The essay draws on Angela Standhartingers article ”Frauen in Mahlgemeinschaften. Diskurs und Wirklichkeit einer antiken, frühjüdischen und frühchristlichen Mahlpraxis” which examines the representation of women in the ancient tradition of symposia. This thesis studies how Luke and Paul represent women at The Last Supper τὸ πάσχα and the Lord’s Supper κυριακὸν δεῖπνον, and therefore focusses on the pericopes Luke 22:7-30 as well as 1 Cor. 11. Even though these biblical texts are written by men from an androcentric perspective, they show spaces - gaps which are opposed to what the texts seem to convey. Thus, it is possible to break through the patriarchal discourse to render women visible in the texts.   I argue that Luke and Paul represent women in their roles and positions both out of their personal experiences and social ideology. Yet, reflecting on a Christan social order, there can be noticed an earthly approach, relating to the cultural order, in Luke 22:7-30 in distinction from a cosmic approach in 1 Cor. 11.

With the rising popularity of Mary's mother, St. Anne, Birth of the Virgin images proliferated at the beginning of the sixteenth century. However, these images have not been analyzed in great depth by any previous art historical scholarship. This thesis indicates the broader significance of these images by considering Birth of the Virgin compositions by Jan de Beer, Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, and Adriaen van Overbeke. First, this thesis considers how these artists derived iconography from Robert Campin to connect Mary's nativity to the birth of her son. Thus, the artists invite the viewer to witness the significance and purity of both babies. Next, I argue that the sacrificial imagery of these panels cultivates a sacerdotal space, in which midwives become pseudo-priests and everyday objects are conflated with ritual material culture. These panels, which draw upon Old and New Testament covenants, present Mary as co-sacrifice, indicating a sixteenth-century expansion of the Virgin's co-redemptive role alongside Christ. The paintings emphasize the beginnings of the Virgin's life to explore the life-giving quality of mankind's redemption. Finally, I explore the viewership possibilities of these paintings for a lay audience, who could interpret their own experiences with birth through these images. Many of the objects in the artworks bear similarities not only to priestly objects but also to the material culture associated with birth. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the important role that Birth of the Virgin images played in interpreting the role of the Virgin Mary and her mother Anne in increasingly affective piety. The subject matter was a way to explore the doctrinal implications of Mary's sacrificial, life-giving power even as it invited viewers to frame their own day-to-day experiences with childbirth in more religious terms.

This study aims to show all known knowledge of singing in the earliest days of the biblical New Testament. The practices of the early Christian church in respect to singing are traced during the period directly following that covered by the New Testament and carried forward to around the year 500 A.D. The study aims to learn, insofar as available sources permit, all that we may know today of singing in the earliest days of the New Testament Church. Both Old and New Testaments will be searched for all references to song, and particular attention will be directed to the meaning of St. Paul's reference to "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" in an effort to determine the meaning of these three items.

The several versions and revisions of the Bible in existence precipitate questions concerning the reliability of many Biblical texts. Each of these versions has an amount of variation from the others, yet all were done my men of accepted scholarship.Joseph Smith also made a Bible revision, or as he termed it, a "translation," using a King James Version printed in 1828 as the basis. This amended King James Version, although not fully completed, has been published under the title of the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures, by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.This thesis is the result of a study to determine the extent and the significance of many of the textual differences that exist between the four gospels of the King James Version and the corresponding books of the Inspired Version. Comparison was made between a King James Version printed in 1824 (since it was the nearest that the writer could obtain to that used by Joseph Smith) and an Inspired Version printed in 1927.

This thesis analyzes additions to the gospels in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. To assess the appropriateness of the JST additions, the thesis examines Joseph Smith's additions to verify whether they parallel the approaches of the original gospel writers to their audiences. There is strong indication that material added to the King James Version by the Joseph Smith Translation is consistent with the approaches of the original gospels to their audiences. Chapter one shows that the JST Matthew, like the KJV Matthew, is concerned with showing that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy. Chapter two finds that JST Mark is as generic in its approach and even more fast-paced than the KJV Mark. In chapter three, Joseph Smith's translation of Luke extends Luke's stress on parables and women's issues. Chapter four demonstrates that JST John emphasizes John's central concern, the primacy of Jesus, even more emphatically than the KJV John.

[pt] A presente tese tem como finalidade realizar um estudo teológico-pastoral da Igreja Batista Memorial de Alphaville no contexto da missão na cidade. A pesquisa descreve elementos caracteristicos do objeto de pesquisa e traz uma descrição da eclesiologia neotestamentária que serve de criteriologia para que se analise o objeto pesquisado. O atual trabalho é composto por cinco capítulos. O primeiro deles contém aspectos introdutórios. O segundo é de natureza narrativa, onde descrevemos o objeto de estudo, apresentando as suas características essenciais e experiências históricas. O terceiro traz uma exposição da eclesiologia da Igreja do Novo Testamento e tem por objetivo examinar a eclesiologia fundante. O quarto capítulo é uma análise crítica de alguns elementos notórios da Igreja Batista Memorial de Alphaville realizada a partir da experiência eclesial fundante vivida pelas igrejas locais do Novo Testamento. No quinto e último capítulo é apresentada uma conclusão baseada nas informações e reflexões dos capítulos anteriores. / [en] The present thesis aims to carry out a theological-pastoral study of the Memo-rial Baptist Church of Alphaville in the context of mission in the city. The research describes characteristic elements of the research object and provides a description of the New Testament ecclesiology that serves as a criteriology to analyze the object researched. The present work consists of five chapters. The first of them contains introductory aspects. The second is narrative in nature, where we describe the object of study, presenting its essential characteristics and historical experiences. The third brings an exposure of the ecclesiology of the New Testament Church and aims to examine founding ecclesiology. The fourth chapter is a critical analysis of some char-acteristic elements of the Alphaville Memorial Baptist Church carried out from the founding ecclesial experience lived by the local New Testament churches. In the fifth and final chapter a conclusion is presented based on the information and reflections of the previous chapters.

Populärkultur uppstår inte i ett vakuum. Det är inte konstigt att västerländsk populärkultur hämtar inspiration från Bibeln och västerländsk kristen kultur. Bokserien om Harry Potter tycks vara ett sådant exempel. Jag är intresserad av det intertextuella mötet mellan Harry Potter-böckerna och Bibeln. Detta är ett relevant ämne att studera inom bibelvetenskapen då intertextualitet är tolkning i flera led och alltså påverkar vår läsning av såväl Bibeln som skönlitteratur. Som Lina Sjöberg visar kan intertextuella studier mellan Bibeln och skönlitteratur vara ett sätt att exegetiskt arbeta med mellanmänskliga aspekter av bibelberättelser som i sin tur plockats upp av skönlitteraturen genom intertextuella referenser.1 Utifrån bibelvetarens uppgift att tolka och förstå Bibelns texter blir intertextuella studier en framkomlig väg bland flera.2Harry Potter är en bästsäljande bokserie skriven av den brittiske författaren J.K. Rowling.3 Bokserien har filmatiserats och även filmerna är mycket populära. Det har skapats en fandom4 kring Harry Potter. Fansen kallas för ”Potterheads”5 och J.K. Rowling har skapat plattformen ”Pottermore” som är en nöjessite, nyhetssite och online-butik för allt Potter-relaterat.6 Det genomslag Harry Potter har gjort gör serien till ett intressant ämne för intertextuella studier. Många älskar bokserien och även de som inte läst böckerna känner ofta till handlingen i viss utsträckning.

Jesus as portrayed in the Gospel of Mark is someone who would resonate with readers of Harry Potter because of his words and acts of resistance and justice. However, for many of them there are obstacles to even reading the Markan Gospel. Some of them are unfavourable perceptions of Christianity and the Bible. Others are merely uninterested or are unfamiliar with what the Markan story really is. The purpose of this study is to explore how Mark can be read using a popular culture reading lens, like the Harry Potter literature, to expand the horizons of the Harry Potter audience. An examination of the social and historical background will provide a first-century context of resistance to oppression. Using the Harry Potter lens, I will juxtapose that text with the Gospel of Mark as a whole to show that there is a pattern of resistance enacted by Jesus throughout. I will then carry out an exegetical analysis of Mark 10:32 45, again juxtaposing it with the Harry Potter text. The intertextual connections drawn from this analysis will be considered in terms of how they can impact the Harry Potter audience and provide them with new horizons. This project will therefore be given a reading strategy to help them read Mark 10:32 45 through the lens of the Harry Potter novels. This lens allows the reader to both transform and be transformed by the Markan text and will highlight how Jesus acts to resist and subvert the role of tyrannical rule in the lives of his followers, much like the resistance and subversion seen in the story of Harry Potter.

No description available.

<p>In this study I situate socio-historically the adoption of the term <em>ekklēsia</em> as a permanent collective identity by early Christ-followers, particularly Pauline ones. I contribute to at least four areas of <em>ekklēsia</em> research. First, my examination of almost 1900 inscriptional occurrences of the word <em>ekklēsia</em> indicates a lack of evidence for a non-civic association self-identifying collectively as an <em>ekklēsia</em>. Second, I develop the preliminary observation by Runesson, Binder, and Olsson (2008) that <em>ekklēsia</em> can refer either to a gathering of Jews or to the self-designation of a Jewish community, i.e., that <em>ekklēsia</em> is one among several terms that can be translated into English as “synagogue.” This problematizes, from an institutional perspective, suggestions common in scholarship that Paul was “parting ways” with Judaism(s), ‘Jewishness,’ or Jewish organizational forms. Third, given both that non-Jewish Christ-followers could not be designated using the ethno-religious term “Israel” and that <em>ekklēsia</em> is a Jewish synagogue term, Paul’s designation of his multi-ethnic communities as <em>ekklēsiai</em> allowed gentiles qua gentiles to share with Torah observant Jews qua Jews in God’s salvation history with Israel. <em>Ekklēsia</em>, thus, does not indicate an inherently supersessionist identity for communities designated by this term. Fourth, Paul’s adoption of a political identity (civic <em>ekklēsia</em>) for his communities need not imply his promotion of counter-imperial civic ideology. Greek literary (e.g., Plutarch) and inscriptional evidence suggests that if an Imperial period non-civic group (e.g., voluntary association) self-designated as an <em>ekklēsia</em>, it could have been perceived as a positive, rather than as an anti-Roman, participant in society.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)