In traditional hermeneutics and textual criticism, narratives are read in accordance with the trope synecdoche: parts of the narrative are related to the whole and the whole to parts. However, in my analysis, narratives produce textual effects which correspond to the trope metonymy: parts are related to parts with no natural thrust towards synthesis. When one reads the gospel of Mark metonymically, it ceases to function as a story articulating a coherent suffering Messiah Christology. Instead, two contradictory textual "logics" emerge: first, certain textual constellations and discourses suggest the need for the "effacement" of Jesus, the need to reduce his "presence" in order to allow the "introjection" of his message; second, other constellations and discourses suggest the need to retain his narratival "presence," to "encrypt" him in the textuality of the gospel, to "incorporate" his "presence" in a way which resists epistemic assimilation or identification. My analysis examines these differing "logics."

Driven by her anxiety to create an alternative world view to that offered her by the male-dominated world of nineteenth-century England, enabled by the decline of biblical authority encouraged by the expansion of scientific discovery and the rise of the Higher Criticism, and guided by the Bible's own internal reinterpretative tradition, Charlotte Bronte appropriates the authoritative voice of scripture in order to redirect its energies into new avenues so that she can script a life for herself which transcends the possibilities available to her in the external world. However, if she wishes to redress issues of exclusion and oppression which have their roots in the traditional, male-dominated interpretation of the Bible, then one of her most effective weapons is the Bible's own challenging word, which, though often suppressed by her culture, she reclaims and uses. What Harold Bloom calls "the anxiety of influence" is certainly involved in her apparently willful misreading of the precedent tradition of biblical interpretation in order to clear out a space within which her voice can be heard. The influence of such a powerful and sacrosanct source as the Bible would undoubtedly produce in Bronte the anxiety of which Bloom speaks. However, rather than abandoning or completely rejecting it, she saw her work as a necessary renewing of the biblical tradition because the conventional methods of viewing it no longer fit the situation of women in the nineteenth century, including her own. From the dominant society's point of view, she commits what can be perceived as acts of "violence" on the Bible and a substantial body of its interpretation. Breaking its stories down into their component parts of character, plot, and setting, she then reassembles them in startling and exciting ways using the process of bricolage. This study traces Charlotte Bronte's reinscription of the Bible through her four novels, paying special attention to her use of three strategies: (1) gender reversal, (2) undermining of God's role in controlling human history, and (3) recasting "otherworldly" locales in this worldly settings.

During a six year period the Jesus Seminar evaluated 1,544 versions of 518 different sayings. The goal was to determine the authenticity of these sayings according to various degrees of historical reliability. The results constitute Phase One of the Seminar's efforts, and have since been published as The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (1993). Although the Jesus Seminar has undertaken three more Phases, the purpose of this paper is to examine and evaluate only the first Phase. Part One, "Evaluating the Jesus Seminar's Work in Phase One," consists of two chapters. Chapter 1, "Phase One of the Jesus Seminar's Work," considers the beginnings of the Jesus Seminar, the two goals for Phase One, four motivations, methodologies, and the voting outcomes of the semiannual meetings. Chapter 2, "The Jesus Seminar and Its Critics," surveys the many objections that have been raised about the Seminar's work. In particular, scholars have challenged the Seminar's assumptions, methodologies, and results. Part Two, "Evaluating the Jesus Seminar's Quest for the Historical Jesus," likewise consists of two chapters. In chapter 3, "The Jesus Seminar and the Tradition of Quests," the various quests for the historical Jesus are surveyed, specifically, the Old Quest, the New Quest, and the Third Quest. The Jesus Seminar's quest finds its closest analogy in the Old Quest for the historical Jesus. Chapter 4, "A Modest Proposal for a Limited Quest," proposes a quest for the historical Jesus, albeit a limited quest. The limitation to the quest is largely due to the methodology employed, namely, historical criticism. In this chapter, the three steps of this method, i.e., research, synthesis, and implications, are delineated and evaluated for contributions and limitations.

The story of the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:1-4 has attracted the attention of Jewish texts from its inception, on account of its obscure character and positioning before the story of the Flood. Particularly, throughout the Second Temple period this story was expanded into a mythological tale of the fallen angels' exploits and their disastrous consequences. Each work interpreted and employed the mythology in a unique manner, which was often influenced by its specific literary concerns. Generally speaking, the angel story became a theodicy, explanation for the Flood, and an infamous example from the sacred history of Israel of God's immanent judgment of the unrighteous. Through an exegetical analysis of each text which employs the angel story, this study will describe its variegated interpretation and literary development throughout the Jewish literature from the 4th century B.C.E. to the early 2nd century C.E.

<p> This project addresses the subtle pneumatological shifts in doctrine and in practice that have taken place in the Pentecostal Movement in North America over the past several decades and the relationship of these shifts to a decline in growth. </p><p> The biblical-theological literature review establishes a solid biblical-theological foundation for the importance of Spirit baptism as empowerment for the fulfillment of God's mission, the vital significance of initial evidence as a gateway to the increased manifestation of the <i>charismata</i> (1 Cor. 12:8-10), the critical role of the <i>charismata</i> in effective ministry and mission, and the importance of leaders creating a learning environment to equip believers to minister the gifts of the Spirit. The general literature review emphasizes the experienced presence of God and the baptism in the Holy Spirit as central to Pentecostal spirituality, the key role of the <i> charismata</i> in church growth, and the ramifications for the future in developing a Pentecostal model of ministry. </p><p> The School of the Spirit (SOS) uses sound teaching and activation exercises to provide believers the opportunity to exercise the gifts of the Spirit under the guidance of spiritual leaders. SOS helps believers to develop confidence in operating in the gifts as a natural part of a lifestyle that builds up the church and provides a powerful witness to the community as they proclaim the gospel with confirming signs and wonders. </p><p> In addition to the immediate benefit to the participants of the SOS, it also provides a curriculum for Pentecostal and charismatic pastors and spiritual leaders who desire to equip their congregations or groups to minister in the gifts of the Spirit.</p>

This thesis investigates the ethical system of the book of Isaiah, treating the book as a single literary work from a broadly reader-oriented critical perspective. It begins with a study of ethics and literature which examines how the Old Testament prophetic books communicate their moral teaching, with particular reference to the performative force of their rhetoric. The second section of the thesis presents a descriptive analysis of the ethical ideologies in the book of Isaiah. It is concluded that the root of sin for Isaiah is the failure to acknowledge God. The thesis then proceeds to consider the conduct of the deity with regard to the ethical demands he makes of Israel, and finds that, while he is not evil or immoral, he fails to attain the standard he establishes for his people. There is a distinct double standard in operation. The inevitable result of such failure is the undermining of either the ethical system, the status of Yahweh, or both. The final chapters seeksome explanation for Yahweh's conduct. Evidence to suggest the book is conscious of the difficult moral position of the deity is presented and analysed, and it is concluded that the double standard demonstrably in operation is a deliberate rhetorical device and even a necessary result of Isaiah's religious beliefs. Isaiah's monotheism demands that God cannot be bound or restricted in any way, and righteousness for Yahweh is defined simply by what he does. Isaiah's God could never adhere to Isaianic ethics, because his actions continually redefine them. This has the unfortunate but necessary side-effect of destabilising Isaiah's ethical system. The thesis concludes with a short autobiographic-critical study of the place of the Bible in the Christian faith and the problems it poses.

Thesis (Th.D.)--Harvard University, 2006. / (UMI)AAI3239143. Adviser: Francois Bovon. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-10, Section: A, page: 3856.

This thesis on The Place of the Tithe in New Testament Stewardship is written for the purpose of showing the demand for new standards of Christian Stewardship in the church, and for new application of the divine and unchanging standards of giving as well as living and serving. The challenge to "give"and "save" and "serve" meets us on every hand. The present world war reveals and demonstrates that men and women can give time, energy, talent and money in quantities thought to be impossible before this great conflict began calling for the best in all of us. What is possible for a national cause must also be possible for Christ and the Church!

<p> This dissertation examines the use of Leviticus 26 in four Second Temple-era Jewish texts: Chronicles, Jubilees, Words of the Luminaries, and the Damascus Document. Prevailing scholarship will cite the fact that these texts&rsquo; review the history of how Israel&rsquo;s disobedience provoked the covenant chastisements epitomized by exile as proof that Second Temple Jews believed that they had fallen under the curses. The Chronicler&rsquo;s views on chastisement have been attributed to extreme (Deuteronomic) doctrines of immediate retribution and human initiated repentance. A contrasting belief that true repentance, bringing salvation, was only possible through a divinely initiated recreation of the human spirit has been increasingly imputed to the latter three texts. However, this dissertation argues that Chronicles, Jubilees, Words of the Luminaries, and the Damascus Document texts&rsquo; are all fundamentally oriented to the Leviticus 26 teleological paradigm of chastisement-induced repentance, more than the concept of tit-for-tat retributive cursing generally associated with Deuteronomy 28&ndash;29. All four texts read and reference Leviticus 26 for an optimistic, reassuring understanding that the covenant chastisements epitomized by exile are a God-guided experiential process whose <i>telos </i> is their repentance. Israel&rsquo;s suffering serves a purpose, bringing about a reversal of deliberately-committed ancestral trespass (<i> ma&lsquo;al</i>; Lev 26:40&ndash;41). In conceptualizing repentance in these texts as a divinely initiated process of inner transformation, this study moves beyond the dichotomy of &ldquo;human-initiated&rdquo; and &ldquo;divine-initiated&rdquo; repentance assumed by earlier scholarship. The latter three texts draw overt&mdash;but by scholars unappreciated and/or actively denied&mdash;references to the simple meaning of Lev 26:44&ndash;45 promising that God will preserve the people and the covenant he struck with them at Sinai no matter what the people do.</p><p>

<p> The author presents as the ministry problem the dropout rate of Millennials from the church and argues as a partial solution an intentional strategy of mentoring in life fulfillment. It is posited that in addition to experiencing greater life fulfillment through a process of mentoring that is gospel centered although not overtly spiritual, it will naturally create a path to which a participant will likely explore faith in Christ if it does not exist, or have existing faith strengthened. The author created an intervention wherein he recruited 14 Millennials to participate in a 6-month mentoring process focusing on life fulfillment. Then using a mixed methodology approach administered the Life Fulfillment Questionnaire or LF-Q to measure quantitatively the degree to which a participant experienced greater life fulfillment. The author then administered the Life Fulfillment Interview or LF-I to measure qualitatively the degree to which a participant experienced growth in life fulfillment as well as to determine the degree to which a participant experienced greater growth and maturation in his/her spiritual life, confessed faith in Christ, or was more receptive to the claims of Christianity. The two instruments were compared and contrasted to determine areas of agreement or disagreement and to add greater clarity to areas of congruence. The author discovered that Millennials who participate in a mentoring process that focused on life fulfillment and that is gospel centered experienced growth in life fulfillment and that the process had a positive impact in terms of their faith in Jesus Christ. </p><p>