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Constructing A Theology Of Relational Life Through The Themes Of Creation, Incarnation, And Re-Creation As An Alternative To Current Categories Of Religions, Andrew Tompkins

Dissertations

This dissertation argues that current categories of religions are overly reliant on Western Enlightenment-based presuppositions and academic thinking that creates barriers in understanding God’s desire for all people to have abundant life. Many theologians and missiologists utilize these inherited categories without first subjecting them to the biblical canon. As a result, the theological and missiological discourse on religions is often grounded in extra-biblical presuppositions rooted primarily in an overly high view of human reason that do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. These presuppositions do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. I, therefore, compared …

Angels And Sub-Divine Supernatural Beings: Their Characteristics, Function, And Relationship To God And Humanity In Deuteronomy-Kings, Joni Amanda Mcguire-Moushon

Dissertations

This research analyzes selected passages in Deuteronomy-Kings in order to determine the characteristics and roles of supernatural sub-divine beings within these books. Then this data is compared with the angelology of the Second Temple period in order to identify the similarities and the extent of the differences between them.

Deuteronomy contains references to supernatural sub-divine beings, such as “demons” and “holy one(s)”. While Deuteronomy affirms the existence of sub-divine beings, it forbids the Israelites to worship them. In the books of Joshua and Judges, there is awareness of supernatural beings and their roles as warriors, messengers, and tormentors. However, in …

Motivation For The Sharing Of Material Possessions In Acts, Philo's De Vita Contemplativa And The Didache: A Comparative Study, Lena V. Toews

Dissertations

Luke, in the book of Acts, depicts the sharing of possessions as a practice in the Jerusalem community of the first century. Several pericopes, occurring primarily in the first part of the book of Acts, embody the idea of shared property and seem to have important parallels to other sources of the time, including the Jewish author Philo’s work De vita contemplativa, where he describes a group he calls, “Therapeutae,” and in the Jewish Christian document Didache. This study seeks to identify beliefs correlated with the material sharing practices in the community of Acts and compare them with De vita …

Redefining The Roles Of The Rural Levites In Deuteronomy, James Douglas Wilson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Humility In The Proverbs, Jatniel Rodriguez

Honors Theses

This project utilizes thematic and exegetical methods to develop a practical definition of humility in Proverbs that fits within the greatet framework of the book. four verses in Proverbs explicitly use words translated 'humility' in English (11:2; 15:3; 18:12; 22:4). The literary and theological connections between the Hebrew words in these four verses and the same Hebrew words in the rest of the Old Testament indicate that humility is multifaceted, consisting of both internal and external characteristics. The three themes demonstrated by humility include: an attitude of the heart, a physical state of affliction, and the lasting outcomes of humility.

"But A Woman Who Fears The Lord Is To Be Praised": A Practical Vision In Proverbs 31, Ye Jin Jeon

Honors Theses

Proverbs begins with an exposition on what the "fear of the Lord" entails and ends with the description of the woman of noble character who fears the Lord (Prov. 31:30). Since few scholars have considered the woman of Prov. 31 in connection to the "fear of the Lord." this project overviews aspects of the "fear of the Lord" in the Old Testament, including all specific verses contacting the phrase, and examines the significance of their connections with Prov. 31. The contributions of this study include theological and practical implications of what it means to live a life fearing the Lord.

Chaos And Clairvoyance : Apollo In Asia Minor And In The Apocalypse, Andrew Jonathan Coutras

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Insights Into The Translation And Interpretation Of The Targum To The Book Of Jeremiah, Meng Loeng Yip

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reimagining The Jesus Tradition : Orality, Memory, And Ancient Biography, Youngju Kwon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

They Are Written Right There : An Investigation Of Royal Chronicles As Sources In 1-2 Kings, Drew S. Holland

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Faith And New Life In Christ: The Problem Of Circumcision In Galatians 5:2-6, Keldie S. Paroschi

Master's Theses

Problem

Paul explicitly addresses the issue of circumcision for the first time in the epistle of Galatians in chapter 5:2–6. The precise meaning of circumcision, however, both historically and exegetically, has been much debated in Pauline scholarship.

Method

This thesis will first provide an overview of how circumcision has been interpreted in the context of different approaches to Pauline theology. Then, the historical background of the significance of circumcision around the first century AD will be analyzed, both in the Jewish and the Greco-Roman context. Finally, an exegetical study of Galatians 5:2–6 will focus on how Paul addresses the topic …

A Comparative Study Of Hermeneutical Approaches To The Seven Seals, Harold Novac

Master's Theses

Problem

From the beginnings God had a purpose with His prophetical messages to the world and we can see in the Bible clearly, that God always presented His prophetical messages in a certain order. A chronological method was favored by God. That is why from the beginnings, as Seventh-Day Adventists we believed that the best way to interpret the secrets of Revelation is through the historicist approach. Unfortunately this view is fading among scholars, even among SDA researchers.

Purpose

We are going to investigate why this is happening and we will show that historicism has a lot to say, even …

The Motif Of The Messiah In Zechariah 9-14, Caroline Stanke

Master's Theses

Topic

Zechariah 9-14 is full of prophecies regarding the coming of the messiah. The Jews at the time of Jesus awaited a messiah different from the one that came but how so? Did they misunderstand the prophecies or, by any chance, were the prophecies not clear enough?

Purpose

Firstly, it will be given an overview of the Book of Zechariah. Then, the messianic prophecies in Zechariah 9-14 will be examined closer and how they fit into the context of the prophets, the book of Zechariah, and the different chapters. An analysis of the similarities and differences will be written afterwards. …

Why Did Daniel And His Friends Refuse The King's Food And Wine, Sung Jae Park

Master's Theses

Problem

The first chapter of Daniel contains a well-known story of Daniel and his three friends' refusal to eat the king's food and wine. To the casual reader, this story may not solicit any probing questions as to the rationale for their decision. However, commentators of the book of Daniel have long been puzzled over this. The purpose of this study is to raise this question and propose a rationale for Daniel and his three friends' refusal of the king's food and wine.

Method

This study will encompass the entire first chapter of Daniel. Although the entire chapter will be …

Bible Readings On The Progressive Development Of Truth And Experience In The Books Of The Old Testament, Hannah Whitall Smith

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Reading As A Disclosure Of The Thoughts Of The Heart: Proto-Halakhic Reuse And Appropriation Between Torah And The Prophets, Kenneth Bergland

Dissertations

How should we then live? This has been the guiding question throughout the study. In a world that offers a myriad of answers to this one question, I have sought the answer in the Bible, more specifically in the Hebrew part of the Bible. Instead of asking the straightforward question as to how the Bible can function as norm for contemporary ethics, the following discussion is based on the assumption that an authentic reading and appropriation of the text needs both to understand and to emulate the ways in which the biblical authors read the Bible. While scholars have examined …

On Canon, Craig Deksen, Darren Hudson Hick

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Canon is a concept from aesthetics that has become a regular subject of commonplace discussions. The nature of canon, especially as it is used in these commonplace discussions, has not been subject to adequate philosophical scrutiny. We attempt to remedy that by placing canon in its historical and philosophical context, exploring and rejecting several common accounts, and presenting some basics of how canon works. We reject the accounts that place control with the author or the legal property holder, which appear to be the most commonly held accounts.

The Moral World(S) Of Malachi, Robert Alan Cope

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Honoring Christ, Subverting Caesar : Relevance-Historical Reconstruction Of The Context Of Ephesians As An Honorific Discourse Praising Jesus The Great Benefactor, Benson Goh

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The New Testament And The Future Of The Cosmos, Ryan P. Juza

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Whoever Is Among You Of All His People, Let Him Go Up : A Literary-Rhetorical Analysis Of The Exile-Restoration Topos In 1-2 Chronicles, Jordan Patrick Guy

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Health And Healing In The Documentary Papyri : A Comparison With The Healing Texts In Luke-Acts, Thomas Evan Grafton

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Distinctions With A Difference: Essays On Myth, History, And Scripture In Honor Of John N. Oswalt, Bill T. Arnold, Lawson G. Stone

Academic Books

Festschrift for John N. Oswalt.

Intensity Structure: An Exegetical Approach To Pharaoh's Heart Hardening, Anthony Joel Rodriguez

Master's Theses

Problem

How can the LORD ascribe sin to humans if He Himself hardens their hearts in order to resist His will? This investigation was directed to find a tentative answer to the paradoxical story of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Various approaches to this phenomenon of hardening were explored. Among these views the most common are: (1) the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, (2) Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and (3) the LORD and Pharaoh played a part in the process of the hardening. None of these approaches were found to be fully satisfactory, and no scholarly consensus has emerged in …

Papers Of Charles Kingsley Barrett Arc2017-001 - Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Of Kings And Kin : Bayit And The Dynastic Family Of David, Jeremy Eng Chong Chew

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Hellenistic Philosophy On Paul's Figurative Temple Language Applied To The Corinthians, Philip N. Richardson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Restorying God: Re-Imagining The God Of The Bible And Re-Enchanting Our Neo-Secular Selves, Robert Joseph Burnham

Doctor of Ministry

The Western world has undergone dramatic transformation in the last five hundred years. A premodern world became modern and then postmodern. In the terms of philosopher Charles Taylor, the Western social imaginary—the collection of images and ideas that define human flourishing and guide a populous through daily life—has shifted from one of “transcendent-enchantment” to “immanent-disenchantment.” Christianity, a

once singular Roman Catholic Church, is a diversity of denominations that, despite best efforts and intentions, are watching people of all demographic groups join a mass exodus in body, soul, or both from the church. However, one would be mistaken to denounce those …

Inspiration, Interpretation, And Authority: Laying Down The Law, Leah Jo M. Shelton

Religion: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper examines the relationships between and the complexities within biblical inspiration, interpretation, and authority and how they might contribute to liberating and oppressive uses of the Bible. For an example of an oppressive interpretation, the introduction includes a brief case study concerning the interpretive history of 1 Corinthians 11:10 and 1 Timothy 2:12. Continuing, David Law’s book, Inspiration, serves as the main source for theories of inspiration. He discusses two categories of theories—word-centered and non-verbal—and provides his own theory which locates inspiration in relationship between the text and the reader. In response to Law, this paper centralizes around …

The Historical Superscriptions Of Davidic Psalms: An Exegetical, Intertextual, And Methodological Analysis, Jerome L. Skinner

Dissertations

The significance of the historical superscriptions (h/ss) that refer to David’s life (Pss 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142) has been a matter of interest over the past century of Psalm Studies. An investigation into the structural and theological role1 of the thirteen Davidic h/ss and their psalms in the Psalter, as well as the role of David expressed in them reveals the nature of their origin, authorship, structural function, and theological import. While their historicity forms a large part of the discussion, at its core is the question of meaning. The literary …