This research project concerns itself with the three disputed passages of Christian import as preserved in extant manuscripts of the AJ (Ἰουδαϊκὴ Ἀρχαιολογία a.k.a. Antiquitates Judaicae), viz.: AJ, XVIII, 3, 3 / 63 (i.e. the so-called Testimonium Flavianum), AJ, XVIII, 5, 2 / 116 -119 (i.e. the references to John the Baptist) and AJ, XX, 9, 1 / 200 - 203 (i.e. the references to James the brother of Jesus). Within the context of contemporary historicity research outcomes, and employing an interpretist/constructivist episteme, a series of critical analyses was undertaken aimed at verifying to what degree the three passages in question may be deemed to be in any way authentic and/or historically reliable. The result of the investigation proves beyond reasonable doubt that no reliable extra-biblical/scriptural accounts exist to support the historical existence of, inter alia, Jesus of Nazareth, James the Just or John the Baptist. Certainly, no such accounts ever appeared in Josephus’ original texts. Furthermore, and most importantly, the three passages are confirmed to be total forgeries initiated in the first four centuries of the Common Era most likely by Origen and Eusebius respectively. / PhD (Greek), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research project concerns itself with the three disputed passages of Christian import as preserved in extant manuscripts of the AJ (Ἰουδαϊκὴ Ἀρχαιολογία a.k.a. Antiquitates Judaicae), viz.: AJ, XVIII, 3, 3 / 63 (i.e. the so-called Testimonium Flavianum), AJ, XVIII, 5, 2 / 116 -119 (i.e. the references to John the Baptist) and AJ, XX, 9, 1 / 200 - 203 (i.e. the references to James the brother of Jesus). Within the context of contemporary historicity research outcomes, and employing an interpretist/constructivist episteme, a series of critical analyses was undertaken aimed at verifying to what degree the three passages in question may be deemed to be in any way authentic and/or historically reliable. The result of the investigation proves beyond reasonable doubt that no reliable extra-biblical/scriptural accounts exist to support the historical existence of, inter alia, Jesus of Nazareth, James the Just or John the Baptist. Certainly, no such accounts ever appeared in Josephus’ original texts. Furthermore, and most importantly, the three passages are confirmed to be total forgeries initiated in the first four centuries of the Common Era most likely by Origen and Eusebius respectively. / PhD (Greek), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Trilogy Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI from the perspective of fundamental theology In this thesis, the author aims to finding interesting topics in the trilogy, Jesus of Nazareth of Pope Benedict XVI and their contribution to fundamental theology. The author takes into account the other sources from theological work of Joseph Ratzinger and his production as Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI. Work represents the view of Joseph Ratzinger on the use of empirical methods, particularly the historical-critical method in the study of the Scripture, the historical credibility of the Gospel of John and his authorship and the internal process of the text in Church. The thesis also discusses the benefits of the Gospel of John for internal knowledge of Jesus Christ and draws conclusions from the empirical reductionism for understanding Jesus' divinity. The author then discusses the topic of truth and love as the possibility of recognizing their source in God. Marginally mentions the role of the Virgin Mary and her helping to the study of Scripture and deepen relations between Christians and Christ.

Trilogy Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI from the perspective of fundamental theology In this thesis, the author aims to finding interesting topics in the trilogy, Jesus of Nazareth of Pope Benedict XVI and their contribution to fundamental theology. The author takes into account the other sources from theological work of Joseph Ratzinger and his production as Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI. Work represents the view of Joseph Ratzinger on the use of empirical methods, particularly the historical-critical method in the study of the Scripture, the historical credibility of the Gospel of John and his authorship and the internal process of the text in Church. The thesis also discusses the benefits of the Gospel of John for internal knowledge of Jesus Christ and draws conclusions from the empirical reductionism for understanding Jesus' divinity. The author then discusses the topic of truth and love as the possibility of recognizing their source in God. Marginally mentions the role of the Virgin Mary and her helping to the study of Scripture and deepen relations between Christians and Christ.

[pt] A dissertação estuda, primeiramente, a interpelação da psicanálise à fé cristã, conforme o psicanalista e teólogo espanhol Domínguez Morano. É apresentado o conflito gerador da crítica à religião: o ser humano objetiva a religião, no intuito de aplacar a angústia da culpa ou de satisfazer sua necessidade de consolo e proteção. O resultado é a idéia do Deus da onipotência infantil. Num segundo momento, e já no campo da reflexão teológica, procura-se identificar em que consiste a relação adulta com o Deus de Jesus de Nazaré, a partir da experiência vivida por Ele. A reflexão está fundamentada no pensamento do mesmo Domínguez Morano, enriquecido com a contribuição de outros teólogos da atualidade que estudam a temática. Finalmente, são apresentadas algumas pistas, a serviço da vida cristã e da pastoral, com a intenção de colaborar na superação do egocentrismo religioso e na vivência da abertura ao Deus desvelado por Jesus. / [en] The text discusses, firstly, the claim of psychoanalysis unto the Christian faith, as per the Spanish psychoanalyst and theologist Domínguez Morano. The generating conflict of the criticism of religion is presented: the human being clings to religion aiming to ease the anguish from guilt or to fill the need for protection and solace. The result is the God of childish omnipotence. Secondly, already within the field of theological reflexion, the attempt is to identify the actual meaning of the adult relationship with the God of Jesus of Nazareth, as from the experience lived by Him. The reflexion is based upon the thoughts of the same Domínguez Morano, enlightened by the contribution of other contemporary theologists who study the subject. Lastly, a few clues are presented to the service of the Christian life and of the pastoral, with the objective of overcoming the religious egotism and in the actual living of the individual opening to the God by Jesus revealed.

[pt] A presente dissertação intitulada: O silêncio em Jesus de Nazaré: redescobrindo o Deus silencioso para o discipulado hoje foi desenvolvida com o objetivo de descobrir o significado do silêncio na vida de Jesus, para então redescobrir uma nova imagem de Deus, a partir do silêncio, à ser aplicada na dinâmica do discipulado hoje. A luz do referencial bibliográfico levantado percebeu-se que as igrejas precisam retornar a prática do silêncio nas suas mais variadas formas de vivê-lo para redescobrir o Deus silencioso de Jesus, porque Jesus pediu silêncio, respondeu com silêncio e ouviu a resposta silenciosa de Deus em sua vida, ensinando que assim deve ser na vida do seu discípulo. / [en] This dissertation, titled: The Silence in Jesus of Nazareth: rediscovering the silent God for discipleship today was developed aiming to understand the meaning of silence in Jesus life, so one can discover a new image of God, based on silence, one that can be applied in the dynamics of discipleship today. Reviewing the bibliographic references one can realize that Christian Churches need to return to the practice of silence in all different forms of living it therefore rediscovering the silent God of Jesus, and why Jesus asked for silence, answered with silence and listened to the muted response of God in his life, demonstrating that this must be the way in his disciple s life.

PhDr. Jaroslav Mrňa, Ph.D. Katolická teologie Název diplomové práce v anglickém jazyce: Apostle Philip, one of the Twelve. Abstrakt v anglickém jazyce: The life story of Jesus' disciple Philip is still mysterious for our knowledge, for in sources his person appears scarcely as an individual but mostly as a part of the community of the Twelve. Diploma Thesis Apostle Philip, one of the Twelve, deals with the life and mission of the Apostle Philip, as it is attested especially by canonical biblical sources. Besides an overview of the occurrence of the name Philip in the biblical and non-biblical sources, the work offers a literary and linguistic analysis of relevant pericopes from the synoptic gospels, the Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles, whose conclusions serve to detailed historical and theological interpretation of individual texts, focusing on topics related in particular to the origin, the mission, the mentality, the social status and the action of the Apostle Philip within the Circle of the Twelve. Attention of diploma thesis is also paid to the presence of this figure in non-biblical sources and also to his connection with the person of the same name, the deacon-evangelist Philip.

The thesis "Jesus Cleansing the Jerusalem Temple: History and Theological Accents in Individual Gospels" deals with the event described by all four canonical Gospels. The paper describes the appearance of the Jerusalem Temple in Jesus' time and selected aspects of its spiritual, political, economic and sociological role in the life of the Jewish population of Palestine in the 1st century AD. The author notices the selected negative circumstances that could have led Jesus of Nazareth to enter the Jerusalem temple with the intention of disrupting the order and returning the Temple to its original purpose. The author pays great attention to evidence to confirm the theory that the "event" in the Temple occurred twice. One at the beginning of Jesus' public activity (described in the Gospel according to John) and once at the end (described in synoptics). Further, the author pays attention to the arguments in support of the historicity of the described events. Keywords Jesus of Nazareth, Jerusalem Temple, Gospel, Historicity, Cleansing of the Temple

La purification est une métaphore désignant le moteur de la philosophie de la religion de Hegel. Elle est d’abord à l’œuvre dans la création de la Nature qui se consume pour produire la conscience de soi divine à travers l'esprit humain. En second lieu, elle s’opère dans l’objectivation des productions spirituelles de l’homme qui sont purifiées jusqu'à ce que l’Esprit soit auprès de soi dans le christianisme. La troisième purification est morale et trouve son fondement dans la Genèse, le judaïsme étant le premier à avoir identifié l'unité des natures humaine et divine. Le mythe témoignera également de la culpabilité en tant que l'homme n'exprime pas immédiatement sa divinité, mais sa finitude. La réalisation du divin impliquera donc la purification de la naturalité au profit de la substantialité. Le christianisme explicitera cette tâche par l’héroïsme de Jésus et cet héroïsme se perpétuera jusqu’à ce qu’émergent un individualisme moderne et une religion assurant la cohésion sociale : le protestantisme luthérien. Cet individualisme sera toutefois défectueux puisqu’il produira éventuellement davantage d’égoïsme que de réconciliation, ce qui donnera lieu à certaines critiques de l’analyse hégélienne du christianisme. En effet, Hegel croit toujours que la vitalité religieuse est nécessaire au fonctionnement de l’État, bien qu’elle soit dorénavant incapable de diffuser les sentiments de culpabilité et de responsabilité dans le corps social. Néanmoins, comme les valeurs du christianisme ont été épurées de leur contingence en passant dans les mœurs et dans l’État, il s’avérera que le corps social peut se passer d’une tradition religieuse vivante / Purification is what moves the content of Hegel’s philosophy of religion. It is first active in the creation of Nature, which consumes itself in order to liberate the divine self-consciousness through human spirit. Secondly, it is active in the process of the objectivation of human spiritual productions, which are purified until Spirit comes to know itself in the world. The third form of purification is moral and gets its theoretical foundation in the Genesis. According to Hegel, Judaism was the first belief system to identify the unity between divine and human natures; however, the myth is also about the birth of guilt as man does not immediately express his divinity, but his finiteness. As such, the divine process implies purification from naturality in favour of substantiality. Christianity will explicit this task through Jesus’s heroism and heroism in general will maintain itself until the rise of modern individualism and the rise of a religion capable of producing social cohesion—Lutheran Protestantism. However, individualism will eventually show its defectiveness since it will create more egoism than reconciliation. This problem will be the opportunity to criticize Hegel’s analysis of Christianity. Indeed, it seems that Hegel came to believe that religious vitality was necessary to the State's proper functioning, even though Christianity is no longer capable of creating guilt and responsibility by itself. Nevertheless, as Christian values are now purified forms their contingencies and are now recuperated by customs and the State, it appears that society can now function without such a tradition.

The thesis deals with the message of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, which is crucial for Christianity and its relevant hermeneutical approach. In the first chapter we analyze the contemporary hermeneutical context of the message within the Hellenistic and Hebrew cultures. In the second chapter we present an analysis of pre-Pauline faith confessions, Paul's texts and synoptic Gospels focused on targeted formulating of the message for respective communities and their cultural background. The last chapter wants to present some contemporary relevant hermeneutical approaches to this message. One of them could be the so called mythmaking, which emphasizes the necessity of permanent updating of accepted opinions, messages and realities. We can observe the mythmaking process already with the New Testament authors and each and also our generation is expected to bring the message about the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth to future generations in a relevant way. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)