This thesis aims to contribute to Johannine scholarship on sense perception and testimony. While the focus has tended to be on one or the other, this thesis shows that sense perception and testimony are used together in John with the intention of drawing the readers into the narrative so that they become witnesses in an emotionally engaged way. The first chapter outlines the focus of the thesis and presents the history of scholarship on sense perception and testimony. In Chapter 2, we survey the Johannine use of sense perception and testimony to show that there is a prima facie case for regarding sense perception as important in giving testimony about God. In Chapter 3, we argue that John is writing to believers to strengthen their faith. The next two chapters survey possible influence on the Johannine use of sense perception in relation to testimony within the Jewish Scripture and the rhetorical dimension of Hellenistic culture. The sixth to eighth chapters examine the Gospel itself. In Chapter 6, we discuss how, for John, sense perception is theologically important in coming to a knowledge of God. In Chapter 7, we look at testimony during Jesus’ public ministry to see how John emphasises physical sense perception through signs and other types of testimony, such as the incidents involving the Samaritan woman and the anointing at Bethany. In Chapter 8, we argue that sense perception and testimony continue to work together within the community after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our investigation shows that John’s use of sense perception together with testimony is rooted in Jewish literature. John also employs a rhetorical technique which appeals to the persuasive power of sense perception to make his narrative vivid. John does not downplay sense perception. Rather, he uses it in the context of testimony as a means of persuasion to draw the readers, in their imagination, into the experience of the first disciples and thus deeper into faith and witness.

This thesis explores the possibility of an ‘everyday theology’ of those ordinary gifts of food and drink, prayer and compassion, shelter and hospitality traditionally named the ‘works of mercy.’ Drawing principally upon Roman Catholic liturgical theology, it proposes a sacramental reinterpretation of the theological deep-structure which underlies and informs their practice. At their core the works of mercy represent a liturgically shaped ethic of the everyday – ecclesial practices capable of challenging the bureaucratic institutionalisation (and elimination) of human compassion. Part One lays the groundwork for this renewed theology of the works of mercy by surveying the relationship between liturgy and ethics in twentieth-century Catholic thought. Part Two addresses the wider theological structures which afford this sacramental ethic its theological coherence. Specifically, I take the work of Louis-Marie Chauvet as my point of departure for re-conceptualising the works of mercy from a symbolic interpretation of ethical sacramentality and a biblical theology of worship. Part Three moves beyond Chauvet’s broad ‘liturgy of the neighbour,’ offering a more constructive proposal for the works of mercy as concrete sites of sacramental intensity. Following Chauvet’s architectonic structure of Christian identity, and drawing on a diverse range of theological voices, the final chapters approach this question from the perspective of Scripture, Sacrament and Ethics. The works of mercy are always there, lived within communities of faith as marks of Christian discipleship. In this sense, proposing an ethical ‘sacrament of mercy’ is not an attempt to tell the church something it does not already know or intimately understand. Indeed, Christianity is inconceivable without them. The theological task undertaken in this work seeks, instead, to recover a deeper awareness of this mystery – that Christ draws near in the unnoticed and the unlooked for, in the trivial and the mundane, in cups of cold water and pieces of bread.

In this study, I will argue that Maximus the Confessor’s (580-662 CE) engagement with the ascetic concerns and the theological controversies of the sixth and seventh century helped develop his early works toward a unique and distinctively Trinitarian articulation of Christian life and post-Chalcedonian theology. In the Liber asceticus, Maximus illustrates the Trinity as the beginning, means and end of Christian life, highlighting baptism, the Spirit’s appropriation of Son’s activities to the baptized, how the incarnate Son serves as the example of love and interweaves Trinitarian prayer into the dialogue’s appeal for mercy. Using the Liber as a baseline (Ch. 1), Chapter 2 places his Trinitarian grammar for Christian life in its ascetic context demonstrating areas of continuity but also its unique contribution. The subsequent chapters then track this grammar’s development by analyzing the increased complexity, sparked by his engagement with various concerns and controversies, displayed in Capita caritate (Ch. 3), Quaestiones et dubia and Epistula 2 (Ch.4). The last section of Ch.4 provides a context for his engagement of pro-Chalcedonian theology and its development in Opusculum 13. In the Capita, Maximus’ engagement with Origenism underscores the irreducible difference between God and creation yet also how they are sustained, preserved and deified through participation. His engagement with demonstrates the necessity of joining θεωρία and πρᾶξις, giving an early glimpse of union and distinction in his Trinitarian theology. Finally, what was only illustrated in the Liber, is made explicit through a robust explanation of contemplation and prayer. In Quaestiones, Maximus begins to fix his terminology for the stages of ascent. Additionally, while continuing to engage with Origenism, he introduces more technical language for the incarnation, utilizes the Logos/λόγοι doctrine for ascent and applies the λόγος/τρόπος distinction for the Trinity. Then, in Ep. 2, he integrates these new features from Quaestiones into his description of ascent and the incarnation. Finally, in Op. 13, Maximus departs from his earlier concern for ascent yet, like his other early works, reveals engagement with a specific controversy – miaphysitism.

This thesis examines a variety of scholarly arguments concerning the distinctive literary and historical relationship between the book of Job and the second part of the book of Isaiah, so-called Deutero-Isaiah. The general methodology in a comparative study between biblical texts has been the author-oriented approach which traces the complex interrelationships between corresponding texts, considering many verbal and thematic similarities, but this approach often arises from the misleading concepts of literary dependence from an early source to a later one. In this thesis, I argue that scribes were writers of biblical materials and belonged to a group of the literate élite in Israelite society, and that resemblances between the two books result from the production of a scribal culture in the Persian period. This view may shed a light on traditional researches influenced by form-criticism, which divides the literate groups in Israelite society into different professional groups—priests, sages, and prophets. The proposed approach of the scribal culture has also resulted in a different way of interpreting the association with ancient Near Eastern literature which is supposed to be closely related to the two books. Similarities with non-Israelite sources have been suggested by scholars as unequivocal evidence of literary dependence or influence, but a careful examination of those extra-biblical compositions possibly affirms that scribes would have a broad awareness of other ancient texts. Finally, shared ideas and interests between the two books do offer insights into the theological views of the scribes in the Persian period. We may see the historical development of scribal ideas by comparing the two books with other biblical texts and by confirming the diversity and discrepancy within them.

This study contributes to the under-researched field of how ‘ordinary’ British Christians engage with their Scriptures. It examines the Bible reading habits of young evangelicals and explores how these shape their ability to engage contentious themes within the text. It also examines attitudes towards gender and, following Arnett’s model of ‘emerging adulthood’, traces patterns of faith development, comparing evangelical belief with wider findings on emerging adult religiosity. Findings are based on a qualitative research project undertaken with emerging adults from three churches that span the evangelical tradition: egalitarian charismatics, mainstream evangelicals and Reformed neo-conservatives. In each church three mixed-gender focus groups were run, comprised of cohorts aged 18-22, 23-26 and 27-33. All nine groups read and freely discussed three biblical narratives: 2 Kings 5, 1 Samuel 25 and Acts 12. These were chosen for their relative unfamiliarity and the contested theological issues they raise: divine violence, supernaturalism and issues of gender. Discussions were examined in light of the official doctrinal positions of their churches and the expectations their leaders expressed. They were also compared across theological tradition and age range. After a review of the research context and methodology, findings are discussed in three sections. The first explores the groups’ reading priorities and hermeneutical processes, revealing considerable similarities across all three churches. The second section contains three chapters exploring theological and age-related diversity around the contested issues. Finally group dynamics and patterns of evangelical behaviour are explored before some conclusions are drawn and suggestions made for ongoing research. This project presents a new methodology for comparative exploration of beliefs and challenges assumptions about the faith of emerging adults. It provides nuanced findings on the dynamic relationship young British evangelicals have with their faith and Scriptures.

This thesis examines the subjects of history and time in the undisputed Pauline epistles, with reference to ongoing debates between apocalyptic readings of Paul, which emphasise the radical invasiveness of the Christ event, and salvation-historical readings, which emphasise continuity between the Christ event and Israel’s history. Current disagreements between prominent Pauline scholars such as J.L. Martyn and N.T. Wright can be traced back to similar debates in twentieth century New Testament scholarship, and the work of Rudolf Bultmann, Oscar Cullmann, and Ernst Käsemann, in particular. One broad area of agreement between apocalyptic and salvation-historical readings of Paul is the way in which they consider history in terms of chronologically-successive periods of time, and understand the significance of the Christ event in terms of its fixed place in this scheme. This thesis examines four key Pauline texts: 1 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 3, Galatians 3-4, and Romans 9-11, arguing that neither apocalyptic or salvation-historical understandings can fully account for significant features of these texts. Instead, I argue that the work of Walter Benjamin and Karl Barth offers useful ways of thinking about history and time, allowing for a more cohesive reading of these texts. In particular, Barth’s claim that the Christ event is in history but not of history provides a way of considering the Christ event as both a concrete, historical occurrence, part of Israel’s history, and an event which is not dependent upon or limited to that history.

The thesis tests the claim that superintendent ministers in the Methodist Church of Great Britain exercise an effective ministry of personal oversight which is pivotal in the church’s life, and which makes a distinctive contribution to the Christian understanding of episkopé. The thesis describes empirical, exploratory research into the nature, operant practice and understanding of superintendency which was focused on the Newcastle upon Tyne District of the Methodist Church during 2011-2012. Data was gathered by means of triangulated interviews of superintendents, their colleagues, and the lay leaders of circuits, the circuit stewards. Using the model of ‘Theology in Four Voices’ developed by Heythrop College’s Action Research: Church and Society Project, the thesis captures the conversation between the espoused understandings of ‘ordinary theologians’, the operant theology disclosed in practice, and the normative theology of the Methodist Conference, focusing on the 2005 statement What is a Circuit Superintendent? The thesis argues that the role of the superintendent minister has enduring value in the Methodist Church of Great Britain only insofar as the superintendent inculcates a connexionalism in the local circuit which includes inclusive, empowering and participatory leadership of everyone in the life of the church; which exercises personal oversight in both collegial and communal contexts; and which permits devolved episkopé to colleagues who are trained and trusted to lead local churches.

This thesis is a critical study of some of the foundational hypotheses of the Qumran Paradigm. This Paradigm connects the archaeological site of Khirbet Qumran to, on the one hand, the manuscripts from the eleven caves in its vicinity and, on the other hand, the descriptions of the Essenes by Philo, Josephus and Pliny the Elder. Thus, the Qumran Paradigm hypothesises that the Qumran manuscripts reflect the ‘sectarian’ library of a radical minority group (or ‘sect’), which was closely connected to the Essenes and resided at Khirbet Qumran. Part of this group’s ideology is thought to be their self-identification as ‘the chosen righteous ones’, awaiting the eschaton. Their exclusivist self-understanding is perceived to be demonstrated by modes of separatism and dualistic thinking in the manuscripts of the group’s ‘library’. This thesis discusses several of the hypotheses that have formed the foundations of this prevalent Qumran Paradigm: the idea of a ‘ sectarian library’; literary and socio-historical models of textual classification; the use and accurateness of certain terminology to describe particular textual peculiarities (such as ‘dualism’); and finally, the implications of conclusions drawn from the perception of ideological coherence in the Qumran texts. First, this study evaluates the notions of a ‘sectarian’ library and a ‘sectarian’ group, and how these notions have influenced scholarly classifications of the Qumran texts. These classifications have constructed chronological models of 'sectarian' development, in the attempt to identify a correlation between text-ideology and social history. The validity of such mirror readings is discussed with regard to a crucially important, yet difficult to categorise, Qumran text, 4QMMT. The second part of this study focuses on the construction of social reality through the perception of ideological coherence, particularly with regard to the concept of ‘dualism’. We evaluate the expansion of its definition into ten types of ‘Qumran’-specific dualism. Subsequently, the concept of ‘dualism’ is discussed with regard to the Treatise of the Two Spirits (1QS iii 13 – iv 26), as its dualistically perceived ideas are analysed and compared to similar ideas in other texts. This study wants to critically evaluate those elements in the foundations of the Qumran Paradigm that prevent scholarship from theorising about possible social realities beyond the scholarly construct of the Qumran 'library' and 'sect'. Hence, it wishes to advocate a more revisionist approach that more fundamentally questions the foundations of the Paradigm, specifically for those texts that do not seem to ‘fit’ within the Qumran Paradigm and that allow us to consider whether the texts found at Qumran represent a wider range of social backgrounds and a fuller engagement with the diverse forms of Second Temple Judaism than is normally envisaged.

This dissertation explores the ritual and meaning of the Sursum Corda in the first five centuries of the Church. The original text and structure was forceful and abrupt - reminding those gathered of their heavenly position in Christ via their baptisms. When the priest shouted the command, those assembled assumed the orans position of prayer in the same manner as they did the first time they prayed the ‘Our Father’ after being baptized. In turn, the Sursum Corda brought spiritual and social order to often troubled Eucharistic assemblies. Certain third through fifth century Fathers employed various meanings of the command as they related it to the rites of entrance into the Church. When the initiated had their ‘hearts on high’ it resulted in the ability to ward off the attacks of the devil (evidenced by earthly concerns, attitudes, actions and perceptions) and, therefore, properly perceive the liturgical service as well as the Eucharistic gifts as the Body and Blood of Christ. In the sixth to eight centuries, the Great Entrance, coupled with its accompanying hymns the ‘Cherubikon’ and ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence’ that contained exhortations to ‘lay aside all earthly cares’ (previously connected to the Sursum Corda), replaced the original meaning of the command as the gathered understood the entrance to be that of the Consecrated Gifts. This liturgical evolution resulted in the Sursum Corda transitioning textually and thematically to the exhortation ‘Let us lift up our hearts’ whereby the assembled ascended to the New Jersualem. When the heart made this journey it united with God in the Eucharist: the end result being a realized eschatology. Thus, the Sursum Corda evolved from a command to remember or realize one’s heavenly identity in Christ via baptism to that of a spiritual ascent to the heavenly city of God in the Divine Liturgy.

Why do fervent following adherents disaffiliate from the religion of their birth? In so doing oftentimes one’s culture, heritage, and perhaps all that has provided shape to a person’s life may be left behind as well. The extremely complex, controlling, and efficacious system of Latter-day Saint socialization within the Rocky Mountain West has served as the substrate by which a comparatively young and peculiar people have experienced a relative catapult into the global arena of religious philosophy, international politics, and economic commerce. To be sure, studies of departure from mainline churches abound. However, such research has neglected to specifically address the exit process of embedded Mormons. This exploration is unique in that I provide an articulation of elements that clarify what it means to possess an identity aligned with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within its home parameters of the Mormon culture region. Narrative data acquired from forty ex-LDS members who were born to, and raised by, fervent following parents underneath the ideological shelter of the Mormon sacred canopy proffers a treasure trove of feelings, patterns, and expectations that offer insight and explanation into the mechanisms connected to LDS detachment, exit, and apostasy.