This dissertation has attempted to define Paul's concept of holiness and how he develops and applies the concept in his letters. This task has focused on Pauline theology, conducting an in-depth exegetical study on various Pauline epistles. All texts on holiness which occur in all thirteen Pauline epistles are examined and discussed. Chapter 1 begins with a question on how Paul, as a Pharisee, might have reevaluated the concept of holiness through the Christ event. This chapter briefly covers the history of research on the concept of holiness in Pauline epistles. Chapter 2 surveys the Old Testament concept of holiness, focusing on the word "holiness." This survey examines the conceptual meaning of the word in the nature of God and in the ritual setting, and also the common definition for the descriptive usage in persons and things. Chapter 3 examines the pharisaic concept of holiness, and compares this with the concept in the Old Testament. Chapter 4 defines the concept of divine holiness. This concept is subdivided into two aspects: the holiness of God manifested in believers (Rom 6:19-22; Eph 4:24; 1 Thess 3;13; and 2 Thess 2:13), and the holiness of Christ (Rom 1:4; 1 Cor 1:30; and Col 1:9-22). For the in-depth exegetical study, Romans 6:19-22 is mainly covered. Chapter 5 analyzes the concept of holiness in man. First, Paul's addressing believers and the church as 'holy ones' is discussed. Second, Paul's teaching on how God willed and made them to be holy (Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 1:2; 3:17; 6:11; 7:14; 2 Cor 7:1; Eph 1:4; 2:21; 5:25-27; 1 Thess 4:3-7; 5:23; and 2 Tim 2:21) is examined. Chapter 6 observes Paul's extensive application of the word, "holy" to things other than man or God. Paul has applied the word "holy" to the Scripture (Rom 1:2), the Law (Rom 7:12), the living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), human body and spirit (1 Cor 7:34), kiss (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; and 1 Thess 5:26) and God's created foods (1 Tim 4:4-5). Finding the descriptive meaning of the word "holy" has focused so that the common understanding of the concept may be derived for the extensive usage. Chapter 7 concludes with the summary of the concept of holiness. Further research has been suggested for possible implications in Paul's overall theological thought. This work suggests that through the Christ event, Paul has reevaluated the concept, especially from his Pharisaic understanding. For Paul, God's holiness is one of the most important of the divine attributes along with righteousness, love, and faithfulness, and he assumed this for his preaching and teaching as a foundational factor. Paul refers to either divine holiness that has been manifested to believers through Christ or the holiness accomplished in believers through divine activity. He states that believers are established without blame, salvation has been secured, and a new humanity has been created in the likeness of God. He exhorts believers to pursue a life of holiness, demonstrating and perfecting holiness as they reflect God's moral purity in their lives and hearts. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

This dissertation argues that the new perspective on Paul rests on a faulty heremeneutical presupposition. This presupposition is that covenantal nomism (as advocated by E. P. Sanders as a proper conception of Second Temple Judaism) could not have served as a foil for Paul in the development of a doctrine of justification that resembles that of the Reformation. The presupposition is faulty because Sanders's portrayal of Judaism as grace-based has no bearing on the categories that defined the shape of the doctrine of justification during the Reformation period and beyond. The study neither accepts nor rejects Sanders's portrayal of Judaism. Instead, it accepts Sanders's claim for the sake of argument and then demonstrates that his claim does not warrant a radical revision of the Reformation approach to the Pauline writings. Chapter 1 demonstrates the strong dependence of the new perspective on Sanders's work and the hermeneutical presupposition that his work Paul and Palestinian Judaism has generated. Chapter 2 sets the historical-theological background for the thesis by surveying important works in the pre-Reformation Catholic scholastic period, as well as the decree of the Council of Trent on justification, in order to demonstrate that, much like covenantal nomism, the emerging Roman Catholicism of the late medieval and Reformation periods was a grace-based, yet monocovenantal, religion. Chapter 3 surveys the works of three prominent Reformers-Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and John Calvin-in order to demonstrate that what defines the Reformation doctrine of justification is not grace per se but rather a doctrine of alien righteousness, situated within a bicovenantal framework, in which there is an uncompromising divine demand for perfect obedience. Chapter 4 traces the same themes-perfect obedience, bicovenantalism, and alien righteousness-into the post-Reformation period in order to demonstrate that these are the categories that define the "old perspective" on Paul. Chapter 5 summarizes the foregoing observations, argues that the new perspective's hermeneutical presupposition is unwarranted, and then concludes with exegetical observations that demonstrate a bicovenantal theology in Paul that is similar to that of the Reformation doctrine of justification, one that could have easily arisen in the context of a prevailing covenantal nomism.

M.A. / Christianity was not born in a vacuum, but it completely owes its historical genesis on or from Jewish religion. The Apostolic, Primitive church was initially composed of Jewish believers who had seen in and understood Jesus of Nazareth as the anticipated Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets and writers. The current and lamentable truth is, Jewish Religion and Christianity are now two different and separate religions. Jesus Christ, His disciples, and Paul remained Jews as far as the Jewish culture is concerned. It is difficult to separate the sacred and secular in the Jewish economy because Jewish culture and religion are intertwined. In this culture, ploughing is as sacred as worshipping. The only apparent shift in his (Paul) paradigm was in interpreting and explaining the Old Testament prophecies and ceremonial system in the light of the Jesus Christ event at the Cross. His evaluation of that "event" and the Person of Jesus of Nazareth became the point of conflict with Judaisers and Judaism that would set a stage for separation between Christianity and Jewish Religion. The Christian Church exists in the post-Cross era. This Church is faced with, among other issues and tasks, challenges of sifting and demarcating between God's injunctions and Jewish Customs.

M.A. / In this study the question on the eschatology of the New Testament is handled. Most New Testament scholars never try to compare the eschatology of Paul with the eschatology of the book of Revelation. Can this two works be compared or are they so different that they cannot be compared? There was a remarkable development in the eschatology of the period between the two testaments and even during the duration of the New Testament. These influences are considered to make a comparison between the writings of the early church and the Jewish people.The writings of Paul were by no means written to give a full eschatology but the letters is full of eschatological thoughts. The Apocalypse of John on the other hand is so full of eschatological meaning that almost the whole book has to do with eschatology. To compare these two is therefore very significant. It is considered that the two writing had one common source of apocalyptic thought. The development within the Jewish thought also shed some light on the meaning of some of Paul's doctrine. The two different settings in which the two authors lived also played an important role. Although both authors experienced persecution in some sense, the question that arises is if they perceived it different from each other's experience. The method used in the study is the literal comparison method. The two works is compared on the grounds of literal differences as well as the exegetical differences. The apocalyptic traditions of the Jews and the early Christians also are brought into view. The backgrounds of the writers are considered although not much is known about John who wrote Revelation. The influences of the Greek and Roman cultures play an important role to understand the development of the eschatological thought.It seems that there is much more conformity between the letters of Paul and the book of Revelation than what most people think. The purpose of the two works is different and many times the eschatology of Revelation is not included in the eschatology of the rest of the New Testament because of its symbols and images. Paul's strong Jewish background played an important role in his eschatology. The Pauline readers had an expectation for the coming of Christ but the crisis that is experienced in Revelation gave the readers an ever-greater expectation for the coming of the Son of Man. The cosmic occurrences and al the symbolism adds up to a great end in the Final Age. Those who persevere the enemies of God and serve the only one true God will be rewarded justly. The study can to the conclusion that behind the two eschatological works lies a common tradition, which developed from the apocalyptic thought of the early Christian age.

The Concept of the Pauline church unity founded on baptism is investigated from a practical theological perspective in terms of both the theoretical and practical method. After outlining the theological principles of this analogy; an actual situation of a local church is researched and the findings of this empirical analysis are used to indicate terms of a practical model of the body of Christ. An essential theological principle is that the church is to serve the Kingdom of God and to be a continuing incarnation of the word of God. The church which is full of quarrels and divisions would not be able to proclaim the word of God freely. Instead of preaching the word of God; they will concentrate on calling themselves that; I am of Paul, and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. This type of expression does not build unity among Christians. What we must do as Christians is that we should accept one another regardless of being affiliated to ZCC; Roman catholic church, Apostolic Faith Mission; Nazarene church, etc. According to Paul's views, all churches from different denominations form the body of Christ. There are also a handful of local churches whose members are trying to increase diversity within their pews. My aspiration is to see all the Christians from different races coming together; praying together and worshipping together as the children of God. My wish is to see the leaders from various denomination focusing on promoting fellowship and reconciliation amongst themselves and their church members accepting one another. The resolute determination of some whites to travel to black communities to worship or of blacks to join and participate in overwhelming white congregations; reveals the depth of some Christians desire to overcome the barriers which have been part of South African life for so long. This desire may be for more prevalent among the laity than the clergy have traditionally imagined. Christians from different races must change if they want to enter into the Kingdom of God. The disturbing factor is that without a real willingness to change there is little hope that it will be achieved in a generation still cluttered with the baggage of the past. Reconciliation and dignity of all believers in Christ needs to be encouraged by Pastors and church members, because we all from the body of Christ. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M.A. (Biblical Studies)

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[Greek words romanized in title and description] This dissertation defends the thesis that the Pauline phrase, pistis Christou ("faith of Christ" [Rom 3:22,26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Phil 3:9; Eph 3:12]), in its various contexts, is best translated as "faith in Christ" (objective genitive) and not "faith/faithfulness of Christ" (subjective genitive). Chapter 1 surveys the history of the debate from 1795 to the present. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the use of pistis ("faith") in the LXX and the rest of the NT corpus outside of Paul's letters. It is argued that the LXX usage of pistis supports the subjective genitive interpretation, but the NT usage argues for the objective genitive interpretation. Chapter 3 investigates the use of "faith" in the writings of the apostolic fathers. The research shows that the fathers use pistis along the lines of NT writers and the evidence from their writings also supports our thesis concerning the pistis Christou phrase in Paul. Chapter 4 addresses the nature of the genitive case, Paul's use of the genitives Christou, kuriou, and Theou. Also in chapter 4, the main arguments made in defense of the Subjective genitive interpretation are summarized and evaluated. Chapters 5-7 are exegetical in nature and make up the core of this dissertation. Arguments are made from the context of each letter in which the pistis Christou phrase appears (Romans, Galatians, and Philippians). First, the meaning of pistis Christou is sought in its immediate context and the results evaluated in light of the broader context of each letter. We found that in all these instances, the reading "faith in Christ" for pistis Christou is the more probable reading in context. Chapter 8 summarizes the results of this investigation and evaluates the thesis proposed in this dissertation. Appendices 1-4 cover topics such as (1) why the debate is limited to the subjective and objective genitives (appendix 1), (2) examples of subjective and objective genitives in the NT (appendix 2), (3) pistis in the rest of Paul's letters (appendix 3), and (4) pistis Christou in Ephesians 3:12 (appendix 4). / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.