Eleutheria

I stumbled across this online journal the other day...

According to the website, Eleutheria ‘is an online, open access, peer-reviewed journal led, edited, and reviewed by graduate students of Theology and Philosophy, Scripture and Interpretation, and Church and Mission’; it’s published online through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.

The inaugural issue – 1, 1 (2010) – contains the following eclectic mix of main articles:

Brian T. Scalise

Wilderness Beauty: A Means to Resolve Volitional Doubt

Doubt is often part of Christian spiritual life. Matured doubt will influence the will (the volition) so as to keep the Christian doubter from acting like a Christian or even desiring the Christian life. This essay seeks to construct a theory designed to engage and help resolve volitional doubt by use of wilderness beauty. This theory incorporates three areas of study – Land and Leisure Management, Abraham Maslow’s metamotivation theory, and Jonathan Edwards’ aesthetic theology – to demonstrate the uniqueness and usefulness of wilderness beauty for resolving volitional doubt. Subsequent to the construction of the theory, practical suggestions for its application are given.

Jack B. Hoey III

Alessandro Valignano and the Restructuring of the Jesuit Mission in Japan, 1579-1582

When Alessandro Valignano arrived in Japan in 1579, the Society of Jesus had been working in the country for thirty years. However, despite impressive numbers and considerable influence with the feudal lords, the mission was struggling. The few Jesuit workers were exhausted and growing increasingly frustrated by the leadership of Francisco Cabral, who refused to cater to Japanese sensibilities or respect the Japanese people. When Valignano arrived, he saw the harm Cabral was doing and forcibly changed the direction of the mission, pursuing policies of Jesuit accommodation to Japanese culture and respect for the Japanese converts who were training to become priests. These policies were based in respect for Japan’s culture and love for its people. Under three years of Valignano’s leadership the fortunes of the Jesuit mission changed and the Society’s work in Japan began to flourish once again. Indeed, Valignano set the course for the next thirty years of the Japanese mission.

Shane M. Kraeger

Toward a Mediating Understanding of Tongues: A Historical and Exegetical Examination of Early Literature

Studies regarding pneumatology and charismata have maintained distinctions largely due to previously held presuppositions. Christians have debated Luke’s and Paul’s usage of specific words and have taken diametrically opposite positions on this issue. This study will not attempt to answer the question of the legitimacy of spiritual gifts; we must, rather, begin from a proper understanding of words and concepts, thus allowing God’s Word to change us if we are to be mindful of our obedience toward Him. This study will examine the historic meaning of the word and concept of tongues in order to better gauge Luke’s and Paul’s – and thus God’s – meaning for proper obedience.

The issue under examination is a question of meaning: does the original meaning of tongues include only the miraculous endowment to speak an unlearned language, or only something related to the modern phenomenon of glossolalia, or an admixture of both? An examination of meaning includes an examination of historically contemporary authors, both biblical and extrabiblical.

There are a variety of ways that ancient authors recognized different tongues phenomena, but for the modern Christian, it is finally important to understand what Luke and Paul meant. While it is true that Cessationists are correct to understand Luke’s use as that of a miraculously endowed foreign language, Paul and the Corinthians likely embraced a broader semantic range of this phenomenon.

Joshua C. Stone

Triadic to Trinitarian: Kevin J. Vanhoozer’s Application of J.L. Austin’s Speech Act Theory

The basis for Christian theology, the Bible, has come under considerable attack by decontructionalists [sic] in their attempt to disregard authorial intent and to prove that understanding the meaning of an author’s words is an impossible task. Kevin J. Vanhoozer is an evangelical scholar who has done much in defense of authorial intent and has found fertile philosophical ground in Speech Act theory. This essay looks at Vanhoozer’s use of J.L. Austin’s variety of Speech Act theory to determine if Vanhoozer uses Austin correctly, then turns to Vanhoozer’s bibliological use of Austin whereby he analogically applies Austin’s Triadic formula of a speech act to the Trinitarian formula of the inspiration and interpretation of Scripture.