D. Litt. et Phil. / While partial preterism has not been a dominant interpretive method among the four traditional ways of interpreting the Book of Revelation, namely, preterism, historicism, futurism, and idealism, it seems to be the most convincing interpretation. The problem concerning this work derives from the two parallel arguments in partial preterism. On the one hand, the advocates of consistent partial preterism argue that the whole Book of Revelation including chapters 12-13 concerns God's judgment on the apostate Jerusalem. On the other hand, according to transitional partial preterism, a significant turning point comes in these two chapters in that in Rev. 12-13 John introduces God's judgment on Rome. To solve this problem and to suggest a proposed solution, the following are respectively investigated: historical survey of the interpretation of the Book of Revelation; the critical evaluation of the two arguments of partial preterism; a probe into the socio-historical and literary aspects of Rev. 12-13; intratextuality of Rev. 12-13; intertextuality of John and his Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian audiences; and a proposed partial preterism of Rev. 14-22. The intertextuality of John's receptive production in terms of the NT, the OT and noncanonical intertexts is relevant to God's judgment of Rome as well as that of Jerusalem. For this reason, the intertextuality of the seven churches' productive reception plays a crucial role in determining the (partial preterist) meaning of Rev. 12-13 in particular, and of Revelation as a whole. This does not of necessity imply that the locus of meaning is in the audience, but that the communicative interaction among the author, the text and the audience decides the meaning. The partial preterist meaning of Revelation is not unlimitedly multiple but determinately controlled in that the intertextuality of John and his audience manifests only two choices: God's judgment on Rome and Jerusalem. With consistent partial preterism, John provides the Jewish Christians with a direct solution, but with transitional partial preterism, he provides a direct solution for the Gentile Christians. Therefore, both solutions function complementarily and not contradictorily. It is reasonable to conclude that, on the one hand, the Jewish Christian audiences, who emigrated to Asia Minor in AD 66 and were converted by Paul's Ephesian mission in AD 52, were persecuted especially by the heretical Jews. Therefore, using the OT and NT knowledge they might have interpreted Rev. 12 onward (and maybe Rev. 4-11 too) in terms of God's judgment on the apostate Jews. The removal of the Jewish temple was absolutely necessary to relieve the stress on the first century Christians of persecution from the Jews. The annihilation of the Jewish system therefore removed the most formidable antagonist of the gospel and brought rest and relief to suffering Christians. On the other hand, the Gentile Christian audiences, who were acquainted with the pagan sources and daily experienced the Roman persecution, were not severely persecuted by the infidelic Jews and interpreted Rev. 12 onward (and maybe Rev. 4-11 too) in the light of God's judgment on Rome. It can be deduced that John's Jewish and Gentile audiences have the same form of locution and the same type of illocution in Rev. 12-13. But the perlocutionary act by which John achieves certain intended effects in his audiences in addition to those achieved by the illocutionary act is different to both the Jewish and Gentile audiences. In short, it is not a matter of 'either ... or' but 'both ... and'. Therefore, the two lines of partial preterism do not exclude each other but should be taken into account conjointly.

A favorite poet, a strange woman on the beach, pictures I love to look at. Back yard voyeurism, some thoughts on portraiture and why I couldn’t be a photographer. Strange rituals that make sense. Unexpected revelations. Two kinds of light. This essay presents part of the constellation of thoughts, images and ideas that have informed my most recent video installation, Saturday.

This thesis serves as an introduction and overview of the broad and closely related fields of mechanism design, contract theory, and information economics. Each chapter is intended to provide a self-contained guide to the particular area of application -- examples include adverse selection, moral hazard, and auctions. The reader should benefit from the thesis in two ways: by understanding the general notions of the revelation principle, incentive compatibility, and individual rationality from the mechanism design theory as well as by examining the particular information asymmetry models in the individual areas. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The thesis provides an account of how natural beauty functions as revelation and contributes to theology. The central claim is that natural beauty ‘images' aspects of God's nature and intentions within Creation's artistic ‘text'—admittedly, most fully from within a Christian perspective, but already potentially in any experience of beauty. Chapter One presents an approach to ‘creational theology'—a methodological understanding of how God can be known through the aesthetic rationality shared between Creation and humanity. This understanding of creational theology outlines a relationship between God and created beauty that is developed progressively with each chapter. Chapter Two addresses the created side of this relationship by characterizing the phenomenon of physical, sensory, ‘perceptual beauty.' This perceptual beauty relates to God as a created framework through which God can express aspects of his nature. Chapter Three describes how such expression is apprehended in natural beauty, namely through a Polanyian epistemic vision and symbolic practice, which engages beautiful images within Creation's art. Chapter Four applies this Christian vision and symbolic practice, adapting John Ruskin's concept of ‘typical beauty.' Through this typological approach, beautiful forms artistically image aspects of God's nature and intentions. Extensions of Ruskin's approach also allow for further development of a creational theology of natural beauty—that is, a theology underscoring the powerful interrelations of God, beauty, and humanity, and the need to respond to beauty as a phenomenality of God for his creatures.

This dissertation examines the relationship between martyrdom and divine retribution against the martyr's persecutors in the book of Revelation. The argument is made that Revelation portrays martyrdom as an impetus of Divine retribution against the persecutors of the martyrs. Chapter 1 traces the trend in recent scholarship to view Revelation's portrayal of martyrdom as contributing to the conversion of the nations. Basic assumptions of this view are discussed, as well as some replies from traditionalists. Chapter 2 discusses the methodology and sources used to defend the thesis. A discussion of intertextuality in the book of Revelation leads to the conclusion that the Old Testament, and particularly the prophetic tradition of Israel, is the primary background. The genre analysis leads the author to adopt a modified idealist approach to the symbolism of the book. Chapter 3 argues that martyrdom is the confirmation of the saints' testimony against the persecutors of the church. It is argued that the concept of witness is drawn from the background of God's legal contest with the nations in the Old Testament prophets. The climax of the witnesses' testimony is their martyrdom. Chapter 4 argues that martyrdom determines the sentence against the persecutors based on the lex talionis. The persecutors of the church seal their own fate by striking down God's faithful witnesses. The evil of persecution that leads to martyrdom is exacerbated by the identification of Christ with his witnesses. The vindication of the martyrs is also the vindication of their witness to Christ. This dissertation contends that Revelation's theology of martyrdom should not be conformed to Paul's theology of suffering, but should be understood as a complement to it. John's encouragement is not that the blood of the martyrs is seed, but that the blood of the martyrs is precious to Christ, who will avenge it in God's time. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Thesis advisor: Pheme Perkins / The recognition of Rome in the ciphered images of Revelation 13 and 17–18 is a hallmark of historical criticism on the Revelation to John (John’s Apocalypse). This dissertation examines Revelation’s use of scripture to characterize the Roman Empire like the nations God has already defeated. The prophet-seer John spurred his audience, the churches of Asia Minor, to abandon pagan practices of eating meat sacrificed to idols and participation in emperor worship, practices seemingly tolerated by John’s opponents, Jezebel and the Nicolaitans. Unlike the majority of contemporary Jewish and Christian apocalypses, Revelation uses neither ex eventu prophecy nor pseudepigraphic narration to authorize its message to “come out” of Rome. Instead, Revelation alludes to scripture hundreds, if not a thousand, times. When describing Rome in Revelation 13 and 17–18, John alludes some six dozen times to the defeated Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the nations of Babylon, Tyre, Nineveh, and Edom, and the justly punished Judah and Samaria. God showed his servants the prophets the downfall of these powers, and they all fell. Likewise, he has shown John the vision of Rome’s desolation and the things which will happen to it soon. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This dissertation addresses the effect of information on firm and individual behavior. The first chapter examines the design of an optimal feedback mechanism by an informed principal and uses the results to explain why firms tend to assign coarse subjective ratings to their employees. When a firm has private information about an employee's ability, it can communicate this information through a subjective evaluation mechanism. I characterize the firm's optimal disclosure policy as a function of the worker's ability distribution and provide an algorithm to compute it. Further, I show that with some reasonable restrictions on the ability distribution, the firm's optimal strategy is always to reward the best workers, fire the worst ones, and assign one central rating to the rest. The second chapter investigates an informed principal's optimal feedback strategy in a dynamic setting. I first consider the case where both parties have non-binding outside options. In this case, if the principal ever wants to reveal any information, she will do so at the earliest possible stage. Moreover, the optimal disclosure policy can be characterized in the same way as in the static case. The same conclusion holds for the case where both parties have binding and constant outside options. I also discuss the case where both parties have binding and time-variant outside options. After incorporating firms' need to promote and/or to retain workers, the model is used to explain wage dynamics. The third chapter models a decision maker who "rationally" distorts his own belief to avoid the feeling of regret. People often suffer from regret when they realize that their previous choices were suboptimal. As a result, in a dynamic setting where information is revealed gradually, people are tempted to deny new negative information in order to avoid regret. At the same time, they are also aware of the economic cost of such belief distortions. A "rational" decision maker will optimally trade off these two concerns and choose his own belief accordingly. This tradeoff makes the past affect current decisions and hence can explain the sunk cost fallacy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mina Solange Generoso Silva.pdf: 1217530 bytes, checksum: a3f202856b7cd15f1e6d61593965752c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-30 / The Divine Revelation for the God Verb Incarnation puts us in front of the human revelation. From this salvific event, Jesus humanity brings a meaning to our humanity. Jesus of Nazareth shortens distances previously abyssal between the divine and human and presents itself as a paradigm and origin of the new human family. A return to its history, your praxis and message, is a return to the origin and basis of our faith,since this Jesus of Nazareth Village is proclaimed the Christ. The God s Word took flesh and brought cure, deliverance, hope of salvation for those who were already lost in the eyes of all oppressive society. Questioner, denunciatory and uncomfortable Word, that finds, therefore, resistance, thorny and stony lands and not a few opponents. Jesus of Nazareth dies, but not his announcement. This one perpetuates by his Spirit actions in the Christian community, in the Risen proclamation and by the concrete actions of justice, solidarity, sharing and compassion by little of God . The man is rescued from the anti-Kingdom powers and inserted to the eschatological reality of a world that God can truly reign. The Risen is seen by the faith community as an embodiment of this Kingdom inaugurated in human history for Jesus of Nazareththat nowadays, by the church, goes to its consummation until He comes . While we wait his coming, we already try to live as risen, generating life, fighting against death powers in all its levels, with the same weapon wielded by Jesus: the unconditional love to Father and Brothers / A Revelação Divina pela Encarnação do Verbo de Deus nos coloca frente à revelação do humano. Desde este evento salvífico, a humanidade de Jesus traz sentido à nossa humanidade. Jesus de Nazaré encurta distâncias outrora abissais entre o divino e o humano e se apresenta como paradigma e origem da nova família humana. Um retorno à sua história, sua práxis e mensagem, é um retorno à origem e alicerce de nossa fé, pois que este Jesus da Vila de Nazaré é proclamado o Cristo. A Palavra de Deus tomou corpo e trouxe cura, libertação, esperança de salvação para os que já estavam perdidos aos olhos de toda uma sociedade opressora. Palavra questionadora, denunciadora e incômoda que encontra, portanto, resistência, terrenos espinhosos e pedregosos e não poucos opositores. Jesus de Nazaré morre, mas não seu anúncio. Este se perpetua pela ação de seu Espírito na comunidade cristã, no anúncio do Ressuscitado e através de ações concretas de justiça, solidariedade, partilha e compaixão pelos pequenos de Deus . O homem é resgatado dos poderes do anti-Reino e inserido na realidade escatológica de um mundo em que Deus possa verdadeiramente reinar. A Ressurreição é vista pela comunidade de fé como a concretização deste Reino que por Jesus de Nazaré se historicizou e que hoje, através da Igreja, caminha para sua plenificação até que Ele venha . Enquanto aguardamos sua vinda procuramos viver, já como ressuscitados, ou seja, gerando vida, lutando contra os poderes da morte em todos os seus níveis, com a mesma arma empunhada outrora por Jesus: o amor incondicional ao Pai e aos irmãos

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-03-26T12:27:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Renato Gomes Alves.pdf: 908106 bytes, checksum: ddf64732b7bc02be2ec1ffc4bc11153d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-26T12:27:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renato Gomes Alves.pdf: 908106 bytes, checksum: ddf64732b7bc02be2ec1ffc4bc11153d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-21 / This dissertation contemplates an investigation into the scope and unfolding of the concept of incarnation on the theological horizon of contemporary french theologian Joseph Moingt. The object of study, the concept of incarnation, is seen with the proper look of theology, in order to contribute to respond to the challenges of contemporary times. Moingt's academic career is long and vast. Between professor and researcher, he publishes a great number of books and articles that the present research is worth as a field to be unfolded, in order to bring new understandings to christology and indicate new possibilities of action in the contemporary world. The hypothesis of research is based on the way in which Moingt presents the concept of incarnation, recovering in the evangelical narratives the story of Jesus of Nazareth. The old dogmatic formulation proves incapable of responding to the demands of evangelization of the present time. For this reason, the resumption of apostolic kerygma and the return to the announce based on resurrection show that contemporary christology needs a new foundation and new method, which should no longer be attached to the dictates of dogma, nor do they exclude the truth revealed in Christ. For this purpose, a first flight over the theological horizon of Moingt is carried out in a discursive and descriptive way, from works translated into portuguese. Next, the concept of incarnation appears as the central object of study. Fruit of the dogmatic reflection of the first centuries, the development of the idea of incarnation is seen in the unfolding of the history until arriving at the contemporaneity, where will be seen of more detailed way in the work of the french theologian. However, the best understanding of the conceptual extension will be through the practical unfolding of three specific axes: the Spirit, the Church, and the signs of the times, which denote the incarnation for the redemption of man. The results of this research point to the practice of humanization that the incarnation provides. The recovery of redemptive action, such as the promotion of full life, is the great call that systematic reflection promotes. The journey that begins with the restorative practice reveals the practical understanding of the christological dogma of the incarnation. And although in a different context, Joseph Moingt's reflection provides a return to the narrative, rich not in words, but in humanizing actions that reveal the authentic face of Jesus Christ / A presente dissertação comtempla uma investigação acerca do alcance e desdobramento do conceito de encarnação no horizonte teológico de Joseph Moingt, teólogo francês contemporâneo. O objeto de estudo, o conceito de encarnação, é visto com o olhar próprio da teologia, a fim de contribuir para responder aos desafios da contemporaneidade. A carreira acadêmica de Moingt é longa e vasta. Entre docente e pesquisador, ele publica grande número de livros e artigos que a presente pesquisa se vale como campo a ser desbravado, a fim de trazer novas compreensões para a cristologia e indicar novas possibilidades de ação no mundo contemporâneo. A hipótese de pesquisa apoia-se na maneira como Moingt apresenta o conceito de encarnação, recuperando nas narrativas evangélicas a história de Jesus de Nazaré. A antiga formulação dogmática mostra-se incapaz de responder às demandas de evangelização do tempo presente. Por essa razão, a retomada do kerygma apostólico e o retorno ao anúncio baseado na ressurreição mostram que a cristologia contemporânea precisa de novo fundamento e novo método, que não devem ser mais presos aos ditames do dogma, tampouco excludentes da verdade revelada em Cristo. Para tal feito, um primeiro sobrevoo pelo horizonte teológico de Moingt é realizado de forma discursiva e descritiva, a partir das obras traduzidas para o português. Na sequência, o conceito de encarnação aparece como objeto central de estudo. Fruto da reflexão dogmática dos primeiros séculos, o desenvolvimento da ideia de encarnação é visto no desenrolar da história até chegar na contemporaneidade, onde será vista de modo mais detalhada no trabalho do teólogo francês. No entanto, a melhor compreensão da extensão conceitual se dará pelos desdobramentos práticos feitos sobre três eixos específicos: o Espírito, a Igreja e os sinais dos tempos, que denotam a encarnação para a redenção do homem. Os resultados dessa pesquisa apontam para a prática de humanização que a encarnação proporciona. O resgate da ação redentora, como promoção de vida plena, é o grande chamado que a reflexão sistemática promove. A caminhada que se inicia com a prática restauradora, revela a compreensão prática do dogma cristológico da encarnação. E, embora em um contexto diferente, a reflexão de Joseph Moingt proporciona um retorno à narrativa, rico não em palavras, mas em ações humanizadoras que revelam o rosto autêntico de Jesus Cristo

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-125).