michael. “Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing/Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design.” Christian Scholar’s Review 34, no. 3 (Spring, 2005): 382-386.

Abstract: Buratovich reviews Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals who Find Darwinism Unconvincing edited by William A. Dembski and Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design by Barbara Forrest and Paul R. Gross.

Michael Jindra

By on April 3, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Jindra, Michael. “Christianity and the Proliferation of Ancestors: Changes in Heirarchy and Mortuary Ritual in the Cameroon Grassfields.” Africa (Pre-2011) 75, no. 3 (2005): 356-377.

Abstract: During the twentieth century, the ‘death celebration’ became arguably the most important cultural event throughout much of the Western Grassfields of Cameroon. The growth of this ritual festival occurred in the context of major political, economic and religious changes in the Grassfields. This article will focus on how religious changes, particularly the growth of Christianity, contributed to the rise of this event and how it has prompted significant changes in notions and practices concerning the pollution of death, personhood, burial rites and the ancestors. In the traditional hierarchical structure of Grassfields society, only certain titled individuals and chiefs were believed to live on after death and become ancestors. This was reflected in burial rituals. Individuals who became ancestors were buried in family compounds while ‘unimportant’ people were frequently disposed of in the ‘bush’, streams or hurriedly given unmarked burials. Christianity, because of its stress on individual personhood and its message of an afterlife for everyone, became an attractive alternative to established beliefs and practices, especially for young adults, women and those without titles, who were the most disenfranchised in the traditional system. With Christianity, burial rites became standardized and were extended to virtually everyone. Christianity also caused declines in notions of death ‘pollution’ and in beliefs about ‘bad deaths’. Because of continued beliefs in the power of ancestors, the egalitarian notions of personhood stimulated by Christianity have ironically created a ‘proliferation’ of ancestors for whom delayed mortuary rites such as ‘death celebrations’ are owed.

Robert Woods & Caleb Chan

By on January 30, 2005 in Faculty Publications

Bohus, Steve, Robert H., Jr. Woods, and K. Caleb Chan. “Psychological Sense of Community among Students on Religious Collegiate Campuses in the Christian Evangelical Tradition.” Christian Higher Education 4, no. 1 (January 1, 2005): 19-40.

Abstract: The current study sought to identify factors which contribute to Psychological Sense of Community (PSC) among students on religious collegiate campuses within the Christian Evangelical tradition. The researchers examined responses from 596 undergraduate students at 11 Christian colleges and universities nationwide. The results support the viability of a new PSC construct in the religious collegiate campus setting. More specifically, the results suggest the possibility of a religious PSC construct (PSCALL) that contains elements of Lounsbury and DeNeui’s (1995) 14-item PSC scale but also items contextualized to a religious collegiate setting. Significant PSCALL differences were identified in the following areas: spiritual well-being, religious commitment, minority/non-minority status, living arrangement, major, and class level. Contrary to previous studies in the secular college campus setting, PSCALL differences in gender could not be identified. This study extends previous research on PSC in general and the PSC construct in the Christian college campus setting specifically. Theoretically, the current investigation supports the notion that certain aspects of community change from setting to setting and that even the meaning of “community” changes depending on context.