Department of Religion

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A critical biography of Bernard Ramm: an exemplar of the development of a neo-evangelical-Baptist identity in the American Baptist Convention.
(2017-07-06) Kim, Andrew Jean Suk, 1971-; Weaver, C. Douglas.
Bernard Ramm (1916-1992) was an American Baptist (ABC-USA) theologian who lived during the heart of the twentieth century. His embrace of the neo-evangelical movement, which arose during the 1940s, led to the development of a unique neo-evangelical-Baptist identity. Through his own theological journey and crises, Ramm was instrumental in helping American Protestants break free of the confining theological commitments of militant and isolationist fundamentalism so that Christians would be able once again to re-engage with the culture and grow theologically. This dissertation outlines a history of the American Baptist denomination as well as American Protestant Fundamentalism in order to set a context for the rise of the neo-evangelical movement and Ramm’s place within it. The dissertation then offers a detailed biography of Ramm’s life and the reasons behind his departure away from fundamentalism and toward neo-evangelicalism. Ramm’s theological journey is particularly highlighted through his work on the rapprochement of science and Christianity, as well as through his professional and personal relationships and subsequent writings. Ramm’s place in Christian history is critical as one who helped to validate the neo-evangelical movement as well as the interplay between science and faith in order to help reclaim evangelical identity and history.
A postcolonial analysis of the Markan discourse of power : an argument for the narrative cohesion of Mark 10:1–45.
(2022-03-24) Peek, Stephanie R., 1986-; Iverson, Kelly R.
This project offers a postcolonial narrative analysis of Mark 10:1–45. It is argued that Mark 10 serves, not only as a teaching discourse on discipleship, but also as a pivotal chapter in the creation of the Markan Jesus’s discourse of power. This discourse takes aim directly at the hegemonic Roman discourse of power as well as the essentialist resistance narrative of the disciples. Responding to the disciples’ continued resistance to the Gentile mission and their desire for positions of power in the coming kingdom of God, the Markan Jesus seeks to reform the disciples’ vision of power. He constructs a catachrestic vision of power to teach the disciples the meaning of power in the kingdom of God, a meaning that stands in contrast to the Roman vision of power. The Roman vision and application of power, while not equal to the activities of Satan in this world, are squarely situated as a visible and active expression of Satan’s reign, the outworking of which has infiltrated even the disciples, necessitating Jesus’s response. The stories of Mark 10 focus on the inclusion of the marginalized and “other” and advocate an alternative political practice that allows for both Gentile inclusion and Roman resistance. Each story in Mark 10:1–45 responds to Roman colonial practices and the nativist traditions of the colonized community. Jesus calls for an alternative means of resistance to Roman colonial authority through an alternative discourse of power that rewrites communal boundary lines and offers an alternative empire to that of Rome. Mark’s Jesus, critiques Roman imperial practices as visible expressions of the powers of evil in the world and advocates for an alternative empire, the empire of God.
A pregnant silence : contemporary apophaticism and virtues ethics.
(2015-08-03) Wilmington, David M., 1972-; Harvey, Barry, 1954-
This dissertation surveys and critiques the ethical consequences of the contemporary revival of apophaticism. It examines representative examples of a continuum of contemporary apophatic thought—primarily Jacques Derrida, John Caputo, Richard Kearney, Jean-Luc Marion, and Denys Turner—and assesses the ethical implications of the accounts themselves as well as the compatibility of their accounts with virtues ethics. It concludes with a study of Bonaventure and argues that his Christocentric Exemplarism allows him to harmonize the tensions between both the apophatic and cataphatic and between the relationship of apophaticism with virtues ethics. I suggest that the centrality of humility in Bonaventure’s thought offers rich resources for the contemporary theological reconsideration of metaphysics and ethics.
Absent priests and the Day of the Locusts : inner-biblical interpretation and the scribal prophet’s priestly critique in Joel 1:1–2:17.
(2022-04-25) Scott, Kevin, 1987-; Nogalski, James.
Most who study Joel recognize the text’s emphasis on priests and priestly intercession in Joel 1:1–2:17. Despite this consensus, those who study Joel interpret the relationship between the book’s construction of priests and the prophetic figure who critiques those priests in a variety of ways. Previous interpretations of priests in Joel 1:1–2:17 have not adequately accounted for two essential characteristics of Joel: (1) its literary construction as scribal prophecy, written by the scribal prophet primarily for other cultic elites, and (2) the central role that inner-biblical interpretation plays within the text, especially in the form of quotations, allusions, and the use of allusive language evoking concepts found in earlier textual material likely familiar to the scribal prophet and the book’s earliest audience. This study seeks to understand how the earliest readers and hearers of Joel in the Persian period would make sense of the role of priests as they interacted with the text. The study is an attempt to account for Joel’s nature as scribal prophecy that utilizes inner-biblical interpretation to challenge priests to better serve their communities. An analysis of Joel’s first literary movement (1:1–2:17) demonstrates that the scribal prophet utilizes quotations, allusions, and allusive language that evokes concepts found in earlier texts to challenge priests to perform their duties on behalf of Yahweh’s community. The scribal prophet evokes numerous texts throughout Joel 1:1–2:17 to call priests to urgent action; for the scribal prophet, action by priests is necessary because of the important place the temple occupies within Yahweh’s community. In addition, the scribal prophet’s use of language evoking other texts lends authority to the critique of priestly inaction throughout Joel 1:1–2:17. The scribal prophet’s creative use of allusive language evoking other texts in the Hebrew Bible reinforces the centrality of the temple cult for the audience and subsequent readers. Finally, the extensive use of quotations, allusions, and allusive language evoking other texts in Joel 1:1–2:17 educates and enculturates its readers about how to live as Yahweh’s people in a way that emphasizes the temple as the center of postexilic life.
Acknowledging the suffering and dying : theological anthropology, ordinary language philosophy, and isolation.
(2019-07-10) Crawford, Mathew Amier. 1979-; Tran, Jonathan.
This dissertation explores the nature of human relationships in the context of suffering and dying. It asks how suffering and dying not only threaten but also reveal our isolation—isolation that is prevalent in our everyday relationships. Through the cultural criticism of Susan Sontag, the moral theology of Stanley Hauerwas, and philosophical method and anthropology of Stanley Cavell and Cora Diamond I argue that an important aspect of this isolation is our desire to transcend our limits. We long to secure the lives of others, and we are wounded by our inability to do so. Isolation is an alternative to facing the difficulties of reality, a reality that involves the suffering and death of others. Following the introduction (Chapter One), Chapter Two engages Sontag on the ethics of relating to suffering and death through the distance of photographic images, laying the terms of the problematic. Contrasting Sontag, Cavell reads this distance as indicative of a broader experience of distance (and isolation) from others and the world in western modernity that coincides with the rise of philosophical skepticism. Chapter Three traces Cavell’s method of Ordinary Language philosophy, account of skepticism, and concept of acknowledgment, clarifying the terms of the problematic. The fourth chapter builds a phenomenological anthropology from the work of Diamond and Cavell. I argue that humans are the kind of animal who can hold two worlds within us—a world of transcendent imagination and one of immanent finitude. This offers the hope of acknowledging horrors without denying ourselves from others. The fifth chapter turns to Christian theological implications. Following Hauerwas, this chapter connects the experience of isolation with an experience of the absence of God in western modernity—reading this in light of the hardest cases, namely, the suffering and death of the most vulnerable among us from pediatric cancer. Following Cavell, I argue that the beginning of presence with the suffering and dying is acknowledging our limits—that we cannot bear the weight of God for them—and choosing not to deny ourselves from others. That is, we must allow ourselves to be seen in all our vulnerability.
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.
Adaptation and alienation : persuasive strategies and audience responses in the rhetorical handbooks, Polybius, Josephus, and the Acts of the Apostles.
(2019-05-29) Duncan, John M., 1978-; Parsons, Mikeal C. (Mikeal Carl), 1957-
This dissertation evaluates the rhetorical strategies and persuasive impact of speeches in the Acts of the Apostles and select other ancient Greek historical narratives against the template provided by Greco-Roman rhetorical theory regarding the ways in which orators should adapt their speeches to suit their particular audiences. It further seeks to demonstrate that ancient historians (including Luke) employed the presentation of speeches as important vehicles whereby they sought to convey well-adapted didactic/persuasive content to their own authorial audiences. The study commences with a survey of ancient rhetorical guidelines concerning the ways in which considerations related to the audience should influence the composition and delivery of speeches. The essential guiding principles that emerge from this material are, positively, that orators should strive to curry favor with their hearers by expressing sentiments that conform to the audience’s distinctive values, opinions, temperament, and experiences, and, negatively, that orators should refrain from harshly criticizing their listeners or making claims that conflict with the audience’s values and opinions in order to avoid alienating their hearers and thus failing in their persuasive task. Careful examination of the speeches in Polybius’s Histories and Josephus’s Jewish War reveals that the degree to which speakers in these works observe or flout the conventional prescriptions regarding adaptation and alienation is frequently a meaningful predictor of rhetorical success or failure. Yet these authors also display pronounced individual tendencies in their respective depictions of the interplay between speakers and audiences and of the factors that most heavily influence the outcomes of attempts at persuasion. These tendencies, in turn, shed light on the didactic/persuasive aims of the historians themselves. Likewise, the rhetoric of Jesus’s witnesses in Acts is characterized by a distinctive, paradoxical pattern in which speakers display considerable skill in adapting their arguments to their audiences, yet nevertheless repeatedly alienate a significant proportion of their listeners. By means of this narrative-rhetorical pattern, Luke seeks to persuade his authorial audience that the gospel message is universally applicable and highly adaptable, and yet that its uncompromising demand that its hearers should demonstrate a corresponding willingness to adapt will often cause alienation.
Affective theology : Dalits, shame, and salvation.
(May 2023) Ronnevik, Andrew C., 1979-; Carnes, Natalie.
In this dissertation, I argue that Dalit theology and affect theory advance full-bodied accounts of shame, dignity, and communion which should inform broader Christian understandings of sin and salvation. I show how shame vitally animates the experience of sin and suffering, and how salvation possesses a crucial affective dimension involving the overturning of shame through dignity and communion. My dialogue with Dalit theology and affect theory offers thicker descriptions of shame, dignity, and communion than are prevalent in Western theologies, and it makes these affective themes central to soteriology. At a constructive and methodological level, my project demonstrates how Western theology can be more robust when its practitioners learn from and respond to the perspectives of affectivity scholars and South Asian subalterns. I develop this affective and cross-cultural theology over the course of six chapters. Chapter One frames my project as theological accompaniment, a Western attempt to follow and support Dalit theology through attention to shared and distinct affects. Chapter Two describes Dalit contexts by examining caste in Indian society, Christianity, and theology. It also lays out the initial terms for an affective reading of Dalit theology. The third chapter addresses several approaches for understanding the affects and highlights contemporary affect theory as a useful tool for engaging with Dalit and theological concerns. In Chapter Four, I analyze shame from numerous perspectives, showing how it relates to the pathos of Dalit experience and to sin and suffering more broadly. Shame is resisted and overcome through dynamics I consider in the next chapters. Chapter Five highlights human dignity in affective terms, illustrating how dignity is a God-given source of selfhood, confidence, and self-respect. Chapter Six examines communion, understood as relationships of mutual interest and enjoyment that counteract shame and deepen dignity. To conclude, I offer a brief epilogue, noting the polyphony of affects. In affective, Dalit, and Christian life, positive and negative emotions intertwine as people strive and rest in hope.
“All their happiness and consolation hang on the resurrection alone” : John Calvin’s Greek doctrine of the beatific vision.
(2022-03-29) Tyra, Steven W., 1985-; Whitford, David M. (David Mark)
This study argues that John Calvin developed “Greek” doctrines of the interim state of souls, resurrection, and beatific vision through his reading of ancient Christian sources like Irenaeus of Lyons. “Greek” had been a technical term in western theology since at least the twelfth century to denote heterodox eschatology. Thomas Aquinas had employed it in that sense, and early modern Catholics like Robert Bellarmine and Pierre Coton in turn applied it to Calvin. The study demonstrates that, in this respect at least, Calvin’s opponents were correct: he was a “Greek.” However, it questions whether that fact should lead modern theologians to dismiss him as a resource for contemporary reflection. Calvin’s deep respect for and continuity with early Christian voices may serve as a positive model for theologians today, particularly in the Reformed tradition. By the same token, Reformed thinkers who seek inspiration from medieval scholasticism may find their relationship to Calvin complicated by the case presented here.
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.
Apostle of the Confederacy: J. William Jones and the question of Ecumenism and denominational identity in the development of Lost Cause mythology.
(2016-03-09) Moore, Christopher C.; Weaver, C. Douglas.
This dissertation explores the life and career of former Confederate chaplain, Baptist minister, and Lost Cause advocate, J. William Jones. The thesis of this work is that Jones served as an apostle of the Confederacy, and that an exploration of this apostleship reveals the limitations of ecumenism in the development of the Lost Cause. Jones envisioned his postwar career in terms of a two-pronged apostolic mission. First, he believed it his duty to direct Southerners toward ex-Confederate exemplars. In Jones’s mind, Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and Jefferson Davis embodied Southern piety. By focusing Southerners’ attention on these paragons, Jones provided for his audiences incarnations of Southern virtue. These incarnations were indispensable for Southerners who were searching for God, and trying to reconcile their divine chosenness with defeat. A second aspect of Jones’s apostolic mission was the preservation of a distinctly Southern narrative of the Civil War. Jones had been personally commissioned by Lee to compose a faithful account of the conflict, and Jones did so through a religious lens. Through his books, articles, and editorial work, Jones portrayed Confederate troops as superior in every way—and certainly more virtuous—than their Union counterparts. He focused on Confederate revivals in order to demonstrate God’s favor for the Southern cause. He also bolstered numerous Lost Cause tenets: e.g., that the South had been overwhelmed by limitless Northern resources, and that Southerners had fought for independence, and not for the preservation of slavery. An analysis of Jones’s apostolic mission provides important insights about the role of denominational identity in the development of the Lost Cause. While current scholarship has highlighted the ecumenical nature of the movement, this study demonstrates that Lost Cause architects like Jones were deeply committed to their chosen denominations. In fact, one of Jones’s greatest impacts on the Lost Cause was his ability to apotheosize Confederate leaders in such a way that transcended sectarian scruples. The Lost Cause did not soften denominational loyalties for the sake of Southern solidarity, but honored the sectarian identities of its adherents while lauding virtues that were particular to no one denomination.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Blessed wounding : the theological import of paratactic style in Flannery O'Connor's fiction and Hebrew narrative.
(2018-01-23) Toombs, Rachel Sarah, 1983-; Wood, Ralph C.
This dissertation explores the theological connection between narrations of God's wounding blessing and the paratactic style of Hebrew narrative and Flannery O'Connor's fiction. This connection is evidenced in the wounding of patriarch Jacob in Gen 32 and the self-blinding of protagonist Hazel Motes in Wise Blood. In both cases, the climactic moments are rendered without syntactical clues to their meaning. At once bewildered and enticed, readers are left to interpret the terrifying character of divine action without narratival help. Centrally, I argue that sparely narrated encounters with grace fittingly illustrate the theological claim that God's blessings sometimes also wound. I capture the spare paratactic style that contributes to Flannery O'Connor's distinctive literary voice by drawing out Flannery O'Connor's style in two ways: through an examination of her revisions to Wise Blood in consultation with her writing mentor Caroline Gordon and exploring the qualities her style shares with biblical Hebrew poetics. I then turn to instances of narrating wounding blessings in Jacob and Hazel, transposing the distinctive feature of biblical Hebrew narrative - the wayyiqtol - onto Wise Blood's climactic moment. Finally, after establishing O'Connor's spare style, I return to the theological theme of wounding blessing to demonstrate how spare style invites readers into their own encounters with grace analogous to the vulnerability found in prayer. The relationship between the way a story is rendered and its impact on readers demonstrates the value of literature not only for thematically addressing theological truths but also as cultivating a posture for divine encounter.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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