This dissertation examines the nature of the concept of the presence of God as expressed in chapters 12-50 of the book of Genesis. It does this on the basis of the text of these chapters as divided among the literary sources of the Pentateuch, as those sources have been traditionally understood. The introductory chapter reviews the history of the study of the concept of the Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. It traces the origins of the commonly held view that the Hebrew concept of the Presence developed from a nomadic concept of the Presence in which God was thought to be associated with persons to a view that incorporated place-oriented element borrowed from Israel's Canaanite neighbours. It also examines two general concepts of the Presence: the 'Accompanying Presence' in which God is thought reveal Himself in association with persons, and the 'Local Presence' in which God is thought to reveal Himself in association with places. The bulk of the dissertation consists of a close examination of passages in the patriarchal narratives where the concept of the presence of God appears. In this process the dissertation isolates three types of texts: those which contain elements of the Accompanying Presence only, those which contain elements of the Local Presence only, and those which contain elements of both concepts of the Presence intermixed. This examination reveals that the concept of the Presence was a much more significant theological construct in the religious thought of the Hebrew Scriptures than has been commonly recognized. The conclusion notes the distribution of these different types of passages, particularly the mixed-type passages, across the commonly-held literary sources of the Pentateuch and explores the implications of these discoveries. On the basis of this examination, the dissertation proposes a <I>bi-polar </I>concept of the Presence in which both elements of the Accompanying Presence and the Local Presence exist together in a dynamic tension that helps share the Hebrew faith.

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The perception of historical and ethical difficulties associated with Joshua in the twentieth century have led to difficulties in appropriating it as Christian Scripture. I argue that from the perspective of cultural memory Joshua nonetheless has an important role as Scripture, but, moreover, that in engagement with patristic interpretation such difficulties call for Joshua to be read in a different way from that in which it has been since at least the time of Calvin onwards. I develop a way of reading based on recent anthropological approaches to myth, such as those of Victor Turner and Seth Kunin in particular. I combine this treatment of myth with Paul Ricoeur's approach to narrative hermeneutics and the hermeneutics of testimony to produce a reading of Joshua in dialogue with its reception and use in order to argue for a constructive contemporary means of reading Joshua as Christian Scripture

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This thesis examines the exegesis of I Corinthians 5:3-5 between the years of 200, when the text is first cited, and 451, by which time the text had been subjected to a variety of exegetical approaches and applied to a number of different situations. A chronological (rather than topical) approach has been adopted; each writer's overall use of the passage is studied, in hope that this will give better insight into his exegesis of the Corinthian text. Although penitential theology was beginning to develop, with one major penance allowed for grievous post-baptismal sin (an idea found in the <I>Shepherd </I>of Hermas), the earliest extant exegesis of I Corinthians 5:3-5 occurs in the works of Tertullian during his Montanist phase; he cites it to support his argument that certain grave sins are beyond remission by the Church. For Tertullian, the <I>interitum carnis</I> refers to irrevocable excommunication and possible death for a serious offender. The <I>spiritus</I> which is to be saved is that of the Church, since the offender's spirit cannot possibly be saved after a descent into serious sin. Later in the same century, Origen takes a different position; since Paul counselled the church at Corinth to forgive a penitent sinner (II Corinthians 2:5-11), this was presumably the same man who had so grievously sinned (I Corinthians 5). Therefore, all sins are remissible by the Church.

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The resurrection of Jesus in history and faith: an investigaticn of two critical approaches to the Easter kerygma in the New Testament. McDonald, R.L.Christianity makes its boldest claim when it speaks about a God who acts in time and space events in history such as in the Exodus or the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This claim has always been a part of the Christian message; but since the time of the Enlightenment and the development of the historical-critical method, it has become the focal point of numerous debates among Christian theologians. Does God in fact work in ways which can be observed, detected, or experienced through the sensory perceptions of man? Is it conceivable that God would intervene in history by raising someone from the dead?The primary purpose of this thesis is first of all to point out some of the problems which the modern approach to history poses for Christian faith and then to set forth an alternative approach to the biblical message of God's unique activity in Jesus Christ which will be both meaningful and a challenge to modern man. Rudolf Bultmann's radical application of the historical-critical method to the biblical writings and his resultant negative approach to miracles or the supernatural events recorded in Scripture has been most helpful in clarifying some of the major problems which face the Church in a secular society today. He has raised the question of the relevance of all such supernatural talk for modern man and has attempted to translate the message of the New Testament into meaningful twentieth-century language. Whether or not he has adequately translated the Church's Easter message and how well he has handled the New Testament traditions which confess the resurrection of Jesus will be explored in Part One of this thesis. It will be shown in Part One that Bultmann's understanding of the Easter message has been greatly influenced by his understanding of history and how this understanding has guided him to an inappropriate interpretation of the Resurrection narratives. In Part Two of the thesis, the writer will offer an alternative approach to history which will appreciate the uniqueness of God's activity in raising Jesus from the dead and also set forth another interpretation of the Resurrection narratives. It will be argued that the most appropriate way of examining the Easter faith of the earliest Christian community begins with an open view of history which does not rule out either in principle or methodology the uniqueness of God's activity in history. Following this, a study will be made of the problems of harmony and coherence in the Resurrection narratives and an attempt made to clarify their message. Before bringing the thesis to a conclusion, a final chapter will be added which will briefly examine the primary arguments generally used to support the case for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It will be shown there that the 'case' cannot be based so much upon 'air-tight' historical arguments as upon the religious presuppositions which are derived from Christian experience with the Risen Christ. Through this study it is hoped that a more meaningful confession of the resurrection of Jesus will be set forth which will, on the one hand, appreciate the value of salvation history and, on the other, emphasize the significance of the Easter event in the Church's theology. It is also hoped that through this work a contribution will be made toward a better understanding of the problems in the Resurrection narnatives.

Experiencing and obtaining Spiritual power is the primary goal of indigenous religious activity. The failure of evangelical missionaries to recognise and make use of this primal <I>praeparatio evangelica</I>, led to the development of an educated and elitist Church in Freetown from 1815 onwards. Krio Christianity failed to make accommodation for the African spiritual heritage and thus produced a very alien and exclusive form of African Christianity. The first form of Christianity to take root in Freetown was that carried across the Atlantic by the Nova Scotians in 1792. Their Christianity, born in the Great Evangelical Awakening of the seventeenth century, developed independent of White control. Enthusiasm, emotion and pneumatological manifestations were major features of their worship. Nova Scotian Christianity eventually lost its revivalistic fervour and was eventually taken over by Krio Christianity and British missionary control. Krio Christianity failed, however, to meet the Krio's own existential needs for spiritual power. Problem-solving power was sought along indigenous lines. This produced in Krio Christianity a religious dualism and an identity crisis. In 1947, the Nigerian Church of the Lord (Aladura) arrived in Freetown. The "Adejobis" challenged the Krio Christian community, but by and large, having taken the evangelical Christianity of the Victorian era as their own traditional religion, they did not receive it. The Spiritual churches appealed more the non-Krio residents of the city, and particularly to the illiterate. The style of Christianity introduced was highly indigenised. In many aspects it appeared as the indigenous pneumatology expressed in Christian forms and terms. Its main attractions lay in the areas of healing, problem-solving, and fortune-telling revelations.

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