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This thesis explores the meaning of the biblical phrase ‘God is love’ through an examination of two quintessentially modern Protestant theologies. After considering the complexities of theological predication and juxtaposing several classical and contemporary approaches to the matter, the distinct approaches of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Karl Barth are presented and ultimately commended for their tendency to treat divine love as a ‘conclusion’ to the doctrine of God, rather than as a conceptual starting point. In contrast to many contemporary approaches, the thesis concludes by suggesting that God’s love is best conceived as his being toward fellowship, rather than as the eminent instance of loving fellowship understood according to human experiences of love (including that of being loved by God).

Abstract Divine Substitution: Humanity as the Manifestation of Deity in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, by Stephen L. Herring, is an investigation of ancient conceptualizations of divine presence. Specifically, this thesis investigates the possibility that the ancient Mesopotamian conceptualization of cultic and royal statues, thought to actually manifest the presence of gods and kings, can likewise be found in ancient Israel. Despite the overly pessimistic view of the later biblical authors, material objects were almost certainly believed to extend and manifest the presence of God in pre- exilic Israel. Likewise, the later polemics against such cultic concepts demonstrate Israel's familiarity with this type of conceptualization. These polemics engaged in the rhetoric of mutilation and destruction of cultic representations, the erasure and re- inscription of divine names, and the rhetorical deconstruction of the specific Mesopotamian rituals thought to transform the dead statue into a living god. Though the biblical reflection of these concepts is more often found in the negative commentary regarding "foreign" cultic practices, S. Herring demonstrates that these opinions were not universally held. At least three biblical texts (Gen 1:26f.; Ex 34:29-34; and Ezek 36-37) portray the conceptualization that material images could manifest the divine presence in positive terms. Yet, these positive attestations were limited to a certain type of material image - humans.

This thesis has three major objectives which are inter-related. Firstly, it investigates some important aspects of the traditional history of the Malay Archipelago, the early development of Islamic thought, culture and the religious traditions which is represented by the Kitab Jawi. The history and development of the Kitab Jawi and its contribution to the traditional Islamic heritage are explored. This development was accompanied by the emergence of traditional scholars ('ulamā') such as Nūr al-Dīn al-Rānīrī (d. 1666, Acheh), Shams al-Dīn al-Sumatrānī (d. 1630, Sumatra), 'Abd al-Ṣamad al-Falembānī (d. 1764, Palembang), Raja 'Alī al-Hājī (d. 1784, Johor-Riau), Muḥammad Arshad al-Banjārī (b. 1812, Banjarmasin), Dā'ūd b. 'Abd Allah b Idrīs al-Faṭānī (d. 1840, Patani), 'Abd al-Ṣamad b Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (Tuan Tabal) (d. 1840, Kelantan), Sayyid 'Uthmān b Yaḥyā al-Betāwī (d. 1886, Batavia or Jakarta), and their contribution to the Kitab Jawi tradition is examined in detail. Secondly, the theological discussion among the traditional scholars became a dominant factor in intellectual circles as a result of the popularity of and high demand for theological disciplines among the masses, the high position accorded to these scholars and their close relationship with the sultans or rajas. Among the disciplines of theology is the 'ilm al-Tauḥīd (the Unity of Allah) in which Sanūsī's Umm al-Barāhīn played a very vital role. The most notable feature of this creed is the teaching of Sifat Dua Puluh (the Twenty Attributes of Allah) as the result of which this teaching became the basic religious teaching among the people of the Malay Archipelago. The present study attempts to show how strong the effects of this teaching have been and how it has survived through the centuries. Finally, an annotated translation of a Jawi text of Umm al-Barāhīn is followed by a detailed analysis of the text in relation to the Twenty Attributes. A brief conclusion attempts to draw these strands together and to assess their importance for Islam in the Malay Archipelago.

Prof. Thomas Hibbs

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李家駒. / 稿本複印本. / 書名原題: 一場「神」或「上帝」的爭論. / 論文(歷史學部哲學碩士)--香港中大學, 1991. / 附參考文獻: leaves 544-566. / Li Jiazhu. / 凡例 / 序言 / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter （一） --- 寫作緣起 / Chapter （二） --- 研究的回顧與簡評 / Chapter （三） --- 本文的重點與限制 / Chapter 第二章 --- 早期新教教士來華概況與兩次聖經翻譯會議的召開 --- p.27 / Chapter （一） --- 早期新教教士來華的概況 / Chapter (1) --- 一八四二年以前的概況（一八○七年至一八四二年） / Chapter (2) --- 條約簽定后的局面（一八四二年至一八七七年〉 / Chapter （二） --- 兩次譯經會議與「名詞爭論」的緣起 / Chapter (1) --- 第一次聖經翻譯會議 / Chapter (2) --- 第二次聖經翻譯會議 / Chapter 第三章 --- 名詞爭論的內容與性質 --- p.76 / Chapter （一） --- 第一次譯經會議前的名詞爭論 / Chapter (1) --- 馬礼遊和米怜的觀點 / Chapter (i) --- 馬礼遊和米怜對「神」的理解 / Chapter (ii) --- 馬礼遊和米怜對其它用詞的檢討 / Chapter (iii) --- 米怜晚年的轉變 / Chapter (iv) --- 理論與實際的不協調 / Chapter (2) --- 其他教士´對حGo´dح譯詞的關注 / Chapter (3) --- 小結：爭論雛型的形式 / Chapter （二） --- 兩次譯經會議期間的名詞爭論 / Chapter (1) --- 第一會合：婁理華、禆治文與郭士立 / Chapter (i) --- 婁理華的意見 / Chapter (ii) --- 郭士立的回應 / Chapter (2) --- 第二會合：婁理華、裨治文與麥都恩等 / Chapter (i) --- 婁理華重整旗鼓 / Chapter (ii) --- 麥都恩的窮追猛打 / Chapter (iii) --- 裨治文越俎代苞 / Chapter (3) --- 小結 / Chapter （三） --- 第二次譯經的召開及以后的名詞爭論 / Chapter (1) --- 麥都恩和文惠廉的爭論（一八四七年至一八五○年） / Chapter (I) --- 基本的翻譯原則：「屬類詞」抑或「走有詞」 / Chapter a/ --- 對̐於ơElohi̐mơ̐和ơTheo̐sơ的看法 / Chapter b/ --- 對於中國宗教的觀察：「一神主義」抑或「多神主義」 / Chapter c/ --- 對於「屬類詞」定義的理解與運用 / Chapter (ii) --- 翻譯用詞的檢討：「神」抑或「上帝」 / Chapter a/ --- "「神」解作""spirit""+-抑或「宗教敬拜的全體對象」" / Chapter b/ --- 「帝」是「屬世的君主」抑或「至高的管治者」 / Chapter (iii) --- 衝出困境：其他教士的意見與對兩派的居中協調 / Chapter (2) --- 風雲再現：「上帝」是否相等̐於ơGo̐dơ / Chapter (i) / Chapter a/ --- 異軍突起：理雅各的獨特見解 / Chapter b/ --- 文惠廉等「神」派支持者的反駁：「上帝」是一個「絶對詞」 / Chapter (ii) --- 行家主義與基督教精神 / Chapter a/ --- 一種義無反顧的看法 / Chapter b/ --- 永無終止的問題 / Chapter （四） --- 名詞爭論的性質 / Chapter 第四章 --- 名詞爭論的意義與評估 --- p.265 / Chapter （一） --- 從名詞爭論看中外文化的比較 / Chapter (1) --- 新教教士對於中國語言文字的理解 / Chapter (i) --- 九點原則的考慮 / Chapter (ii) --- 教士對中國語言文字的看法 / Chapter (2) --- 新教教士對於中國宇宙起源論的觀察 / Chapter (i) --- 無可避免的胎里病 / Chapter (ii) --- 新教教士對於中國宇宙起源的三種不同理解 / Chapter a/ --- 「創造」 / Chapter b/ --- 「天」與「地」 / Chapter c/ --- 小結 / Chapter (3) --- 不同思維模式的比較與檢討 / Chapter (i) --- 早期中國信徒̐對ơGo̐dơ的理解 / Chapter (ii) --- 《萬國立報》「聖號論」的啟示 / Chapter （二） --- 教士對於名詞爭論持不同見解的原因 / Chapter (i) --- 「行家主義」的適用程度 / Chapter (ii) --- 資料運用的問題 / Chapter (iii) --- 教士對於中國文化的廣度－以尼布爾的觀點□三類教士定位 / Chapter 第五章 --- 總結 --- p.383 / Chapter （一） --- 「名詞爭論」－一次中外文化交流的縮影 / Chapter （二） --- 難以平息的爭論－謝和耐與史華慈的分歧 / Chapter （三） --- 前瞻 / 注釋 --- p.399 / 附錄 --- p.519 / Chapter （一） --- 十九世紀新教《聖經》譯本一覽表 / Chapter （二） --- 一八六○年以前來華教士統計表 / Chapter （三） --- 早期在華新教士有關名詞翻譯的著述（1807-1881） / Chapter （四） --- 《萬國公報》內「聖號論」的文章 / Chapter （五） --- 太平天國̐對ơGo̐dơ的稱謂（附《勸世良言》一書̐對ơGo̐dơ的稱謂） / 參考書目 --- p.544

In this thesis, I make the following case. (1) While instances of the imago Dei in biblical and second-temple Jewish sources are diverse and pluriform, they are nonetheless illuminating for Paul's imago Dei theology. (2) However, this theology is best explained on the hypothesis that Paul, like Philo and the author of Wisdom, made use of ‘intermediary speculation' in which the kosmos came into being via an intermediary ‘figure': in the latter's case sophia and/or the logos and in Paul's case the pre-existent Jesus. (3) In this connection, while the resources of the Jewish wisdom tradition (e.g. Prov. 8; Sir. 1; 24; 1 En. 42; Wis. 7; and Bar. 3–4) did not provide Paul with the precision afforded by the ‘prepositional metaphysics' of the philosophical tradition (cf. 1 Cor. 8.6; and Col. 1.15–20; cp. John 1.3, 10; and Heb. 1.2), the general contours of that tradition—in which sophia attended to the creation, maintenance and salvation of the kosmos—were appreciated and appropriated in Paul's imago Dei theology. (4) Beyond this, a few features of Paul's imago Dei theology—especially his collocation of εἰκών (‘image') and πρωτότοκος (‘firstborn') (cf. Rom. 8.29; and Col. 1.15) and his ‘teleological' construal of the imago Dei conception, in which Jesus serves as the archetypal ‘image' to which believers will ultimately be conformed (2 Cor. 3.18; Rom. 8.29; cp. Phil. 3.21)—strongly suggest that Paul was here influenced (directly or indirectly) by Middle Platonic intermediary doctrine. (5) On the basis of points (2) through (4), therefore, it is wisdom christology, rather than Adam (and/or ‘imperial') christology, which serves as the principal background of Paul's ‘image christology'. This ‘image christology', furthermore, in which Jesus serves as the protological and cosmogonical image of God, is an instance of ‘christological monotheism'. In this regard, Jesus is included in the one activity (creation) which most clearly demarcates the ‘unique divine identity' in second-temple Jewish thought. (6) Finally, my argument concerning the way in which Paul adapts certain features of the philosophical imago Dei tradition encourages a fresh reading of two major Pauline texts: 2 Corinthians 2.17–4.6; and Colossians 1.15–20; 3.10. In these texts, I contend, Paul casts essentially inner-Jewish debates in philosophical dress. While the substantive issues are ‘inner-Jewish' issues, Paul presents his opponents and/or opposing views as bound up with a futile and/or deceitful philosophy, while he presents himself and his sympathisers as people who attain to the telos of true philosophy: the image of God (2 Cor. 3.18; and Col. 3.10; cp. Rom. 8.29).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1996. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-102).