Differences Between the Sexes Among Protestant Christian Middle School Students and their Attitudes Toward Science,Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

Research focusing on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among conservative Protestant Christian school students is scarce. Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory is examined as it pertains to religion as a group identifier. The STEM Semantic Survey was completed by 157 middle school students attending six different private Christian schools in Michigan. A MANOVA analysis found a significant difference between male and female students. Post hoc analysis revealed that females had less favorable views of engineering and technology than did their male counterparts. The researchers concluded that attitudes toward STEM among Protestant students are similar to those found in secular schools.     

Attitudes toward religious diversity among American exemplars of Christian virtue

An important concern within contemporary Western societies is how religious adherents view and engage religious diversity. This study attempts to further understandings regarding religious diversity in contemporary society through the accounts of American Christian religious exemplars whose religious identification spans the conservative evangelical, liberal Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions. Ninety‐six in‐depth interviews were conducted with individuals recognized by their congregational leadership as exemplifying Christian virtues and thereby Christian commitment. Weak denominational allegiances, accompanied by salient identification with broad Christian religious traditions were found. Mainline/liberal Christians tended to identify conservative/evangelical Christians as ‘others’, while conservative/evangelical Christians identified Mormons as ‘others.’ Also, a shift in attitudes toward Catholics was found among Protestants, and attitudes toward non‐Christian religions were respectfully civil across a range of theological understanding of these religions. The implications of these findings for religious identity in contemporary society are explored with particular attention to religious diversity.     

Thick or Thin?

If liberal Protestantism begins with suspicion of tradition, is “thick” liberal Protestant theology possible or must liberal Protestant theology always be “thin”? This review essay examines several recent contributions to “thick” theology that make use of, and speak to, social and political engagement. The books under review describe and reflect on the varied forms of Christian political activism and organizing that have emerged in recent years around issues of immigration, fair wages, and global justice. I argue that a distinction between Christian activism and Christian organizing must be made, where the former denotes advocacy on behalf of a community and the latter means standing together with a community, bringing out the capacities of community members, and allowing oneself to be transformed in the process. Further, I reflect on whether liberal Christian theology necessarily results in liberal politics.     

The Response of Mainline Protestant Clergy Members to the Moral Panic Regarding Harry Potter

This article builds upon and expands an earlier research project on the moral panic that surrounded the Harry Potter books and movies from 1997 through the first decade of the twenty-first century. Soulliere focused on the publications and public pronouncements of religious groups and leaders, media, and research organizations linked together by “the promotion of traditional values and a conservative ideology as well as a Judeo-Christian worldview, primacy of the family, and emphases on biblical foundations and authority” (Soulliere paragraph 14), which he refers to as the Christian Right. The current study seeks to discover the degree to which, if any, this moral panic extended beyond the Christian Right into the pulpits of mainstream Protestant denominations.     

Jewish Blood: Reality and Metaphor in History,Religion, and Culture

Although Rodney Stark is best known for his work on religious economies, he has recently turned his attention to the social effects of monotheism. If we look carefully on the theoretical trajectory evident in this recent work, what we find is a social-evolutionary approach to religion that was prevalent in the 19th century, but long ago assumed by most academics to be discredited. Furthermore, as becomes increasingly evident going through this series, the particular social-evolutionary sequence that Stark constructs has been shaped by a vision of Protestant triumphalism, and a privileging of evangelical Protestantism, that also belongs to an earlier time. While it would easy to ignore Stark's work (and the last two books in this series do seem to have been ignored in academic circles), there are reasons (which include the popular appeal of his work and his treatment of Islam) for taking his work seriously.     

Pope Francis: a pastor according to the heart of Christ

Catholic Canon Law stipulates that the Pope is ‘the pastor of the universal Church on earth’. Pope Francis took up the challenge which this statement poses to those exercising the Petrine ministry by asking for prayers that he might be ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’. How is a Pope ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’? What particular opportunities does the Petrine ministry offer for this? What are the pastoral aspects of the papacy? What does it seem we can expect from Pope Francis in this regard? As this article shows, the task of ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’ has an impact on several aspects of the implementation of the Petrine ministry, such as using the Pope’s power in the service of unity, encouraging collegiality in communion as the visible centre of the entire Christian Church in dialogue with other religions, that the world may believe.     

Reading the writing on the wall: a textual analysis of Łódź graffiti

Abstract

This article traces the history of the involvement of the American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) with Russian-language publishing from its beginnings to the end of the twentieth century. During the period between the two world wars this was the primary source of Russian Orthodox theological and philosophical literature. In addition, it served as a catalyst for ferment within Orthodoxy by providing a forum for heated debate, especially in the pages of Put’, a unique interdisciplinary journal of Christian thought. The unique role of the YMCA Press in the Russian emigration has been noted in a variety of studies. However, such evaluations usually do not pay attention to the original Protestant leadership of this remarkable Orthodox publishing house, the political impact of its avowedly non-political efforts, and the recent activities of the YMCA Press in Russia and Ukraine after the end of communism. The Press played a major role in preserving an important aspect of prerevolutionary Russian culture in Western Europe during the Soviet period until the repatriation of this culture following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In this way, the Press contributed to the expansion and enrichment of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

This publishing house for all these years has been giving to Russians living in Russia the real bread of life. … I really have to testify that the hunger for books is really a much greater hunger than the hunger for food. … The greatest help that we can receive is precisely the kind of help that was given to us by Paul Anderson. (Anderson, n.d.a, preface)     

God and the evangelical laboratory: Recent conservative Protestant thinking about theology and science

This review essay surveys 14 recent texts on theology and science published by six different evangelical (conservative Protestant) publishing houses since 1999. The spectrum of evangelical-theological approaches to evolution, natural history, and origins-of-life issues are presented in these texts, as are evangelical-theological perspectives on the Intelligent Design phenomenon, on theological and scientific method, and on the philosophy of science. Summary observations about the status quaestiones of the theology-and-science discussion in the evangelical world at the beginning of the twenty-first century are provided, and future developments anticipated among conservative Protestants in their engagements with the sciences.     

Guidance literature: A survey and an evaluation

Conclusions If one contends that there is a wide gap between the principles outlined in these volumes and the practice in the average school, this is certainly true. (There is a wide gap between the principles in the books on pastoral counseling and the work of the average pastor, too.) These books tell us what ought to be more than what often is; nevertheless, they give the pastor an idea of what the authorities in this field are thinking.It is unfortunate that there is so seldom a reference to the pastor or the church in these volumes. Again, we can look at the other side and say it is unfortunate there is so rarely a mention of the school and the teacher in books on pastoral psychology and religious education.A familiarity with this literature on the part of the pastor won't solve the problem, but it is the first step. The problem will be solved in actual cooperation, in working together for the good of specific young people who are the concern of both the church and the school.     

Involved,Loyal, Alienated,and Detached. The Commitment of Pastors

This article deals with the commitment of pastors to their profession. An empirical inquiry among Roman Catholic and Protestant pastors reveals that two types of commitment play an important role in the pastoral profession: affective commitment and cost commitment. Affective commitment concerns positive emotional ties with the pastoral profession. Cost commitment refers to the problems that pastors expect to encounter were they to quit their profession. Both forms of commitment are connected to the pastors' religious orientation and their job satisfaction. The conclusion discusses the influence of commitment to the pastoral profession on staying on as pastor. It also reviews the effects of commitment on the pastors' dedication to their jobs and their general well-being.     

Changes in Politics and Religiosity Among Students at a Protestant University

College is a setting and time of profound change in the lives of emerging adults. This change can include shifts in identity related to politics and religion. Given widespread attention to the alignment of religious people with conservative politics and less religious people with liberal politics (i.e., the “God Gap”), we ask: do college students who become politically liberal lose their religion in the process? Using longitudinal panel data, this study examines changes in political identity and religiosity among students at a Protestant university. Findings reveal changes in students’ politics align with changes in public and private religious behaviors, certainty in belief, agreement with core tenets of the Christian faith, faith maturity, and closeness to God. Whereas students who become more politically conservative increase their religiosity, the inverse is true for those whose politics become more liberal in college.     

Intrinsic Religious Orientation: The Conservative Christian Connection

This study investigated the claim that intrinsic religious orientation (IRO), as developed by Gordon Allport, has an inherent conservative Christian bias that may be denominationally identified. We tested this claim in two ways by using a sample of 546 churchgoers drawn from five congregations representing four denominations (two Unitarian Universalist, two Mainline Protestant, and one Evangelical). First, we correlated IRO scores with a measure of conservative Christian beliefs (CCBs). A high, significant correlation was obtained suggesting that, in general, high IRO scores go with CCBs. Second, we divided the sample into two groups: those who scored high and those who scored low on four measures of religious commitment: participation in church activities, and frequency of attendance, prayers, and meditation. This comparison also confirmed the IRO and conservative Christian connection: the IRO scores of the Evangelical congregation were significantly higher than those of other congregations in both the high and low religious commitment groups. But judgment needs to be reserved about the low commitment group as the number of Evangelicals that fell in this category was very small for two of the four commitment measures: church attendance and prayers.     

Faith,Race‐Ethnicity,and Public Policy Preferences: Religious Schemas and Abortion Attitudes Among U.S. Latinos

Research has demonstrated that white conservative Protestants are more opposed to abortion than their Catholic counterparts. At the same time, conservative Protestantism has made significant inroads among U.S. Latinos. This study augments existing research on religion and racial‐ethnic variations in abortion attitudes by comparing levels of support for legalized abortion among Catholic and conservative Protestant Latinos. Data are drawn from a nationally representative sample of U.S. Latinos. Significantly greater opposition to abortion is found among religiously devout conservative Protestant Latinos when compared with their Catholic counterparts. Latino Catholicism, which functions as a near‐monopolistic, highly institutionalized faith tradition among Hispanics, produces weaker antiabortion attitudes than those exhibited in Latino conservative Protestantism. Among Latinos, conservative Protestantism operates as a niche voluntaristic faith. These factors produce a religious schema that yields robust antiabortion attitudes. This study has important implications for understanding the intersection of race‐ethnicity, religion, and public policy preferences.     

The Political Activity of Evangelical Clergy in the Election of 2000: A Case Study of Five Denominations

This article focuses on the political participation of ministers from five evangelical Protestant denominations that differ in theology, polity, and history. Despite such differences, these clergy respond to political influences in much the same fashion. We find that the standard theories of political participation have varying success in accounting for their political involvement. Sociodemographic explanations provide little help, but psychological engagement with politics has more explanatory power. Professional role orientations are the best predictors of actual participation. And the clergy who see moral reform issues as the most important confronting the country—and who hold conservative views on such issues—are most likely to become engaged. Finally, membership in Christian Right organizations serves to elicit more activity than might occur if ministers were left to internally motivated participation. Despite the emphasis on other contextual variables in some work on clerical politics, we find that communications exposures, congregational influences, and even the support of clerical colleagues have very limited independent effects on political involvement.     

Value Tensions Between Evangelical Christians and Christian Counseling

The evangelical wing of the American Protestant church has maintained an uneasy and uncertain relationship with the recently emerged Christian counseling movement. Whereas many evangelical Christian groups have been able to assimilate Christian counseling into their panoply of ministry tools, significant sections of this faith group remain very suspicious and doubtful that Christian counseling can be trusted. Most of the stated reasons given by these objectors revolve around theological reservations. This article, however, suggests that an even more powerful barrier between the two groups stems from significantly different values held by each. The article enumerates several of these value differences.     

Respect,Challenges, and Stress among Protestant Pastors Closing a Church: Structural and Identity Theory Perspectives

The number of American churches has been declining at a rate of about 1 to 2% per year, but this statistic hides the reality that in liberal, moderate denominations the number of churches that close is nearly three or four times the number that open. Despite this trend of decline, no one has studied how closing churches affects the pastor. What challenges does the pastor face when closing a church, and how do these challenges affect the pastor’s level of stress and well-being? The study draws on structural and identity theories to further our understanding of pastoral identity threats and ways that congregational and denominational support may ease a pastor’s burden. This research used a mail survey to explore the experiences of pastors who have experienced the closing of a church in any of five Protestant denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ). The research adds to our understanding of the context of ministry by highlighting not only the effects of clergy age and experience but also the congregational context and middle administrative body (judicatory) respect and support in the challenge and in the affirmation of pastoral identity through the process of closure and church death.     

Models of Clergy Spouse Involvement in Protestant Christian Congregations

While all adults in the paid labor force face the difficult task of managing the competing pressures of work and family life, clergy families encounter an added dynamic in the way spouses are integrated into the church. Yet spouses approach involvement in unique and varied ways, making intentional choices over how much or little to participate in the congregations their husbands and wives pastor. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 46 pastors and clergy spouses in five Protestant Christian denominations, this study describes three models of clergy spouse participation showing the diverse ways women and men interpret and enact their role through the ongoing management of boundaries. I consider several social factors informing the model a clergy spouse embraces—pressure from congregants or one’s own ideas, congregational precedent, gender and stage in the life cycle—shedding light on the interaction between individual preferences and contextual factors. In doing so, I argue that although the women and men in this study are continually recreating what it means to be a clergy spouse, they remain heavily rooted in a traditional expectation that pastors’ wives and husbands provide support to their spouse’s church and calling to pastoral ministry.     

Some contemporary protestant theological reflections on pluralism: Implications for Christian‐Muslim understanding

Theological writings about the relationship of Christianity to other religions are often cast into one of three general categories: exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist. This essay reviews six twentieth‐century Protestant Christian theologians and academics who have reflected on ways in which Christians can understand their faith in the light of the religion of Islam. Some have spent their lives relating to Muslims and deal specifically with its implications for Christian understanding, while others treat Islam more generally as part of the larger issue of Christianity in the light of contemporary religious pluralism. As a whole they are representative of the range of theological responses suggested in the above categories.     

Faith in welfare: the origins of the Open Home Foundation

This article analyses the origins of the Open Home Foundation (OHF), a Christian social service provider that commenced in New Zealand in 1977. It interprets the Foundation’s appeal, paying particular attention to the role of religious values and spirituality within the organisation. The article argues that OHF emerged and flourished from the late 1970s due to a confluence of personal, social, political and religious factors. Specifically, it reflected and benefited from post-war concerns about family life, renewed emphasis on policies of deinstitutionalisation, and a mobilisation of disparate conservative Christian interests. The latter factor concerning the religious context is particularly significant. On the one hand, it helps to explain the values and ethos of the organisation, and the social implications of a particular set of spiritual commitments. On the other, it complicates commonly held interpretations of conservative Christian engagement with social issues during this period.     

Religious Mission and Business Reality: Trends in the Contemporary British Christian Book Industry

The publishing industry in the UK has undergone significant changes in recent years, with publishers being absorbed into conglomerates and the rise of book chains. These trends have affected the Christian book industry, with some Christian publishers coming under secular ownership and the growth of a Christian retail chain, publisher and distributor, Send the Light. Publishers that wish to sell Christian ideas through books have had to adapt to a culture where there is less explicit commitment to, or knowledge of, Christianity than in the past. Some publishers serve a Christian niche, while others, either through belonging to a powerful conglomerate or an ability to sign prominent authors, retain a presence in mainstream bookshops. Although the ownership of several Christian imprints by Rupert Murdoch and the prominence of Christian consumer products that mimic secular products are causes for concern to some, devotional works and Bible studies remain more significant sellers.