Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Implementing Vocational Training At Escuela Quiteña De Estudios Bíblicos, Joshua K. Marcum

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This DMin project addressed the problem of the absence of a viable training model to equip graduates of EQEB (Escuela Quiteña de Estudios Biblicos) for self-sustaining ministry. Based upon a theology of vocation, the project implemented and evaluated the inclusion of a technical-skills component to EQEB’s current seminary training. The project followed the integration of sixteen EQEB students in the vocational program implemented during the 2015-2016 school year. Qualitative research data gathered from five group interviews with these students, my own field notes, and a faculty interview provided the substance upon which I based the project´s findings. Over a seven-month …

Formulating A Covenant Of Discipleship For The Membership Of The Gwinnett Church Of Christ, David Chisholm

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addressed the lack of a covenant of discipleship for the membership of the Gwinnett Church of Christ (GCC). The purpose of the project was to develop such a covenant document to help all the members of GCC better live out the process of becoming more like Jesus. To provide a theological foundation for this project, I explored discipleship in the exhortation sections of the book of Hebrews, which specifically addresses the need for greater commitment and intentionality amongst a community of faith. I also explored the theoretical framework of how formulating a discipleship covenant document could create progress …

The "Lamb Of God" Title In John's Gospel: Background, Exegesis, And Major Themes, Christiane Shaker

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

This study focuses on the testimony of John the Baptist—“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” [ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου] (John 1:29, 36)—and its impact on the narrative of the Fourth Gospel. The goal is to provide a deeper understanding of this rich image and its influence on the Gospel. In an attempt to do so, three areas of concentration are explored. First, the most common and accepted views of the background of the “Lamb of God” title in first century Judaism and Christianity are reviewed. …

Love The Stranger For You Were Strangers: The Development Of A Biblical Literary Theme And Motif, Helga Kisler

Dissertations (1934 -)

The Hebrew Bible recounts the development of Israel’s self-identity as “Strangers and Sojourners” and their relationship with God and other Strangers. A significant passage that connects these relationships says that God “loves the Strangers…You shall also love the Stranger, for you were Strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut 10:17-19). In the same book that commands love for the Stranger, God tells Israel to separate themselves from foreign nations in the land that they will occupy. In order to investigate an evident disparity concerning the relationship with the Stranger, this dissertation examines the literary motif of the Stranger and the …

The Power Of The Medieval Solomon-Magus And Solomon-Auctor Revealed Through The "Canterbury Tales", "Sir Gawain And The Green Knight", And The "Tale Of The Sankgreal", Karen R. Knudson

Open Access Dissertations

The Solomon-auctor and Solomon- magus traditions begin in the biblical record, and attribute authority to Solomon not only through his ever-familiar wisdom but also his authorship of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs; his administration and craftsmanship in the building of the Temple; his peaceableness as king; his understanding of the natural world; and his weakness for women. The context for these traditions in the Middle Ages illuminates, in particular, the work of Solomon- auctor and Solomon-magus in the Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory’s Tale of the Sankgreal, which is …

(En)Visioning Resistance: Applications Of The Battlefield Myth In The War Scroll As A Window Into The Theological Development Of The Community, James Prather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The War Scroll (1QM) from Qumran is a composite document and is the result of a complex redactional process. It is the goal of this thesis to provide a historical proposal for the redaction of 1QM based on conflicting eschatological combat theology found within. Beginning with the earliest roots of ancient Israelite combat mythmaking and its continued evolution into the late Second Temple Period, writers appropriated and adapted the Israelite Battlefield Myth to envision theologies of resistance against oppression. Looking at the various adaptations and the social milieu in which each was written, it is possible to identify different trajectories …

Formulating An Intentional Curriculum For Spiritual Leadership Development At The West University Church Of Christ, Daniel A. Mcgraw

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addresses the lack of a formal curriculum for spiritual leadership formation in the West University Church of Christ in Houston, Texas. While the West University Church of Christ has been blessed by strong congregational leaders in both the past and present, recent conversations revealed the need for a deeper connection to God and a better understanding of spiritual leadership on the part of the congregation’s leaders. The problem I identified was a lack of understanding about spiritual leadership in contrast to secular understandings of leadership and the lack of a formal curriculum to help address this problem.

This …

Ashes In Bethel: Bearings Of Second Millennium Bce Ugaritic Mythology Upon First Millennium Bce Israelite Religion, Taylor Thomas

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Le Détective Biblique: Daniel, "Le Festin De Balthazar" Ou Une Histoire Souterraine Du Roman Policier, Rebecca Josephy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

La problématique de cette étude s’ancre dans un constat : à la fin du XIX^e siècle et au cours du XX^e un épisode biblique dans le Livre de Daniel, mieux connu sous le titre « Le Festin de Balthazar » apparaît dans un nombre significatif de romans policiers, y compris le tout premier texte de la série Sherlock Holmes, Une étude en rouge. Que pourrait expliquer cette occurrence fréquente dans un nombre aussi canonique d’œuvres du roman policier ? « Le Festin de Balthazar », pourrait-il être considéré comme un ancêtre lointain de ce genre littéraire ? …

Jesus, The New Temple Mark 11:20–25 In Its Narrative Context, Daniel Jeffrey Berge

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The cursing of the fig tree in Mark has led to myriad readings, and wide-ranging discussions from botany to textual criticism. This work argues that reading Mark 11:20–25 in its narrative context shows that the cursing of the fig tree in Mark should be seen in the light of the previous temple-cleansing scene, signaling the condemnation of the present temple order. However, in 11:20–25, the Marcan Jesus provides his followers with encouragement to have faith that God is still with them despite the condemnation of the present temple order. The very activities that one would have seen as dependent on …

Challenging Students At Fort Worth Christian School To Engage The Economically Disadvantaged In Their Community, James Hensley

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents a project in which I led a group of students at Fort Worth Christian School in experiences that challenged them to be more engaged with the economically disadvantaged in their community. The problem I identified at the outset of the project was a lack of such experiences along with troubling attitudes about poverty. Many students initially demonstrated ambivalence or even outright hostility toward the notion of helping people who live in poverty. I found such attitudes to be contrary to the teachings of Jesus and to my central beliefs as a Christian. I believed …

Developing Parental Leadership Through Biblical Love As Expressed In Presence, Communication, And Discipline In The Homes At Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Shelby, North Carolina, M. Lamont Littlejohn Jr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

A Christian education curriculum was established at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina, to develop parental leadership centered on biblical love. The goal was to train parents to model biblical love in their homes. Relying upon scripture affirming parental leadership in the home, parents were enlisted and participated in a six-week study. Surveys measured experience, involvement, practice, and understanding of biblical knowledge. There was no significant statistical difference between the control group and focus group quantitatively; however, the focus group was also assessed qualitatively by means of theological reflection, presence, communication, and discipline application activities. Final reviews indicated …

Intertextual Discourse And The Problem Of God: The Intersection Of The Speeches Of Job And Deuteronomy, James Kipp Swinney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Common understandings of the books of Job and Deuteronomy cast them as contradictory documents. Some scholarship concurs with this view. Despite this understanding, scholarship has not thoroughly investigated the relationship of these two texts. The book of Job carries allusion and references to much literature in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. In this thesis, I argue that the speeches of the character Job create a constructive dialogue with the book of Deuteronomy. While the views of the books are not identical, I argue that the speeches of Job largely evidence affirmation of Deuteronomy rather than derision or …

From Victim To Agent Of Change: The Call To Co-Creation In Job, Marie-Louise Ström

Milton Prize Papers

No abstract provided.

Scripture In History: A Systematic Theology Of The Christian Bible, Joseph K. Gordon

Dissertations (1934 -)

This work utilizes advances in philosophical hermeneutics, the historical study of Christian Scripture, and traditional theological resources to articulate a systematic theology of the Christian Bible. Chapter one introduces the challenges of the contemporary ecclesial and academic situations of Christian Scripture and invokes and explains a functional notion of systematic theology as a resource for meeting those challenges. Chapter two examines the use of the rule of faith by Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine to locate the emergence of Christian Scripture within the faith of early Christian churches. It shows that structured, intelligible Christian belief and thought are developing and operative …

Didymus The Blind, Origen, And The Trinity, Kellen Plaxco

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation reconstructs Didymus the Blind’s theology in On the Holy Spirit as a pro-Nicene response to Origen’s theology of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The study begins by setting Origen’s speculation into a broad framework of schemes of emanation in Christianity and Platonism. I provide an account of Origen’s grammar of participation, which orders the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a hierarchical series of causes. I show how Origen’s grammar of participation draws on the philosophy of Numenius of Apamea, and I argue that Origen uses his grammar of participation to oppose monarchian theologies that identify the …

Sanctification As Virtue And Mission: The Politics Of Holiness, Nathan Willowby

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation considers the political implications of the doctrine of holiness. I proceed by demonstrating the neglect of holiness in political theology, the viability of the holiness movement as an embodied witness of the political implications of the doctrine of holiness, and a biblical trajectory in Leviticus that extends into the New Testament. I describe this scriptural holiness as vocation for all of God’s people through personal formation and outward societal action to extend God’s holiness. With attention to the approaches of political theology and formation, I demonstrate that the holiness movement of the nineteenth century offers an example of …

Judgment, Justification, And The Faith Event In Romans, Raymond Foyer

Dissertations (1934 -)

In this study, I identify two commonly perceived incompatibilities regarding judgment and justification in Romans. The first is between judgment according to works and Paul’s negative teaching that justification does not come through “works of law” or “works.” The second concerns judgment according to works and Paul’s positive argument that justification comes graciously by faith. I attempt to resolve both of these problems. In the first chapter, I make the case that “works of law” and several similar terms in Romans do not all have the same meaning and do not pose a problem of compatibility. In order to address …

Primeval History According To Paul: "In Adam" And "In Christ" In Romans, Timothy A. Gabrielson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Paul’s comparison of Adam and Christ in Rom 5:12–21 is among the most influential doctrines in the Bible and Christian theology. Often it has been used to summarize God’s purposes in creation and redemption, from humanity’s “fall” in Adam to its restoration in Christ. In the past several decades, however, it has increasingly been seen as provisional and functional because the Jewish writings used to support it have now been dated after the apostle’s lifetime. This study retrieves the traditional position, but does so by appeal to different corpora of Jewish texts, those that are prior or contemporary to Paul. …

Monarchianism And Origen's Early Trinitarian Theology, Stephen Edward Waers

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation unfolds in two parts. In the first, I offer a reconstruction of the core of Monarchian theology using four main primary texts: Hippolytus’ Contra Noetum, Tertullian’s Adversus Praxean, the Refutatio omnium haeresium (often attributed to Hippolytus), and Novatian’s De Trinitate. The Monarchian controversy enters the historical record at the beginning of the third century, but we know little of its origins or motivations. The first part begins with a hypothesis about what might have prompted the rise of Monarchianism. Following that, I give an account of the core of Monarchian teaching using the sources listed above. My account …

The Chronology Of The Events In Zechariah 12-14, Won Jin Jeon

Honors Theses

In current scholarship, there is a lack of consensus on the timing of the specific events in Zechariah 12-14, with a focus on eschatological or sequential chronologies. Preliminary exegetical research has revealed many connections between the three chapters. For instance, the phrase “in that day” ( ביום־ההוא ) occurs 17 times (versus four times in the rest of Zechariah). This concentrated usage closely interconnects the three chapters and suggests that the timeliness of all of the events is in close succession. Through findings in literary structures, key words, and intertextualities with other passages of the Old Testament, the conclusion is …

Scribal Harmonization In Greek Manuscripts Of The Synoptic Gospels From The Second To The Fifth Century, Cambry Pardee

Dissertations

Harmonization in manuscripts of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) has been recognized as a textual phenomenon since at least the late second century. This dissertation constitutes the first major catalogue of assimilated readings and provides evidence for the nature of harmonization in the earliest period of the development of the text of the New Testament.

Harmonization occurs whenever a scribe copying a Gospel by hand introduces a textual variant that reflects the influence of parallel material from another Gospel or gospel tradition. The body of this dissertation is a text-critical analysis of every harmonizing variant in the forty-four …

Hebel' In Ecclesiastes : Abel As Symbol Referent, Gregory R. Vruggink

CTS Master of Theology (ThM) Theses

This work contends that Abel should be considered as a possible referent for hebel in some contexts in the book of Ecclesiastes. The attempt to rightly understand the usage of hebel has employed several translation philosophies, but the theory of hebel in Ecclesiastes as a metaphor functioning with multiple referents best explains the variety and complexity of its usage in Ecclesiastes. This thesis contends that Abel should be considered an additional referent in cases where the usage of hebel is framed by the concepts of death and transience, a relationship which is made stronger in nearby allusions to Gen 1-4 …

Philo’S Εὐσέβεια And Paul’S Πνεῦμα: The Appropriation And Alteration Of Hellenistic And Greek Philosophical Traditions In Their Ethical Discourses, Nelida Naveros Cordova

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Raising Ebenezer, Shannon Lee Bianco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Raising Ebenezer is an antropoesia collection representing the adoption story of a Christian family and their children from Uganda, Africa. Through poetry, essay, short story, flash fiction, and non-traditional genres, Raising Ebenezer investigates the culture of international adoption, love, fear, faith, loss, corruption and redemption. It is a work of creative non-fiction.

My Faith In The Constitution Is Whole: Barbara Jordan Signifies On Scriptures, Robin L. Owens

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a critical investigation of the engagements of scriptures in the life and speeches of U.S. Congresswoman Barbara C. Jordan (1936–1996). I engage in a research methodology that utilizes critical historical, auto/biographical, literary, and rhetorical analyses. My research agenda is to explain how scriptures work and are used by Barbara Jordan to illustrate an example of a larger phenomenon of scripturalizing and scripturalization outside of the context of institutional religion. In order to give a fuller context to Barbara Jordan’s rhetorical strategies, as an African American woman, I first consider the lives, speeches and use of scriptures of …

Circumcising The Mouth Of Moses: The Idolatrous Status Of Yahweh's Mediator Among The Idols Of Ancient Mesopotamia, Amy L. Balogh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis of this dissertation is that in the defining moment in which he is transformed from "uncircumcised of lips" to "god to Pharaoh" (Ex 6:28-7:1), Moses is best understood as Yahweh's idol, undergoing a status change akin to the induction ritual for ancient Mesopotamian idols, the Mīs Pȋ ("Washing/Purifying of the Mouth"). To make this point, I argue that Moses and idols be compared with respect to their status as mediator between divine and human realms. With their respective status changes, not only are idols and Moses transformed on an ontological level, but so are their relationships to their …

Adventist Affiliation And Type 2 Diabetes Pre- And Post-Complete Health Improvement Program (Chip), Janie Unruh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adventists following a plant-based diet have half the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarian Adventists. This study used a quantitative, correlational study design to assess if there was a significant difference in type 2 diabetes prevalence rate between Adventists and non-Adventists preprogram, and if there were significant differences in biometrics between Adventists and non-Adventists with diabetes pre- and post-Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP). This study incorporated the social ecological model for its conceptual framework and examined pre- and postprogram changes among Adventists (n=210; 20.1%) and non-Adventists (n=836; 79.9%) with type 2 diabetes. It used secondary data from …

A Study Of “Believing” And “Love” In John’S Gospel, Patrick Sullivan

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Remember The Word That I Told You: Direct Internal Quotation In The Gospel Of John, Jeffrey Michael Tripp

Dissertations

The Gospel of John contains over 50 instances of direct internal quotation: the direct quotation, at a later point in the story, of a speech act already given in the narrative. John has dozens more cases than any other New Testament book, making it a demonstrably Johannine device. Furthermore, verifiable quotations are rarely exact independently of who is quoting. The present study examines three aspects of John’s use of direct internal quotation in the context of Greco-Roman, Jewish, and other New Testament literature. First, the modifications made to the original speech act are placed in the context of paraphrase, a …