Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Immersive Rituals In The Qumran Community And Early Christianity, Ally Huffmire

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

The Purpose Of Hell: Control Of Communities Through Apocalyptic Literature., Madison S Fogle

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Literature depicting Hell in late antique Christianity reveals more than the theological concern for one’s eternal soul, revealing the underlying values and morals of the growing society. Borrowing from Roman, Greek, and Jewish culture, Christians were seeking to set themselves apart while also grappling with their past around them. Through visions of Hell, apocalyptic literature in late antique Christian society exhibits the control exercised over parishioners, specifically control over their bodies and their wealth. The moral laws from Greek, Roman, and Jewish influences is evident through early Christian literature, which dictate the ways in which people are regulated by Christianity …

The Heart Of Paul's Spirituality And The Implications For The Church: Becoming Centered In God Through Christ Six Conferences For The New Camaldoli Hermitage [Lecture Notes], Scott Gambrill Sinclair (Retired)

The Scott Sinclair Lecture Notes Collection

No abstract provided.

The Dead Sea Scrolls And The New Testament, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Since their initial discovery in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have generated a great deal ofinterest, ranging from responsible scholarly inquiry to public sensationalism.1 During the years 1947–1956, local Bedouin and eventually archaeologists found scrolls and primarily scroll fragments (many thousands of them) in eleven caves proximate to the small archaeological site of Qumran, near the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Stories of the initial discovery of major scrolls by Bedouin cousins in what is now called Qumran Cave 1 vary in certain details and have been often recounted, as have stories about the intrigue involved in the authentication …

Justin Martyr, Irenaeus Of Lyons, And Cyprian Of Carthage On Suffering: A Comparative And Critical Study Of Their Works That Concern The Apologetic Uses Of Suffering In Early Christianity, Aaron Kilbourn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Suffering in Early Christianity has often been highlighted in martyrdom and the stories surrounding the persecution of the Early Church. The biblical idea of redemptive suffering was not an afterthought to the Christian community or part of what Joyce Salisbury calls, “the unintended consequences of ancient violence,” but it appears to be part and parcel of the Early Christian community as they sought to live faithfully to Christ’s teachings. As the Early Church lived out redemptive suffering, it became apparent to the surrounding culture and critics of Christianity that their suffering was different and it pointed to something else. Through …

The Letters Of St. Paul [Lecture Notes], Scott Gambrill Sinclair

The Scott Sinclair Lecture Notes Collection

Course Description
A study of the major themes of Paul's thought through the letters he wrote as responses to problems in the early Christian church.

Student Learning Outcomes
For this course: A knowledge of 1) the literal contents of Paul’s Letters, 2) the cultural and historical situations to which the letters respond, and 3) the enduring theological perspectives that appear in these responses.

Review Of One True Life: The Stoics And Early Christians As Rival Traditions, By C. Kavin Rowe, Jeffrey Morrow

Jeffrey L. Morrow, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

The Anointing That Teaches: A Socio-Historical And Rhetorical Study Of Chrisma In 1 John 2:20 And 27, Jenny Meggison

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Definitions of χρῖσμα in 1 John 2:20 and 27 have inadequately explained the term as physical ointment, rhetorical symbol, or simple alias for the Holy Spirit or Paraclete figure from the Fourth Gospel. This thesis employs a variety of exegetical methods, including rhetorical-critical, socio-historical and grammatical analysis in order to respond to the need for a historically contextualized definition. Specifically, the models of limited good, patronage and brokerage are applied to the text, along with insights from group formation theory and memory studies. Comparisons with Philo, Xenophon, and other ancient authors lead to a rhetorically and culturally informed interpretation of …

Scripture And Self In Origen Of Alexandria's Exegetical Practice, Micah David Saxton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I examine the nature of scripture and the self as presented by Origen of Alexandria. I argue that Christian scripture and the Christian self are constructed by exegetical practice; furthermore, in the case of Origen, I will demonstrate that Christian scripture and the Christian self are so closely related that it is best to speak of a scripture-self complex emerging out of his exegetical practice. I use a theory of structure as developed by William Sewell as a means to discuss both scripture and the self. As "structures," scripture and the self are composed of "resources" and …

Unbelief, Lawlessness, And Satan: Viewing The Freer Logion As A Scribal Response To Open- Ended Eschatological Themes In Mark, Seth Clark

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The focus of my study is to demonstrate that major variants in the text of Early Christian Literature were purposely inserted into the text in light of theological controversies by scribes who represented a certain perspective on behalf of an Early Christian community. The text on which this paper is focused is the ending of the Gospel of Mark and the major textual variant known as the “Freer Logion.” I will argue that the Freer Logion was purposely inserted to conclude themes that were left open by the author of Mark and not addressed by the scribe who inserted the …

Addressing Roman Jews: Paul's View On The Law In The Letter To The Romans, Dennis Haugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many years, Pauline scholars have wrestled with two related questions: (1) how did Paul envision the composition of the audience for his letter to Rome? (2) What did Paul see as the role of the Law in the community of Jesus followers? As to the first question, I contend that Paul wrote to an implied audience composed of non-Judeans who had first converted to Judaism and then acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, or who became Jews at the time of their acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. In either case, they adopted the beliefs and practices of the followers of Jesus …

According To What Nomos: Understanding Romans 2 In Conversation With Diaspora Jewish Conceptions Of Nomos, Kyle Fever

Dissertations

The law (nomos) functions as a central piece of Paul's argument in the second chapter of his letter to the community in Rome. Throughout his argument Paul's references to nomos carry such complexity that there is significant disagreement about how to understand this nomos. On the one hand, scholars debate over the degree to which Greco-Roman conceptions of nomos shape the understanding of nomos present in Romans 2. On the other hand, Paul appears to have the Jewish law in mind, and there is no consensus about how Paul conceives of the Jewish law in his argument, given the similarities …

Review Of Cassian’S Conferences: Scriptural Interpretation And The Monastic Ideal, By Christopher J. Kelly, Jeffrey Morrow

Jeffrey L. Morrow, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Israelite Temple Rites And Early Christian Esoteric Rites On The Development Of Christian Baptism, Ryan T. Wilkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to answer the question of the origin of some of the most fundamental additions made to early Christian baptism. Christian baptism began in a relatively simple liturgical form, but became, by the fourth century, a much more dramatic set of initiation rituals. Among the added elements to baptism were washing ceremonies in the nude, physical anointing with oil, being marked or signed with the cross on the forehead, and receiving white garments. Scholars have proposed different theories as to the origins of these baptismal rituals. Some claim the elements existed in the New Testament practice of the …

Elijah In Light Of Rabbinic And Early Christian Sources, Asher Finkel Ph.D.

Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

A comparative study that sheds light on the three aspects of Elijah’s coming in view of early attestation of rabbinic tradition over the millennia since the destruction of the Second Temple and was originally presented on November 5, 2006 at Seton Hall University.

The Prophet Elijah In Jewish And Christian Traditions, The Institute Of Judaeo-Christian Studies

Teshuvah Institute Papers

This publication focuses on the themes of faith and prayer that are linked with Elijah and with the land of Israel and features the following scholalry contributions:

"Elijah in Light of Rabbinc and Early Christian Sources" by Rabbi Asher Finkel

"Elijah Among the Carmelites: Adopting and Honoring the Father" by the Reverend James Boyce

"Elijah the Peacemaker: Jewish and Early Christian Interpretations of Malachi 3:23-24" by the Reverend Lawrence E. Frizzell

A Diachronic Analysis Of The Use Of Scripture In The Variant Versions Of The Apocryphon Of John, David Creech

Dissertations

This dissertation explores at length the Apocryphon of John's ambivalent treatment of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Although Moses is explicitly corrected at five points in the text--four times mentioned by name (NHC II 13,18-21; 22,22-25; 23,3-4; and 29,6-10) and one time by inference (NHC II 21,9-14)--the Genesis account of creation is nonetheless the basis for the Apocryphon's cosmogony and anthropogony. It is argued that the Apocryphon's uneven treatment of the Bible is the result of a development of the text in the midst of a dispute with other early catholics.

Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios And Early Christian Reception, Edited By Bruce W. Longenecker And Kelly D. Liebengood, Paul R. Koch

Faculty Scholarship – Economics

A review of the book Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception edited by Bruce W. Longenecker and Kelly D. Liebengood (William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2009).

The Midrashic Construct Of Early Christian Texts In Light Of Early Homiletics In The Synagogue, Asher Finkel Ph.D.

Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

The Gospel preserves the preaching of Jesus as well as his early Jewish followers who penned these works, during the decades before and after the destruction of the Second Temple in the Christian first century. They offer a witness to homiletic midrash as distinct from the exegetical midrash. The latter governs the different approaches to the Biblical text and its wording. This paper was presented at the 15th World Congress of Jewish Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in August 2009.

Carnal Excess: Flesh At The Limits Of Imagination, Virginia Burrus

Religion - All Scholarship

This essay explores representations of fleshly excess in Christian and Jewish texts of the late fourth and fifth centuries, from the cosmically-scaled figures of Adam and the resurrected Christ in Genesis Rabbah and Augustine's City of God, on the one hand, to the hagiographical portraits of fat rabbis and monks in the tractate Baba Metsia of the Babylonian Talmud and the Lausiac History of Palladius, on the other. The Platonic figure of the khora is initially invoked to frame two main arguments: first, that these late ancient texts discover transcendence within, rather than outside of, the boundlessness of materiality; …

Prayer In Jewish Life Of The First Century As Background To Early Christianity, Asher Finkel Ph.D.

Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

This article explores the dynamics affecting the phenomenon of prayer in Jewish life of the First Century, as reflected in the early sources of the Second Temple Period. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; all rights reserved. Please visit Eerdmans webpage for the complete book at http://www.eerdmans.com/Products/4883/into-god39s-presence.aspx.

The Ascetic Impulse In Early Christianity: Some Current Methodological Challenges, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

As a student of New Testament and Christian Origins, thus, of the earliest period in the history of early Christianity, I come to the study of asceticism very much in the middle, forced from the beginning to address methodological issues. Very little attention has been paid to asceticism by those scholars who deal with the earliest texts and periods; it is as though the phenomenon did non exist in the first three centuries of the common era. The bulk of the literature on asceticism comes from those scholars whose expertise is in the fourth centuries and beyond. Such literature rarely …

The Early Christian Belief In The Resurrection Of Jesus: A Response To Thomas Sheehan, Gary R. Habermas

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

No abstract provided.

The Suffering Servant Hymn And Its Sequel: A New Translation, Asher Finkel

Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

Yavneh’S Liturgy And Early Christianity, Asher Finkel Ph.D.

Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

A critical historical examination of the liturgy of Yavneh and the use of the terms "minim" and "Nazarenes" in the prayer with an appendix that provides a review, both textually and historically, of the early rabbinic material (the Yavneh tradition) on the Christian teaching with a special reference to Rabbi Jesus and a particular focus on the episode involving Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus of Yavneh and Lydda at the beginning of the second century CE.

The Early Church Reflected In The Gospel According To Matthew, Jack L. Barnes

Graduate Thesis Collection

There seems to be, among other things, a vivid reflection of church life in the Gospel According to Matthew. It is my purpose to point out the outstanding characteristics of the Gospel of Matthew and in so doing present what appears to me to be a definite portrait of an early church. As the environment seems to become clear in what we read, the church takes form and we can see many interesting aspects of it.