The core problems in this research project concern the nature of the Evangelical message and its communicability through broadcasting: Does Evangelical broadcasting amount to more than the hopes and aspirations of particular Evangelical broadcasters? Two hypotheses are put forward: (1) The nature and content of Evangelical broadcasting is more significantly shaped by the national cultural context than by Evangelical presuppositions. (2) Evangelical hopes and understandings of broadcasting are not necessarily fulfilled by Evangelical dedicated-channels. In order to prove these hypotheses, two procedures are followed: (1) Questionnaires, in English and Hungarian, establish the key words which Evangelicals would hope to find in Evangelical broadcasts. (2) Using techniques of quantitative content analysis, the occurrence of these key words is measured in four categories of religious radio (Evangelical and public service broadcasts in English and Hungarian). In the Hungarian case studies (both Evangelical and PSB), the word-counts reveal broadly similar levels of Evangelical key-word frequency. The theology of Hungarian Evangelical broadcasters is shown to have been determined by the particularities of the Hungarian Protestant tradition. During their forty-year exile in Western Europe, Hungarian Evangelical broadcasters are shown to have been influenced (not so much by Anglo-American Evangelicalism) but by a pre-War Calvinist pietism and in particular by the special millenarian expectations of Hungary's small communities of Christian Brethren.

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This thesis looks at the political, economic, cultural, social and religious aspects of life in Judea in the century prior to the Maccabean Crisis to show how far they may have contributed to the Crisis. The events leading to the crisis are then delineated and an attempt is made to clarify the reasons for the prohibition of religion. Daniel and the texts of the Apocrypha and Paeudspigrapha which stem from the Maccabean Crisis (including some texts which are not commonly held to date from that time or to refer to it) are studied and linked together according to the stance they take on politics and theodicy. That the question of God's Justice was a problem at this time can be seen from the number of works which consider it. The answers given are related to the political stance of the author/authors. Maccabees and Judith are Nationalistic in outlook, wanting no foreign overlord and they both assert that in a time of trouble God will eventually help his people and act through a chosen human being. Daniel 1-6, I Eadree and II Maccabees are not concerned with who rules the country as long as there is freedom of worship. They are all interested in divine justice for the individual and the assertion of life after death for those martyred for their faith appears in II Maccabees. The Apocalyptiste - Daniel 7-12 and Enoch SS-90 - see the present historical era as coming to an and and a now one being inaugurated by God. Then those who have been faithful and obedient will be resurrected, but those who have not will be punished eternally. III and IV Maccabees are included in this thesis because they adopt elements of the Meccabean Crisis to direct their readers to a better understanding of the secular government and of their own religion.

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The thesis, motivated by the difficulties that OT wisdom presents to OT theology, analyses the worldviews of Proverbs and Qoheleth and identifies the socioeconomic realities from which these stem, in order to understand the relationship between them. The examination concentrates on the Masoretic form of these books, attempting to analyse them along the lines of the editorial intention: Proverbs is looked upon as having a single voice, Qoheleth as representing two voices. The analysis opens with a discussion of the enterprise that produced the two books, and an attempt is made to identify the basic framework and the aims that characterise it. The worldviews are then formulated under five categories of epistemology, cosmology, theology, anthropology and social perspective, with the practical outworking of these worldviews examined subsequently. Also, some implications of the analysis for the questions of historical development and Sitz im Leben of the books are pointed out. The examination reveals a complex relationship between the two books. It is shown that Proverbs and Qoheleth proper stem from the same tradition of thought, sharing identical aims and using similar methodology, while, in contrast, the voice of the epilogue is shown to originate in a different intellectual milieu. At the same time, significant differences are found under each of the five categories. Both books build on the assumption of objectivity and uniformity of human experience, but Proverbs uses this premise to apply past communal experience to the present and future, while Qoheleth uses it to justify application of present personal experience to both the future and the past. Further, the proverbial understanding is theoretically centred around one God, but in practical terms the cosmological framework is dualistic; Qoheleth's perspective is strictly monotheistic. Neither the Proverbial Yahwism nor Qoheleth's theology, in contrast to the epilogue of Qoheleth, stem directly from the Israelite cult, and they employ different approaches to handling the cultic issues, pointing to a different stage in the relationship between wisdom and the cult. The two anthropologies also differ, with Proverbs having a significantly higher and overall more positive view of humanity. The examination further reveals that the socio-economic backgrounds of the two books are radically different. The proverbial world is one of a small and economically independent community with family as the principal socio-economic unit, and the basic proverbial perspective is likely to date back before the emergence of the Israelite monarchy. In contrast, Qoheleth's world reflects an established imperial set up corresponding well with the common linguistic date in the Flellenistic period. These socio-economic differences are the principal reason why the worldviews of the two books diverge in spite of building upon similar initial premises. This makes it difficult to treat Proverbs and Qoheleth in a simple synchronic fashion and calls for a new approach from the OT theologian.

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The relationship between the two Testaments of the Christian Bible is a fundamental problem in biblical studies. As well as many exegetical studies of particular aspects, there are numerous more general works which present solutions to the problem as a whole. It is the concern of this thesis to undertake a much-needed analytical and critical study of these modern solutions. Preliminary research led to the isolation of eight distinct, though not all mutually exclusive, major solutions. A basic requirement for understanding these is to consider their biblical and historical background, and this is outlined in Part One. The solutions are then subjected to detailed analysis, criticism and comparison. In Part Two the 'Old Testament' solutions of van Ruler and Miskotte are considered, appreciated and rejected because the undue priority they give to the Old Testament, though creating a certain incisiveness, leads to an inadequate appreciation of the New Testament's contribution to the relationship. In Part Three the 'New Testament'. solutions of Bultmann and Baumgartel are likewise reluctantly rejected. It is argued that a satisfactory solution will take the evidence as it stands - two Testaments in one Bible - and refuse to presuppose that either Testament is more important than the other. Four such 'biblical' solutions are considered in Part Four, which thus constitutes the most important part of the work: Vischer's frequently misunderstood Christological solution is rehabilitated; a new approach to typology is developed and used to illuminate the relationship between the Testaments; the popular 'salvation history' solution, especially as presented by von Rad and his associates, is surveyed and accepted, with some reservations; and the study is completed by a discussion of the important though less often mentioned idea of tension between continuity and discontinuity.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the meaning and significance of the Parousia of Christ in the Thessalonian Correspondence. As a prelude to this, in chapter one we consider the four main approaches in recent study to the problem of eschatology in the New Testament. These approaches are (1) consistent eschatology, (2) realized eschatology, (3) demythologized eschatology and (4) salvation-historical eschatology. Our statement of these approaches focuses upon (a) their interpretation of the theology of Paul, (b) the particular place of 1 and 2 Thessalonians and (c) the continuing relevance of the Parousia of Christ in each of these approaches. The tentative result of this examination is that the salvation-historical interpretation provides the most adequate understanding of the New Testament data on the subject of eschatology. We may, therefore, use 1 and 2 Thessalonians as a test case for the salvation-historical understanding of the New Testament and to see whether or not the salvation-historical approach sheds new light on our understanding of these two letters. In the second part of our introductory chapter we survey the problems raised in recent study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, especially as they relate to eschatology. We examine the form, function and meaning of these eschatological passages to see how they fit into the structure of the letter as a whole and into their immediate contexts. In chapter three we examine exegetically the eschatological pericopes in 2 Thessalonians, which feature the Parousia of Christ as in 1 Thessalonians, to determine their form, function and meaning. Chapter four then presents a biblical-theological construction in which we distil from our exegetical study the aspects of the Parousia of Christ which we have discovered to be important in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. These aspects are: 1) the Christocentric aspect, 2) the soteriological aspect, 3) the salvation-historical aspect, 4) the judicial aspect, 5) the ethical aspect, 6) the antagonistic aspect and 7) the theocentric aspect. We examine each of these aspects in 1 and 2 Thessalonians (and briefly note their occurrence elsewhere in Paul). In chapter five we show the implications that our study on the eschatological material in 1 and 2 Thessalonians has for the question of the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians. We conclude that, so far as its eschatology is concerned, 2 Thessalonians is most probably genuinely Pauline. In our final chapter we deal more generally with Paul's apocalyptic presentations of the Parousia. We show how Paul was using apocalyptic imagery to make theological statements. We show how elsewhere he makes similar theological statements but without the apocalyptic descriptions. This leads us to suggest that the essential theological statements regarding the Parousia remained constant in Paul's writings though the imagery changed. Paul maintained an "apocalyptic framework" but used a variety of imagery. We then show how Paul's apocalyptic presentations of the Parousia relate to the essential theological statements he was making and to the Church's contemporary kerygma. We suggest that it would be following Paul's own pattern to reformulate the basic theological tenets in language and imagery understandable to contemporary hearers. We, however, suggest that the salvation- historical framework which insists upon the reality of the yet future Parousia of Christ must be maintained. The Parousia hope must not be rejected as erroneous, dissolved into present realities, or demythologized. In an appendix we briefly consider the phenomenon of the application of God-language to Jesus as it is in evidence throughout 1 and 2 Thessalonians. We show that this attribution of God-language to Jesus is especially prominent in eschatological material as it is used to comfort those who are suffering.