The present thesis focuses on the way the seven selected writings of the Apostolic Fathers quote the texts of the Bible. Beginning with discussion of the term "Apostolic Fathers", the thesis turns to explaining the key expressions used in the next chapters, namely Quotation, Composite Quotation, Allusion, Paraphrase, Scriptural Language, Exemplum. The second part, the principal part of the thesis, contains close analysis of the quotations within the selected writings. Attention is also paid to the question, which books of the Bible were quoted by the individual authors, whereas the investigation concentrates primarily on how the quotations are used. For the purpose of unbiased comparison of the single writings' citation technique, the total number of quotations, the length of all quotations in total and the length of each writing was enumerated, the length of the writing being expressed in the count of standard pages. In this way, two significant quantities were achieved, namely proportional bulk of quotations in the writing and quotation frequency expressed in the number of quotations per standard page. Besides these figures, attention was paid also to the role of quotations in individual writings with regard to their genres. In the 1 Clement, the highest proportional bulk of quotations is found,...

Séraphîta (1833-1835) est une œuvre mystique d’Honoré de Balzac, dans laquelle le romancier condense le sentiment religieux qu’il a nourri dès sa jeunesse. Dans ce récit, il introduit abondamment les citations et les images bibliques, d’une part, les pensées mystiques et théosophiques, d’autre part. Notre thèse tente de mettre en lumière diverses sources bibliques et mystiques du texte balzacien, ainsi que sa propre lecture et interprétation. La première partie est consacrée à l’étude bibliographique des Bibles lues par Balzac, par Swedenborg ainsi que par deux introducteurs des pensées swedenborgiennes en France, Daillant de La Touche et Jean-Pierre Moët, sur la base de laquelle nous analysons les phrases bibliques qui parsèment Séraphîta. Dans la seconde partie, nous envisageons les trois représentations bibliques de Séraphîta-Séraphîtüs : le Séraphin, le Christ et le Verbe. Inspiré par une statue d’ange, œuvre de Théophile Bra, le romancier a développé, au cours de sa rédaction, l’image de l’être angélique ; en même temps, la fonction du Christ est transposée de manière concrète et symbolique dans ce personnage qui, à la fin, se fait Verbe dans son ascension. Dans la troisième et dernière partie, nous examinons l’influence des auteurs mystiques lus par Balzac : Thomas a Kempis, sainte Thérèse d’Avila, Jacob Bœhme, Antoinette Bourignon, Mme Guyon, Fénelon, Saint-Martin, Eckartshausen et surtout Swedenborg. Prenant l’Écriture sainte comme base solide et puisant des idées spirituelles dans divers mystiques et théosophes, le romancier rafraîchit le mysticisme chrétien pour conduire, dans une époque de doute, ses lecteurs vers la foi et l’amour de Dieu. / Séraphîta (1833-1835) is Honoré de Balzac’s mystical novel in which the author condensed his religious feelings nursed since his youth. In this work he introduced numerous biblical citations and images alongside mystical and theosophical thoughts. The present thesis aims to bring to light the diverse biblical and mystical sources of Balzac’s spiritual text, including his own readings and interpretations. Part one is a bibliographic study of Bibles used by Balzac and Swedenborg, as well as those used by Daillant de La Touche and Jean-Pierre Moët, who introduced swedenborgian thought into France; following this, biblical citations found within Séraphîta are analysed. In part two, three biblical representations of Séraphîta-Séraphîtüs are explored, namely: the Seraph, the Christ and the Word. Inspired by Théophile Bra’s statue of an angel, Balzac developed the image of the angelic being in the course of its redaction. At the same time this angel fulfils the function of the Christ, in both concrete and symbolic ways, and in its final ascension becomes the Word itself. In the third and last part, there is an exploration of mystical authors read by Balzac and their influence on his text, namely: Thomas a Kempis, Saint Teresa of Avila, Jacob Boehme, Antoinette Bourignon, Mme Guyon, Fénelon, Saint-Martin, Eckartshausen, and especially Swedenborg. It will be argued that by taking the Bible as his foundation, and drawing spiritual ideas from various mystics and theosophists, Balzac sought to refresh Christian mysticism and lead his readers, in their period of doubt, to faith and love in God.

La thèse rend compte d’une tentative de penser le rapport entre les mythes bibliques et l’œuvre d’Albert Cohen. Pour cela, la première partie de la thèse s’emploie à mettre en lumière la façon dont les mythes de la Genèse deviennent des palimpsestes sur lesquels se greffe l’existence simultanée d’interprétations superposées et souvent contradictoires. Langage codé par excellence, le mythe dévoile le mystère des commencements en même temps qu’il peut renforcer sa profonde opacité. L’hypothèse est que sous le couvert d’une dialectique entre la création et la chute, les mythes dissimulent une complexité générique : il s’agit de l’articulation problématique de l’origine et de sa résistance à toute tentative d’élucidation. Tout s’articule autour du savoir que les mythes véhiculent sur les genres biologiques (animal / humain), les genres grammaticaux (masculin / féminin) et les genres du discours religieux (religieux ou philosophique/ littéraire). Dans une deuxième partie, la thèse examine les enjeux religieux et philosophiques des mythes et des figures messianiques, en tant que modèles de joie, d’espérance et de rédemption. Le messianisme, en tant que phénomène d’espérance réactualise la quête de la plénitude, qui vient cependant se heurter à l’insatisfaction ontologique de l’homme. Dans une troisième partie, une analyse de l’œuvre sous les feux croisés des mythes de la révolte (Babel, Satan, Job) vient éclairer la dimension ambivalente d’un Dieu qui se dérobe à toute tentative de compréhension. Cette étude est sous-tendue par deux axes de lecture qui mettent en évidence la glorification d’une révolte humaine et la nécessité d’arriver à une compréhension de l’humain, qui serait affranchie de toute scorie mythique. / This thesis is an attempt to understand the relationship between biblical myths and the works of Albert Cohen. The first part of the thesis examines how the myths of Genesis form the main platform on which multiple, and often contradictory meanings tend to manifest themselves. Being mainly a coded language, the myth is profoundly ambivalent as it is the privileged receptacle of different interpretations. Under an apparently ordered story about the creation of man and his downfall, caused by the original sin, the myth hides a generic complexity: the problematic articulation between species (human / animal), genders (male / female) and genres (religious or philosophical / literary). In the second part, the thesis highlights the religious and philosophical aspects of the messianic figures and myths. Messianic attempts at regaining a sense of completeness often coincide with the ontological feeling of dissatisfaction, experienced by mankind. The third part of the thesis deals with myths of revolt and disobedience (Babel, Satan, Job) which highlight the ambivalent nature of the biblical God. This study underlines the glorification of human revolt and the need to ascertain a humanistic view of mankind, free from mythical underlyings.

This study represents qualitative, historical research. The study documented the origins, milestones, and development of the Southern Bible Institute in Dallas, Texas. This study provided data leading to a better understanding of the impact of segregation on the African American religious community in Dallas, Texas. Data from this study also shows how African Americans responded to segregation in the area of theological higher education through the establishment of the Southern Bible Institute. The research methodology was heavily dependent on oral data from various sources and pertinent data were extrapolated from oral history interviews and historical, internal and external institutional documents. Analysis was based on accuracy, consistency and authenticity. Triangulation was the method used to determine the accuracy and authenticity of the oral interviews. The data were also analyzed for extrapolating factors that lend themselves to inclusion on an institutional assessment. Based on the factors extrapolated from the data and from a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, an internal institutional assessment checklist was created to assist the leadership in evaluating various aspects of the school. It was concluded that the future seems bright for the Southern Bible Institute, but it is recommended that the administration leverage off identified strengths and establish a plan for addressing the weaknesses noted as a result of this study. The Southern Bible Institute warrants further research that will use the factors identified in this study as the basis for quantitative studies that will clarify the impact of particular factors on institutional growth.

This dissertation argues that persecution in Galatians manifests the cosmic conflict between God and the present evil age. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of persecution in Galatians and the history of research. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Paul uses the theme of cosmic conflict to place the crisis in Galatia within a broader context of a conflict between God who has inaugurated the new creation within the present time and this present evil age. Chapters 3–4 examine Paul’s theological context. Chapter 3 investigates a theme of cosmic conflict in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. Chapter 4 examines the theme in other early Jewish texts (Daniel; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Jubilees; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees; 4 Maccabees; 1QS; CD; 1QM). This survey reveals that Paul’s iteration of the theme possesses continuity and discontinuity with other authors. Chapter 5 offers a historical reconstruction of the instances of persecution mentioned in Galatians. Four instances of persecution in Galatians are examined: (1) Paul the Persecutor (1:13, 23). (2) Paul the Persecuted (3:1; 4:13, 19; 5:11; 6:17) (3) The Opponents as Potential Targets (6:12) (4) The Persecution of the Galatians (3:4; 4:17–18, 29). Paul uses the theme of persecution to reshape the perception of the Galatian believers and to reveal the danger of the false gospel preached by his opponents. Chapter 6 identifies persecution as a specific manifestation of the cosmic conflict between God and this present evil age. Galatians 4:29 directly connects the phenomenon of persecution with the broader cosmic conflict. Paul does so by identifying typology in Genesis 21:9. In light of this understanding of Paul’s use of Genesis, other significant passages on persecution in Galatians are reexamined to see how they fit within a cosmic conflict reading: 1:13, 23; 3:4; 5:11; 6:12, 17. In conclusion, chapter 7 offers three possible results of Paul’s understanding of persecution as cosmic conflict. It then examines the significance of the thesis for global Christianity today.

Note:

No description available.

….be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt and what he did to Michal and Jezebel. Remember what the priests did to Athaliah in Judah (c.f Deuteronomy. 24:8b-9). These female politicians were cornered, arrested, charged, beheaded and fragmented! Only their heads (names) that were hanged in this public place, the Bible, remained. Nobody would tell that this is Miriam, Michal, Jezebel or Athaliah. Lists of their crimes stand appended to their heads and names in public. When they were all silenced and the kings had sat in their rightful places, all the people of the land rejoiced and there was peace in the cities because these women had been slain (c.f 2 Kings 11:20). So be very careful to follow instruction and rules such that you do not end up like any of them. (Embellished by the author) Indeed, Miriam, Michal, Jezebel and Athaliah are politically killed off in the Hebrew Bible. Certainly, no one would tell from the Hebrew Bible that these women were people of significant political and leadership profiles; but merely as wicked in the history of humanity. All their political significance and contributions were literary and ideologically mutilated and separated from their names and left in the wild to be eaten by stray dogs. Their decapitated and fragmented images minus their political profiles have been ingested into an ideological system that regulates gender world order and influences social, intellectual and linguistic discourses and pictorial misogynistic polemics in the modern world. Figuratively, the remains of these women have been preserved in the way politicians of the ancient times and recent past would keep remains of their opponents. Ancient rulers would preserve a head (skull) of a particular enemy. David in the Bible cuts off Goliath’s head (1 Samuel 17:51); and the Philistines cut off Saul’s head (1 Samuel 31:9). In the Roman Republic of early 1st Century BC, political enemies like Marius and Sulla were decapitated and their heads displayed in the Forum Romanum. In 1355 Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice in medieval Italy was beheaded and his head hanged in a public place for staging a coup that was aborted. English traitors especially during the Elizabethan era were mutilated and their heads customarily spiked on London Bridge and other public places. In all these mutilations, other parts of the body were never accounted for. Stray dogs and other scavengers ate them as the case was with Jezebel in 2 Kings 8. Both head and name are proper national and political identifiers of every individual. So also the name! A head and a name are good identifiers of a person’s identity and activities. In modern times, identity documents and political campaign posters bear personal names and portraits. Preserving mutilated remains of an enemy served an ideological purpose of scarring and deterring future oppositions. It also symbolised total subjugation and control of the enemy. In movies about the political history of Uganda, Idi Amin is shown speaking ridiculously to the mutilated heads of his opponents. Preserving names of female politicians in the way they are preserved in the Hebrew Bible narratives merely serves an ideological purpose. I have argued in this paper that Miriam, Michal, Jezebel and Athaliah are political women. To African postcolonial Bible readers, they are political characters that stand for unconformity, radical activism, dissension, equality and self-reification to lead their people as their male counterparts. Although theirs is leadership based on royalty (and social prestige particularly in the case of Miriam), in their literary form they experience similar chronic maladies of patriarchal stereotype as the modern women whose political participation is based on liberal democracies. They are presented as foreign and aberrant gender in the politics of their time according to the ideological standards of the Hebrew Bible narrator. Their remains in the Hebrew Bible are positioned to ideologically kill off their political significance and portray them as evil women who destabilise the natural order. The study is contextualised on women and politics in sub-Saharan Africa with Uganda and Kenya as case studies. Both Uganda and Kenya are East African countries, with similar colonial experiences. They are predominantly Christian countries and the Bible is a very significant literature in the lives of people. It is literally the Word of God that does not only prescribe a faith, but a culture, philosophy and ideologies that are perceived as holy and pristine in socio-political intercourse of the people. Though the recent histories are different between Kenya and Uganda, in both cases the rise in female influence in politics has been paralleled by a rise in linguistic and sometimes physical abuse of female politicians. The similarities between the androcentric cultural worldview of the Bible and the African cultures have fostered a negative attitude against women’s influence in national politics. The biblical image of Jezebel is often used as a summary figure of this misogyny. Jezebel, the foreign Canaanite queen turned ‘harlot’ by the Dtr redactor is used to name a political threat—a foreign gender group infiltrating the political arena in East Africa.

The subject of this study is the preacher and his preaching attitude according to the Pastoral Epistles. The following aspects are addressed: • Basistheoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching attitude • Meta-theoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching attitude. • Practice-theoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching atitude. It is attempted to achieve the intended goal by investigating Word preaching concepts from the Pastoral Letters to which six attitudes are attached. The attitudes are divided in three groups: • Attitudes concerning the earnestness and zeal of preaching. • Attitudes concerning the content of preaching. • Attitudes concerning the manner and method of preaching. The attitudes named above are: Preaching in a non-overwhelming attitude, preaching in a attitude of honesty and virtuousness, preaching in an attitude of patience, preaching in sound doctrine, preaching with full authority and preaching in the attitude of faith and truth. Four concepts that are connected directly to the preacher are indicated: preacher, apostle, teacher and evangelist. Four metaphors are indicated: manager, soldier, athlete and farmer which in tum emphasize three attitudes: irreproachability, self-denial as well as an attitude of willingness. Per definition preaching attitude deals with a given way of thinking, feeling and a way of behaviour and proceeding in the action of preaching. The attitude of the preacher is emphasized by certain indicated qualities affecting the preacher's person, character and performance. The correct preaching attitude is cultivated and developed in a continuous relationship with God. Spirituality as religious orientation of the preacher gives direction to the practice of attitude. Meta-theoreretical perspectives from the science of behaviourism are exploited. From the Social Psychology as well as Communication Science the forming of attitudes, the influence of attitudes upon behaviour, as well as the changing of attitudes are discussed. It is indicated that people influence each other. It is therefore essential that preachers ascertain their own preaching attitude by means of continuous self- examination. Practice-theoretical perspectives as the outcome of the hermeneutical interaction between the exploited basictheoretical and metatheoretical perspectives are presented. Along with this, concretizing perspectives are aimed at the preacher's attitude, the preparation of sermons (prayer, exegesis and hermeneusis ), the presentation of sermons, the discussion of the sermon as well as critisism on sermons and their presentation are indicated. The aim of the study is to identify preacher and preaching attitude in the light of the Pastoral Letters in order to establish perspectives aimed at the praxis. / Thesis (ThM)--PU for CHE, 1999

The subject of this study is the preacher and his preaching attitude according to the Pastoral Epistles. The following aspects are addressed: • Basistheoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching attitude • Meta-theoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching attitude. • Practice-theoretical perspectives on preacher and preaching atitude. It is attempted to achieve the intended goal by investigating Word preaching concepts from the Pastoral Letters to which six attitudes are attached. The attitudes are divided in three groups: • Attitudes concerning the earnestness and zeal of preaching. • Attitudes concerning the content of preaching. • Attitudes concerning the manner and method of preaching. The attitudes named above are: Preaching in a non-overwhelming attitude, preaching in a attitude of honesty and virtuousness, preaching in an attitude of patience, preaching in sound doctrine, preaching with full authority and preaching in the attitude of faith and truth. Four concepts that are connected directly to the preacher are indicated: preacher, apostle, teacher and evangelist. Four metaphors are indicated: manager, soldier, athlete and farmer which in tum emphasize three attitudes: irreproachability, self-denial as well as an attitude of willingness. Per definition preaching attitude deals with a given way of thinking, feeling and a way of behaviour and proceeding in the action of preaching. The attitude of the preacher is emphasized by certain indicated qualities affecting the preacher's person, character and performance. The correct preaching attitude is cultivated and developed in a continuous relationship with God. Spirituality as religious orientation of the preacher gives direction to the practice of attitude. Meta-theoreretical perspectives from the science of behaviourism are exploited. From the Social Psychology as well as Communication Science the forming of attitudes, the influence of attitudes upon behaviour, as well as the changing of attitudes are discussed. It is indicated that people influence each other. It is therefore essential that preachers ascertain their own preaching attitude by means of continuous self- examination. Practice-theoretical perspectives as the outcome of the hermeneutical interaction between the exploited basictheoretical and metatheoretical perspectives are presented. Along with this, concretizing perspectives are aimed at the preacher's attitude, the preparation of sermons (prayer, exegesis and hermeneusis ), the presentation of sermons, the discussion of the sermon as well as critisism on sermons and their presentation are indicated. The aim of the study is to identify preacher and preaching attitude in the light of the Pastoral Letters in order to establish perspectives aimed at the praxis. / Thesis (ThM)--PU for CHE, 1999