Journal of Theological Studies

  Ordination is the process by which persons are invested with the function or office of minister, priest, or rabbi. It varies according to religion but is the way each tradition designates those who will function on behalf of the community in its rituals and public life. The long history of patriarchal sexism led to the discriminatory custom in most traditions of allowing only men to be considered for ordination. As U.S. society became increasingly aware of gender discrimination and as women entered many other professions, pressure mounted in the mid-twentieth century in virtually all religious groups to change their policies. Struggles that led to these changes have given a new, increasingly female face to the U.S. religious scene. A pioneer in this effort was Jarena Lee in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Although she was never ordained, her request for a preaching license in 1809, while denied, opened the question for public discussion. In 1894 Julia A. Foote w...

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  Sabbath and Stewardship: Ecological Relationship Introduction  Humanity is going through four of the most culminating crises in its history : terrorism, racism, Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.  Regarding the climate change, the universe is currently facing a series of disastrous ecological crises and destruction of ecosystems, the results of what many now call the Anthropocene era, the era of human modification of planetary systems in Canada. Earth. These crises such as global warming, altered weather conditions, species extinction, threats of various types of toxic pollution, proliferation of waste and fuels, soil erosion, desertification, depleted water supplies soft, etc… constitute an absolutely real and imminent threat to the future. Therefore, the multiplicity of these crises requires multiple solutions: political, economic, technological, psychological, ethical, behavioral and above all spiritual. [1]  It is equally necessary to understand how we ...

  God Created Mankind—The Imago Dei A few years ago, God created people. This has largely been considered by most theologians to be a rather big deal and thus has been the subject of many studies. After all, the record of our beginning, our genesis if you will, speaks volumes as to what it means to be human. Our creation answers much of who we are, where we come from, and even where we’re going. RELATED ARTICLE:  In God’s Image The Bible understands this and spends a remarkable amount of time on the subject, addressing it twice in the opening chapters of Genesis. In the opening Creation poem of chapter 1, man [1]  is pictured as the “crown of God’s handiwork” and the whole aim of the Creation process, [2]  while in Genesis 2, the focus shifts solely to man and woman’s creation and the physical forming of them. Books could be and indeed have been written just on the first two chapters of Genesis, so I won’t tackle  all  the subjects involved. Even today’s to...