This paper offers a reformulation of Christological kenosis and its implications for Christian discipleship in light of the confusion surrounding self-emptying language and the painful ramifications of its prescription in Christianity, particularly for women. The central thesis claims that understanding kenosis in terms of subjection not only subverts the traditional, simplistic construal of self-emptying as loss of self, but also provides a recapitulation of kenosis as a transformative and empowering re-identification in God that feminist theology can plausibly engage and affirm. To develop this argument, the paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach, initially giving a constructive critique of Sarah Coakleys conception of Christs kenosis as the concurrence of divine power and human vulnerability. This evaluation of Coakley is then supplemented with Judith Butlers philosophical account of power and subject formation in the process of subjection. The argument concludes by examining the various dimensions of the kenotic language in Philippians 2 and Mark 8:22-10:52, in order to propose, finally, a contemporary retrieval of kenosis as subversive subjection.

Within ancient Near Eastern studies, scholars have challenged the concept of dualistic gender division generally and, more specifically, with regard to texts and practices. They have raised the prospect for a more nuanced view of gender roles in the ancient Near East, introducing third or fourth genders and ideas of gender roles being played by those of either sex. However, such studies are largely restricted to discussions of special cases, such as women in specific legal circumstances, ruling women, or followers of a specific cult. Since birth is experienced by women of all social classes, legal standings, and beliefs, evidence that suggests gender fluidity in birth incantations from the ancient Near East provides an opportunity to investigate the possibility that gender boundaries within these communities were, in general, more flexible than it has previously been posited. Birth requires the body of a woman but does not necessarily require feminine gender. Some rituals use masculine metaphors for the birthing mother, such as warriors and ships captains, or redefine the masculine characteristics associated with bulls. This inversion of expectation calls into question the gender performed by both the birthing mother and the male deities addressed in the incantations. Masculine images used in rituals surrounding the woman-centered act of childbirth provide a unique means to examine the construction of gender in the ancient Near East. Because motherhood and femininity are so closely intertwined, looking at the images and symbols related to birth rituals can shed light on feminine identity, both together and separately from maternal identity, and can challenge the assumption that maternal identity is necessarily feminine. Analysis of these birth rituals suggests that while the ancient Near East had a patriarchal socio-economic system, deities and people performed alterior characteristics, radically different from what would be traditionally considered masculine or feminine. Thus, in the ancient Near East, an omnigendered lens provides a means to understand how individuals reflected alterior gender identities.

RELIGION TOWARD A WOMANIST HOMILETIC: KATIE CANNON, ALICE WALKER AND EMANCIPATORY PROCLAMATION Donna E. Allen Dissertation under the direction of Professor John S. McClure This project builds on the work of Katie Cannon and Alice Walker to offer a womanist paradigm for analyzing the sermons of Black women. This paradigm is a minimal construct to consider when examining the complexity of African-American womens sacred rhetoric in preaching. Cannons work provides a critical analysis of sermonic content focusing on linguistics. This project presents a paradigm for analyzing sermons by African-American womanist preachers to unmask the themes of womanist thought in the performance and content of their preaching as we move toward a womanist homiletic. Ultimately, this discourse will contribute to our understanding of the Black preaching tradition through an examination of sermons by a womanist preacher. The sermons for analysis are by Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall, an accomplished leader in the Black church and a nationally acclaimed preacher.

This project is concerned with racism in Churches of Christ. In this dissertation I explore the manner in which African American members of Churches of Christ moved on a trajectory from segregation to independence from whites throughout the 20th century. As a congregational denomination, Churches of Christ lack an official governing body; therefore, they have relied on denominational colleges, journals, and lectureships to mediate their theology. As the most audible voices of the denomination, these entities perpetuated an illusion of racial unity in Churches of Christ by failing to either acknowledge or address the blatant racism of whites. With the advent of the civil rights movement, however, African Americans in mass publicly expressed their resentment to decades of racism. The 20th century ended with each of these two racial factions moving rapidly away from the other toward de facto denominational status. The research from this project helps church historians understand not only the division within Churches of Christ caused by racism, but also the power of unofficial denominational bodies to mask significant division within a radical congregational denomination.

This project examines how the controversy on Confucian religiosity has shaped the conceptualization of Confucianism and of religion, and how it has contributed to the understanding of Chinese tradition and modernity in post-Confucian paradigms. In this dissertation I explore the problems and ambiguity of defining Confucianism in the category of religion by surveying the three historical episodes of the controversy on Confucian religiosity as well as the New Confucian approach to the problem of modernization and to the problem of modernity. Two interrelated arguments are presented in the project: first, the controversy has provided both a source and a test case for new ideas about Confucianism and about religion; second, it has less to do with the academic discipline of religious studies than with the cultural and socio-political concerns of modern Chinese intellectuals.

Luke 8:1-3 and 18:35-19:10 are two uniquely Lukan scenes which are meant to evoke similarities between Jesus and Dionysus. Lukes intentional comparison constructs an apologia that is a response to allegations of Jesus similarities to pagan divinities. By creating a section about Jesus missionary journey in which Jesus functions as a better version of Dionysus, Luke seeks to reassure both Christians and potential converts that Christianity did not possess the Bacchic traits that the Romans often considered objectionable. Moreover, Lukes depiction of Jesus as a superior Dionysus relies heavily on Euripides Bacchae, demonstrating the validity of that text as a Lukan source.

Structurally and substantively, the two ancient Near Eastern folktales The Poor Man of Nippur and The Eloquent Peasant have a great deal in common. Both tales tell the stories of lower stratum protagonists whose livelihoods are confiscated unjustly by members of the upper strata of society. By comparing these two tales this project explores some of their common themes, with a view toward the role of poverty in the construction of their plots. Although Khunanup is less poor than Gimil-Ninurta, they are both far poorer than their antagonists, and their poverty establishes a context of need in which the tales play with social location to advance their plots. The relative poverty of the two protagonists raises the stakes in both tales and leaves them vulnerable to the abuse of members of the upper stratum. Although folktales often function to reinforce social norms and institutionsin the case of The Poor Man of Nippur and the Eloquent Peasant, social stratification and proper behaviorthey need not conform to them. Accordingly, the unique contribution of the two tales among other ancient Near Eastern texts that talk about the poor is in the way that their storytellers represent lower strata characters, and as such the tales serve as indispensable artifacts of ancient life even if they cannot necessarily be relied upon as historical records.

Dissertation under the direction of Professor Fernando F. Segovia. </br> <br> This dissertation approaches the Acts of the Apostles from the optic of postcolonial criticism. I argue that the Lukan community struggles to legitimate itself, in hybrid fashion, before two structures of powers or hegemonies: the Roman Empire and its system of imperial worship and the defining institutions of Judaism. I take Acts 12 as point of departure, with its twofold motif of self-exaltation and self-attribution of divine prerogatives. </br> <br> Regarding Rome, I read Acts 12 as a hidden transcript within the system of imperial worship, pointing to the fate of any power that would usurp divine prerogatives and claim allegiance to any Lord other than God. I also analyze the representation by mimicry of Roman worship in Acts, based on supremacy and hegemony and exercised by way of imperial decrees, the erection of temples, neokoroi, religious customs, and so forth. I further analyze the representation of Roman officers, whom, I argue, Luke portrays as full of fear, liars, seekers of bribes, and, more importantly, in need of salvation and peace. </br> <br> Regarding Judaism, I read the Lukan community in Acts as a Jewish Christian group within the development of a plurality of Judaisms and within the Jesus movement. They see themselves, I argue, as the legitimate heirs of the correct interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures. Further, they do not deny their ethnicity, but do proclaim the eschatological/apocalyptic end of the institutions that define Judaism (the kingship and the Sanhedrin as a temple establishment) as well as the restoration of the Kingdom of God, rather than of Israel, with a full acceptance and inclusion of the Gentiles. </br>

The Hellenistic period witnesses the expansion of ancient science encompassing many diverse schools of thought. Similarly, multiple interpretations of biblical texts thrived, promoting the simultaneous continuation of diverse interpretive traditions. This work aims to show that the popularity of the image of a Hellenistic scientist nourished a flourishing contemporaneous Hellenistic literature on Joseph, wherein an image of Joseph was constructed by associating his divinatory practices and dream interpretations with the professional activities of Hellenistic scientists. After an introductory chapter that establishes perimeters for this study, analyses are presented of relevant elements in the works of Josephus and Philo, The Ethiopic Story of Joseph, Rabbinic midrashim, Jubilees, The Testaments of 12 Patriarchs, and Joseph and Aseneth. They show that Josephs specialty was the science of vision or ancient optics. Josephs dream interpretations and divinations through a cup are said to belong to the same scientific phenomena. Given that the literary genre has social and cultural dimension, this study proposes a new category of cultural adaptation at a distinct period in Jewish history, with oneiromancy and lecanomancy belonging to the genre we might call revelation by visual effects. In the process, the still accepted scholarly division of dreams between symbolic and message dreams is shown to be artificial. My research indicates that those texts that supported Josephs holistic scientific approach generally selected him as the chosen brother through whom the divine secrets and mysteries of the world were transmitted to future Hebrew and Jewish generations. The popularity of Joseph and the boom in the literature about him were due to the existence of a sufficient number of Hellenistic Jews who held that their creative integration into Hellenistic culture could be successful and indeed sharpen their own identity as Jews.

In early Christian texts, the image of Christ the Miracle Worker was a critical component in the development of the faith. In treatises and sermons of the church fathers, the subject of Christs healings and miracles were consistently promoted. The healings and miracles of Christ were touted in an atmosphere of religious competition. The superiority of Christs healings and miracles were advanced in order to establish Christ as a deity greater than any opponent. In Christian art of Late Antiquity, similar methods were utilized to achieve the same end result. Christ was portrayed in catacomb frescoes and relief sculpture as a healer and worker of miracles. The visual art suggests that the early Christians were touting the superiority of Christ at the expense of their rivals. The image of Christ healing with the power of touch recalled the healing god Asclepius, while the stylistic inclusion of the staff reflected the figure of Moses as well as exhibiting Christ as the Divine Logos. By depicting Christ in text and imagery as the definitive healer and worker of miracles, early Christians constructed a useful image. As a result of appearing as the greatest healer and miracle worker, early images of Christ could exhibit power and provide a sense of understanding and identity to early Christians. However, by the late fourth century when the church was firmly established, the image not only persisted but increased. Remarkably, the image of Christ the Miracle Worker greatly proliferated in an age of Christian peace as the church was increasing its presence and expanding its growth. This dissertation will study the rise and proliferation of the image of Christ the Miracle Worker in the early Christian era, examine the contributions of the church fathers, and demonstrate that this early Christian image appropriated elements of existing Late Antique culture to create a paramount religious figure.