Theses/Dissertations - Religion
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Browsing Theses/Dissertations - Religion by Author "Baylor University. Dept. of Religion."
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Item Ad theophilum : a socio-rhetorical reading of Peter in Acts in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis.(2013-04-16) CroweTipton, Vaughn Eric.; Parsons, Mikeal C. (Mikeal Carl), 1957-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This study is an exercise in biblical interpretation that focuses on the concepts of readers and meaning. Through the use of both literary and sociological models this study takes a particular given context for Codex Bezae and reads the manuscript in light of that context with three distinct yet intertwined horizons in view: the innertexture, the intertexture, and the extratexture. The innertexture focuses on the level of the text itself and how the text teaches the authorial audience to read. The intertexture focuses on the use of significant intertexts, progenitors that have both influenced and were adapted by Codex Bezae and the authorial audience. The extratexture focuses on the cultural and social texts -- social norms -- that comprise the baggage the authorial audience brings to the reading process. These three horizons are intertwined to provide a holistic reading that attempts to account for each of these unique levels reading response. After an introductory chapter to explain the purpose, approach, and scope of this study, chapter two develops the areas of the authorial audience's competency into two areas: (1) external knowledge the reader is expected to bring to the text; and (2) internal knowledge the reader gains during the reading process. This chapter then traces the historical economy of knowledge of the authorial audience. Chapter three develops the authorial audience's narrative economy of and concludes with an assessment of the reader and proposal for the exegetical work of this project. Chapters four and five set the reading methodology into practice by examining the major character in the first half of Acts: Peter. These two chapters examine how the authorial audience would respond in a cumulative reading to this significant character and his role in the text given a cumulative reading strategy. Chapter six concludes this project by summarizing the findings of the previous chapters.Item Apatheia and atonement : grammar of salvation for contemporary Christian theology.(2011-09-14) Kim, Paul Inhwan.; Harvey, Barry, 1954-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.I propose to study the axiomatic significance of apatheia (divine impassibility) in contemporary Christian understanding of atonement. The claim that God suffers, an anathema for centuries, is commonplace in many contemporary theologies. In the face of the human suffering witnessed in the bloodiest century, God’s apatheia as held by the great fathers and doctors of the church seems both immoral and unscriptural to modern Christians. As Western thinkers reject the patristic concept of divine impassibility and immutability as a Hellenistic contamination, East-Asian theologians such as Kazoh Kitamori and Andrew Park also attempt to contextualize the gospel based on divine pathos (suffering). Kitamori’s “theology of pain” attempts to reconstruct Luther’s theology of cross with the Japanese traditional ethos of tsurasa (pain). Park’s “theology of han (deep wound)” makes a radical claim that God’s han relieves human han, as he incorporates the insights of Process Theology through his Korean experience. Against the widespread contemporary rejection of the classical axiom of divine impassibility, this dissertation contends that the patristic articulation of apatheia is indispensable to express a holistic salvation of Christ’s redemptive life and work. At stake is the theological grammar of salvation: to posit that God is a passible God in order to assuage human suffering would not only undermine a true understanding of God, but also distort the mystery and integrity of the Incarnation. Among many patristic theologians who uphold apatheia as apophatic (negative) qualification of God’s perfect affections, Cyril of Alexandria augments it to be the ontological and soteriological certitude for divine agape. Cyril’s mia (one subject) Christology construes the transformative redemption of sinners in the person of the incarnate Word whose “impassible suffering” not only undoes the effects of the fall but also restores humanity to God’s original intention of eternal communion. Contrary to simplistic modern misunderstanding of apatheia, divine impassibility deepens our understanding of God’s unconditioned love and its transformative power with a greater hope that divine healing will lead us to participate in his divine nature.Item The apostolic tradition in the ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret.(2014-01-28) Rushing, Scott A.; Williams, Daniel H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation analyzes the transposition of the apostolic tradition in the fifth-century ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. In the early patristic era, the apostolic tradition was defined as the transmission of the apostles’ teachings through the forms of Scripture, the rule of faith, and episcopal succession. Early Christians, e.g., Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, believed that these channels preserved the original apostolic doctrines, and that the Church had faithfully handed them to successive generations. The Greek historians located the quintessence of the apostolic tradition through these traditional channels. However, the content of the tradition became transposed as a result of three historical movements during the fourth century: (1) Constantine inaugurated an era of Christian emperors, (2) the Council of Nicaea promulgated a creed in 325 A.D., and (3) monasticism emerged as a counter-cultural movement. Due to the confluence of these sweeping historical developments, the historians assumed the Nicene creed, the monastics, and Christian emperors into their taxonomy of the apostolic tradition. For reasons that crystallize long after Nicaea, the historians concluded that pro-Nicene theology epitomized the apostolic message. They accepted the introduction of new vocabulary, e.g. homoousios, as the standard of orthodoxy. In addition, the historians commended the pro-Nicene monastics and emperors as orthodox exemplars responsible for defending the apostolic tradition against the attacks of heretical enemies. The second chapter of this dissertation surveys the development of the apostolic tradition. Chapter Three reviews recent developments in modern scholarship on the ‘Arian controversy’ and briefly summarizes the events of the fourth century. The focus then turns to the ecclesiastical histories of Socrates and Sozomen, both of whom relied primarily on the polemical writings of Athanasius. Theodoret departs from the narrative of his predecessors, which allows him to chronicle a more nuanced development of the Nicene party. Chapter Four analyzes the monastic theologies of the historians, while Chapter Five examines the apostolic vocation of the Christian emperors.Item Asceticism, the sage, and the evil inclination : points of contact between Jews and Christians in late antiquity.(2010-06-23T12:23:27Z) Pendergrass, David W.; Williams, Daniel H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.In Jewish Christian comparative studies, especially concerning late antiquity, there exists a need to explore in more detail the ways in which Jews and Christians interacted religiously and socially. Scholars have hinted at the need to address salient issues in the histories of both Judaism and Christianity predicated upon their shared religious experience. The thesis of this dissertation is that natural asceticism, the sociological and religious role of the sage, and the anthropological belief in the evil inclination are three aspects shared between predominate groups of Jews and Christians in late antiquity. This dissertation argues the following things concerning why these three aspects are similar in late antiquity: (1) the similar social and religious environment which promoted ascetic practice as the means by which a person experienced salvation; (2) the increased role and perception of the biblical sage in late antiquity, which was often linked with ascetic practices; (3) the increased role that wisdom played in both Jewish and Christian minds as necessary to increase piety and achieve salvation; (4) the shared anthropological beliefs that each person was a unity of two, morally responsible halves, and that each person possessed an evil inclination which required some form of rigorous behavior to protect the purity of body and (especially the) soul. The role of the sage included passing on the necessary wisdom in the form of oral and written tradition that Jews and Christians needed not only to interpret the Bible correctly, but to achieve necessary levels of piety required for salvation. By studying the ways Jews and Christians shared similar practices in late antiquity, the theological history of both groups is futher illuminated and understood.Item Authority, unity and truthfulness : the body of christ in the theologies of Robert Jenson and Rowan Williams with a view toward implications for free church ecclesiology.(2010-10-08T16:14:43Z) Cary, Jeffrey W. (Jeffrey Wayne), 1973-; Harvey, Barry, 1954-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.Those within the free church tradition have often appealed to the notion of the invisible church to account for the unity of Christ's Body. A growing number of free church theologians, however, are arguing for the necessity of visible ecclesial unity, which immediately raises the perennial problem of the authorities by which unity is maintained. There is also a growing recognition among free church theologians of the need to recognize the authority of tradition alongside the authority of Scripture. Chapter two charts and affirms these recent developments but then inquires whether a turn toward visible unity together with an embrace of the authority of tradition can eventually be coherent without also embracing the authority of an extra-congregational teaching office. Chapters three and four engage two theologians from outside the free church tradition. Robert Jenson and Rowan Williams both argue that authority is located in the classic loci of Scripture, tradition and an episcopal teaching office. These chapters will observe what vision of visible ecclesial unity emerges from the ways in which each of these theologians construes the relationships among these three loci. While there are significant differences between their visions of visible unity, together they present serious challenges to those within the free church tradition concerning authority, unity and truthfulness. Chapter five will engage free church theologian James McClendon, a pioneer of these newer free church developments. While McClendon has made invaluable contributions within the free church tradition, this chapter will argue that McClendon's account of ecclesial unity and his defense of a free church polity arise out of certain theological deficiencies which can be supplemented by the work of Jenson and Williams. The conclusion will argue that more recent free church theologians have advanced beyond McClendon, especially in his areas of deficiency. Yet it is precisely these advances that make a free church polity even more problematic, especially as a long term project. This study concludes that a move toward visible unity along with a retrieval of the authority of tradition leads naturally toward the usefulness of, if not the need for, some form of global teaching office.Item Bapto-Catholicism : recovering tradition and reconsidering the Baptist identity.(2008-10-15T13:53:58Z) Jorgenson, Cameron H.; Harvey, Barry, 1954-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation is an exploration of a contemporary approach to Baptist theology which some have dubbed “Bapto-Catholic.” The Bapto-Catholic sensibility is described as an attempt to respond to the collapse of the Enlightenment project and its influence on modern Baptist thought. It provides an alternate narrative of the Baptist identity by drawing upon the resources of seventeenth century Baptist theology and the breadth of the Christian tradition in order to find solutions to the current difficulties in Baptist theology. The study proceeds in four major sections. The first section provides historical context for the movement, surveying the debates among Baptist historians, and between conservative and moderate Baptists, about the nature of the Baptist identity. Special attention is given to the controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention in the final decades of the twentieth century and the effect that the resulting schism had on Baptist self-conceptions. The second section assesses the Bapto-Catholic conversation, focusing on its initial programmatic work, the Baptist Manifesto, and its chief proponents and critics. Various conceptual “marks” of Baptist catholicity are also suggested. The third section explores Alasdair MacIntyre’s critique of modernity and his philosophical account of the nature of tradition. This section notes MacIntyre’s influence on Bapto-Catholic thought as well as his potential as a resource for future theological developments, especially with regard to the role of conflict and historicism in Baptist thought. The final section revisits the central question driving this study : what is Baptist Catholicity? It is suggested that the controversies surrounding the Baptist identity since the late twentieth century, and the emergence of the Bapto-Catholic project as an alternative proposal, are an excellent example of what MacIntyre calls an “epistemological crisis” wherein a tradition’s coherence is tested through internal conflicts and encounters with rival traditions. For this reason, the future vitality of the tradition is at stake and the Bapto-Catholic sensibility is an important attempt to discover new conceptual resources for the tradition. The future of the movement, however, may depend on its ability to provide a coherent account of authority and Baptist ecclesiology.Item A canonical exegesis of the eighth Psalm : YHWH's maintenance of the created order through divine reversal.(2010-10-08T16:21:23Z) Keener, Hubert James.; Bellinger, William H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation presents a canonical exegesis of Psalm 8. The dissertation seeks to contribute to two areas of scholarship: 1) literature on the canonical approach to exegesis carrying forward the emphases first articulated by Brevard Childs, and 2) literature grappling with the question of how one ought to interpret Psalm 8 as Christian Scripture. The first chapter of the study reassesses the canon exegetical approach, concluding that it is a viable and salutary means for interpreting the text theologically, while arguing for some refinements to the approach as it is now understood that clarify its theological underpinnings. The rest of the dissertation then goes on to examine Psalm 8 in relation to the broader canon. In order to bring Psalm 8 into dialogue with the rest of the canon, the study attends to the literary context of the psalm (the Psalter) and utilizes key texts which relate to the psalm (Genesis 1; Job 7; Psalm 144; Matthew 21; 1 Corinthians 15; Ephesians 1; Hebrews 2) as entry points through which to connect Psalm 8 with the broader witness of Scripture. Thus, the study attends to the discreet witness of Psalm 8, the place of Psalm 8 in the shape of the Psalter, the relationship between Psalm 8 and the rest of the Old Testament, and the relationship between Psalm 8 and the New Testament witness. The dissertation describes the place of Psalm 8 within the Christian canon as representing the intersection of three motifs or trajectories: 1) The distinct theological message of Psalm 8, summarized as the reversal motif; the psalm describes YHWH as making his name great in all of creation by exalting relatively insignificant things over and against seemingly superior things, as is seen most prominently in the exaltation of the human to the role of YHWH's vice-gerent. 2) The motif of the conflicted and conflicting human, which permeates the canon; humanity finds itself beset by troubles and prone to misconduct. 3) The motif of the redeeming Christ, who becomes the ultimate representation of the reversal motif and who alone violates the type of the conflicted and conflicting human.Item The characterization of Aaron : threshold encounters in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.(2012-11-29) Buell, Susan Darr.; Bellinger, William H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This study presents a reader-constructed portrait of Aaron, the high priest of the ancient Israelite people. The portrait was developed according to the literary theory which proposes that a narrative character is an interdividual defined by the other characters with whom he interacts at the moment of their direct meeting. That point of interaction is designated as a threshold encounter. Therefore, texts for the study were selected based upon Aaron’s engagement in various threshold encounters. These include Exodus 32 (the golden calf incident), Leviticus 10 (the destruction of Nadab and Abihu during the inaugural sacrificial service), Numbers 12 (Miriam’s and Aaron’s challenge to Moses’ authority), and Numbers 20:1-13 (Moses’ disobedience of Yahweh). These four texts were examined from both literary and reader response perspectives. The study concludes that Aaron was a complex interdividual, as revealed through his action and speech in response to Yahweh, his sister Miriam, his brother Moses, and the Israelite people, as well as through contrast with Moses and with his own previous responses. In the narrative of the Pentateuch, Aaron presents as a character who possesses both positive qualities and unfortunate foibles. The study identifies a number of his traits which are consistently displayed across multiple threshold encounters. Additionally, the study concludes that several aspects of Aaron’s character change over the course of the pentateuchal narrative.Item The characterization of Jesus in the book of Hebrews.(2012-08-08) Small, Brian Christopher, 1965-; Parsons, Mikeal C. (Mikeal Carl), 1957-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation accomplishes three things. First, it identifies the literary and rhetorical devices that the author of Hebrews uses to construct his characterization of Jesus. Second, it reconstructs the portrait that emerges from the author’s characterization of Jesus. Third, it indicates how the author’s characterization of Jesus is important for his overall argument. This dissertation lays the methodological groundwork through an examination of characterization in both modern literary and ancient rhetorical theory and practice. The analysis reveals that characterization in ancient rhetoric demonstrates many affinities with modern literary theory and practice. The author of Hebrews employs a variety of techniques to construct his characterization of Jesus. First, the author uses encomiastic topics, which are categories by which the attributes of persons were conceived in the ancient world. Second, the author utilizes a variety of devices such as amplification, synkrisis, vivid description, attributed speech, and literary tropes to develop his portrait of Jesus. Finally, the author appeals to divine testimony to give authoritative support to his portrayal of Jesus’ character. The author depicts Jesus as a person of exemplary character who exhibits the highest of human virtues but also divine attributes as well. These traits reveal both Jesus’ greatness and moral excellence. The author’s characterization of Jesus is significant for his overall argument. First, Jesus’ character produces many benefits for his followers. Believers in some sense share in the same status and privileges that Jesus possesses. Jesus’ exemplary character also produces many soteriological benefits for his followers. Second, his character entails certain obligations from his followers. Jesus’ exemplary character is a model of imitation for his followers. The author frequently urges his audience to exemplify virtues that are also characteristic of Jesus. Jesus’ character also serves as a warning for his followers to avoid disobedience and unbelief. Finally, Jesus’ character serves as encouragement for his followers to persevere and mature in their faith, and to approach God boldly in worship.Item The characterization of the Christ as ideal king in Ephesians.(2010-06-23T12:33:20Z) Smith, Julien C. H.; Talbert, Charles H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.Lack of consensus regarding an historical situation that occasioned the writing of Ephesians has led to a recent trend in research, which seeks to read the letter as addressing more broadly the related issues of identity formation and behavior within the early Christian community. The present study will argue that in Ephesians, the characterization of the Christ as a type of ideal king, as understood within Jewish and Greco-Roman thought, would have resonated with the authorial audience's cultural expectations, thereby ensuring comprehension of the letter's argument and purpose. The letter's primary theme, the reunification of the fractured cosmos through the Christ (1:9-10), comes into sharper focus when the Christ is understood as the ideal king who establishes on earth the harmony that is understood to exist in the cosmos. Furthermore, salient aspects of the ideal king's reign function as unifying threads that tie various parts of the letter together under its main theme. "Learning the Christ" (4:20), or the resocialization into a way of life aligned with the Christian community, addresses the enablement of ethical behavior. This peculiar expression reflects the Hellenistic understanding of the ideal king as a "living law," possessing and distributing the benefits of divine reason and virtue. The casting of traditional household management codes into the realm of the Christ’s authority (5:22-6:9) reflects the belief that the reign of the ideal king ensures the stability of the social order. Above all, the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles within the Christian community (2:11-22) resonates with a pervasive cultural yearning for unity between disparate ethnic groups, and for freedom from factionalism within the social order. In both Greco-Roman and Jewish thought, such a golden age was thought to be the consequence of the reign of an ideal king.Item Characterizing Jesus : a rhetorical analysis on the Fourth Gospel's use of Scripture in its presenation of Jesus.(2011-01-05T19:42:49Z) Myers, Alicia D.; Talbert, Charles H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation explores how the Fourth Gospel's use of Scripture contributes to its characterization of Jesus. Utilizing literary-rhetorical criticism, it approaches the Gospel in its final form, paying particular attention to how Greco-Roman rhetoric can assist in understanding the ways in which Scripture is employed to support the presentation of Jesus. This study, therefore, crosses paths with three areas of current Johannine and New Testament scholarship: (1) literary-critical studies on the Fourth Gospel's characterization of Jesus; (2) studies on the presence (or absence) of Greco-Roman rhetoric in the Gospel; and (3) intertextual studies on John and the New Testament. This dissertation contributes to all three of these areas by expanding on how rhetorical practices affect ancient characterization, demonstrating further evidence in favor of the Gospel's use of rhetoric (particularly the practices of synkrisis, ekphrasis, and prosopopoiia), and, in so doing, offering a new way to use rhetoric to better understand the use of Scripture in the Fourth Gospel and the New Testament as a whole. The dissertation accomplishes these tasks in three parts. First, it examines ancient Mediterranean practices of narration and characterization in relationship to the Gospel, concluding with an analysis of the Johannine prologue. In the second and third parts, the study investigates explicit appeals to Scripture made both in and outside of Jesus' discourses to discover how they contribute to the Gospel's presentation of its protagonist. Through these analyses, this study contends that the pervasive presence of Scripture in quotations, allusions, and references to key figures and events is meant to act as corroborating evidence supporting the evangelist's presentation of Jesus. Offering clarification of Jesus' words and actions—as well as of those reacting to Jesus within the narrative—Scripture contextualizes Jesus by means of well-known, comparative examples. In this way, Scripture testifies on behalf of the Johannine Jesus, consistently reinforcing the evangelist's initial presentation of his protagonist in John 1:1-18 and, therefore, increasing the credibility of his bios for his Gospel audience, even as it confounds other characters in the narrative itself.Item Church and secondary societies in Korean ecclesiology and the Christocentric perspective of Karl Barth.(2011-05-12T15:44:54Z) Oh, Sung Wook.; Patterson, Bob E.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.My purpose is to critically map out the relationship between Church and society in the current Korean context in light of three models: difference, identity, and harmony, and to propose a better relationship between Church and society in the Korean context from Karl Barth’s Christocentric vision of the Church. First, the difference model between Church and society is represented in the “Fourfold Gospel Theology” whose theological basis is John Wesley’s teaching of sanctification. This theology says that the Church and society are two distinctive territories and have their own different tasks, not to be confused with each other. Second, the identity model of “Korean Indigenization Theology” has emerged as a theological position that contradicts the difference model. This theology holds that the ultimate reality of Christianity already exists everywhere; salvation can be found outside the Church, and thus there exists an essential identity between Church and society. Third, the harmony model is an alternative position between the difference model and the identity model, and is proposed by “Minjung Theology.” Minjung Theology focuses on the poor who suffer economic crisis and domestic violence and supports Christian’s active participation in the socio-political conflicts. Hence, the Church and society should cooperate toward building a utopian society as an “all-comprehensive society” within which the Church fulfills its function as a subsystem. By contrast with these three models, Karl Barth (1886-1968) suggests a new vision of the relationship between Church and society. Barth unfolded his theory of Church and society under a Christocentric perspective: Christ the Lord is at the center, the Church is in the inner circle next to Christ, and society is in a more distant outer circle. Although Church and society cannot be mixed and confused, Barth believed that society is not an “independent entity,” and the Church is not a neutral space completely independent of politics. However, Barth prioritizes the Church over society. As an “asymmetrical” relationship, society becomes secondary to the Church in God’s redemptive economy. Consequently, the Church has a duty toward secondary societies as a model of peaceful behavior and should serve as a non-violent judge.Item Congregational dynamics in the early tradition of independency.(2006-12-06T16:20:36Z) Griswold, Barbara Stone.; Brackney, William H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This study investigates the nature of congregational care within the membership of the earliest congregational-style churches in England during the period 1550-1689. The purpose of this research is to analyze the causes of their survival or demise that may be found within the congregational dynamics of the early separating churches. Having separated from the Church of England, and living on the fringes of the Puritan movement, these congregations experimented with new forms of polity and created unique roles for their pastors and members. New membership dynamics thus emerged. This research answers the question: What were the early manifestations of separatist ideology and independency that allowed some independent congregations to thrive under Tudor and Stuart repression, while others failed to survive? The uniqueness of this study is its search through primary documents for the bases on which the body-life of the congregations were predicated, and for specific indications within their records as to how this body-life was lived out in mutual support and care of members for each other. Previously no other study has brought this information together in one project. Nor has anyone revealed the correlation between membership nurture and care, and local church polity as a cause for the growth or demise of a congregation. My hypothesis was that, where faithfulness to one’s gathered community of faith was implemented through the dynamics of mutual care and support, survival through jeopardous circumstances was possible, even while church leaders were imprisoned. However, where the dynamics of mutual care and support failed, the group failed to thrive, or even survive. The conclusion is that, in order for these churches to have survived and grown into stable congregations and associative bodies, they entertained a unique ecclesiology, a theology of suffering, and a form of mutual congregational nurture and care, beyond what could have been carried out by the pastors and elders alone, which occurred within the congregations, and they formed supportive associations among independent churches. The records of the early congregational-type churches, such as those at Gainsborough, Scrooby, Spitalfields, Southwark, London, Bristol, and others presented herein, substantiates this conclusion.Item The contours of Donatism : theological and ideological diversity in fourth century North Africa.(2008-04-22T19:35:08Z) Hoover, Jesse A.; Williams, Daniel H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.It has been tempting for many historians of fourth century North Africa to view the Donatist church as a monolithic movement. This is not, however, an accurate picture. Donatism exhibited varied contours during its period of ascendancy in North Africa, differences in theological and ideological beliefs which often led to tension, even schism, within itself. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss these varieties within the Donatist movement. Accordingly, it will first examine the evolution of Donatism over time by comparing the concerns of the original schism with those of the movement at the Council of Carthage in 411. The paper will then turn to the great divergences which characterized the late Donatist movement by focusing on the radicals on its right and left flanks—the Circumcellions and Rogatists/Maximianists, respectively. By doing so, a picture of Donatism will be presented that truly appreciates the theological variety within the movement.Item The death of Judas : the characterization of Judas Iscariot in three early Christian accounts of his death.(2011-05-12T15:49:09Z) Robertson, Jesse E., 1969-; Talbert, Charles H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.Three different accounts of the death of Judas Iscariot are preserved in Matthew 27:3–10, Acts 1:18–20, and fragments of Papias. The present study will argue that in the milieu of the ancient Mediterranean such death-accounts would have conveyed to the authorial audience particular character traits of Judas through established conventions. The rhetorical handbooks of the era reveal the strategies employed in the depiction of persons in general as well as in descriptions of death. By comparing these theoretical discussions with the actual practice in various types of discourse, the principal patterns of literary portraiture emerge. Using these patterns as an interpretive grid, the three early accounts of Judas’ death reveal character-shaping details that are relevant to the overall plot and theological interests of each work. In Matthew, Judas is depicted as a traitor of a Davidic king and a failure as a disciple. In Acts, the portrait of Judas presents him as an apostate apostle and a defeated enemy of God’s people. In Papias, Judas is characterized as a greedy and intemperate miscreant who plots against a righteous benefactor.Item Drunk and disorderly : a Bakhtinian reading of the banquet scenes in the book of Esther.(2009-04-01T12:08:43Z) Wheelock, Trisha Gambaiana.; Kennedy, James Morris.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation advocates a reading of the book of Esther through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin’s literary concepts dialogism, chronotope, and carnival. The specific focus of the dialogical interactions in the book of Esther is the banquet scenes. The term משׁתה appears 24 times in the book of Esther and only 26 times in the rest of the Hebrew Bible. Because nearly half of the occurrences of the term appear in the book of Esther, this frequency demands greater examination. The project analyzes each of the ten banquet scenes and suggests they function like characters that dialogue. Biblical scholars have examined the role of carnival as it relates to the book of Esther, but they have not explored the specific role of banquet scenes as participants in the narrative’s dialogic conversation and in particular the implications of being Judahite in the Diaspora. The banquet scenes, interpreted in Bakhtinian categories, reflect the social and political interests of Judahites living in the Diaspora. The banquet scenes reveal a carefully crafted narrative that ridicules a foreign empire and king but nevertheless illustrate and encapsulate how Jews can successfully maneuver life in the Diaspora. Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism provides a framework by which to explore how the banquet scenes, with their carnivalesque implications, interact dialogically with the other components of the narrative and so offer a vision of life in the Diaspora based on joy, not fear. The chronotopic ideology concretized in the banquet scenes suggests the existence of an alternative ideology for faithful Judahites living in Diaspora apart from Jebucentrism, Yahwehcentrism, Natocentrism, and Torahcentrism. The book of Esther reframes a vision of life in the Diaspora by accentuating human initiative, survival as a virtue, the possibility of achievement among gentiles, and deconstruction of the status quo.Item "Feed my lambs" : the spiritual direction ministry of Calvinistic British Baptist Anne Dutton during the early years of the evangelical revival.(2010-02-02T20:04:58Z) Sciretti, Michael D.; Pitts, William Lee, 1937-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation contends that Anne Dutton (1692-1765) contributed a transatlantic ministry of spiritual direction to the Evangelical Revival in the early 1740s. The first chapter provides a historiographical review of Dutton's reception in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the state of contemporary scholarship of Dutton. The chapter concludes with a historical reflection on spiritual direction, situating Dutton in the tradition of Protestant epistolary spiritual counseling and the long history of women spiritual directors. Chapter two provides an analysis of Dutton's early life in light of the autobiographies of Anne and her husband, Benjamin Dutton. The third chapter demonstrates that Anne Dutton's early literary productions were grounded in the spiritual formation she received in High Calvinistic congregations that encouraged experiential biblicism and Puritan spirituality. Of particular influence upon Dutton was the Puritan Thomas Goodwin with his interpretations of the "ages of Christianity" and the "sealing of the Spirit." Chapter four reconstructs Dutton's early correspondence with Howell Harris, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. The chapter demonstrates that Dutton's Calvinistic spiritual writings were attractive to Harris and Whitefield (who in turn expanded her social-spiritual direction network) and suggests Dutton's direction to these men is best defined as spiritual confirmation. The fifth chapter examines Dutton's presence in the first evangelical magazine, the London Weekly Papers, as the anonymous "Friend in the Country." Published by Dutton's correspondent John Lewis, the magazine included several of Dutton's spiritual pieces and advertised a number of her published works. Dutton's contributions to this publication demonstrate her usefulness to Calvinistic Methodism and the extensiveness of her influence, albeit anonymous, on readers in England, Scotland, and America. Chapter six analyzes Dutton's Letter-Books published in the 1740s. These volumes exhibit her transatlantic influence and the defining elements of her personal spiritual direction. The Letter-Books reveal Dutton's correspondents relating to her as a spiritual director: one who was holy, knowledgeable, compassionate, wise, and discerning. The chapter concludes suggesting Dutton's Letter-Books reflect the expansion and contraction of Dutton's influence in the Evangelical Revival. A final chapter summarizes the contributions of this project to the study of Anne Dutton's life, spirituality, and ministry.Item Fidelity to God: perseverance in Hebrews in light of the reciprocity systems of the ancient Mediterranean world.(2006-07-25T21:04:38Z) Whitlark, Jason A.; Talbert, Charles H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.The primary focus of this dissertation is to demonstrate how Hebrews represents, in view of its historical and religious context, human fidelity to God. Reciprocity was one primary dynamic in the ancient Mediterranean world for establishing fidelity to a relationship and has been applied by some scholars, such as David deSilva, to Hebrews as the way to understand its strategy for creating perseverance. A major problem with the application of this dynamic is that a common optimistic anthropological assumption is associated with the various reciprocity systems in the ancient world, both Jewish and pagan. There was, however, a Middle Judaic stream that can be traced from the period of the exile which held to a pessimistic anthropology that crippled the success of reciprocity to secure fidelity. Thus, the solution to God’s people’s inability to remain faithful was an act of God that transformed the human condition and enabled faithfulness to the relationship. The argument of this dissertation is that Hebrews, with its emphasis upon the inauguration of the New Covenant by Jesus' high priestly ministry, belongs to this latter stream of thought in understanding how fidelity is secured between God and his people. Hebrews, thus, implicitly rejects the rationale of reciprocity for fidelity.Item Figuring Jesus : the power of rhetorical figures of speech in the Gospel of Luke.(2010-06-23T12:24:29Z) Reich, Keith A.; Parsons, Mikeal C. (Mikeal Carl), 1957-; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.This dissertation examines Luke's use of rhetorical figures of speech on the lips of Jesus as a means of persuading his audience to accept a role-reversing message that challenged the social, religious, economic and political systems in the Roman Empire. A figure of speech is the use of either words or thoughts in a way that is uncommon or out of the ordinary. Because figures of speech are the "uncommon" use of language, they stand out to an audience and grab their attention. They are an artful ordering of words designed to be powerful, memorable, and to seize attention. This dissertation takes seriously the adage that says, "It’s not what you say, it's how you say it." The form of the Lukan Jesus' speech is just as important as the content of that speech. To ignore the form of Jesus' speech is to ignore the power and persuasiveness of his message. Luke uses figures of speech in various ways to persuade his audience of the gospel message. He uses figures of speech to fulfill the stylistic virtues of clarity and ornamentation. Fulfilling these stylistic virtues makes the Lukan Jesus' argument easy to follow and impressive, serving as an ethos argument to portray Jesus as one who speaks like the social elites. Further, Luke uses figures as a means of argument and persuasion to draw the audience to side with Jesus and to participate in his message. These figures serve as arguments of ethos, logos, and pathos and create audience members who are invested in the character of Jesus and the gospel message. Finally, Luke uses powerful and memorable figures of speech to proclaim a message of role reversals in the major social, religious, economic, and political systems of the Roman Empire. Using figures of speech that are highly refined and artful allows the proclamation of this role-reversing message to resonate with the audience and ultimately to form its members.Item Good queen mothers, bad queen mothers : the theological presentation of the queen mother in 1 and 2 Kings.(2011-12-19) Brewer-Boydston, Ginny.; Bellinger, William H.; Religion.; Baylor University. Dept. of Religion.The regnal formulas in 1-2 Kings list the name of the mother of the king for Judah, signaling an importance on the part of the queen mother and her place within the theological presentation of the books. This dissertation investigates the multiple passages in which the mother of the king appears outside of the regnal formulas through literary criticism and integrates that study with a theological discussion of the regnal formulas in order to demonstrate the narrative’s view of the queen mother’s place in the monarchy. As the gĕbîrâ, the queen mother held a sanctioned position within the Judean court and had such great influence upon her son that she too receives blame as part of the monarchy for the fall of Judah. The books of Kings depict Maacah (1 Kgs 15), Athaliah (2 Kgs 11), and Nehushta (2 Kgs 24), the only queen mothers to appear outside of the formulas, as wicked and acting in the same manner as the kings who receive a negative or qualified evaluation of their reigns. The books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel depict Nehushta (Jer 13, 22, 29) and Hamutal (Ezek 19) as wicked as well. Jezebel, appearing only in Kings (2 Kgs 9), receives the same treatment. These texts combine to show a mythos surrounding the queen mother, that she is a wicked queen mother by virtue of her son ruling during the divided monarchy. Three other queen mothers, who are not from the divided monarchy, appear in other biblical texts: Bathsheba (1 Kgs 1-2), Lemuel’s mother (Prov 31), and Belshazzar’s mother (Dan 5). Also, Genesis depicts Sarah as a proto-queen mother (Gen 16-21). The texts characterizes these women as good queen mothers, acting in a contradictory manner from the queen mothers of the divided monarchy. The queen mother outside of the divided monarchy can be a good queen mother even if she is foreign. These good queen mothers contrast with the wicked queen mothers and strengthen the mythos that the queen mother of the divided monarchy is wicked and she holds such a powerful, influential position that she is at fault, along with her son, for the exile of the nation.
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