The Asbury University Brown Bag program is a periodic forum (3 times a semester) specifically designed to feature academic presentations to the faculty by current AU faculty who are preparing material for academic conference presentation and/or scholarly publication.
These gatherings are intended to meet two different objectives.
Thursdays, 11:30 am – 12:30 pmLocation: Dougherty Dining Room A in The Eatery
“The Rest” as Christian Perfection in John and Charles Wesley
Within the Christian tradition, “entering into rest” can refer to the blessed death of a believer. But John and Charles Wesley appropriate the language of “rest” from Hebrews 3-4 to refer to experiencing entire sanctification or Christian perfection. This study explores the possible antecedents or influences on the Wesleys’ interpretation of “the rest” that otherwise appears to be novel.
Am I An Outdoor Person? A Social Cognitive Analysis of Cultural Barriers and Connections to Outdoor Spaces
Who feels at home outdoors and why? This study explores how family, culture, and environment shape our connection to outdoor spaces. Using focus groups with diverse students, findings reveal how perceptions, access, and community influence participation. Results highlight both barriers and benefits, showing that “the outdoors” means different things across cultures, and that expanding those definitions may open the door to broader engagement and belonging.
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and a Theology of Disappointment
Charles Schulz gave enormous attention to religion, yet Peanuts was surprisingly dark for a comic strip. He often subverted customary Christian expressions with his own theology of disappointment. This presentation explores the theology expressed in Schulz’s work, especially It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Akin to Old Testament prophets of doom, Schulz leads readers through a broken existence while still promoting hope and reassurance. This “melancholy joy” becomes a hallmark of the Peanuts world.
“Inter Insigniores” and the Symbolic Representation of Christ in the Priesthood
In the last century, an argument against women’s ordination has gained prominence: namely, one defended at length in the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s “Inter Insigniores: Declaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood.” This presentation reconstructs that argument in the form of a series of nested arguments and identify a wide range of unargued assumptions on which the argument depends.
The Pressures on Pastors: How the Clergy Navigate Cultural and Political Divides
Research sheds light on the political alignment and preferences of evangelical Christians. However, the experiences of ministry leaders remain largely unexplored. This research seeks to discover how pastors, priests, and spiritual leaders grapple with the blending of politics and spiritual life, the social pressures they face, their hesitations and excitements in this domain, and how it influences their messages and interactions with their congregants.
Feasting, Fasting, and What Happens In Between: A Molecular Perspective on Shared Creature-ly Experiences
In one sense or another, all living things deal with the same problems of finding food, protecting oneself, and, eventually, getting old. Research across multiple disciplines has continued to unveil how the three realms of nutrition, immunity, and aging are intertwined. This presentation will highlight several of these relationships at the microscopic level as an exploration of what it means to be a creature.