Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Views on biblical authority'

The majority of commentators have taken Luke 12:5 as a reference to God, while a few well-known New Testament scholars have taken it to be a reference to Satan. Yet neither position has adequately substantiated its interpretation with reference to the setting in Luke's gospel. We argue that taking it as a reference to Satan makes better sense of the passage within its context. The literature is reviewed to show which commentators, namely Conzelmann, Wink and Lampe, have understood this verse as a reference to Satan. A comparison with the parallel text in Matthew reveals the differences in text and context between Matthew and Luke. These are significant enough to allow for different interpretations of the reference in Matthew and Luke. Focussing on $ varepsilon chi o upsilon sigma grave iota alpha$ and Satan shows that Luke uses these concepts in a more developed way, and ascribes authority to Satan in his writings. This interpretation of Luke 12:5 fits in well with the theme of conflict developed in Luke's gospel. The cumulative weight of these arguments points in the direction of Luke 12:5 being a reference to Satan.

Thesis advisor: Jean-Luc Solère
The purpose of my dissertation is to explore the relation of Spinoza's epistemology to his account of religion and politics in the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP). It has long been recognized that Spinoza considers revealed religion an instance of the first kind of knowledge (or imagination), but this has usually been taken as evidence of a reductive or esoteric critique of religion. Since the imagination, in Spinoza's view, plays an irreducible role in social life, I aim to show that religion can also constitute a potentially constructive force in promoting social solidarity. While Spinoza undoubtedly opposes religious fanaticism and superstition, he does so, not by rationally (or indirectly) undermining revealed religion as a whole, but by nourishing a socially salutary form of religion. This insight is valuable for understanding the unity of the TTP: why Spinoza wrote a theological-political treatise and not a treatise on the externally related topics of theology and politics. In Spinoza's view, I argue, it is only by promoting a religion of justice, charity, and hence genuine community that he can both oppose the despotic abuse of superstition and support democracy in his immediate socio-political milieu and beyond. In the first chapter, I examine Spinoza's assessment of religious images in terms of their ability to support or undermine social cohesion. While Spinoza notoriously decries the dangers of the imagination in the Ethics, he nonetheless reserves a central role for it in his account of religious and political communities. I interpret this in light of two intersecting historical trajectories. In Chapter 2, I provide a detailed account of the political, religious, and intellectual conditions of the Dutch republic during the seventeenth century, showing how Spinoza attempts to use religious images to address a crisis of national identity (a crisis shared, in his view, by all newly instituted states). In Chapter 3, I investigate the role that the imagination plays in certain medieval and reformation accounts of religious knowledge (those of Alfarabi, Maimonides, and Calvin), in order to show the extent to which Spinoza's epistemology of religion consists in a constructive synthesis of these sources. Spinoza concludes that revelation is a product of the imagination, and hence it cannot be a source of metaphysical or scientific knowledge, but that precisely for that reason it can and was always intended to serve as an inspiring moral guide. Chapter 4 provides a close analysis of Spinoza's own account of religious knowledge⎯focusing on revelation and scripture⎯in light of his understanding of the imagination. I argue that Spinoza attempts to reorient the imagination of his readers away from a miraculous understanding of prophecy as a product of transcendent divine intervention in order to embrace a view in which the prophets would act as imitable exemplars within a moral community. In Chapter 5, I maintain that this understanding of revelation forms the basis of Spinoza's approach to both hermeneutics and politics in the TTP. Spinoza uses the moral image of prophecy to oppose superstition and despotism by revitalizing the morally edifying and⎯in his view⎯democratic spirit of revelation and scripture. I conclude by emphasizing some of the ways in which Spinoza's approach might helpfully inform contemporary debates concerning secularization and the role of religion in the public sphere. In sum, I attempt to show that, by denying the metaphysical or scientific status of religious images, Spinoza does not intend to dispute or undermine their constructive potential; instead, he attempts to liberate them for their true purpose as he sees it: the moral edification of religious and political communities
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Philosophy

Ever since Melanchthon assumed the historical role of spokesman for the Lutheran movement in the sixteenth century, debates have raged over his manner of relating human reason to biblical faith. Since the pioneering critical work of H. Heppe in 1854, until quite recently, it was generally agreed upon in the historiographical tradition that Melanchthon was to blame for an excessive and damaging use of humanistic values in developing his Protestant theological position. It has been commonly held that his systematic methods had the result of petrifying the creative, vibrant insights of Luther, that he was, hence, the forerunner of a too rationalistic Protestant scholasticism, that he stressed human realities at the cost of attention to the divine, and finally, that he failed adequately to uphold Luther's crucial principle of sola scriptua in reference to philosophy. The present dissertation has arisen in part from concerns which have been brought forward by a body of research published mainly during the last twenty-five years. It is now a growing interpretative view that the central subject of faith and reason in Melanchthon cannot be accurately assessed apart from thorough knowledge of his pre-Lutheran rhetorical theory, the values and thought-forms of which nearly governed his initial, formative interpretation and expression of Luther's theological teaching. These recent studies have called for more work on the subject of Melanchthon's pre-Lutheran rhetorical doctrines and their influence upon the rise and development of his early Lutheran theology; they have also shown the pressing need for research into the subject of Melanchthon's theoretical understanding of Scripture and of the hermeneutical principles which he applied in forming his theological doctrines. Thus the primary aim of the dissertation is to show how the values and thought-forms of Melanchthon's rhetorical system influenced the idea of biblical authority which he cultivated during his first years at Wittenberg up to the publication of his deeply influential Loci communes of 1521. The main thesis is that the rhetorical thought-forms of the pre-Lutheran period directly and decisively shaped his emerging concepts of Scripture as a diverse but coherent canonical whole, and of biblical perspicuity, efficacy, truthfulness, and inspiration as the unequalled Word of God. Using a mainly chronological method of presentation, the author first discusses the development of Melanchthon's pre-Lutheran system at Heidelberg and Tubingen, secondly, seeks to show how the rhetorical thought-forms influenced each of these several levels of biblical authority in Melanchthon, and, finally, defends the view that a detailed understanding of Melanchthon's idiosyncratic forms of expression will lead eventually to substantial revisions of the aforementioned historiographical traditions.

This thesis investigates the factors affecting tourism policy making in an English local authority and is developed from a social/human conceptualisation of policy making. It focuses on the experiences and perspectives of the people involved in the development and delivery of policy. The author adopts a qualitative methodology that is developed from grounded theory, but also includes ideas and insights from complexity theory to create a theoretical approach that is grounded in the experiences of policy makers. Interview data is analysed to identify key themes and characteristics of the development and enactment of tourism policy in Leeds in an attempt to broaden understanding of tourism policy making. The findings are presented using the multiple voices of the policy makers and identify the specific complexities associated with tourism policy enactment and delivery in Leeds. These themes and characteristics are investigated in the context of the literature on tourism planning and policy, complexity, public policy and ideology; historical analysis of tourism policy making in England, and in Leeds and primary research into local authority policy making in Cambridge. The research identifies a process where the relationship between tangible policy and the action of policy makers is blurred and sometimes contradictory due to changes in the wider policy environment. It identifies tourism policy occurring on the margins of local authority policy making, in a turbulent environment and with multiple connections with other policy areas. It highlights the extent that tourism policy is the result of communication and negotiation, the importance of intangible activities associated with this communication and the paradoxes and contradictions inherent in policy making. The research questions some of the prevailing conceptualisations of tourism policy and the dominance of positivist approaches to tourism policy making in terms of their linearity and assumptions about causality and association. This research provides an alternative approach to understanding policy that is grounded in the experiences of those in the field. It suggests that a new theoretical approach to understanding tourism policy is needed in order to broaden the conceptualisation of policy making and deepen understanding of tourism policy, taking account of its wider characteristics and their implications and is developed from what happens in practice.

Brevard Childs argues for the inner logic of scripture’s textual authority as an historical reality that gives rise to the material condition by which the church apprehends and experiences God in Christ. The church’s use of (or by) scripture thus has a larger interiority: the shaped canon of scripture, Old and New Testaments, is a rule of faith which accrues authority in the church, through the vehicle of the sensus literalis. Childs’ work has been misplaced, however. Part one locates it internationally, attending to the way it has been read in English and German and finding that it has enjoyed a more patient reception in Europe than in Britain or North America. To illustrate, Childs’ definition of biblical theology is contrasted with that of James Barr. Their differences over gesamtbiblische theology involve opposite turns toward and away from Barthian dogma in biblical inquiry. Part two examines Childs on biblical reference, introducing why intertextuality is not midrashic but deictic—pointing to the res. This coincides with an understanding of the formation of biblical literature. Childs’ argument for canonical shaping is juxtaposed with Hermann Gunkel on tradition history, showing “final form” to be a deliberate inversion of form critical principles. Childs’ interest in the Bible as religious literature is then set alongside his studious confrontation of Judaism, with implications for inter-religious dialogue. Barr and Childs are compared again in part three, which frames their respective senses of indirect and direct biblical reference in terms of allegory. Both see allegory at work in the modern world under certain rules (either biblical criticism or the regula fidei). Their rules affect their articulations of trinitarian dogma. Finally, Psalm102 highlights divergences between modern and pre-modern interpreters. If scripture comprehends the present immediately, some postures of the church toward the synagogue may be excluded.

This thesis is an attempt to make visible how Christians within a minority people in the southern Philippines view the Bible conceptually as a source of spiritual authority and also how they read and interpret the Bible, both privately and within the context of community worship. Reading and studying the Bible is now universally practised by people from multitudes of cultures, a reality that has naturally engendered a great deal of interest on the part of scholars. The resultant scholarship however, has been preoccupied with the findings of the professional researcher, and little has been published which reveals how “ordinary indigenous readers” view the Bible and/or how they interpret it. Using qualitative data gathered by this author among Manobo Christians living in the hills of central Mindanao, this thesis will endeavour to redress this imbalance and provide access to the voices of ordinary Manobo readers. The thesis also makes an important contribution to the Bible’s place within Philippine Christianity. Despite the expanding readership of the Bible within the Philippines almost no research has focused on how the Bible is actually interpreted by ordinary readers. The thesis will major on the appropriation of the Bible by Christians from within the Manobo Bible Church Association of Mindanao, an association of churches born out of the church planting efforts of missionaries belonging to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. At the centre of the thesis is an encounter between conservative evangelical missionaries and the unique culture and cosmology of the Manobo. The central argument is that the missionaries’ prototypically, evangelical doctrine of Scripture was appropriated and reconfigured by Manobo Christians in ways that reveal the persistent ability of elements of their own cosmology, and customary law, to exert influence upon their localisation of Christianity. In particular, the thesis focuses on how the localisation process has led to innovations by the Manobo on what is meant by the Bible as “spiritual authority” and to reinterpretations of significant theological themes within the evangelical gospel message. At the same time the thesis also outlines how adoption of the Christian Scriptures has redefined the position that indigenous sources of authority, such as spirit priest and village chief, now occupy within Manobo Christian communities.

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS. 278 is an early-fourteenth-century trilingual manuscript of the Psalms from Norwich Cathedral Priory, an urban cathedral church staffed by Benedictine monks. This manuscript is notable because it contains one of six Middle English Metrical Psalters, the earliest Middle English translation of the Psalms, as well as a full Anglo-Norman Oxford Psalter, the most popular French translation of the Psalms in late medieval England. While the Middle English Metrical Psalter is a remarkable and understudied text in and of itself, the Metrical Psalter of CCC 278 is even more interesting because of its monastic provenance and innovative layout. This thesis explores the questions of why a monastic institution would produce a manuscript of two complete, prominently displayed, vernacular Psalters with only highly abbreviated Latin textual references; what sociolinguistic and political forces drove the production of this innovative manuscript; and how the Middle English Metrical Psalter in particular was read, and by whom. Because there are no annotations, colophon, prologue or external documentation to provide clues to either the intended or actual use of the manuscript by the Priory monks, this thesis undertakes a detailed historicization and contextualization of the book in its urban, religious, linguistic and social settings. In addition, the lenses of community, mediation, and authority are applied, leading to the conclusion that CCC 278 and its Middle English Metrical Psalter were likely used by the monks to reach out to Norwich’s élite laity in order to form a mixed reading community around the book—a reading community controlled by the Priory.

Background: Over the past decade Local Authority Educational Psychologists in England have been increasingly required to engage in multi-agency work. There has been limited research within the UK context looking at factors which facilitate or are barriers to EP job satisfaction and approbation. This qualitative study elicits Educational Psychologists‟ views of factors that influence approbation, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction when working within this context. Methods: 27 Main grade and senior Educational Psychologists working in the North West of England participated in a combination of focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews using a set of predefined questions. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed before being analysed using inductive, explicit thematic analysis. Results: Five themes of approbation, autonomy, job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction and multi-agency working were identified as relevant to the study. Conclusions: In-depth Educational Psychology interviews allowed examination of the factors related to approbation, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This resulted in a number of implications and recommendations for future policy and practice.

The researcher interviewed social workers (N=7) for their views on what factors inhibited hard to reach parents from accessing Local Authority (LA) services in respect of their children's well being. The hardest to reach clients for the LA were those involved in substance abuse, domestic violence and living with disaffected adolescent children, and these categories were used as a working definition of the target group. Six of the respondents currently worked for the (statutory) Family Intervention Service within Children's Services and one had previously worked for the (voluntary) National Children's Homes, the latter serving as a contrast to the bulk of the sample. The interviews were analysed by the researcher according to grounded theory, but from a social constructionist perspective to maximise the authenticity of respondent accounts. While this dissertation's literature review hypothesised conditions and circumstances within the lives of the hard to reach parents as influential upon non-engagemenwt ith the LA, the data analysis here suggestst hat social worker approach could be a significant factor. Thesefi ndings have implications for professional development among social workers and practical support from educational psychologists at the levels of multi agency cooperation and parent bodies for both professions. Suggested further research questions concern themselves with repeating the method carried out here but with different samples in order to gauge generalisability of the data obtained, as well as examining the quality of supervision for social workers as regards enhancing professional efficacy.

This thesis seeks to understand just what governance looks like to practitioners themselves and how it works in practice. It recognises the need for modern executive and political leaders to provide strong place shaping leadership, in a context where resources are tight, outsourcing is viewed as a means to an end and joint working is considered essential to deliver complex cross-cutting policy objectives. As such, it will appeal to the wider local government community. The departure point for the thesis is the crisis of social democracy identified as 'overload' in the mid 1970s and the New Right policy prescription of privatisation/marketisation proposed to resolve that. the subsequent hollowing out of the state together with the interlinked nature of public policy (and the introduction of changing governance forms such as combined authorities) only served to made governance landscape even more complex. The thesis uses interpretive methodology to conduct a thematic analysis of governance and accountability using two in depth case studies in which elected members and officials have participated. the thesis makes a contribution to knowledge by concluding that Governance has three strands to it - Place Shaping, Service Delivery and Community Leadership. It is considered complex for a number of reasons ranging from layered reform and incremental policy making on the one hand to the need to work in partnership to achieve complex public policy objectives on the other. Notwithstanding recent reforms, the architecture of governance in the UK remains highly centralised. This has an adverse impact on economic performance. Devolution of powers and funding to local authorities that have the capacity to cope with them, should be coupled with Institutional reforms to create a strategic level of governance designed to facilitate infrastructure provision, economic renewal and joined up public service delivery. Keeping these arrangements accountable is of central importance and it is concluded that this requires as a minimum, the effective operation of the statutory Scrutiny function. This requires that elected members are provided with a toolkit in the form of a positive operating culture, appropriate statutory powers and sufficient funding. In addition however, there is a need to consider how to broaden democratic engagement with a view to increasing levels of political participation, so as to develop a more active notion of citizenship going forward.

The question I address is: how might a theology of authority be conceived in the light of questions raised by what is termed 'post-modernity'? Is it possible to articulate a theology of authority coming to the church community 'from God' that avoids an oppressive and alienating heteronomy? The thesis explores the question of authority as of vital importance in the sociological dimension of religion, calling for legitimisation (in light of claims made for itself) and as obligatory in the theological sphere. For this reason the project involves two methodologies (theological and sociological/ethnographic). While this investigation is relevant to all sections of the Christian church, particular attention is paid to Baptist churches in the UK, since they hold a concept in their tradition that I suggest is valuable in answering the question of the thesis, namely that of covenant. Within the Christian tradition there is an inner 'problematic' relating the personal authority of Christ to the forms of institution (church) and text (scripture). I explore this with a brief survey of theological authority as found in the fourfold foundation of scripture, tradition, reason and experience. From this is developed a brief theological and Christological reflection on divine authority and covenant theology as found in Karl Barth and his response to the 'inner problematic'. Within contemporary culture I view authority through the lens of so-called 'postmodernism', identifying four challenges to the notion of 'external authority' (all of which exemplify a move from the external to internal, and objective to subjective approaches to authority). This is further explored by means of qualitative research with one-to-one interviews conducted in a Baptist church in York. This data is reflected upon by means of ethnography and 'judicious narratives', especially in dialogue with material from Guest ('congregational study'), Heelas and Woodhead ('subjectivised-self') and Healy ('theodramatic horizon' and 'practical-prophetic ecclesiology'), providing an intersection between the language of theology and sociology. The concept of church as covenant community is explored in Baptist and (more briefly) Anglican traditions, leading to a constructive proposal that both the inner-church 'problematic' and the 'postmodern' challenge to authority might begin to be resolved with the notion of covenant. It is within this context of relationship, human and divine, that the authoritative and revelatory Word of God, the story that is Christ, is found in community and praxis. Here is a 'triangulating' relationship between authority, story and covenant revealing divine authority in a non-coercive way and relevant to contemporary culture.

Almost a decade ago, Berridge, Dance, Beecham and Field (2008, p.49) noted a worrying absence of research into the UK picture of education support teams in terms of their organisational structure and priorities. This thesis represents an original contribution to knowledge in regard to the educational support provided for Looked-After Children in Wales. The overall sample (n=28) comprised four Looked After Children Education (LACE) coordinators, seven LACE team practitioners and seventeen young people with looked-after status, aged 14-16 years old, from across four local authorities in south Wales. This qualitative research is informed by constructionist ontology and is positioned within an interpretivist framework. Data were subjected to a coding framework and thematic analysis. The research yields useful insights with some clear implications for policy and practice. It has sought to address that void and add to a slowly growing knowledge base as little is known about the ways in which LACE Coordinators and their team practitioners interpret and enact relevant policy in their day to day work. Research findings include: The LACE team relationships with young people being described by workers were typically in administrative and procedural terms; LACE practitioners’ support typically lasts for an hour, once a week, and which was described by some young people as of welcome but limited value. Thus, the perennial discourse of ‘low attainment’ that surrounds looked-after children might be more aptly be re-cast as ‘low investment’ by the state, national and local; LACE practitioners’ described their work practice as a specialist knowledge area, but also disclosed how their knowledge and expertise was often undervalued or rejected by other external practitioners; young people’s identities appeared to be fashioned, by LACE practitioners, through occupational assumptions derived from a broader public welfare child discourse. In contrast the young people’s own identities did not coalesce with the perceptions of LACE practitioners. Instead, their comments indicated a more ‘normalised’, non-stigmatised, and pragmatic but also care (as affect) related sense of self. The thesis has argued that there needs to be a new framework that unites the way workers understand looked-after children and the relationships that will optimise meaningful achievement.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
The year 1924, which coincided with the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate and more recently, the Arab Spring which started in Tunisia in December 2010, and spread across much of north Africa and parts of the Middle East, has captured the attention of worldwide audiences, but also policy makers from the West to relook at the masses in the Muslim world as not politically acquiescent, even ignorant, but also, and more importantly as to which forms of government these regions would adopt, secular or Shari‘ah based (Islamic Law), or a combination of the two. The proposed research will examine and compare the views of the Shī‘i Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Egyptian Sunni intellectual and Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Quţb regarding the form of government and its source of authority. Both scholars agreed on the sovereignty of the Sharỉ‘ah. Khomeini stressed the centrality of the establishment of an Islamic government and the concept of Wilāyat al-faqīh in his book of Ḥukūmah al-Islamiyyah (Khomeini, undate). Therefore, Khomeini’s doctrine of Wilāyat al-faqīh argues that the government should be run in accordance with the Shari‘ah. For this to happen, a high-ranking cleric (Islamic jurist) should provide political guardianship over the people in the absence of and until the reappearance of the Hidden Imām. Sayyid Quţb stressed the establishment of an Islamic society before attempting to codify the Sharī‘ah (Quţb, 1981:76). His writing on politics and government does not lay out a comprehensive plan for Islamic governance. He does however; provide a foundation and three sub-principles that help determine its powers and structure. He declared that the foundation of Islamic political rule is Ulūhiyya (servitude) and Al-ḥākimiyya (sovereignty of Sharī‘ah) of Allah. This means that the Islamic government is the rule of God (Loboda, 2004: 25) Furthermore, Quţb, argues that Islam does not provide man with sovereignty, but Allah (God) is the only sovereign. In addition, he clarifies that an Islamic form of government itself is not divine as past Christian governments considered their kings to be divinely ordained. Instead, any rule with reference to Al-ḥākimiyya and based on three subprinciples is Islamic rule (Quţb, 1993). The three sub-principles for Islamic political rule indicated by Sayyid Quţb are as follows. Firstly, the rulers should be just. Secondly, the people should be obedient to the ruler as long as he submits to the sovereignty of Allah and implements the Sharī‘ah. Thirdly, there should be consultation between the rulers and the community. However Sayyid Quţb does not indicate a clear method of consultation between the ruler and the people. Instead, he leaves it up to the local conditions of the community. In the third principle, Quţb indicated that the importance of consultation encompasses the entire concept of Islamic rule and Muslim community life (Quţb, 1993:45). This means Sayyid Quţb "indirectly states that rulers should be elected by democratic vote" (Loboda. 2004:28).

There is an ancient rabbinic apothegm which asserts that prophecy “ceased” after the last Biblical prophets, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi. After their deaths, a new phase of divine revelation was believed to have emerged through manifestations of a bat kol (lit. “Daughter of a voice”). This thesis examines the bat kol’s function within the contours of the Babylonian Talmud, primarily, employing philological, literary, and historical analyses. Moreover, it includes a review of parallels with Biblical and Second-Temple era, Apocalyptic works, so as to suggest possible origins. In addition, a sample of about ten stories are presented as representative of larger categories I consider best exhibit the bat kol’s purpose. The categories include: announcing an individual’s entry into the world to come, encomium and disdain towards individuals, matters related to Halacha (Jewish Law), and miscellaneous. As a result we discover how the rabbis employed the bat kol to address contemporary concerns.

This thesis advances a claim for the centrality of a politics of peace in early Christianity, with particular focus given to the letters of Paul and the Gospel of Matthew. In brief, I argue that Paul’s task of announcing the gospel to the nations involved calling and equipping assemblies of people whose common life was ordered by a politics (by which I mean, chiefly, a mode of corporate conduct) characterised by peaceableness, and this theological politics was a deliberate participation in the political order announced and inaugurated by Jesus of Nazareth. To this end, there are three main components of the thesis. Chapter Two is focused on the Gospel of Matthew, particularly the way in which violence (and peace) are constructed by the evangelist. Chapter Three bridges the first and third components of the thesis, attending to the important question of the continuity between Jesus and Paul on the issue of non-violence. The third component involves two chapters. Chapter Four attempts to identify the trajectory of violence and peace in Paul’s biography and in the “biography” of his Galatian converts (as he portrays it), and the fifth chapter traces the presence of this non-violent gospel in (arguably) Paul’s earliest letter. The intended effect is to show that a politics of non-violence was an early, central, non-negotiable component of the gospel, that its presence can be detected in a variety of geographical expressions of early Christianity, that this (normally) “ethical” dimension of the gospel has a political aspect as well, and that this political dimension of the gospel stands in stark contrast to the politics of both the contemporary imperial power and those who would seek to replace it through violence.

Dr. James Barr is a prolific writer who has contributed significantly to theology and biblical studies for over four decades. Indeed, he is a writer and a Bible scholar who deserves a hearing. I became aware of Barr's works and influence on theological trends in the summer of 1991 while taking a graduate course in hermeneutics under Dr. Kenneth Shoemaker at Prairie Graduate School in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. This study is on Barr and his view of biblical inspiration. The main body of this dissertation is composed of seven chapters: Chapter One (Introduction) locates Barr in the broad context of biblical studies, especially in the arena of ongoing issues concerning the difference between evangelical and liberal scholarship. Attention is given to the inquisitiveness of the human mind, the place of the Bible in Christianity, and the ongoing need to study the Bible with an open mind in order to enhance biblical studies. Barr is introduced within the context of his academic standing and contributions to theological studies. Chapter Two gives an overview of the history of the doctrine of biblical inspiration and the formation of the canon of Scripture. This chapter provides the important background for analysing and evaluating Barr’s view of biblical inspiration within a broader context. Various theological camps (evangelical and non-evangelical) are discussed showing their attempts to address the issue of biblical inspiration. The history of the evangelical development of biblical inspiration is also presented. Chapter Three attempts to help the reader to understand Barr’s view of biblical inspiration. It starts by exploring his hermeneutical conclusions on biblical inspiration, his interpretation of two key biblical texts used, conventionally, to support inspiration. The chapter also identifies and discusses specific assumptions Barr makes about the Scriptures. The chapter ends by presenting his preferred view of biblical inspiration. Chapter Four analyses and evaluates, exegetically, Barr’s interpretive conclusions on key biblical texts and his preferred view of biblical inspiration. The chapter also provides a detailed analysis of and treatment of the crucial texts Barr uses to formulate his conclusions on inspiration. Attention is given to the exegetical issues and understanding of specific texts vis-a-vis their relation to the doctrine of inspiration. Chapter Five critically evaluates Barr’s preferred four-point view of biblical inspiration, his hermeneutical principles, and their implications for the Scriptures. Chapter Six discusses the perennial issue of biblical authority as the point of departure for evangelical and liberal approaches to studying the Scriptures. This chapter shows clearly that our presuppositions about the Bible affect how we handle the Bible. Chapter Seven responds to the discoveries of this dissertation and assesses Barr’s contribution as being part of the contemporary theological trend to help us sharpen our tools. Thus, a four point view of biblical inspiration is suggested. Considering that theology is a human contrivance, the four views are offered within the context of trying to establish a view of biblical inspiration that is biblical in the light of recent theological and exegetical developments. Chapter Eight, the conclusion, summarizes this dissertation and offers some specific comments on the biblical doctrine of inspiration. Attention is given to the need to bring the reader into the world of the biblical text, if the voice of God in the written Scriptures is to be heard in our generation as well as in the generations to come. Barr’s constructive comments are considered and carefully integrated into these comments. The dissertation closes with a suggestion for further study on the topic of biblical inspiration.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2004.
Dogmatics and Christian Ethics
unrestricted

One of the most important distinguishing marks of the Christian faith is that it is a revealed religion. The Christian faith professes that God has graciously and with authority revealed himself to his creatures. Therefore, the doctrine of Scripture, specifically biblical, is an issue of central importance in any theological formulation that is distinctly Christian. Despite the centrality of biblical authority in the system of Christian faith, there is perhaps no other doctrine under greater reproach. In light of the increased criticism of the doctrine of Scripture, Christians have adopted various theologies of revelation in order to explain what the biblical text is, how it relates to God, and how it functions authoritatively. And yet many of these proposals fail to take advantage of the resources provided by the communicative categories of the rich Christian trinitarian tradition. Specifically, very few evangelical proposals related to biblical authority consider how the specific modes of subsistence related God the Father (unbegottenenss), God the Son (eternal begottenenss), and God the Holy Spirit (procession) contribute to a Christian understanding of divine authorship. This dissertation is an exercise in dogmatic and exegetical theology that gives an account of the relationship between biblical authority and trinitarian communicative activity. This dissertation will argue that the Bible is authoritative because it has God the Father as its source, God the Son as the content and mediator of the Father's speech, and God the Spirit as the efficacious power who speaks the Word that he receives from the Father and Son. Therefore, Scripture is authoritative because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit all speak, with one voice, an authoritative Word.

The key to understanding the Apostolic view on the resurrection of the dead held by the Early Church lies in identifying the influences to views expressed in New Testament literature that developed during the intertestamental period. Eschatological expectations that developed during this period were, firstly, those that held, as expressed in Daniel, that the dead spend their time asleep in Sheol awaiting the physical resurrection of their flesh. Examples of this can be found in 1 Enoch (22:1-4,8-14; 93:15-17; 102: 5), The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs (Testament of Judah 25: 1,3-5; Benjamin 10: 6-9) and 2 Baruch (20:23-25; 50: 1-4). This idea was largely adopted by the Pharisees who believed that the souls of the dead sleep in the earth until the last day when the resurrection takes place (Whitkin 1994: The Pharisees). They believed that on being resurrected their souls would reanimate their decomposed bodies which would regain life and rise from the dead (Douglas 1962: 981; Whiston 1960: 376-377, 478 - Josephus Antiq. Book xvii 1:3; Wars. Book ii 8:14). Both the righteous and the wicked are judged. The righteous spend eternal life with God, whereas the souls of the unrighteous suffer eternally. Secondly, there were those that believed in the resurrection or assumption of the soul on death, e.g., 1 Enoch (1:1-9; 98:7-12); The Testament of Moses (10:1-2, 7-10b); Jubilees (23:26-27, 29-31); 4 Maccabees (16:12-13) and the Psalms of Solomon (Ps. 2:30-35). Indications are that they did not believe in the resurrection of the flesh. This view was held by the Essenes who held to a ‘realised eschatology’ whereby they became part of the eternal assembly and experienced fellowship with the heavenlies on initiation into the community (Charlesworth 1994: Vol. 1. p. 3,13 - 1QS. Col. 2. 24-25; Nickelsburg 1972: 148). They looked forward to their transition from the body of flesh, which they saw as a hindrance to experiencing the fullness of their blessed state already entered into (Nickelsburg 1972: 154-155). At the birth of the Christian Church, Jews from different backgrounds and sects would have been birthed into the Church. This is evidenced in the different views on the resurrection of the dead portrayed in the New Testament. Firstly, a view emerges in the early Gospel accounts where Christ is attributed with propagating a view that the dead rise immediately on death to become like the angels and experience fellowship with God (Mt. 22:29-32; Mk. 12: 24-27; Lk. 20:34-38) (Hick 1976: 181-183; Charles 1963: 396- 397). Christ speaks of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as though they were already resurrected (Hick 1976: 181-183). This belief appears to be echoed by the author of Revelation who speaks of the souls of Believers entering directly into heaven upon being martyred (Rev. 6:9-11; 7:9-17) (Caird 1966: 101-102, 254). Saints that are martyred and translated into heaven receive white robes indicating the receipt of glorified bodies (Caird 1966: 101- 102, 254) (Rev. 7:9-17). This view does not see a general resurrection of dead bodies from tombs at the end of the age. There were those who extended this belief to include an idea of a ‘realized eschatology,’ similar to that held by the Essenes (Nickelsberg 1972: 167-169), where Believers, on being initiated into the faith, are immediately transferred into the heavenlies. The introduction of this belief to the Christian Church appears to have developed in the Jerusalem area where they adopted views expressed in the writings of Enoch (1 Enoch) and certain Essenic literature. Peter appears to echo Essenic concepts (Green 1968: 35- 36; Allbright 1957: 2f; Harrison 1964: 81) and speaks of Believers having been transferred out of darkness into marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Peter’s view on the destruction of heaven and earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10-13), his view on the incarceration of wicked angels (2 Peter 2:4) and the continued punishment of the wicked awaiting judgement (2 Peter 2:9) have Essenic parallels (1 Enoch 1:1-4, 6-7; 93:14-17; 10:11-14; Qumran – Column iv in the Hymns). Paul, after spending time with Peter and Mark (Cullman 1953: 70-152; 1 Clement 5,42,44), appears to have embraced the realised eschatology propagated by Peter. Paul’s realised eschatology (Filson 1964: 336-340) is evidenced in his prison epistles where he speaks of Believers having already been raised up with Christ (Eph. 2:1-6; Col. 3:1) and being citizens of heaven (Eph. 2:19; Phil. 3:20). Indications are that the Believer is already spiritually resurrected in Christ. This state is similar to the state that the Essenes believed they entered into on being initiated into the Community (Bailey 1979: 82-85; Nickelsburg 1972: 148; Charlesworth 1994: Vol. 1. p. 3,13) (1QS. Col. 2. 24-25). Paul looks forward to his body being transformed to a body of glory (Phil. 3:20-21) and speaks of being transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of ‘His beloved Son’ (Col. 1:13). Similarly to 1 Enoch he speaks of the Believers being revealed with Christ when He is revealed in glory (Col. 3:4). Paul also speaks of Christ’s return where the bodies of Believers who are alive on the earth will be transformed into glorious bodies similar to that held by Christ (Phil. 3:20-21). The two views mentioned above do, however, see a resurrection, or relocation of souls at the end of the age. Revelation speaks of the second resurrection (20:11-15), which appears to be a resurrection of the wicked (Massyngberde Ford 1975: 359). It appears that on being judged the souls of the lost are either annihilated in the second death (Caird 1966: 260) or suffer eternally (Craigen 1998: 191-201). Confusion arose during the intertestamental period regarding the severity and the finality of the punishment to be suffered by the wicked. Certain writings during this period allude to the wicked being totally annihilated on being judged (Nickelsburg 1972: 134) (Psalms of Solomon 3: 9-12; 13:11-12;1 Enoch 10:11-14; 53: 1-2; 98: 6-11; 99:11; 108:1-3, 11-15;) whereas other writings allude to the eternal suffering of the wicked (4 Maccabees 13:13-18; 1 Enoch 21:7-10; 103:6-8). As 1 Enoch was compiled over a few centuries, views contained therein are not always constant (Black 1985: 8). Thirdly, there are New Testament authors who held to a Pharisaic view on the resurrection of the dead. They, like the Pharisees, believed that the dead spend their time asleep in Sheol awaiting the resurrection of their fleshly bodies, i.e., the reanimation of their decomposed bodies (Douglas 1962: 981; Whiston 1960: 376-377, 478 - Josephus Antiq. Book xvii 1:3; Wars. Book ii 8:14). This is reflected in the early teachings of Paul (1 Thes. 4:13-18; 2 Thes. 2:1; 1 Cor. 15:1-58) (Charles 1963: 437-454), the Fourth Gospel (Jn. 5:28; 6: 38-40, 44,54) and a view held by the redactor of Matthew (27:51- 53). This view holds that all souls, righteous and wicked, are raised at the end of the age to face judgement (Whiston 1960: 376-377, 478 - Josephus Antiq. Book xvii 1:3; Wars. Book ii 8:14). The Pharisees held that the righteous undergo a resurrection of their decomposed bodies whereas only the souls of the wicked are raised on the last day (Whiston 1960: 478; Josephus Wars. Book ii 8:14). The righteous enter into eternal bliss whereas the wicked are condemned to eternal punishment (Whiston 1960: 478; Josephus Wars. Book ii 8:14). It becomes apparent that the term ‘resurrection,’ the Greek anastasis (Green 1976: 912, 924), meaning, ‘a raising up,’ or ‘rising,’ (Thayer 1962: 41-42) came to signify various elements of what was eventually referred to as the ‘resurrection.’ This term is used by the Synoptic Gospels (Mt. 22:29-32; Mk. 12:24-27; Lk. 20:34-38) to refer to those who enter into eternal life on dying (Hick 1976: 181-183; Charles 1963: 395-400). The author of Revelation uses this term in reference to the resurrection of the souls of the righteous who enter heaven on dying (20:4-6) (Caird 1966: 254). This term is also used by those holding to the Pharisaic view in referring to the raising up of decomposed bodies of the dead at the end of the age (Douglas 1962: 981; Whiston 1960: 376-377, 478 - Josephus Antiq. Book xvii 1:3; Wars. Book ii 8:14) (1 Thes. 4:16). Paul uses this term in correspondence subsequent to his second epistle to the Corinthians, but not in specific relation to the resurrection of the flesh (2 Tim. 2:18; Phil. 3:12) (Charles 1963: 455-463). Paul’s early views on the resurrection were challenged by the Corinthian Believers, who, after being exposed to the teaching of Peter and Apollos (1 Cor. 1:12) (Barrett 1968: 3; Tenney 1961: 294) appeared to have adopted a belief in an immediate assumption on death (Schutz 1969: 439-457), claiming that ‘there is no resurrection of the dead’ (1 Cor. 15:12). On receiving feedback from Titus on the Corinthian’s reception of his epistle to them (2 Cor. 7:6-7,13-16; 10:10), Paul changed his view from spending time ‘asleep’ waiting for the resurrection, to receiving a dwelling made without hands and immediately going into the presence of God (2 Cor. 5:1-8) (Charles 1963: 455-461). In subsequent correspondence Paul never again speaks of the dead spending their time asleep awaiting the resurrection, nor does he specifically mention the resurrection of the flesh, i.e., the reanimation of the decomposed bodies of the saints. The Jerusalem Church and those with close ties to it appear to have held to a belief that on death Believers are immediately resurrection into the presence of God. This appears to have had its roots in preaching attributed to Christ recorded in the earlier Gospels (Mt. 22:29-32; Mk. 12:24-27; Lk. 20:34-38) (Hick 1976: 181-183; Charles 1963: 395-400). Christ taught that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were an example of the resurrected, which neither marry nor are given in marriage, and are as the angels who are in heaven. Indications are that the bodily compositions of the resurrected will be similar to that of the angels in heaven. Peter, who had close ties with the Jerusalem Church (Acts 15:1-12), appears to have held a similar view on the resurrection. He lays emphasis on the salvation of the soul (1 Pet. 1:9). The Early Church at Alexandria (Clement of Alexandria), which was believed to have been originated by Mark (Lafort 1999: The Church of Alexandria), Peter’s disciple (Brown 1996: Introduction to the Gospel of Mark), interpreted the epistles of Peter to speak of the resurrection of the soul (Roberts 1997: Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 2. From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus). The Epistles of Peter have definite parallels to Essenic literature and the writings of Enoch (1 Enoch) (Green 1968: 35-36; Allbright 1957: 2f.; Harrison 1964: 81), which display belief in a ‘realised eschatology’ and immediate assumption on death (Charlesworth 1994: Vol. 1. p. 3,13 - 1QS. Col. 2. 24-25; Nickelsburg 1972: 148). The Epistle of Jude, which appears to have originated in Palestine (Green 1968: 48), has parallels with the epistles of Peter (Green 1968: 22-23), indicating a common belief system. The Epistle of James, which also originated in Judea (Tasker 1980: 28-30; Acts 15:13-29; 21:18), does not contradict an immediate resurrection on death. The writer of Revelation appears to hold to this view by speaking of the souls being translated into heaven on being martyred (Rev. 6:9-11;7:9- 17) (Caird 1966: 86,254). On being raised into heaven these souls are given white garments (Rev. 6: 11; 7:13), signifying their receipt of glorified bodies (Caird 1966: 86,254). This view on the resurrection of the dead appears to have been the official view held by the Judean Church, the early leaders of the Church.
Prof. J. Du Rand

Chapter 1 introduces the thesis, methodology, and outline of the dissertation. It also includes a brief historical survey of the doctrine of inerrancy and a study of the factors that led to the formation of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (hereafter, ICBI) and original writing of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (hereafter, CSBI). The final section of this chapter examines the initial usefulness of the CSBI among evangelicals. Chapter 2 traces the developments that occurred within evangelicalism with regard to the doctrine of inerrancy immediately after the formation of the ICBI and the writing of the CSBI. This study is followed by an examination of major contemporary developments concerning the doctrine of inerrancy. In this latter section, the works of several important evangelical scholars who have recently attempted to reframe the inerrancy debate are examined and assessed in order to demonstrate the resilience of the CSBI and note the areas that require reformulation. Chapter 3 begins a three-part reassessment and reformulation section in which the CSBI's nineteen articles of affirmation and denial are studied in their original context and in light of the contemporary challenges examined in chapter 2. Chapter 3 examines specifically Articles I-V. These articles deal chiefly with matters related to the doctrine of revelation. Chapter 3 offers several modifications to these existing articles as well as proposing two new articles. Chapter 4 is the second part of the reassessment and reformulation section. This section comprises and examination of Articles VI-XII. These articles deal primarily with matters related to the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy. This chapter examines these articles in their original context, offers several modifications to the existing articles, and proposes the addition of two new articles. Chapter 5 is the final part of the reassessment and reformulation section. This section examines Articles XII-XIX. These articles deal mainly with miscellaneous issues related to the doctrine of inerrancy. Chapter 5 examines these articles in their original context, offers several modifications to these existing articles, and proposes the addition of two new articles. Chapter 6 is the concluding chapter in which I summarize my research and offer suggestions for future studies in this vital area. I recommend that a new group of evangelicals gather together to reconsider the CSBI as it currently stands and use the work provided in this dissertation to begin a conversation toward a revised statement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1987.
Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 385-402).

M.Litt. et Phil.
From this study it comes to light that although Saint Chrysostom was a strict ascetic, he was a great theologian on love and marriage, and he confronted the different themes pertaining to marriage with great love and philanthropy.

In John Calvin and Ellen G White’s sense making approaches God’s act of redemption and reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ takes the centre stage in the foursome of God’s acts expressed in the biblical historical timeline as creation, reconciliation in Jesus Christ, renewal through the Holy Spirit and fulfilment at the end of time. While the 16th century Calvin emphasised God’s acts of creation and reconciliation in Christ more than God’s acts of renewal and fulfilment, the 19th century White’s emphasis was more on God’s acts of reconciliation in Christ and fulfilment at the end of time than on creation and renewal through the Spirit. With all the differences in their sense making approaches their central perspectival focus in their writings, sayings and doings is the way God and humanity, heaven and earth are closely connected in a unity without being fused and mixed in Jesus Christ. Their central christological theme of ‘God staying God’ and ‘human staying human’ in an interactional substantialist sense in Christ designates the great alternative view that differs on the one hand, from the view of the trans-substantialist option in which the human being Christ Jesus is in a sacramental-sacred way transformed into ‘a divine human being’ –, and on the other hand, the view of the consubstantialist option in which the human being Jesus is permeated and diffused by his divinity, thereby becoming ‘the human God.’ Calvin and White in their reflection operating within the realm of divine historicity that is staying within the biblical historical timeline from Genesis to Revelation were viewed by many as not theologians in the real sense of the word. Calvin and may be to a greater extent White worked and contributed to the new and emerging field of Faith Studies in which a theologian or theorist of faith cannot reflect on God, human beings or the natural cosmic world in three separate avenues as was commonly the case with speculative and scholastic theologies in history. White’s Faith Studies contribution is in the global arena of theology where the omnipresent ‘–logies’ of mainline church theologies such as Christology, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology and Eschatology hold sway.

One of the distinguishing marks of American Evangelicalism is a commitment to the Bible as the only authority for faith and practice. A question often debated is whether the Bible should be viewed as inerrant, and if so, how the concept of inerrancy should be understood. This study suggests that the concept of inerrancy should be maintained, but that the concept must be understood in accordance with the way in which the biblical materials present the concepts of truth and its opposite. The value of the doctrine of inerrancy must be found in a better understanding not only of the didactic portions but also of the phenomena ofthe biblical materials. The first chapter of this study looks at nature American Evangelicalism and considers the historical development of the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible. The next three chapters consider in turn each of three divisions within American Evangelicalism about the understanding and usage of the doctrine of inerrancy: Complete Inerrancy, Conditional Inerrancy, and Limited Inerrancy. Complete Inerrancy is the most rigid of the three, maintaining that in the original writings of the Bible there were no errors, neither in spiritual nor in secular matters. Conditional Inerrancy conditions the understanding of inerrancy by the intent and purpose for the Bible as understood from the phenomena ofthe texts. The focus is shifted from the autographs of the Scripture to the texts which the contemporary person has to read and study. Limited Inerrancy limits the usage both of the term and of the concept inerrant in relation to the Bible, preferring the descriptor infallible, arguing that neither in the original writings nor in the present texts of the Bible is inerrancy to be found. There are errors in the texts, but they do not take away from the ability of the Bible to accomplish its divine purpose ofbringing people into contact with the Redeemer God. The last chapter draws from the analysis of the arguments within American Evangelicalism material needed to construct a redefined concept of inerrancy which maintains its importance.
Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Approaches to meaning and the way that texts are read have changed dramatically over the past century. This is particularly true where interpretations of texts have been given an authoritative status, and used to perpetuate power imbalances and discrimination. The exposure of the way that texts are used in this way, particularly by feminist thinkers, has put pressure on traditional Christian understandings of gender and the role of women in the Christian faith community. There is currently a debate within Evangelical Christianity over whether women are equal to men in status, and whether they can function in certain leadership roles. William Webb proposes a redemptive-movement hermeneutic that he uses to identify cultural components within Scripture that may have been progressive in terms of their own culture, but are regressive relative to ours. Webb proposes eighteen criteria that enable the interpreter to discover the redemptive movement of these texts relative to their own culture, and then makes application to contemporary culture on the basis of this. The main weakness of Webb’s model is that the destination of the redemptive movement he discerns in Scripture seems to be determined by what is pragmatic and even politically correct in his own western culture. This research will propose an eschatological trajectory for Webb’s redemptive movement that is based an understanding of the kingdom of God as the rule of God, which has broken into history as an inaugurated reality in the coming of Jesus Christ. When eschatology becomes the controlling factor for Webb’s redemptive movement hermeneutic, an understanding of gender emerges from the Bible that is completely egalitarian. This is confirmed by examining a number of eschatological motifs for their significance with regard to gender. The eschatological egalitarianism proposed by this research encourages the full participation of women in all areas of life and ministry in the Christian faith community. Copyright
Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Practical Theology
unrestricted

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-115)
The purpose of this study is to critically analyse selected scholarly views on the visionary experiences during Jesus’ baptism. Modern scholars have different opinions about the reports in the New Testament on Jesus’ baptismal visionary phenomena. Some scholars interpreted the events as Jesus’ actual seeing or vision and others accept it as literary creations by the authors, to make sense of the reports on seeing and hearing that are hard to understand. Reports like a Spirit descending in the form of a dove are extraordinary for most people and pose interpretive challenges. The two distinct trends identified in the study of visionary experiences are those who take the text on the visions literally and those who see them as literary creations. There is a new trend in biblical scholarship, which is comparative and invokes insights from cross-cultural research in order to understand the accounts of the visions as altered states of consciousness (ASC). These views are also presented, compared and evaluated selecting three major views from modern New Testament scholars. Among the scholars identified, who take the baptism visions literally, are Dunn, Meier, Marcus, Hurtado, Borg and Webb. The scholars selected, who consider the baptism visions as literary creations, are Sanders, Crossan, Miller and Strijdom. The scholars, who contributed to the new development in interpreting the texts on visionary experiences as ASC, are Pilch, Davies and DeMaris. Pilch uses the theoretical model of ASC and understands it differently from those used by Davies and DeMaris on which they base their interpretations. A scientific explanation of ASC is built from theories about how the brain and culture, together, create certain states of consciousness. All these views are analysed based on the scholarly interpretations from the three definitive trends in the visions research, comparing the caretaker versus critical at a meta-analysis level.
Biblical and Ancient Studies
M.A. (Biblical archaeology)

Violence in traditional “satisfaction” atonement theologies is addressed here. An alternative non-violent view follows in discussion with Weaver / Heim. Weaver outlines a nonviolent Jesus narrative focussing on God’s rule made visible in history. Jesus’ saving death stems not from God but Jesus’ opposing evil powers. For viability violent biblical texts are disregarded. Church history interpretation is nonconventional. Early church is nonviolent. The subsequent Constantinian “fall” births the violent satisfaction model. Weaver’s problematical violence definition receives attention. Girard’s scapegoating philosophy and Jesus’ rescuing humankind from this evil undergirds Heim’s approach. Scapegoating establishes communal peace preventing violence. The bible is antisacrificial giving victims a voice. Jesus becomes a scapegoating victim, yet simultaneously exposes and reverses scapegoating, his death stemming from evil powers not God. Nonviolent atonement influences numerous theological concepts with Incarnational theology demonstrating Jesus’ humanness impacting upon atonement. Four ways to live out transformation established by Jesus’ saving work follow.
School of Humanities
MTH (Systematic Theology)

This dissertation contends that in spite of the increasing trajectory toward a more corporate, covenantal understanding of justification within Pauline scholarship since the emergence of the New Perspective on Paul, there still remains significant evidence that justification, at its core, is concerned with the individual before God in need of grace, who is counted righteous apart from any human works. Chapter 1 provides a history of research that traces this corporate trajectory within modern scholarship, as well as noting some of the responses to it. Chapter 2 examines the case for the presence of Jewish legalism at Paul's time of writing, to which he responds with his doctrine of justification by faith. Though E. P. Sanders successfully showed that legalism did not define second-temple Judaism, his work does not rule out the possibility of legalism within elements of the religion during the lifetime of Paul. This legalism would be more subtle than in pre-Sanders caricatures of Judaism, and is intricately tied to ethnocentrism, since the works in question were often those such as circumcision, which separated Jews from Gentiles--hence, ethnocentric legalism. Chapters 3 and 4 apply a framework that does not rule out legalism to three key justification texts (Gal 2:16; Rom 3:20; Rom 4:1-8). In these passages, Paul alludes to or cites a psalm text, each of which highlights an underlying anthropological approach to justification that denies the place of works, which was also timeless, though now fully revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Chapter 5 examines evidence in other places in Paul, including some of the disputed letters, that undergirds the idea that fundamental to justification and Pauline soteriology in general is a distinction between grace (through faith) and works. Chapter 6 seeks to align the present argument with more corporate concerns in Pauline soteriology through exegesis of two passages that are often considered to be linchpin texts for the New Perspective (Rom 3:27-30; Eph 2:14-18). Chapter 7 provides a summary of the argument, as well as implications of the present study, with further reflection on what it means for future work on the subject.

The search for a ‘historical Moses’ is one which has been debated for several centuries. In spite of copious archaeological finds in Egypt and other parts of the ancient Near East, no material remains have been found to substantiate the Exodus story. Mythological stories from the ancient Near East bear striking similarities to the Moses narrative found in the Hebrew Bible. The inconsistencies found in the Hebrew Bible further hamper the attempt to find a historical Moses, instead Moses is found only in tradition. Taking these issues into consideration, other possibilities need to be investigated. This dissertation places Moses growing up in the court of Akhenaten an 18th Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh in the middle of the 14th century BCE. The study investigates the possibility of Moses as a son of Akhenaten with Nefertiti as a stepmother, his own biological mother, a Mitannian princess, having died giving birth to Moses. Several similarities between Akhenaten and Moses are discussed throughout the study. The study moves into the 21st century with the groundbreaking discovery of DNA, which provides new conclusions which before were only debated.
Biblical & Ancient Studies
M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The subject of the present dissertation is a critique of feminist hermeneutics and exegesis with special focus on Jesus' approach to women. The dissertation commences with a discussion of the topic's relevance and a disclosure of this interpreter's presuppositions. This is followed by a survey of gender-conscious approaches to interpreting Scripture, including feminism, egalitarianism, and complementarianism. Also discussed are the nature of hermeneutics and relevant New Testament passages. The main body of the dissertation consists of a description and critique of the feminist and egalitarian interpretation of Scripture passages setting forth Jesus' approach to women. Chapter 2 starts with a description and assessment of the contributions by three major proponents of radical feminism, Mary Daly, Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, and Daphne Hampson. This is followed by a discussion of the work of reformist feminists Letty Russell, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (including a critique of Fiorenza's reconstruction of the place of women in early Christianity), and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Chapter 2 concludes with a treatment of literary approaches by more recent feminist writers. The discussion of egalitarian literature on Jesus and women in Chapter 3 is divided into three periods: the early years (1966-1986); the maturing movement (1987-1999); and recent contributions (2000-2004). Writers whose work is assessed include Krister Stendahl, Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty, Paul Jewett, Mary Evans, Ben Witherington, Gilbert Bilezikian, Aida Spencer, Richard Longenecker, Grant Osborne, Ruth Tucker, R. T. France, Stanley Grenz, Linda Belleville, William Webb, and others. The final chapter of the dissertation (Chapter 4) contains a discussion of select exegetical insights from a study of New Testament passages on Jesus' approach to women, a comparison of feminist and egalitarian hermeneutics and exegesis of Jesus and women, a proposal concerning a proper hermeneutic on Jesus and women, and a summary of findings as well as a brief presentation of the dissertation's overall contribution and areas for further dialogue.
Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis examines the role of praying sacred curses as a means of exercising ecclesiastical discipline within the Christian church. Through a brief analysis of selected social issues challenging the church in the United States, Chapter One addresses the question concerning the appropriateness of punitive praying as a means of furthering the Gospel of Christ. The question, “Is it ever right to pray for the failure, destruction or harm of another person, especially when such prayer is made by Christians in the name of God?” guides the subject of this thesis from both theological and ethical perspectives. A word study on seven key Hebrew words used to designate a “curse” in the Old Testament is made in Chapter Two in an effort to provide the necessary background for the New Testament’s concepts and practices undergirding early Church discipline. The utilization of punitive prayers and the utterances of anathemas throughout the New Testament comprise Chapter Three and points to a significant dimension for church theology inside the community of faith. There is also evidence that such ‘killing prayers’ were used to check secular authorities hostile to the witness of the church. Perhaps the most interesting use of the sacred curse comes from the record of Jesus “cursing” a fig tree, which dies as a result. This tree seems to represent both the religious dimension of Israel and the authoritative rule of the state, each characterized by unbelief and a rejection of the message of Jesus. Chapter Four furthers the discussion concerning the ethical basis for a sacred curse, especially as reflected by the Ten Commandments, and more specifically, in the keeping of the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath. In conjunction with this sense of discipline, the argument is made that the love of God is often exemplified through the exercise of the curse because persons so affected may be drawn to repentance and seek after God as a result. Chapter Five concludes this study with an indictment on modern theology’s seeming failure to address matters of truth in social issues presently impacting both iv church and state in the USA. This chapter calls for the use of the sacred curse on the basis of local church unity and cohesiveness, while recognizing that such unity may be impossible to achieve. Because there may be no consensus inside the church regarding the exercise of a sacred curse, there is most probably no possibility of realizing the power of such prayers as a means of correcting social issues at odds with perceived truths.
Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics
D.Th. (Theological Ethics)

Text in German
Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit geht der Frage nach, ob und wie im JohEv ein ekklesiologisches Konzept präsentiert wird. Dazu gehört auch die Wahrnehmung der Strategie, mit der das JohEv sein Konzept von Gemeinde darzustellen bzw. seinen Adressaten zu vermitteln beabsichtigt. Der Aufbau dieser Untersuchung ist der narrativen Struktur und Charakteristik des JohEv angelehnt. Mithilfe der Zusammenstellung und Anwendung eines narrativen Analyseverfahrens wird das JohEv als literarisches Werk wahrgenommen. Dies führt zunächst zur Bestimmung des Leitthemas des JohEv: Gottes Offenbarung in dem von ihm gesandten Sohn, Jesus. Darauf aufbauend wird herausgearbeitet, wie die Reaktionen auf dieses Offenbarungsgeschehen gemäß des JohEv ausfallen. Anhand dieser Ergebnisse lässt sich feststellen, was Gemeinde und Welt wesensmässg kennzeichnet und was ihr Verhältnis zu einander ausmacht. Ferner zielt die Forschungsarbeit darauf ab, die gewonnenen Untersuchungsergebnisse – über ihre wissenschaftlich-theoretische Dimension hinaus – auf ihren möglichen Nutzen für die gegenwärtige Gemeindearbeit hin zu beleuchten.
New Testament
M. Th. (New Testament)