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John The Baptist And The Jewish Setting Of Matthew, Brian C. Dennert

Dissertations

Although recent discussions on the Gospel of Matthew have emphasized the document's setting within first-century Judaism, these studies have not analyzed how the figure of John the Baptist functions within this setting. The failure to address the significance of the Baptist for the Gospel's Jewish setting is striking because recent study on the historical Baptist has emphasized his ministry and place within first-century Judaism. Therefore, this dissertation places a perennial topic within a new framework, believing that attention to the Jewish setting of the Gospel may prompt fresh observations and explanations of the role of John the Baptist within the …

"When The Eternal Can Be Met": Bergsonian Time In The Theologies Of C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, And W.H. Auden, James Corey Latta

Dissertations

C. S. Lewis, T. S. Eliot, and W. H. Auden all converted to the Christian faith and, upon conversion, turned to the theme of time in their post-conversion works. Interestingly, these Christian authors employed the secular philosophical framework of Henri Bergson’s theory of duration to construct their theologies of time. As texts fostered by Bergson’s ideas of intuition, the dualistic self, and durative force, Lewis’s The Great Divorce, Eliot’sFour Quartets, and Auden’s “Kairos and Logos” are theological works that depict time as an agent.

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 …

Romans 1:18-2:11 And The Substructure Of Psalm 106(105): Evocations Of The Calf?, Alexander James Lucas

Dissertations

Employing an architectural metaphor inspired by C. H. Dodd and utilizing methodology that draws from Richard B. Hays and Francis Watson, this dissertation presents a primary proposal and secondary sketch. The primary proposal is that both constitutively and rhetorically (through ironic, inferential, and indirect application), Ps 106(105) serves as the substructure for Paul's argumentation throughout Rom 1:18-2:11. Constitutively, Rom 1:18-32 (especially vv. 22-32) hinges on the triadic interplay between "they (ex)changed" and "God gave them over," an interplay that creates a sin-retribution sequence with an a-ba-ba-b pattern (vv. 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-32). Both elements of this a-ba-ba-b pattern derive from …

The Origin Of The Eschatological Feast As A Wedding Banquet In The Synoptic Gospels: An Intertextual Study, Phillip J. Long

Dissertations

The Problem. The problem this dissertation seeks to address is the origins of the wedding banquet imagery in the teaching of Jesus. Frequently, scholars will state that the image of a wedding banquet was a common messianic image in the first century. However, other than Isa 25:6-8, sources for the image of a banquet for the messianic age in the Hebrew Bible are sparse. Yet the image of a banquet clearly appears in the Synoptic Gospels in both the actions of Jesus as well as his teaching. Because the metaphor of a wedding banquet is not found in the literature …

God And Integrity: A Case Study Of Walter C. Kaiser Jr. And Norman L. Geisler, Augustin Tchamba

Dissertations

The God of the Bible is sometimes portrayed as using and condoning deceit to achieve His purpose, especially when human life is at stake. Two evangelical scholars, Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Norman L. Geisler, with a shared theological heritage, differ in their interpretation of Exod 1:15-21 and Josh 2:1-7 that addresses the ethical issue of lying to save life.

This dissertation not only refutes the claim that God uses and condones the use of deceit to achieve His purpose, but also clarifies biblical argument for His integrity. The study provides answers to a number of questions. First, what causes …

A Study Of Warfare Theodicy In The Writings Of Ellen G. White And Gregory A. Boyd, Martha O. Duah

Dissertations

The problem of evil has been an issue for all religions over the centuries. But it is a crucial issue for theism because of its affirmation of the co-existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God and evil. Theologians and philosophical theologians have developed a plethora of materials in response to the problem. However, according to critics, none of the responses in and of themselves adequately deals with theism's problem of suffering and evil. As a result, this study explores the warfare theodicy, a Christian response to the problem of sin, suffering, and evil, which seems to have been neglected …

The Concept Of Divine Love In The Context Of The God-World Relationship, John C. Peckham

Dissertations

The love of God is central to God's relationship to the world. This dissertation addresses the conflict of interpretation between the transcendent-voluntarist and immanent-experientialist models regarding divine love in the context of the God-world relationship by applying a canonical methodology. Chapter 1 introduces the background, purpose, problem, scope, and plan of study as well as the final-form canonical theological method employed in the investigation. Chapter 2 briefly surveys the historical theology of love, tracing the central conceptions of divine love and the God-world relationship by selected, highly influential thinkers. Chapter 3 presents and analyzes the irreconcilable interpretations of divine love …

"Clothes Make The (One Like A Son Of) Man": Dress Imagery In Revelation 1 As An Indicator Of High Priestly Status, Ross E. Winkle

Dissertations

Problem . The Epistle to the Hebrews is the only document in the New Testament that explicitly describes Jesus as a high priest. The purpose of this dissertation is to ascertain whether or not the book of Revelation, in particular, in John's description of the "one like a son of man" in his inaugural vision (1:12-16), implicitly presents Jesus as having a high priestly status.

Method . This study focuses on Revelation since it is the work closest to Hebrews in terms of its rich cultic imagery, and it analyzes Revelation's first chapter since that is the part of Revelation …

A Delphi Study Of The Biblical/Doctrinal Knowledge That Ministers Of Christian Churches/Churches Of Christ Consider Essential For Spiritual Development, Jeffrey D. Derico

Dissertations

Purpose and rationale of the study . The primary role of the minister is to spiritually lead others and facilitate their spiritual growth. Traditionally, biblical and doctrinal teachings have played an essential role in this process. Sadly, two recent trends have worked against this pastoral role. First, research indicates that Americans and many Christians are less and less biblically literate. Second, spiritual growth scholars have observed that church leaders seem less and less prepared to convey biblical knowledge that can systematically and effectively guide others in their spiritual growth.

Christian spiritual growth literature establishes a functional and necessary connection between …

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.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Origin And Divine Causation Of Death In Ancient Near Eastern Literature And In The Old Testament, Lazarus Castang

Dissertations

The present dissertation attempts a comparative analysis of both the origin of death in the creation accounts and the divine causation of death in the main flood accounts in the ancient Near Eastern (ANE) literature and the Hebrew Old Testament (OT). Both literatures are examined for their implicit or explicit conceptions of the origin and divine causation of death. The origin of death in the ANE literature is located in the Egyptian Osirian myth and the Mesopotamian Enki-Ninmah myth, Enûma Elish, Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Adapa legend. The divine causation of death is studied in the Eridu Genesis, Atra-Hasis …

Ezekiel 5:5-17 And Theodicy: A Theological Investigation Of The Character Of God, Paul Onyango Wahonya

Dissertations

The question of the character of God has been an issue of contention among many biblical scholars, particularly when considering the severe punitive actions that he unleashes upon humanity from time to time. This contention makes it imperative to reexamine the biblical corpus to ascertain its portrayal of YHWH's character in the light of his harsh and severe judgments.

The exegetical examination of Ezek 5:5-17 in the context of Ezek 1-24 has revealed that YHWH is a God who upholds the terms of the covenant. When his people breach the covenant stipulations, as the Israelites did, he takes appropriate disciplinary …

The Sabbath In The Pentateuch: An Exegetical And Theological Study, Mathilde Frey

Dissertations

Many studies have explored the seventh-day Sabbath in the Pentateuch from historical-critical, theological, and historical perspectives. However, systematic contextual exegesis and close reading of the pentateuchal Sabbath texts have been neglected. This dissertation investigates literary features of these passages in their respective contexts and develops an integrated Sabbath theology from the viewpoint of the Pentateuch as a whole.

In chapter 1, an overview of literature on the biblical Sabbath introduces the topic and describes the methodology of the study. Chapters 2 to 5 explore specific contextual, stylistic, and linguistic elements of the pentateuchal Sabbath pericopes, which contribute to expression of …

The Interpretation Of The Lord's Prayer, Q 11:2b-4, In The Formative Stratum Of Q According To The Literary And Cultural Perspectives Afforded By The Affixed Aphorisms, Q 11:9-10, 11-13, Richard Wendel

Dissertations

The Lord's Prayer is one of the most discussed texts within the Christian scriptures (Matt 6:9-13/Luke 11:2b-4). Most commentators have focused on the Matthean version of the prayer and have overlooked the source from which it comes: Q and its context. Both canonical versions of the prayer alter it and place it in different literary settings. This re-contextualizing of the original prayer has produced interpretations that either obscure or reinterpret the message from Q. These efforts have been overly influenced by extraneous source material, often subject to certain interpretative tendencies involving Jewish prophetic, Jewish intertestamental apocalyptic literature, and/or Christian eschatological …

Cosmic Conflict As A Hermeneutical Framework For Mission Theology In The Old Testament, Cristian Dumitrescu

Dissertations

This research aims to rediscover mission as taught by the Old Testament and to show how that mission is consistent with God's loving and just character as reflected in the whole Bible. Toward this end, the research surveys assumptions that influence Old Testament mission theology and evaluates ways in which current theologies of mission and theological currents relate to the unity and continuity of the Bible. With this background, the study then proposes a comprehensive theological framework that preserves the unity of God's character and his mission.

Chapter 1 shows how the traditional understanding of centrifugal and centripetal mission is …

Haima In Hebrews, Hermann V. Kuma

Dissertations

Problem. The focus of the dissertation is the significance of the term αἷμα (“blood”) in the Epistle to the Hebrews and how the author of Hebrews uses the term to formulate the argument and message of the Epistle. The dissertation traces the scholarly blood debate involving blood as life or death which began in the last decade of the nineteenth century and eventually fizzled out in the mid-1950s. Recognition of the ambivalence of blood, symbolizing both life and death, is necessary to understand the message of Hebrews.

Method. The dissertation provides a discussion of the concept of blood in the …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Kingdom Of God In The Writings Of George Eldon Ladd And Ellen G. White, Changyoung Lee

Dissertations

Abstract. Since Seventh-day Adventist eschatology is often perceived as seriously deviating from other Evangelical eschatological views, it would be desirable and fitting to discover whether significant agreement or disagreement exists between Evangelical eschatological views in regard to the Kingdom of God. The purpose of this study was to make an analytical comparison of the concept of the Kingdom of God in the writings of two representative Evangelical voices, George Eldon Ladd, a well-known Baptist theologian, and Ellen G. White, a significant Adventist writer, in order to understand the similarities and differences that exist between the concepts of the Kingdom of …

Cultic Allusions In The Suffering Servant Poem (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), Kyesang Ha

Dissertations

This study investigates the Hebrew cultic allusions in the Suffering Servant Poem (Isa 52:13-53:12) in order to discover the nature or meaning of the suffering of Yahweh's Servant. The survey of literature reveals that the background of the Suffering Servant Poem is to be found in the Hebrew cultus. Thus the nature or meaning of the Servant's suffering is determined by a penetrating as well as comprehensive study of the text, specifically from the Hebrew cultic perspective. However, there has never been any careful, comprehensive study of the cultic allusions in the Poem in connection with the Suffering Servant. This …

The Role And Status Of The Catholic Church In The Church-State Relationship Within The Roman Empire From A.D. 306 To 814, Jean Carlos Zukowski

Dissertations

This study analyzes and compares information from historical documents on the role and status of the church in the development of church-state relationships within the Roman Empire from A.D. 306 to 814 (from Constantine's ascendancy to the throne, to Charlemagne's death).

After the introductory chapter, chapter 2 analyzes church-state relationships at the time of Constantine. The chapter presents the Christian and Roman ways of understanding religion before Constantine, the changes that occurred because of Constantine's conversion to Catholicism, and his religious policies.

Chapter 3 analyzes the church-state relationships that existed form the time of Constantine's sons to the reign of …

"The Anchor Of The Soul That Enters Within The Veil": The Ascension Of The "Son" In The Letter To The Hebrews, Felix H. Cortez

Dissertations

Problem
This dissertation studies the nature of Jesus’ ascension to heaven and its role in the argument of Hebrews.

Method
The study consists of an analysis of those passages in which Jesus’ ascension is referred to directly (Heb 1:6; 4:14-16; 6:19-20; 9:11-14, 24; 10:19-22) and a study of the imagery Hebrews uses to couch its theology, giving special attention to the role of this imagery in the progression of the argument. The study is both exegetical and theological in nature, seeking to provide an analysis of specific passages as well as systematization of their import.

Results
The six passages that …

The Trauma Of Stalinism Narrated In Varlam T. Shalamov's Kolymskie Rasskazy : Missiological Implications For Contemporary Russia, Yuri N. Drumi

Dissertations

Stalinism and the punitive system of the Gulag left an indelible stamp on the entire social matrix of Russia. Because of the multidimensional and multigenerational nature of the trauma of Stalinism, Russian society retains the label of a traumatized culture. This dissertation explores the significance of this phenomenon for contemporary Christian mission in Russia.

The narratives of Varlam T. Shalamov's Kolymskie rasskazy provided an empirical (based on sensory evidence) inquiry into the reality of enormous sufferings experienced by the inmates of the Kolyma Gulag. Holy Scripture, on the other hand, provided the theological (faith-based) inquiry into the causes and implications …

The Trajectory Of The "Warrior Messiah" Motif In Scripture And Intertestamental Writings, Sook-Young Kim

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the continuity/discontinuity between the Testaments with the Warrior Messiah motif as a test. The intertestamental writings (IW) were also included with their interpretive role to assess the continuity. The approach of "canonical biblical theology" was adopted as the methodology.

The findings of chapter 2 on the OT show: the core messianic ideas already existed from the beginning, rather than gradual developments; earlier biblical material forms the background of the later ones, and not the surrounding ANE texts; the nature of the warfare is universal and cosmic; the divine Warrior fights the antagonistic …

Truth And Terror: A Text-Oriented Analysis Of Daniel 8:9-14, Martin T. Pröbstle

Dissertations

Daniel 8:9-14 constitutes the climax of the vision report in Dan 8, and is arguably one of the most difficult Danielic passages. This dissertation investigates the Masoretic Text of Dan 8:9-14 by means of a detailed and comprehensive text-oriented analysis that utilizes linguistic, literary, and intertextual procedures.

In chapter 1, an overview of modern text-oriented approaches and the review of recent literature on Dan 8 pave the way for a description of this study's methodology, which consists of a combination of linguistic (syntax, semantics, and text-grammar), literary (style and structure), and intertextual approaches (textual relations within the book of Daniel), …

Theology Of Judgment In Genesis 6-9, Chun Sik Park

Dissertations

The present dissertation seeks to develop a theology of judgment in Gen 6-9. Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter is devoted to analyzing the three main extrabiblical ANE flood stories (the Eridu Genesis, the Atra-Hasis Epic, and the Gilgamesh Epic) from the four aspects of judgment: date, cause and purpose, extent, and procedure. The analysis of those stories reveals that the ANE flood was a historical and local (global dimension is implied) event without moral cause, and that the judgment of the deities had a procedure of investigation, sentence, execution, and mitigation. The third chapter treats the theology of …

The Heavenly Sanctuary/Temple Motif In The Hebrew Bible : Function And Relationship To The Earthly Counterparts, Elias Brasil De Souza

Dissertations

The present dissertation investigates the function of the heavenly sanctuary/temple and its relationship to the earthly counterparts, as reflected in forty-three passages of Hebrew Bible.

Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter of this dissertation is devoted to a survey of the heavenly sanctuary/temple motif in the ANE literature, as represented by Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Egyptian texts. The investigation of these texts reveals that the heavenly sanctuary/temple motif was part of the worldview of the ANE, where the heavenly sanctuary was not only assumed as existing in heaven, but also as functioning in close relationship to the earthly …

A Critique Of The Urban Mission Of The Church In The Light Of An Emerging Postmodern Condition, Kleber De Oliveira Goncalves

Dissertations

The world is becoming an urban society. The urban expansion witnessed during the twentieth century and continuing into the twenty-first century is unprecedented in the history of the human civilization. Simultaneously, the Western world faces the paradigm shift from the modern era to a postmodern condition. Both movements have remarkable implications for the mission of the church in urbanized, postmodernizing societies. Shaped by the modern worldview, the church is now further ostracized by the postmodern condition.

While the literature of urban mission has grown in the past few years, very little consideration has been given to the particular issues and …

The Nature, Function, And Purpose Of The Term Sheol In The Torah, Prophets, And Writings, Eriks Galenieks

Dissertations

The fact that scholars depict Sheol either as the underworld where the dead continue their existence or simply the grave has resulted in contradictory conclusions, fierce polemic, and unremitting disputes. This lack of consensus makes it imperative to justify another approach, which is more comprehensive in its entirety in comparison with the earlier attempts that sought to determine the meaning of the term Sheol mainly by exploring its etymology and various nonbiblical sources.

Unlike the previous studies, this exegetical research systematically examines all the sixty-six references to the term Sheol in the Hebrew Bible by almost exclusively focusing on its …

Revelation And Creation In The Thought Of Bernard L. Ramm And Carl F.H. Henry: The Creation "Days" As A Case Study, Warren H. Johns

Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between the doctrines of creation and revelation within evangelical thought, especially focusing upon the writings of the two foremost leaders of "Neo-evangelicalism," Bernard L. Ramm and Carl F. H. Henry. Neo-evangelicalism arose in America in the 1940s as a reaction against the Fundamentalism of the first decades of the twentieth century. One of its purposes was to free evangelicalism from the anti-intellectual tendencies of Fundamentalism while yet maintaining a belief in the full inspiration and historicity of Scripture. As a result, evangelicals have sought to harmonize the biblical record of creation with modern geological discoveries. …

Proclamation In Cross-Cultural Context: Missiological Implications Of The Book Of Daniel, Sung Ik Kim

Dissertations

This study attempts to explore the biblical foundation ofsalvific mission as revealed in God's purposes for the nations (missio Dei ) in the book of Daniel and to investigate the means that Daniel employed in his ministry as an overt missionary who was sent to witness to God's salvific purpose in the cross-cultural context of heathen kingdoms.

The main objective of this research is to validate the book of Daniel as a missionary document and show that its missiological implications are still relevant to present-day missions. Chapter 2 explores the salvific purpose of missio Dei in the book of …