Thesis advisor: Thomas D. Stegman / Thesis advisor: Andrew R. Davis / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

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Thesis advisor: Matthew Monnig / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis advisor: Thomas Stegman / Thesis advisor: Colleen Griffith / The fundamental premise underlying this work is that in Rom 5:1-11, Paul presents God’s reconciliation of humanity with Godself through Jesus’ death as both a key expression of God’s salvific activity and as the foundation and model of reconciliation among peoples. Contrary to studies which create a dichotomy in Paul’s understanding of reconciliation as either a reconciliation between God and humans or a reconciliation among humans themselves, this study presents reconciliation as a key Pauline soteriological expression which has both vertical and horizontal implications with emphasis on how Paul’s theology of reconciliation shapes his discourse on God’s righteousness and the social relationship of the new people of God, especially in reference to gender and ethnic/racial relationships. While there may be no explicit reference to the horizontal dimension of reconciliation in the text of Rom 5:1-11, it is the task of this study to demonstrate that in the letter to the Romans, horizontal reconciliation presupposes vertical reconciliation and both are inseparable. Among ndi Igbo, the perennial cultural practice of inequality and the subordination of persons because of ethnicity/class (Osu Caste System) and gender (discrimination and subordination of women) are among the major causes of disaffections that breed tensions, conflicts, and division within the community. This study proposes that embodying Paul’s ethics of vertical and horizontal reconciliation by the Igbo Christian communities can go a long way towards enhancing social and cultural transformation that can lead to peaceful interpersonal relationships and a just Christian community. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2001 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims to interpret Romans 7 with special reference to the law. Both Romans 7 and the law in Paul are very difficult to understand. However, both are important for an understanding of Pauline theology and the gospel. In the past historical critical analyses were usually done in order to solve problematic passages like Romans 7 in Paul's letters. In this study a socio-rhetorical analysis is utilized. To start with, previous research is briefly dealt with in order obtain an overall picture of the understanding of the law in the past. From this overview more than ten problem areas are identified. Then, socio-rhetorical analysis is briefly explained. This is a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary method developed by Vernon Robbins, which sees the text as having various textures. In this research the method is utilized with some modifications. In chapter 4 the macrostructure of Romans is established by means of epistolary analysis and rhetorical analysis. Next, Rom. 7 is established as a rhetorical unit within Rom. 5-8 as the broader co-text of Rom. 7. After that the rhetorical situation of Romans is discussed, as well as some of Paul's rhetorical devices and styles. Finally, the rhetorical species of Romans is determined as deliberative rhetoric. From chapters 5 to 7, Rom. 7 is analyzed, using different textual analyses. In an analysis of inner texture repetitive-progressive texture, opening-middle-closing texture, and argumentative texture are discussed. Here an enthymemic analysis is used in order to chart Paul's argumentative flow of thought. From this it is concluded that Rom. 7: 1-6 is an analogy, which is an important tool for argumentation, and that the present tense in Rom. 7:14-25 functions as part of a combination of autobiographical-typical-rhetorical features for the purpose of argumentation. In the analysis of intertexture the scriptural intertexture is investigated: recitation with omission and thematic elaboration. In the cultural intertextual analysis some Jewish cultural intertextures are noted, namely, Rom. 7:8-10 as an allusion to both Gen. 3 and Exod. 3, Paul's usage of the "1," the law, slavery image, and the evil inclination. It is also interesting that Rom. 7: 15 & 19 and the "I" are allusions to Greek tragedy, sin as power, and slavery as Greco-Roman cultural intertexture. In analyzing the social intertexture it can be concluded that the marriage analogy is closer to Jewish marriage than to Greco-Roman marriage. The final analysis is an investigation of the theological texture. Here salvation history and the covenant of God are first dealt with in order to get to grips with Paul's theological world. Then, Pauline hamartiology, anthropology, and finally, nomism are investigated. The conclusion is that VOl-lOS' in Rom. 7 mostly denotes the universal moral law of God, both written and unwritten, not just the Mosaic law; though in some cases it denotes "principle" or "rule" as in vv. 21-25. Rom. 7 as a whole is a refutation of the objection or misunderstanding that might be raised regarding Paul's statements of the law in previous chapters. In Rom. 7 Paul elaborates the relationship between believers and the law, and the function of the law in relation to sin in an unregenerate person. In so doing, he vehemently denies that the law is sin, and vividly indicates the function of the law using his own experience. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing fokus op Rom. 7 met spesifieke verwysing na die wet. Hoewel sowel die wet by Paulus en Rom. 7 moeilike onderwerpe is om te verstaan, is beide van besondere belang vir In verstaan van die teologie van Paulus en die evangelie. In die verlede is gewoonlik van histories-kritiese studies gebruik gemaak in die bestudering van sulke probleme. Hier word van In sosio-retoriese benadering gebruik gemaak. Daar word eers aandag gegee aan vorige navorsing om In beeld te kry van die wyse waarop die wet in die verlede verstaan is. Na aanleiding van hierdie oorsig word meer as tien probleemareas geidentifiseer. Vervolgens word In kort uiteensetting van sosio-retoriese analise gegee. Dit is In multidimensionele en multidissiplinere benadering wat deur Vernon Robbins ontwikkel is en wat In teks as In hegte eenheid van verskillende teksture sien. In hierdie studie word hierdie metode gebruik, ofskoon met In paar aanpassings. Die makrostruktuur van Romeine word in hoofstuk 4 met behulp van In epistolere en retoriese analise nagegaan. Daarna word Rom. 7 as In retoriese eenheid binne Rom. 5-8 as die breer ko-teks van Rom.7 aangedui. Vervolgens word die retoriese situasie van Romeine asook bepaalde retoriese tegnieke en strategiee van Paulus bespreek. Die standpunt word ingeneem dat Romeine as deliberatiewe retoriek beskou moet word. In hoofstukke 5 tot 7 word die verskillende teksture van Rom. 7 aan die orde gestel. Die herhalend-progressiewe tekstuur, begin-middel-slot tekstuur en die argumentatiewe tekstuur word ondersoek om die interne tekstuur vas te stel. In Analise van die ethumeme in die teks lewer ook In bydrae om die vloei van die argument te kan volg. Hieruit volg dat Rom. 7:1-6 as In analogie beskou moet word, wat In belangrike rniddel in argumentasie was. Verder kan afgelei word dat die teenswoordige tydsvorm in Rom. 7: 14-25 In onderdeel is van die kombinasie van outobiografies-tipies-retoriese kenmerke wat in argumentasie gebruik word. In die bestudering van die intertekstuur word aandag aan die volgende voorbeelde van skriftelike intertekstuur gegee: resitasie (met weglatings) en die uitbou van In tema. By die bestudering van die kulturele intertekstuele analise kom voorbeelde van Joodse intertekstuur aan die orde: Rom. 7:8-10 as toespeling op Gen. 3 en Eks. 3, Paulus se gebruik van die "ek", die wet, die beeld van slawe en die bose begeerte. Verder kan Rom.7:15, 19 en die "ek" as toespelings op Griekse tragedies, die sonde as mag, en slawemy as Grieks-Romeinse kulturele intertekstuur gesien kan word. Wat die sosiale intertekstuur betref word bevind dat die analogie van die huwelik meer verwantskap met die Joodse huwelik as met die Grieks- Romeinse huwelik vertoon. Ten slotte word die teologiese tekstuur ondersoek. Eers word aandag gegee aan die heilsgeskiedenis en die verbond van God om In begrip van die teologiese wereld van Paulus te verkry. Daama word die hamartologie, antropologie en ten slotte die wet by Paulus ondersoek. Daar word bevind dat VOl-lOS" in Rom. 7 meestal die universele morele wet van God, geskrewe en ongeskrewe, en nie net die wet van Moses nie, aandui. In bepaalde gevalle, soos in Rom.7:21-25, beteken dit "beginsel" of reel." Rom.7 is in sy geheel'n verwerping van die beswaar of misverstand wat na aanleiding van Paulus se uitsprake oor die wet in die vorige hoofstukke kon ontstaan het. Paulus stel in Rom.7 die verhouding tussen gelowiges en die wet aan die orde asook die funksie van die wet met betrekking tot sonde by die onbekeerde. Op hierdie wyse ontken hy ten sterkste dat die wet sonde is terwyl hy ook die funksie van die wet met behulp van sy eie ervaring uitbeeld.

By quoting Deuteronomy 30:12–14 as the content of the message of the righteousness of faith over against Leviticus 18:5 and the righteousness of the law in Romans 10:5–8, Paul proclaims a promise fulfilled in accord with the original meaning of the text written by Moses in Deuteronomy. More precisely, Paul reads Deuteronomy 30:11–14 as an extension of the reality foretold in Deuteronomy 30:1–10, which points forward to the new covenant experience of faith-empowered obedience, or heart circumcision, which includes the internalization of the word of God—the eschatological torah—by the Spirit of God. What Paul has found in Deuteronomy 30:11–14 is a prophetic promise of righteousness which he declares fulfilled in the gospel of the Lord Jesus, the message of the righteousness of faith.

This is a thesis centering around the importance of humility in Martin Luther's Lectures on Romans, written in 1515-1516. Included are a word study of humility and its derivatives in Luther's original Latin text, an exposition of each usage, and a thematic exegesis of Luther's theology of humility in his Lectures on Romans.

This dissertation answers the following: "Why did Paul describe Jesus as hilasterion?" Throughout it, I have examined the questions of the "what" versus the "why": "What is the meaning of hilasterion (hilasterion)" versus "why has the death of Christ been metaphorised as hilasterion." Notwithstanding the uniformity among theologians that the meaning (the "what") of the text should occupy centre space, the enquiries of both Bible translators and Pauline scholars have yielded different meanings as far as iA.cronpwv is concerned. The question "why" shifts the project's focus from the meaning of the text to the performativity, which entails asking different questions. As a result, I have problematised "propitiation," "expiation" and "mercy-seat" as interpretational models for hilasterion, because these theological models neglect the rhetorical situation which leads to a misunderstanding of hilasterion. Consequently, applying the three-pronged rhetorical approaches to my text has enabled me to move the discussion away from a purely textual, away from the harmonization of "ideas," away from a traditional theological paradigm thinking only in terms of soteriology and the salvific to a paradigm where the rhetorical, to where the social-cultural and the religiopolitical contexts has been taken into consideration. Dispositio has acted as the foreground for impartiality that facilitated the accommodation of the non-Jews in the Abrahamic family which is hilasterion's performativity. I have argued that apostrophe in service of stasis theory had numerous Jewish fundamentals redefined, without which the notion of hilasterion would not have made sense. I have demonstrated how patron versus client relationship emerged in the depiction of hilasterion as a gift from God, evidence of his righteousness, and how riposte operated in dislodging the non-Jews from their social position and relocating them within the nation of God. The metaphorisation of Jesus' death and his portrayal as hilasterion had a number of tasks. It normalised a situation, it brought about an alternative situation into existence, it endorsed social solidarity, it brought about a different genealogy into effect, it sanctioned the construction of a "new and superior race," and ulitmatley it produced inclusivity of the non-Jews into the Jewish family since Jesus tremendously had high values then extreme value was assigned to the non-Jews. Thus, I have problematised decontextualised theologising, easy theologising (as "propitiation," "expiation," and " mercy-seat"), in order to demonstrate that a socio-rhetorical appraisal of hilasterion requires theologians to rethink the categories they operate with. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)

Title in German and English, text in German, abstract and keywords in English / This thesis deals primarily with the questions: Is Israel constantly chosen by God or have the devine promises gone over to the chuch? Are jews to be saved without the sacrifice of Christ? Should jews be missionised as gentiles alike? To give responses, the followings steps are worked out: At first an overview on the israelological models that have been opined during church- history is presented. Secondly church-documents are analyzed in spite of their missiological content. Thirdly an exegesis of Romans 9-11 is offered. Following this, those of the church-documents, whose israelology is closest to the witness of scripture, are presented. Finally a conclusion is offered, which states, that jews are constantly chosen, but not to be saved in another manner as gentiles. Therefore the church is continually obliged to bear the Gospel also to Israel. Jews and gentiles alike are to be saved by nothing but the blood of Jesus. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation answers the following: "Why did Paul describe Jesus as hilasterion?" Throughout it, I have examined the questions of the "what" versus the "why": "What is the meaning of hilasterion (hilasterion)" versus "why has the death of Christ been metaphorised as hilasterion." Notwithstanding the uniformity among theologians that the meaning (the "what") of the text should occupy centre space, the enquiries of both Bible translators and Pauline scholars have yielded different meanings as far as iA.cronpwv is concerned. The question "why" shifts the project's focus from the meaning of the text to the performativity, which entails asking different questions. As a result, I have problematised "propitiation," "expiation" and "mercy-seat" as interpretational models for hilasterion, because these theological models neglect the rhetorical situation which leads to a misunderstanding of hilasterion. Consequently, applying the three-pronged rhetorical approaches to my text has enabled me to move the discussion away from a purely textual, away from the harmonization of "ideas," away from a traditional theological paradigm thinking only in terms of soteriology and the salvific to a paradigm where the rhetorical, to where the social-cultural and the religiopolitical contexts has been taken into consideration. Dispositio has acted as the foreground for impartiality that facilitated the accommodation of the non-Jews in the Abrahamic family which is hilasterion's performativity. I have argued that apostrophe in service of stasis theory had numerous Jewish fundamentals redefined, without which the notion of hilasterion would not have made sense. I have demonstrated how patron versus client relationship emerged in the depiction of hilasterion as a gift from God, evidence of his righteousness, and how riposte operated in dislodging the non-Jews from their social position and relocating them within the nation of God. The metaphorisation of Jesus' death and his portrayal as hilasterion had a number of tasks. It normalised a situation, it brought about an alternative situation into existence, it endorsed social solidarity, it brought about a different genealogy into effect, it sanctioned the construction of a "new and superior race," and ulitmatley it produced inclusivity of the non-Jews into the Jewish family since Jesus tremendously had high values then extreme value was assigned to the non-Jews. Thus, I have problematised decontextualised theologising, easy theologising (as "propitiation," "expiation," and " mercy-seat"), in order to demonstrate that a socio-rhetorical appraisal of hilasterion requires theologians to rethink the categories they operate with. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)