The Gardner-Webb Faculty and Staff Book Gallery showcases books written or edited by our faculty and staff authors.
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400 Days and a Wake-Up: A Story of Love, Separation, and Reunion During the War in Iraq
Annette Pendergraft
A first hand account of love discovered and then interrupted by deployment, this book covers the day-to-day highs and lows of deployment and separation during the War in Iraq. An honest and at times, funny outlook at the things that can and do happen during military separations.
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An index to articles published in the Etude magazine, 1883-1957: Part 1
Pamela Dennis
This Index to the articles in The Etude serves as a companion to E. Douglas Bomberger's 2004 publication on the music in The Etude. Published a little over fifty years after the final issue reached the public, this Index chronicles vocal and instrumental technique, composer biographies, position openings, department store orchestras, recital programs in music schools, and much more. The Index is a valuable tool for research, particularly in the music culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With titles of these articles available, the doors are now open for further research in the years to come.
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An index to articles published in the Etude magazine, 1883-1957: Part 2
Pamela R. Dennis
As America's geography and societal demands expanded, the topics in The Etude magazine (first published in 1883) took on such important issues as women in music; immigration; transportation; Native American and African American composers and their music; World War I and II; public schools; new technologies (sound recordings, radio, and television); and modern music (jazz, gospel, blues, early 20th century composers) in addition to regular book reviews, teaching advice, interviews, biographies, and advertisements. Though a valued source particularly for private music teachers, with the de-emphasis on the professional elite and the decline in salon music, the magazine ceased publication in 1957. This Index to the articles in The Etude serves as a companion to E. Douglas Bomberger's 2004 publication on the music in The Etude. Published a little over fifty years after the final issue reached the public, this Index chronicles vocal and instrumental technique, composer biographies, position openings, department store orchestras, recital programs in music schools, and much more. The Index is a valuable tool for research, particularly in the music culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With titles of these articles available, the doors are now open for further research in the years to come.
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Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future: Story, Tradition, and the Recovery of Community
Steven R. Harmon
Baptists tend to be the “problem children” of the ecumenical movement. The Baptist obsession to realize a true church birthed a tradition of separation. While Baptists’ misgivings about ecumenism may stem from this fissiparous genealogy, it is equally true that the modern ecumenical movement itself increasingly lacks consensus about the pathway to a visible Christian unity.
In Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future, Steven R. Harmon explores the relationship of the Baptist calling to be a pilgrim community and the ecumenical movement. Harmon argues that neither vision can be fulfilled apart from a mutually receptive ecumenical engagement. As Harmon shows, Baptist communities and the churches from which they are separated need one another. Chief among the gifts Baptists have to offer the rest of the church are their pilgrim aversion to overly realized eschatologies of the church and their radical commitment to discerning the rule of Christ by means of the Scriptures. Baptists, in turn, must be willing to receive from other churches neglected aspects of the radical catholicity from which the Bible is inseparable.
Embedded in the Baptist vision and its historical embodiment are surprising openings for ecumenical convergence. Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future urges Baptists and their dialogue partners to recognize and embrace these ecumenically oriented facets of Baptist identity as indispensable provisions for their shared pilgrimage toward the fullness of the rule of Christ in their midst, which remains partial so long as Christ’s body remains divided.
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Book Chapter: Colonization and the Limits of Antislavery in Upcountry South Carolina
Joseph S. Moore
Chapter 5 in Apocalypse and the Millennium in the American Civil War Era, by Ben Wright and Zachary W. Dresser.
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Cannon Mills and Kannapolis: Persistent Paternalism in a Textile Town
Tim Vanderburg
In Cannon Mills and Kannapolis, Tim Vanderburg critically examines the rise of the Cannon Mills textile company and the North Carolina community that grew up around it. Beginning with the founding of the company and the establishment of its mill town by James W. Cannon, the author draws on a wealth of primary sources to show how, under Cannon’s paternalism, workers developed a collective identity and for generations accepted the limits this paternalism placed on their freedom. After exploring the growth and maturation of Cannon Mills against the backdrop of World War I and its aftermath, Vanderburg examines the impact of the Great Depression and World War II and then analyzes the postwar market forces that, along with federal policies and unionization, set in motion the industry’s shift from a paternalistic model to bureaucratic authority. The final section of the book traces the decline of paternalism and the eventual decline of Cannon Mills when the death of the founder’s son, Charles Cannon, led to three successive sales of the company. Pillowtex, its final owner, filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 2003.
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Developing Future Leaders in Namibia’s Independence Struggle: Higher Education’s Role in the Making of a New State
Michael Kuchinsky
This unique multidisciplinary case study targets the importance of higher education in facilitating and helping to produce social capital that empowered the people of Namibia to expand the necessary set of civic and political responsibilities to individuals chosen by church leaders to promote a new and transformed society in a once apartheid-like developing country.
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Ecumenism Means You, Too Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity
Steven R. Harmon
By all accounts, the modern ecumenical movement is not moving much these days. Despite dramatic breakthroughs in the past few decades, the quest for a visibly united church--in which there is common confession of the apostolic faith, full Eucharistic communion, and mutual recognition of members and ministers--now meets with indifference by many, impatience by some, and outright hostility by others. In part, this is because the movement has not given enough attention to grassroots ecumenical engagement. This book is written to convince ordinary Christians, especially young Christian adults, that they too have a stake in the future of the ecumenical movement as its most indispensable participants.
Ecumenism Means You, Too draws on the music of Irish rock band U2 to cast artistic light on various aspects of the quest for Christian unity. Whether one is a U2 fan or not, and whether one thinks the ecumenical movement is a good thing or a bad thing for the church, everyone who reads this book will learn something about the Christian theological framework apart from which neither the modern ecumenical movement nor the meaning of U2's music can be understood. The book includes an annotated bibliography of resources for ecumenical engagement and a glossary of key ecumenical terms for readers who want to learn more about the Christian practice of seeking the unity of the church. -
Epilogue: Presbyterian Orthodoxies and Slavery
Joseph S. Moore
Epilogue for Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora edited by William Harrison Taylor and Peter C. Messer
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Every Knee Should Bow Biblical Rationales for Universal Salvation in Early Christian Thought
Steven R. Harmon
In Every Knee Should Bow, Steven Harmon explores the manner in which Clement of Alexandria (ca. 160-215 C.E.), Origen (ca. 185-ca. 251 C.E.), and Gregory of Nyssa (331/340-ca. 395 C.E.) appealed to Scripture in developing rationales for their concepts of apokatastasis, the hope that all rational creatures will ultimately be reconciled to God. Harmon argues that these patristic universalists maintained their hope for "a wideness in God's mercy" primarily because they believed this hope was the most coherent reading of the biblical story. Although Hellenistic thought might also have suggested an eschatology in which the end corresponds to the beginning, the eschatologies of these ancient Christian theologians were shaped mainly by the Hebrew story of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, read through the lenses of the church's experience of God's saving work in the person of Jesus Christ. These early attempts to take seriously the biblical story's affirmations of the divine intention to save all people on the one hand, and of judgment and hell on the other, have a certain timeless relevance. In a context not unlike that of the late antique Christian world, the postmodern church again wrestles with these tensions in the biblical story in the midst of religious pluralism.
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Founding Sins: How a group of antislavery radicals fought to put Christ into the Constitution
Joseph S. Moore
Despite being one of North America's smallest religious sects, the Covenanters found their way into every major revolt. They were God's rebels--just as likely to be Patriots against Britain as they were to be Whiskey Rebels against the federal government. As the nation's earliest and most avowed abolitionists, they had a significant influence on the fight for emancipation. In Founding Sins, Joseph S. Moore examines this forgotten history, and explores how Covenanters profoundly shaped American's understandings of the separation of church and state.
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Hitler's Home Guard: Volkssturmmann
David K. Yelton
The focus of the book is the section of Germany's western front where the Volkssturm fought in vain to slow the advance of Canadian forces and where the desertion rate was very high. David K. Yelton follows the experience of a Volkssturm conscript from his call-to-arms, into action and through to his capture and time as a POW, examining his personal reaction to the creation of the German Home Guard and his response to the fighting into which he was thrust.
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Hitler's Volkssturm: The Nazi Militia and the Fall of Germany, 1944-1945
David K. Yelton
Pressed by advancing enemy armies on both fronts, Adolf Hitler played his final card in World War II by mobilizing all German civilian males between sixteen and sixty and indoctrinating them for a final apocalyptic defense of the Reich. The Volkssturm, created as much to boost national morale as to bolster sagging defenses, has been viewed as a negligible factor in the war. David Yelton counters that view with new insights into why the German high command sought this means to prolong an unwinnable war-and why so many civilians chose to fight to the bitter end.
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How to Read the Bible Without Losing Your Mind: A Truth-Seeker's Guide to Making Sense of Scripture
Kent Blevins
Does reading the Bible sometimes leave you confused? Do you have difficulty seeing the relevance of the Bible to modern concerns or to important issues in your life? Do you believe Bible reading and intellectual inquiry are mutually exclusive? This book explores how the Bible can serve as a resource for discovering truth. It provides a method that accepts and incorporates the knowledge gained from modern scholarship while also recognizing that truth-discovery is a personal, multifaceted journey. It honors the integrity of Scripture while remaining open to insight from additional truth-sources. In exploring what we mean when we speak of the Bible's authority, it is honest about the challenges presented to modern readers by the cultural chasm separating the biblical writers from today's world. How to Read the Bible Without Losing Your Mind shows how the Bible can be read with full engagement of both mind and heart.
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Islam and modernity through the writings of Islamic modernist Fazlur Rahman
Donald Berry
Fazlur Rahman was one of the great 20th-century Muslim modernists, whose prolific writing and sheer number of students who make up a who’s who of Islamic studies throughout North America reveal the impact that he has had on both academe and on Muslim communities throughout the world. The modernist approach is contrasted with the radical approach of Mawlana Mawdudi of Pakistan. The comparison is made richer by the fact that the two men knew each other personally. The need to contrast the Islamic views presented by Fazlur Rahman with those espoused by Al-Quaida are critical to avoid stereotyping the worldwide Muslim community.
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Pictures of Islam: A Student's Guide to Islam
Donald Berry
Using his ministry and twenty-year teaching experience, Donald L. Berry balances scholarship with real-world application to educate a general audience about Islam. This book focuses on key points in Islamic history, theology, and methodology, unveiling the heritage and diversity in contemporary Islam. Berry argues that some of the traditions and practices commonly found in the Arab world today reflect the traditions of pre-Islamic Arab culture rather than the Islam described in the Qur’an. The author also attempts to distinguish those beliefs, traditions, and practices that emerge from the Qur’an and those that are rooted in other Muslim traditions that may not be authoritative for all Muslims. Another key element of Pictures of Islam is a look at modernity and Islam. While modernity is not a common word for the general audience, it’s a factor in our modern world and history that cannot be ignored. The impact of modernity is still being felt in most of the Muslim world. Muslims debate the contributions and harm of modernity just as other societies and nations. Berry identifies ten barriers that hinder positive Muslim-Christian relations today. Muslims and Christians do share many common beliefs and traditions, yet the reader must also understand the historical, theological, and practical factors that have led to conflict between Christians and Muslims.
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The Divine in Acts and in Ancient Historiography
Scott Shauf
Scott Shauf compares the portrayal of the divine in Acts with portrayals of the divine in other ancient historiographical writings, the latter including Jewish and wider Greco-Roman historiographical traditions. The divine may be represented as a single deity (in Judaism) or many (in Greek and Roman traditions) and also includes representations of angels, God’s spirit, Jesus as a divine figure, or forces with divine status such as fate, chance, and providence. Shauf’s particular interest is in how the divine is represented as involved in history, through themes including the nature of divine retribution, the partiality or impartiality of the divine toward different sets of people, and the portrayal of divine control over seemingly purely natural and human events. Acts is shown to be engaging historiographical traditions of the author’s own day but also contributing unique historiographical perspectives. The way history is written in Acts and in the other writings is shown to be intimately tied to the understanding of the role of the divine in history.
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Theology as History, History as Theology: Paul in Ephesus in Acts 19
Scott Shauf
This monograph explores the theology of the Acts of the Apostles while taking seriously the status of the writing as ancient historiography: What does it mean to speak of theology in a historiographical work? How can this theology be apprehended? What does this theology have to do with the overall character of the writing and with how the writing functioned for its original audience? Acts 19 is both, case study and source to generate the answers.
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The Topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts
James R. McConnell Jr.
In this study James McConnell addresses the concept of authoritative testimony in Luke-Acts. Specifically, he argues that particular elements in the narrative of Luke-Acts can be understood as instances of the topos of divine testimony through utterances and deeds, considered in some ancient rhetorical handbooks to be the most authoritative form of testimony when seeking to persuade an audience. McConnell claims the gods' testimony was used in ancient law courts and political speeches to persuade a judge of a defendant's guilt or innocence, and in attempts in public forums to convince others of a particular course of action. Similarly, the topos is used in ancient narratives and biographies to legitimate certain characters and discredit others. The instances of the topos of God's speech (both oral and through OT citations) and deeds in Luke-Acts are functioning in the same way.
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Towards Baptist Catholicity Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision
Steven R. Harmon and Paul Avis
'Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision' contends that the reconstruction of the Baptist vision in the wake of modernity's dissolution requires a retrieval of the ancient ecumenical tradition that forms Christian identity through liturgical rehearsal and ecclesial practice. Themes explored include catholic identity as an emerging trend in Baptist theology, tradition as a theological category in Baptist perspective, the relationship between Baptist confessions of faith and the patristic tradition, the importance of Trinitarian catholicity for Baptist faith and practice, catholicity in biblical interpretation, Karl Barth as a paradigm for a Baptist and evangelical retrieval of the patristic theological tradition, worship as a principal bearer of tradition, and the role of Baptist higher education in shaping the Christian vision. This book submits that the proposed movement towards catholicity is neither a betrayal of cherished Baptist principles nor the introduction of alien elements into the Baptist tradition. Rather, the envisioned retrieval of catholicity in the liturgy, theology, and catechesis of Baptist churches is rooted in a recovery of the surprisingly catholic ecclesial outlook of the earliest Baptists, an outlook that has become obscured by more recent modern reinterpretations of the Baptist vision and that provides Baptist precedent of a more intentional movement towards Baptist catholicity today.
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Triangle
Annette Pendergraft
To everyone on the North Carolina campus, Karen and Kevin seem the perfect couple. She is beautiful and charming, while he is smart and handsome. They are the kind of couple people envy and want to emulate. There is one problem, however. Karen cannot be faithful to her unsuspecting boyfriend. As rumors spread, people who interfere with the tumultuous couple are mysteriously and brutally murdered. Karen’s best friend, and roommate, Tina is privy to her indiscretions. Torn between loyalty to Karen, and a growing passion for Kevin, tensions mount between the friends. Can Tina keep a secret long enough to stay alive?
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Wake the Dead
Annette Pendergraft
A mysterious mirror that causes the viewer to see what is on the inside, a girl in a lavender dress who haunts a bridge and a writer who goes to a reputed haunted house to finish her book and begins to experience the unexplainable. These and other stories comprise the collection of horror stories in "Wake the Dead".
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What Does God Want Me to Do: Understanding and Responding to Calling
Joe Collins
The concept of calling is integral to who we are as human beings. From a Christian perspective, a sense of calling connects us to God and provides a center around which our lives can begin to make sense and have meaning. In this guide to understanding and responding to a calling, author Dr. Joe Collins provides both a clear picture of calling and various tools to help laypeople and clergy to pursue it in ways that are both biblical and practical.
What Does God Want Me to Do? recognizes calling as a process that involves a growing perception of both God and self. It proposes a model that is both biblically sound and grounded in the actual experiences of people; it also demonstrates an appreciation of evolving understandings of calling in the history of the Church. Drawing wisdom from writers both modern and ancient who have struggled with calling and its meaning, it seeks to answer the hard questions about the nature of calling directly and honestly.
Providing more than just a theoretical exploration of how calling works, this guide offers practical suggestions on how to prepare for a call and how to respond to it.
