The subject and scope of this dissertation is Paul’s use of honour and shame language in 1 Cor 1–6. The methodology applied is a modified socio-rhetorical criticism as developed by George A. Kennedy. Two interrelated aspects of first century Corinthian culture will also be examined in connection with Paul’s rhetoric in 1 Cor 1–6; that of the patron-client relationship and the role of honour and shame in that relationship and in the larger society. It will be argued that Paul’s rhetorical argument in 1 Cor 1–6 is heavily based upon the social values of honour and shame. This study will examine 1 Cor 1–6 in three sections. The first section to be examined will be that of 1:1–2:5. Paul begins this section by presenting Jesus as the super-patron who is over and above all the members of the congregation. This presentation of Jesus rebukes the patronal based factionalism and it also elevates Paul to the unique status as that of apostle and proclaimer Jesus. The second section to be examined will be 1 Cor 4. In this section Paul continues to reduce the status of the patrons as he elevates his own status. By the end of this section Paul seeks to re-establish himself not only as the apostle and proclaimer of Jesus, but also as the Corinthians’ father through the gospel. The third section to be examined will be 1 Cor 5–6. In this section it will be argued that Paul addresses three issues in connection with patronal abuse; that of the incestuous man in 1 Cor 5, the abuse of the law courts in 6:1–10, and immoral banquets in 6:11–20. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:19:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MICHELE EVANGELISTA TEXTO COMPLETO.pdf: 685640 bytes, checksum: f4081e16c0fe7aabc5fa6396bda8701a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-12 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The objective of this work is to discuss the issue of conflict occurred between Paul and the Galatians communities. Through this theme we will discuss the question of Jewish identity in the first century and its relationship with the Gentiles, as well, the apocalyptic context in which these groups were included and the influence of mysticism in the process of constructing identities. With the analysis of this "perícope" in Galatians 2, 15-21, we will present the divergent systems of conviction that different groups defend and we will try through evidentiary method to reconstruct the speech of the opponents group of Paul. Finally, we using a philosophical approach to analyze the religious experiences identified, and we will support in thought of Henri Bergson. / O objetivo desse trabalho é debater o tema do conflito ocorrido entre Paulo e as comunidades da Galácia. Discutiremos a questão da identidade judaica no primeiro século e sua relação com os gentios, bem como, o contexto apocalíptico em que esses grupos estavam inseridos e a influência do misticismo no processo de constituição de identidades. Com a análise da perícope de Gálatas 2, 15-21, apresentaremos os divergentes sistemas de convicções que os diferentes grupos defendem e tentaremos através do método indiciário reconstruir o discurso do grupo de adversários de Paulo. Por fim, utilizaremos uma abordagem filosófica para analisar as experiências religiosas identificadas, e nos apoiaremos no pensamento de Henri Bergson. Palavras-chave: Conflito, identidades, apocalíptica judaica e misticismo, cristianismo primitivo, Gálatas, Bergson.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:21:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ANDERSON DE OLIVEIRA LIMA - DISSERTACAO DE MESTRADO.pdf: 1332692 bytes, checksum: 2d349d4800c207573def5a0ae194069f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / From the exegetic analysis of Matthew 6.19-21, this work approach the socio-economic differences that existed between the group that produced to the gospel of Matthew and that generated the original version of this small text in the gospel Q. In this research we look for matthean peculiarities, which serving especially for the reconstruction of a Jewish-Christian group that existed in an urban area of Galilee in the last decades of the first century. The choice of Matthew 6.19-21, which is part of a various texts group that together form a kind of "economic status" in Mt 6.19-34, its will bring us to conclude that in the face of socio-economic sanctions imposed by non-Christians Jews, who called the matthean group "heretic", the tradition that focuses on poverty, typical of the traveler prophets of the Jesus movement, is re-read by Matthew Gospel to encourage the non-limited charity also among the mattheans group member. / A partir da análise exegética de Mateus 6.19-21, este trabalho aborda as diferenças sócio-econômicas que existiram entre o grupo que deu origem ao evangelho de Mateus e aquele que gerou a versão primitiva deste pequeno texto no evangelho Q. Nesta investigação procuramos por peculiaridades mateanas, que servem especialmente para a reconstrução de um grupo judaico-cristão que existiu numa zona urbana da Galiléia nas últimas décadas do século I. A escolha de Mateus 6.19-21, que faz parte de um agrupamento de textos diversos que juntos formam uma espécie de estatuto econômico do grupo em Mt 6.19-34, nos conduzirá à conclusão de que diante de sanções sócio-econômicas duramente impostas pelos judeus não cristãos que consideravam o grupo mateano herético , a tradição que privilegia a pobreza, típica dos profetas itinerantes do movimento de Jesus, é relida pelo evangelho de Mateus para incentivar a caridade ilimitada também entre os membros do grupo mateano.

This Thesis refers to ancient iconography themes and symbols, which were received by early Christian Art. Primaly, it concerns the reception of form. By means of analysing ancient content and context the paper tries to find a parallel between ancient and christian motives. In this way it intend to answer the question why a concrete theme was taken over. In case the reinterpretation is possible, the thesis offers the interpretation based on biblical theology. This volume presents motives from the Christian catacombs of Rome and also motives derivated from Roman triumph Art, dated to the first centuries.

Repetition has received a bad press in certain streams of theological tradition; this reception has in part been caused by, and has in turn affected, readings of the Letter to the Hebrews, which speaks about repetition in ways unique in the New Testament. The present study addresses the insufficient critical attention paid to repetition in Hebrews, challenging the assumption that it functions uniformly and negatively throughout the letter, and exploring the variety of ways in which Hebrews presents repetition. The plurality of prophetic speech displays God’s manifold kindness in the old covenant; such speech is not opposed to but is fulfilled in Christ’s coming, and its ongoing repetition in the new covenant through citation and exposition serves to promote and explicate that event. Repeated mutual encouragement is essential to persevering in the Christian life and avoiding apostasy. And the regular entry of the Levitical priests into the outer sanctuary of the tabernacle in Heb 9.6 foreshadows the continual access to God achieved through Christ. Where repetition has a negative or contrastive role in the author’s argumentation, it does not cause inefficacy but rather indicates a weakness whose source is elsewhere – and which, moreover, is revealed fully only in the light of the Christ event. The uniqueness of Christ and of his death construed as a sacrifice, developed from concepts of singularity in Day of Atonement and early Christian crucifixion traditions, forms a unifying strand in the letter’s Christology. Rather than functioning in simple opposition to repetition, this singularity corresponds to continuity and eternity, and is developed at times in contrast to, and at times in correspondence with, repetition. The study thus offers a reappraisal of repetition in Hebrews, laying the foundations for renewed appreciation of the importance of repetition for theological discourse and religious life.

This thesis examines the meanings of purification practices and purity concepts in early Christian culture, as they were articulated and formed by Greek Christian authors of the first three centuries, from Paul to Origen. As purity and defilement are especially suited for articulating difference, hierarchy and change, these concepts were essential for early Christians, shaping their understanding of human nature, sin, history, and ritual. In parallel, the major Christian practices embodying difference and change, baptism, abstinence from food or sexual activity, were all understood, emoted and shaped as instances of purification. Two broad motivations, at some tension with each other, were at the basis of Christian purity discourse. The first was a substantive motivation: the creation and maintenance of anthropologies and ritual theories coherent with the theological principles of the new religion, and the integration of purity traditions and concepts into these worldviews and theories. The second was a polemic motivation: construction of Christian identity by laying claim to true purity while marking the purity practices and beliefs of others (Jews, pagan or “heretics”) as false. I trace the interplay of these factors through a close reading of second- and third-century Christian Greek authors discussing food abstentions, death defilement, sexuality and baptism, on the background of Greco-Roman and Jewish purity discourses. This thesis demonstrates three central arguments. First, purity and defilement are central concepts for understanding Christian cultures of the second and third centuries. Second, Christianities developed their own conceptions and practices of purity and purification, distinct from those current in contemporary and earlier Jewish and pagan cultures, though decisively influenced by them. Third, concepts and practices of purity and defilement were shifting and contentious, an arena for boundary-marking between Christians and others and between different Christian groups.

Though the trinitarian iconography is fairly easy to understand, it remains with many of the 4th and 5th century works it is unclear and difficult to explain. In the literature of the last century, we often encounter ideas that have been absorbed in older works and subsequently only mechanically repeated in subsequent works. Such a way of interpreting can lead to controversial iconographic analyzes in order to focus in a trinitarian way and to attempt in a tricky way to explain the iconography of "non-trivial" artefacts. This diploma thesis attempts to open a difficult question of the origin, development and interaction of individual types of symbols representing the Trinity. The aim of this work is to mark the effort of a complex view, which will try, especially with similar motives and symbols, to lead to a more precise interpretation and classification within the framework of trinitarian iconography. The main aim of this diploma thesis is the effort of theological, artistic, historical and philosophical grasp of the issue of the image of God in the first millennium of the Christian faith. Due to the vastness and considerable lack of clarity of this topic, the work is conceived with a focus on the first millennium of Christianity. Many examples of depictions and symbolic references to the Triune...

In recent decades, most scholars have understood the Gospel of John and three letters of John as a mirror to the so-called "Johannine community"/"Johannine Christianity", whose existence is usually derived from literary and compositional aspects of Johannine corpus. In the following study I am arguing that in order for the term Johannine Christianity to be relevant and meaningful for the study of early Christianity and New Testament literature, we cannot focus on literary aspects of Johannine corpus but on a comparative work and define the term through the internal structure of religion. To be a historically relevant term, the term Johannine Christianity, therefore has to bear, in the context of the New Testament and early Christianity, distinctive doctrine, ritual practices, and institution. In the first part of this paper, I am dealing with literary and stylistic aspects of the Johannine corpus (authorship of gospel and letters, genre and 21st chapter of John's gospel, the beloved disciple, etc.) and arguing that these aspects are not a definite proof of the existence of so- called Johannine community. In the second part, I am arguing that theology, ritual practices, and institutions we find in Johannine corpus, are typical for mainstream Christianity of 1. and 2. century and therefore terms "Johannine...

Nearly 300 years before the rise of a ‘Christianized,’ Eastern Roman Empire, generations of inhabitants in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East had witnessed a considerable variety and evolution of religious thought. As a result of the expansion of Christian sects throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine I convened a theological council to unite his vast kingdom in the East under a single religious creed. While revisions to the text of the first ‘Nicene Creed’ and subsequent councils would be organized, many dissenting factions refused to relinquish their long-held beliefs and traditions. Some of these ‘heterodox’ sects resisted the religious arm of the Empire and concealed their practices while continuing to worship in secrecy. Clues to the subversion of ‘orthodox’ ecclesiastical mandate may still persist in the mosaic programs of extant churches in the Mediterranean and Transjordan. In particular, the general design of mosaics in the Transjordan (e.g., the Petra Church, Petra; the Church of SS. Lot and Procopius, Khirbet al-Mukhayyat; and the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Jerash) are somewhat similar, yet divergent from designs found within churches from the Italian Peninsula (e.g., the Theodorean Basilical Complex, Aquileia; the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna; and the Church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Classe). The purpose of this thesis is to use the principles of semiotic theory to re-evaluate the use of symbols and icons within sacred mosaic programs, juxtaposed against the historical and ecclesiastical context surrounding their creation.

Nearly 300 years before the rise of a 'Christianized,' Eastern Roman Empire, generations of inhabitants in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East had witnessed a considerable variety and evolution of religious thought. As a result of the expansion of Christian sects throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine I convened a theological council to unite his vast kingdom in the East under a single religious creed. While revisions to the text of the first 'Nicene Creed' and subsequent councils would be organized, many dissenting factions refused to relinquish their long-held beliefs and traditions. Some of these 'heterodox' sects resisted the religious arm of the Empire and concealed their practices while continuing to worship in secrecy. Clues to the subversion of 'orthodox' ecclesiastical mandate may still persist in the mosaic programs of extant churches in the Mediterranean and Transjordan. In particular, the general design of mosaics in the Transjordan (e.g., the Petra Church, Petra; the Church of SS. Lot and Procopius, Khirbet al-Mukhayyat; and the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Jerash) are somewhat similar, yet divergent from designs found within churches from the Italian Peninsula (e.g., the Theodorean Basilical Complex, Aquileia; the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna; and the Church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Classe). The purpose of this thesis is to use the principles of semiotic theory to re-evaluate the use of symbols and icons within sacred mosaic programs, juxtaposed against the historical and ecclesiastical context surrounding their creation.