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Losing The Body: Tracing Corporeality As A Component Of The Imago Dei Through Early Christian Exegesis, Andrew Kneeland

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Kneeland, Andrew R. “Losing the Body: Tracing Corporeality as a Component of the Imago Dei Through Early Christian Exegesis.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2025. 252pp.

This dissertation examines the interpretation of imago Dei in Gen. 1:26 across early Christian history, revealing both a robust tradition of corporeal emphasis and a shift toward a spiritual consensus that was driven not by immediate, unanimous consensus but a variety of pastoral and polemical factors. Far from a fleeting, anthropomorphic error, a bodily understanding of the image of God spans diverse provenances and contexts. Organized diachronically and topically, the study begins with textual exegesis …

What God Has Joined Together: The One Threefold Purpose Of Marriage, David Frayne Shudy

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Modern married couples and marriage-minded individuals are often left awash in a sea of confusion aimlessly groping about for a purpose for their marriage, with disastrous societal results. Whereas long-standing Christian tradition has taught a unified threefold marital purpose of three equal elements—procreation, mutual help, and remedy for sin—Enlightenment thinkers and their ideological descendants have introduced a hierarchical marriage teleology with a self-chosen purpose (usually companionship) at the top in order to correct for an alleged countervailing overemphasis on procreation in premodern marital teleology.

This thesis will challenge the claim of a relative deficiency in the companionate aspect of premodern …

The Apocalyptic Character Of The Ethnic Identity Argument In Galatians, Benjamin J. Nickodemus

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Nickodemus, Benjamin J. “The Apocalyptic Character of the Ethnic Identity Argument in Galatians.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2023. 281 pp.

The relationship between Paul’s ethnic identity argument to bring Gentiles into the line of Abraham and the apocalyptic inbreaking of Christ into the present has been poorly defined. The new creation seems to relativize all difference in ethnic identity, yet the importance of Gentiles being heirs of Abraham remains a fundamental component of Paul’s argument. This dissertation argues that the tension between these two identity arguments arises because they are not in fact two arguments, but one reality. The ethnic …

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’S Interpretation Of Ἀναξίως In 1 Cor. 11:27−29 In Relation To Worthy Admission To The Eucharist In Light Of Ritual Jewish Purity Laws Embedded In Its Qeddassé And Tradition, Tibebu Teklu Senbetu Rev. Dr..

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This research examines the interpretation of 1Cor. 11:27−29 and the practice of worthy admission to the Eucharist within the historical context and tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC). Christianity in Ethiopia has ancient roots in Judaism and in the apostolic tradition of the early church fathers, whose religious orientation and teaching shaped the church’s history, tradition, doctrine, and religious practices. In particular, we examine the church’s focus on the sanctity of the Eucharist and the acceptable celebration of and participation in the Sacrament by the faithful.

Analyzing the multi-facetted legacies of the EOTC, including Judaism and the early …

Exodus 14–15 As An Anti-Baal Polemic And Its Implications For Interpreting Exodus 15:17 And Dating These Chapters, Brent Olson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Olson, Brent, M. “Exodus 14–15 as an Anti-Baal Polemic and Its Implications for Interpreting and Dating These Chapters.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2020. 257 pp.

This dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What is the relationship of Baal-zephon worship and its governing narrative, the Baal Myth, to the accounts of the Sea Event in Exodus 14–15? Secondly, what are the implications of this relationship for interpreting and dating these chapters? Building upon scholarship’s engagement with these questions since the Ras Shamra discoveries, the dissertation makes the case that Exodus 14–15 function in part as an anti-Baal polemic. Four pieces …

Das Andere Christentum Zur Transkonfessionellen Verflechtungsgeschichte Von Äthiopischer Orthodoxie Und Europäischem Protestantismus, Stanislau Paulau

Ebooks

As early as 1534 an Ethiopian monk traveled to Wittenberg to get in touch with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. The theological dialogue that resulted from this marked the beginning of a history of entanglement between Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and European Protestantism. The present work for the first time reveals the history of the diverse interactions between these previously separately examined variants of Christianity in the period from the 16th to the early 20th century and thus makes a fundamental contribution to the history of global Christianity. Methodically, the work ties in with the approach of the histoire croisée and …

Investigating The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ-A New Transdisciplinary Approach, Andrew Loke

Ebooks

This book offers a new contribution by addressing issues using a transdisciplinary approach, that is, one which integrates different disciplines—in this case, historical-critical studies of the Bible, psychology, comparative religion, analytic philosophy, and theology—to create a new methodology that moves beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a problem. Utilizing an original analytical framework, I shall demonstrate that a logically exhaustive list of categories of hypotheses in relation to the claims of Jesus’ post-mortem appearances and the outcome of Jesus’ body can be formulated—indeed, this would be the first monograph on Jesus’ resurrection to demonstrate a comprehensive coverage of all the categories …

Burmese Nationalism And Christianity In Myanmar: Christian Identity And Witness In Myanmar Today, Zam Khat Kham

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The dissertation first considers the historical and cultural settings of a rising Burmese nationalism that embraces Buddhism as an essential component and seeks to enforce a cultural homogenization known as “Burmanization” on all citizens of Myanmar. For the minority Christian church in Myanmar, this ardent and pervasive nationalism presents a serious challenge, for which the church has yet to present an adequate response. After evaluating the few efforts made by Christians to address the problems confronting the church in the context of a culture of aggressive Buddhist nationalism, the study offers a way forward. Drawing on the resources of Reformation …

The Household Prayers Of Doctor Martin Luther And Daily Devotion At Zion Lutheran Church In Wausau, Wisconsin, Steven Gjerde

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Gjerde, Steven, K. “The Household Prayers of Doctor Martin Luther and Daily Devotion at Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin.” Doctor of Ministry, Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2016. 145 pp.

This major applied project explores the use of Martin Luther’s household prayers in Christian devotional practice. Published in the Small Catechism of 1529, the household prayers (morning, evening, and table prayers) have enjoyed varying usage since that time. This study researches whether or not they may serve as a devotional resource for contemporary believers. After addressing the Biblical and theological foundations of home devotion, the literary background of the …

Shaped By The Spirit: Spirit Christology As A Framework For Preaching Sanctification, Jonathan Rusnak

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Rusnak, Jonathan W. "Shaped by the Spirit: Spirit Christology as a Framework for Preaching Sanctification." S.T.M. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2014. 128 pp.

This thesis offers an account of preaching sanctification grounded broadly in the trinitarian economy of salvation and specifically in the person and work of Jesus Christ as receiver, bearer, and giver of the Holy Spirit. Grounded in atonement theory alone, other accounts of preaching sanctification are unable to address any number of concerns that arise in the sanctified life. In addition, atonement theory alone does not ground an account of preaching sanctification that maintains the nexus indivulsus of …

Slaying The Syncretistic Chimera: A Study Of The Consensus Repetjtus In Light Of Confessionalization Theory, Timothy Schmeling

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Schmeling, Timothy R. “Slaying the Syncretistic Chimera: A Study of the Consensus Repetitus in Light of Confessionalization Theory.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 478 pp.

The Syncretistic Controversy (ca. 1645–86) was the most important controversy of seventeenth-century Lutheranism. It was inaugurated by Helmstedt theology professor Georg Calixt (1586–1656), who sought mutual tolerance between Christendom’s confessions on the basis of the fundamental agreement all shared by virtue of their adherence to the Apostles’ Creed and theology of the first five centuries. In response the Electoral Saxon theological faculties promulgated the Consensus Repetitus fidei vere Lutheranae (1655), a confession against syncretism and …

Church And Reform In Nicholas Of Cusa's Brixen Sermons (1452-58), With Additional Reference To His Roman Reform Sermons And Reformatio Generalis (1459), Richard Serina

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Serina, Richard J. "Church and Reform in Nicholas of Cusa's Brixen Sermons (1452-58),with Additional Reference to His Roman Reform Sermons and Reformatio Generalis (1459)."Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014.279 pp.

Nicholas of Cusa (1401-64) played a significant role in the conciliar movement during the Council of Basel (1431-49), but his defection to the papal cause has led many interpreters to marginalize his subsequent views on ecclesiology and church reform. The scholarship has generally regarded his later ecclesiology as strictly papalist and his later reform efforts as authoritarian. This study analyzes the concepts of church and reform he articulated in the course …

Mission At And From The Margins Patterns, Protagonists And Perspectives, Peniel Rajkumar, Joseph Prabhakar Dayam, I. P. Asheervadham

Edinburgh Centenary Series

It is our hope that these chapters, though fragmentary in nature, will provide glimpses of how the ‘margins’ can both inform and re-form missiological thought as we build further upon what has happened since Edinburgh 1910. These fragments are offered with the hope that they will not only feed and nourish but also provoke hunger for working towards God’s kingdom of justice and righteousness.

A Century Of Catholic Mission Roman Catholic Missiology 1910 To The Present, Stephan Bevans

Edinburgh Centenary Series

A Century of Catholic Mission surveys the complex and rich history and theology of Roman Catholic Mission in the one hundred years since the 1910 Edinburgh World Mission Conference. Essays written by an international team of Catholic mission scholars focus on Catholic Mission in every region of the world, summarize church teaching on mission before and after the watershed event of the Second Vatican Council, and reflect on a wide variety of theological issues.

“Made In Each Other:” John Scottus Eriugena’S Conception Of The Human Person As A Unifying Vocabulary For Trinitarian Metanarrative And Anticartesian Phenomenology, Carey B. Vinzant

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Vinzant, Carey B. “Made in each Other: John Scottus Eriugena’s Conception of the Human Person as a Unifying Vocabulary for Trinitarian Metanarrative and Anti-Cartesian Phenomenology.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2010. 260 pp.

This study sets forth an account of the human person, drawn primarily from the thought of John Scottus Eriugena, which integrates the metaphysical account of personhood set forth by Trinitarian theology (especially John Zizioulas) with the phenomenological one set forth by certain Anti-Cartesian philosophers (especially John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and Gabriel Marcel). These two schools of thought have in common the conviction that uniqueness and relation to other …

Witnessing To Christ Today, Daryl Balia, Kirsteen Kim

Edinburgh Centenary Series

This volume contains the preliminary results of the Edinburgh 2010 study project, which was set up in 2005, and reconstituted in 2007, to mark the centenary of the World Missionary Conference.

"These Are Written" Toward A Cruciform Theology Of Scripture, Peter Nafzger

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Nafzger, Peter H. "'These Are Written' : Toward a Cruciform Theology of Scripture." Ph.D. diss .. Concordia Seminary, 2009. 244 pp.

This dissertation is an attempt to ground the Christian theology of Scripture in the trinitarian economy of salvation. Rather than approaching the Scriptures with the assumptions, concepts, and categories that have governed the modem "battle for the Bible," this account locates the Scriptures in the theology of the Word of God. In the biblical narrative this Word is found in three forms: Jesus Christ is the personal form of the Word of God who was sent by the Father …

In The Footsteps Of Walther: The Doctrine Of The Ministry In The Writings Of George Stoeckhardt, Joel Loren Pless

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Pless, Joel L. "In the Footsteps of Walther: The Doctrine of the Ministry in the Writings of George Stoeckhardt." Ph.D. diss.,Concordia Seminary, 2008. 243 pp.

This dissertation is an historical study of how George Stoeckhardt, professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis from 1878-1913, understood the doctrine of the ministry and how he articulated it through his various writings. Chapter 1 of the dissertation examines Stoeckhardt's life and his formative influences. His family background, his education, his Wingolf experiences, and his experiences as a chaplain during the Franco-Prussia War are addressed. Chapter 2 examines his exegetical methodology which …

A.F.C. Vilmar: Theology Of Church And Ministry, Martin E. Conkling

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Conkling, Martin E. "A. F. C. Vilmar: Theology of Church and Ministry." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2007. 271 pp.

This historical study explores the theology of A. F. C. Vilmar.The theology of church and ministry championed by Vilmar received critical attention in his own day, and he remains a bright star in the constellation of nineteenth century Lutheran theologians who sought to restore Lutheranism to the strength of its confessional origins and to correct the cultural tendencies of thought gone wrong in revolutionary Europe. Little secondary literature exists on this "Theologian of Fact" in English, and virtually none of his …

Isaiah's Oracle Against Philistia: An Exegetical And Historical Study Of Isaiah 14:28-32, Paul Wenz

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Isaiah's oracle against Philistia in 14:28-32 presents some unique problems to the exegete. Itis the only oracle with a chronological marker in Isaiah, i.e., it is dated at King Ahaz's death (v. 28), which raises questions of authorship for some. Chapter 1 introduces Isaiah's use of “Oracles against the Nations" (OAN) and specifically how Isaiah's oracle against Philistia is a good example of the genre, yet points out some of its unique characteristics. The translation of the pericope, with its exegetical details, is treated in chapter 2. Chapter 3 gives comments on the oracle and its setting, which is Isaiah's …

Hermeneutical Approaches To The Isaiah Apocalypse: An Examination Of Form- And Redaction-Critical Interpretive Principles And Foundations For A New Study Of Isaiah 24-27, William Carr Jr

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This thesis is an exercise in detecting these underlying hermeneutical principles in the secondary literature as they have been applied to Isaiah 24-27, in relation to the three areas of investigation mentioned above: literary coherence (unity), date, and genre. Of primary interest are works produced since Anderson's watershed essay; however, since itis presupposed that the more recent researchers have relied considerably on an earlier scholarly tradition, it will be necessary to trace present principles to previous principals, especially of Isaiah studies, Bernhard Duhm, and of form criticism, Hermann Gunkel.

Ministerio De La Diaconisa Luterana, Kristin Wassilak

Artículos educación teológica

Ministerio de la diaconisa Luterana

An Exegetical, Historical And Practical Study Of New Testament Terms For Pastor And People At Trinity Lutheran Church, Memphis, Tennessee, Ronald Wiese

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

There is a confusion among clergy and laity over their precise function in a congregation. This is an exegetical, historical and practical study of ten New Testament terms used for pastor and people at Trinity Lutheran Church, Memphis, Tennessee. The conclusions were that the pastor's primary role is the public administrtion of the Word and Sacraments, that the laity hold a high calling of the Lay Apostolate, and that the office of deacon should be reinstated in the congregation.

Integrity And Integration In Ecclesiastical Historiography: The Perspective Of Mosheim And Neander, Paulo Buss

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

This investigation attempts to apply the motif of integrity and integration in an examination of Lutheran ecclesiastical historiography. This is not a comprehensive survey involving all the significant Lutheran historians of the past but rather focuses on selected Lutheran historians of different centuries to determine possible tendencies in their views of integrity and integration. Although these terms themselves are not employed as such by the theologians/historians analyzed here, this study starts with the hypothesis that the concepts expressed by these terms are not unfamiliar to them.

In a study of Lutheran historiography the question about Luther's view of history deserves …

Ordination Liturgies, The Call Process, And The Office Of The Ministry In The Landeskirche Of Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel, 1569-1815, Kent Burreson

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Therefore this study intends to examine the rites on their own merit as historical evidence of the theological understanding of church and ministry that arose in a specific context—a contextual-historical study of rites concerned with forming pastors. As Smith asserts, "Liturgical events such as ordination do not occur in a vacuum. They are supported by an attendant structure which influences the way in which they are experienced and understood. The political, cultural, theological, and ecclesiastical context will be considered in order to determine the milieu and mindset in which the rites were framed and celebrated." Having determined the context, its …

Jesus And The Gentiles In The Gospel Of Matthew: A Historical Study Of The Redemption Motif, Young Jin Kim

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

To obtain the proper understanding of Jesus' relation to the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew, the following objectives should be met: our study shall deal with (1) the Old Testament passages pertinent to our subject, (2) every Matthean passage which provides explicit or implicit information on our theme, (3) the salvation-historical significance of the text, and (4) the total context of the Gospel.

A form-critical approach with its presuppositions is not in order for our study since this approach fails to meet objectives three and four. A redaction-critical approach which has been the dominant discipline in recent Matthean scholarship …

Administrating Ministry: The Use Of Strategic Planning And Management In A Ministry Setting, Paul Metzler

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

"ADMINISTRATING MINISTRY:The Use of Strategic Planning and Managementin a Ministry Setting"This project explores strategic planning and management (SPM) as an administrative theory which can enable effective ministry. Derived from the world of corporate business management, the SPM model is defined as a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that guide what an organization is, does, and how it plans its future. Examination of key biblical understandings of leadership and administration, as well as SPM's underlying assumptions, support its theological appropriateness. The use of SPM in the setting of theGordon D. Hoople Institute of the Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center …

The Priesthood Of All The Baptized:An Exegetical And Theological Investigation, Thomas Winger

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

For all the emphasis placed on the "priesthood of all believers" as an article of faith, very little critical research has been done into its exegetical, dogmatic, and historical foundations. In his monumental study, John Elliott notes that a detailed exegetical treatment of 1Peter 2 had never before been done in the history of Christianity. 2 Yet he declines any attempt to relate his conclusions to a "dogma" of priesthood. The most extensive historical study, undertaken in two volumes by Cyril Eastwood, attempts to trace the influence of this doctrine in the history of the church, but it fails to …

A Comparative Study Of 'People' In The Old Testament And The Minjung Concept, Hyun Sup Um

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The purpose of this study is to find out whether or not the concept of עִס in the Old Testament is the same as it is used in Minjung theology. Therefore the first part of this thesis will deal with outside influences, such as secular theology, the theology of hope, liberation theology, process theology, and theology of history on Minjung theologians, specifically on these three: Jung Choon Kim, Hee Suh Moon, and Joon Suh Park. All three insist that the origin of Israel was the Habiru. Therefore the origin of עִס (Israel) in the Old Testament will also be treated. …

A Study (Reading) Guide For Dr. Francis Pieper's Christian Dogmatics I, Won Yong Ji, Craig Lutz

Dr. Francis Pieper's Christian Dogmatics Study Guide

This is merely intended to be a "Study-Guide." Students are not required to use it; in fact, they are encouraged to employ their own method of study The important thing, however, is that they study seriously the Christian doctrine presented by Dr. Pieper.