Ēriks Ešenvalds is an early twenty-first century composer who has been commissioned to write works for some of the most noteworthy ensembles in the world. Having written over 100 compositions to date, 72 of which are choral pieces, Ešenvalds is quickly becoming one of the most prolific and significant composers of his time. He currently works as a full-time composer out of Riga, Latvia. Ešenvalds’s choral works are primarily unaccompanied, while some include brass band, saxophone quartet, percussion, or orchestral accompaniment. Textures vary from three to twelve voice parts. His oratorio Passion and Resurrection (2005), written for soprano solo, SATB quartet, SATB chorus, SS soli, and strings, is an amalgamation of compositional techniques drawn from all eras of music history. This project identifies characteristics of Roman Catholic and Byzantine chant that are imitated throughout Passion and Resurrection. A succinct history of both styles is presented along with a detailing of Ešenvalds’s compositional technique and an overview of his oratorio. Aspects of form, melody, text, rhythm, harmony, and texture present in each movement are also discussed. This study provides conductors with insight into the chant-like aspects of Ešenvalds’s work and any influences on performance. Listings of notable Passion settings and Ešenvalds’s choral output are also included.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2001.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 2009. / Includes abstract. Bibliography: leaves 154-164.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) genes have been irrefutably linked to the osmotic stress response since their initial discovery in maturing cotton seeds. They have since been reported from a multitude of other organism where their occurrence is often associated with general responses to abiotic stress. Many studies have been conducted using LEA genes in over expression strategies to improve abiotic stress resistance. Of the known classes of LEAs, the group 1 LEAs have been widely reported, in plants, to only occur in seeds during late stages of development. Their expression coincides with the seeds acquisition of desiccation tolerance. In this thesis we present a group 1 LEA isolated from the desiccated vegetative tissues (leaves) of the resurrection plant Xerophyta humilis. Using E.coli and Arabidopsis we attempted to use XhLEA to improve salt and water deficit stress-responses, respectively. To this end we conducted soil-drought trials on two independent transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing XhLEA under a drought inducible-promoter and monitored their responses as compared to untransformed WT (Col-0 ) controls. Solid substrate E.coli growth assays and liquid media growth curves under both stress and unstressed conditions were conducted. We found no obvious beneficial effect through the expression of XhLEA in either of the organisms. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar

The grammar of the death-resurrection scene points forward toward a literary reading based on the compositional structure of the words themselves as well as their exact placement in the pericope. A literary reading of a text incorporates an historical-grammatical exegesis and a presumed theological significance by means of architectonic interpretive keys that both construct and relate different phenomena toward the intended theological meaning. The architectural process of construction and relation (both building and connecting) becomes the hermeneutical key to understanding seemingly irreconcilable texts with corresponding theological ideas. J. W. Wenham’s seminal article became the impetus for a shift in interpretation of Matthew 27:51-54 by various theologians who separated the first three portents from the latter two resulting in a displacement of the pericope in the Matthean narrative. Questions emerging from this practice rendered the text all but un-interpretable as to its theological meaning. In the contemporary context, the resulting interpretive dichotomy has obscured the function and meaning of the pericope and established two distinct and opposing readings. Matthew 27:51-54 is the crux interpretum enabling an examination of corresponding resurrection texts (both prophetic and apostolic) that provide interpretive clues toward a resolution between the interpretive polarities. Lexical thought connections compared with Matthew 28:1-15 reveal a parallelism whereby Matthew emphasizes the death-resurrection scene of Jesus as regulative for the resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27:52b-53. Ezekiel 37:1-14 provides the primary prophetic witness for which the resurrection of the saints is foreshadowed and, thereby, partially fulfilled in Matthew 27:52b-53. Examination of each passivum divinum is connected by a coordinating conjunction that manifests the entire pericope as one textual hinge in the death-resurrection scene. Matthew 27:52b-53 is a yet another sign bearing theological ramifications at Jesus’ cross-death. As such, it becomes the lens whereby the cumulative theological effect of the pericope is constructed. Each portent, therefore, builds toward a theological crescendo evidenced by the centurion’s confession. The events of the text are transposed to broader antinomous theological realities taking place simultaneously. Identification of Jesus as the Son of God by the soldiers attending to the crucifixion bears Christological import whereby he becomes the focus for future missiological endeavors as evidenced by the eschatological realities of the velum scissum and the resurrection of the sleeping saints in this pericope.

This study examines the centrality of the body in the apostle Paul's resurrection ideals. It is argued that Paul holds to a non-propositional understanding of resurrection that is grounded in recurrent patterns of human embodiment. Such an assertion stands in stark contrast to the pervading scholarly consensus, which is exceedingly cognicentric in its outlook and premised on an untenable opposition of body and mind. In contrast to this consensus, which disembodies resurrection, the present study demonstrates the extent to which Paul's resurrection ideals are somatically grounded. Working within a theoretical matrix that integrates the study of cognition and culture, this study utilises methodologies drawn from cognitive linguistics. Three theoretical concepts are particularly elaborated in relation to Paul: (1) Mark Johnson's understanding of image schemata, (2) George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's understanding of conceptual metaphor, and (3) Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner's understanding of conceptual blending. These three theoretical concepts are utilised in concert with one another and thus constitute this study's methodological apparatus. After demonstrating the inherent cognicentrism of standard scholarly approaches (ch. 1), this study examines four aspects in which resurrection can be seen as an embodied concept. Chapter 2 establishes a conceptual framework in which resurrection texts can be both identified and interpreted. It is argued that the concept of RESURRECTION is necessarily abstract and metaphorical in nature, though fundamentally grounded in recurrent patterns of human embodiment. In ch. 3 attention is directed to Paul's transformation metaphors and notions of both dualism and monism in the apostle's thought. It is argued that Paul works within a dualistic framework characterised not by opposition (e.g., body vs. soul) but rather by tensive integration (e.g., the embodied soul). Building on this assertion, in ch. 4 we examine the extent to which Paul understands resurrection as a present (and not merely future) experience. Critically assessing the apostle's eschatological outlook, this chapter argues that the somatic interior functions as the location of present resurrection. In ch. 5 this experience of present resurrection is further elaborated in light of Paul's broader participationist ideals. It is demonstrated that Paul's eschatology fosters a specific kind of resurrection experience in the present, one that is mapped onto the human body itself and elaborated via an in-out transformative interplay. Finally, ch. 6 offers a synthesis of the argument, scholarly contribution, and suggested avenues for further research.

Dale Allison refers to the historical question pertaining to Jesus’ resurrection as “the prize puzzle of New Testament research.” More than 2,500 journal articles and books have been written on the subject since 1975. In this dissertation, I investigate the question while providing unprecedented interaction with the literature of professional historians outside of the community of biblical scholars on both hermeneutical and methodological considerations. Chapter one is devoted to discussions pertaining to the philosophy of history and historical method, such as the extent to which the past is knowable, how historians gain a knowledge of it, the impact biases have on investigations and steps that may assist historians in minimizing their biases, the role a consensus should or should not play in historical investigations, who shoulders the burden of proof, and the point at which a historian is warranted in declaring that a historical question has been solved. I seek to determine how historians outside of the community of biblical scholars generally proceed in their investigations involving non-religious matters and establish a similar approach for proceeding in my investigation of the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection. In chapter two, I address objections to the investigation of miracle-claims by historians from a number of prominent scholars. My conclusion is that their objections warrant that extra caution should be taken by historians investigating miracle claims but are ill-founded in terms of prohibiting a historical investigation of Jesus’ resurrection. Historians must identify the relevant sources from which they will mine data for their investigations. In chapter three, I survey the primary literature relevant to our investigation and rate them according to their value to an investigation pertaining to Jesus’ resurrection. I limit this survey to sources that mention the death and resurrection of Jesus and that were written within two hundred years of Jesus’ death. I then rate each according to the likelihood that it contains data pertaining to Jesus’ death and resurrection that go back to the earliest Christians, and identify the sources most promising for the present investigation. In chapter four, I mine through this most promising material and form a collection of relevant facts that are so strongly evidenced that they enjoy a heterogeneous and nearly universal consensus granting them. These comprise our historical bedrock upon which all hypotheses pertaining to Jesus’ fate must be built. In chapter five, I apply the methodological considerations discussed in chapter one and weigh six hypotheses largely representative of those being offered in the beginning of the twenty-first century pertaining to the question of the resurrection of Jesus. I conclude that the hypothesis that Jesus rose from the dead is not only the best explanation of the relevant historical bedrock, it outdistances its competitors by a significant margin and meets the criteria for awarding historicity. Of course, this conclusion is provisional, since future discoveries may require its revision or abandonment. It also makes no assertions pertaining to the nature of Jesus’ resurrection body nor claims to address the question of the cause of Jesus’ resurrection. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

In 1 Peter and Philippians Christology motivates the ethical exhortation of their readers. 1 Peter uses Christology as motivation both for Soteriology and ethical exhortation, although Peter implements Christology in his Soteriology only to remind his reader of their new identity as members of the family of God through Christ’s death and resurrection (1 Pet 13-17; 2:1-3). It caused them to suffer from the same society with its social and religious norms in which they previously lived, and which turned hostile towards them after their converson. As believers, though, their life should no longer conform to the society of their pagan neighbours. They have thus unexpectedly encountered verbial abuse and physical suffering from their circumstances. The readers of Peter and Paul suffered from opponents from outside the congregation (1 Pet 2:18-20; 3:13-17; Phil 1:27-30; 2:12-18), from conflicts within the community (Phil 2:1-5), as well as from false teaching directed against Paul’s gospel (Phil 3). To resolve the matters within community and to exhort their readers to stand firm in their faith in Christ Jesus, both Peter and Paul applied Christology to guide their readers on how to conduct their life as believers in their society. Believers are called to follow in the footsteps of Christ, not merely to start the adventure of Christian living, but to persevere up to the end, to the glory of God (cf. Mtt 24:13&Lk 21:19). In 1 Peter, the imperative for ethical exhortative motivation are followed by the indicative of its Christology as motivation: ethical exhortation (vv 13-17) followed by Christology (1:18-21); ethical exhortation (vv 1-3) followed by Christology as example of suffering and exaltation, as well as the foundation of spiritual community of the believers(2:4-8); ethical exhortation of domestic servants (vv 18-21) followed by Christology (vv 22-25); ethical exhortation (vv 13-17) followed by Christology (vv 18-22). In Philippians Christology stands in the center (Phil 2:6-11) as foundation of three ethical exhortations: to stand firm in their faith in Christ Jesus amidst hostile circumstances (1:27-30), to resolve conflicts among themselves (2:1-5), and to work out their salvation by trusting in God (2:12-18). In addition Paul exhorted his readers to imitated Christ, as well as himself, since his eager and absolute goal is to know Christ, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, as stated in Phil 2:6-11, and to rejoice in the Lord. Both Peter and Paul’s Christology have a soteriological perspective, but the Christology of both 1 Peter and Philippians focuses on the ethical motivation of their readers, to confirm their faith in Christ Jesus in their unstable circumstances. / Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / PhD / unrestricted

Why has the resurrection once again become the centre point of a new storm brewing in both popular and academic culture? Because of the combination of a realisation of death, and of human beings’ need to interpret its (death’s) mysteries; a question innate to the human experience. In a fear-filled world where war, terrorism, and economic collapse bring the question of death (and the afterlife) to the fore, people are asking – perhaps more than ever – what happens after we die. This popular fascination with the end, with death, and with what (if anything) lies beyond it, has also influenced the theme and the direction of academic work in the theological field. For this reason an informed analysis of the resurrection debate has become necessary – a process of analysing the different strata of understanding as it relates to current resurrection research. Any consideration given to gender or power, birth or burial, money or food is made in an effort to situate the debates being studied. Could a reason for these still varied conclusions on the subject be that those writing on it are not equipped for the task of analysing and interpreting history and historical method? In order to be able to begin answering this question, one of this study's main objectives is to learn and apply the approach of historians – outside of the community of Biblical scholars – to the question of whether Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead; thus providing interaction with philosophers of history related to hermeneutical and methodological considerations. The method proposed here is a combination of historiography and an ethics of understanding, with the use of Correspondence theory (in which history is described as knowable, and some hypotheses as truer than others in a correspondence sense). This study wants to address both the different questions and analyses of the debate by asking: What if we see things differently? What if we were to ask a different set of questions? In order for this to be possible, we need to develop an ethics of interpretation – instead of asking the expected questions, this study aims to ask: What interests and frameworks inform the questions we ask and the way in which we interpret our sources? How does scholarship echo (and even participate in) contemporary public discourses about Christian identity? These questions will be attended to through three intersecting practices – critical reflexivity, complemented by the use of the two related practices of textual re-reading and public debate. However, these are not methodical steps in a linear progression, they are mutually interacting practices that draw on each other; raising new possibilities for the way in which we historically reconstruct the Jesus movement, allowing us to enter into the public debate about Jesus and eschatology in a way that takes the ethical possibilities and consequences of our reconstructions of Christian origins and identity seriously. For, though fragmentary and broken human words may be, they nevertheless possess a capacity to function as the medium through which God is able to disclose himself. Copyright / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

When historical Jesus’ scholar, John Dominic Crossan, stated that Jesus’ resurrection appearances were apparitions and not physical appearances, was it possible to test this conclusion? To what degree are a scholar’s conclusions affected by his presuppositions? Crossan’s definition of history was that it ‘is the past reconstructed interactively by the present through argued evidence in public discourse’ (Crossan 1999:3). The outworking of this view was that the New Testament Gospels are regarded as megaparables, fictitious creations. His application of this view was, ‘Emmaus never happened. Emmaus always happens’ (Crossan 2012:5). A pattern emerged in which Crossan stated that he was using a method of postmodern interactivism (Crossan 1998a:42). But how is this discerned and articulated with as objective a methodology as possible? What do presuppositions of postmodern, reconstructive, interactivism do to Crossan’s conclusions regarding Jesus’ resurrection appearances? Here the parameters were restricted to literary and historical dimensions of Crossan’s speech acts. The problem investigated was to seek to identify Crossan’s presuppositions and methods in his study of the resurrection of Jesus to determine if they were valid or not when the Gospel evidence on the resurrection was considered. A presupposition-hypothesis method was used to test for verification or falsification, using a critical realist epistemology. A research gap indicated a need for a more objective model to isolate a researcher’s presuppositions of Jesus’ resurrection. The Beaver and Geurts framework (2011) was chosen that led to probability and not certainty about the content of presuppositions. Presuppositional ‘triggers’ were identified from Crossan’s resurrection data. The hypothesis tested was: J D Crossan's presuppositions and methods, in his study of the resurrection of Jesus, are not valid when the Gospel evidence on the resurrection is taken into consideration. Twenty-three presuppositions were discovered and these were developed into 18 hypotheses, three of which were tested: Hypothesis 9: The divine manifestation of Christianity for a postmodern world is deconstruction (his term is reconstruction) and it is not done once for all, but is reinterpreted for each generation’s issues. It was found that reconstruction mutilates the voice of the author by imposing an a priori metaphorical dogmatism on the text. Crossan’s postmodern, reconstructive, interactive hermeneutic was shipwrecked on the ‘rocks’ of contradiction, inconsistency and a self-defeating methodology. Hypothesis 10: The New Testament resurrection narratives are not historical documents. Crossan defined history as a postmodern reconstructionist and reached postmodern, reconstructive conclusions, thus using a question begging logical fallacy. He also did not apply this methodology consistently. Hypothesis 12: It does not matter what a person believes about whether Jesus’ tomb was empty or not; the importance is its meaning, which is independent of factuality. Crossan imposed his own understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection through his use of free play, relativistic, multivalent, postmodern, nonsupernatural stratagem on the text. Thus, Crossan’s idiosyncratic meanings replaced objective, hermeneutical testing of the text of Scripture. Therefore this dissertation’s hypothesis was verified. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / New Testament Studies / PhD / Unrestricted