<p> Four oracles appear in Jeremiah 21:11-23:8 detailing the failure and future of the final kings in Judah, also known as the King Collection. The final oracle against Jehoiachin (he also appears with the names Coniah / Jeconiah) precedes the announcement of the unnamed new Davidide, the Branch. </p><p> The oracle against Jehoiachin appears to be unique, involving no stipulations of covenant wrongdoing, a feature of Deuteronomistic criticism of the kingship since Solomon. He is one of the most unremarkable kings in Israelite history. Yet, he is the concluding figure in both the Greek (Septuagint or LXX) and Hebrew (Masoretic Text or MT) versions of Jeremiah's King Collection, a significant change from the accounts in Kings and Chronicles. He occupies an important place in Josephus's attempts to sketch the ideal Israelite king, respectful of Roman rule. He is important to the rabbis in developing an atonement theory of the exile. In the New Testament, he appears in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, while the other kings from the King Collection disappear. The Epistle to the Hebrews may adopt similar ideas in developing the analogy of Melchizedek, another insignificant king in Israel's history, as a precursor to Jesus. Ideas developed from the flow of the oracle in the text of Jeremiah, shaped by the polemics of exile, appear in the Acts of the Apostles' casting of Jesus' spiritual kingship on the world's stage. </p><p> Precritical Jewish and Christian exegesis adopted a harmonizing approach to the oracle, importing reasons from the Deuteronomistic History and the Chronicler for its harsh judgment. Yet discussion of the oracle and its significance in the construction of the figure of Jehoiachin in Jeremiah has all but disappeared from critical scholarship following the groundbreaking work of Bernhard Duhm. Early critical scholarship, while correcting many of the mistakes of precritical exegetes, followed the new Protestant confessionalism of the 19^th century. Michel Foucault locates the loss of the theology of the cross as this decisive turn in interpretive methodology. This turn caused modern Protestant interpreters, who are mainly responsible for the foundations of modern critical studies in Jeremiah, to devalue disempowered kings in Israel's history, one of the most important hermeneutical categories in classical Jewish literature, according to Yair Lorberbaum. Thus, Bernhard Duhm, and later scholarship that builds on his work, missed the significance of this oracle in the textual function of the book of Jeremiah and its polemical significance in the debates between post-exile groups of Judeans. Gerhard von Rad, in his revision of Martin Noth's theory of the Deuteronomistic History, saw the importance of Jehoiachin as a source of hope for a renewed Israel. Jack Lundbom most recently observed the development of an oracular frame moving from the center outward in which the oracle against Jehoiachin appears. Yet, to date, little work has appeared on the way the canonical form of Jeremiah frames Jehoiachin and its effect on Jeremiah's end to the DtrH. </p><p> To make sense of it, we must account for what appears to be an unfulfilled prophecy in Jeremiah 22, as recorded by Jehoiachin's treatment in Jeremiah 52 where, against the expectation of the oracle, the Jewish king again appears on the world stage. Mark Roncace has written extensively on how this type of prophecy functions in the book of Jeremiah. Speech-act theory, as proposed originally by J. L. Austin, and refined by his prot&eacute;ge, John Searle, provides further insight into this issue. Building on the scholarship of von Rad, Lundbom, Mark Leuchter and several other scholars of the sociopolitical forces in the production of biblical texts in exile, we will reconstruct the remarkably adaptable prophetic frame developed in exile around Jehoiachin and his oracle, which set the stage for a return of a Jewish king to the world stage.</p>

The post-modern predicament can be seen in the conflict between general hermeneutics and deconstruction. General hermeneutics seeks to develop the "modern" project of understanding understanding. It is concerned with universality and meaning, sublimating otherness and difference in the "merging of horizons". Deconstruction subverts such a drive to universality, seeking to open up differences where there is a presumed unity. It tears horizons apart. Protestant interpretation of Scripture has been closely associated with general hermeneutics. However, an evaluation of Rudolf Bultmann's thought shows how any so-called general hermeneutic involves implicit commitments to natural theology which conflict with doctrines of special revelation that are implied by the principles of sola fide and sola gratia. In this way the generality of general hermeneutics is deconstructed. Instead of beginning with an independently derived hermeneutic, which directs the interpretation of Biblical texts, one should begin with the kerygmatic content, and develop its hermeneutical implications. Through a careful examination of the implications of Luther's account of justification, it can be seen that the point of departure for interpretation is not a generally determinable "plain sense" of the text, but rather a particularly determined ambiguity, opacity and polyvalence. Through the text's content, which is the Word of God, there is a metaphorical transfer from a grammatical metaphoricity to a divine metaphoricity, in which an initial linguistic displacement in the text is reduplicated existentially as a shift from the indeterminate absence to the hidden presence of God. This metaphorical metaphoricity provides an alternative to Babel, which is the Derridian "metaphor of metaphors". The metaphorical metaphoricity that grounds justification can be seen in the incarnation, which is thematized by John's Gospel. Through an account of the logic and rhetoric of revelation in John's text, a hermeneutic of revelation can be derived, which does justice to the unique dynamics of Scripture and its function in the Christian community. The singular juxtaposition of universality and particularity that takes place in the incarnation provides a third alternative to the competing movements that constitute the post-modern predicament.

Martin Buber was one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. His works on philosophy and theology have had a profound influence on both Jewish and Christian religious thought. The purpose of this thesis is to examine Buber's biblical scholarship in the context of his philosophical and theological writings in order to assess how his approach to biblical hermeneutics is connected to the rest of his thinking. It is demonstrated that Buber's philosophy of I and Thou has a profound role in his understanding of the Bible and the nature of interpretation itself as a dialogue between reader and text in a way that anticipates certain post-modern notions of literary theory. In particular, Buber's dramatic work, Elijah, a Mystery Play is examined in order to evaluate Buber's hermeneutical method as it is displayed in a specific example of artistic exegesis.

<p>The context is The Greater Harvest Church, of Long Beach. California, which was traumatized because of misconduct. misappropriation. and power struggles between former pastors and lay-leaders. This study examined a system for resuscitating and healing churches that have suffered trauma. The hypothesis is that empathy, justice-mindedness, and humility, partnership with the Godhead, and koinonia, are the prescription for resuscitating and healing a church that has been traumatized. A qualitative methodology was employed utilizing surveys, interviews, and observations. Study data supports the conclusion that a demonstration of empathy, justice-mindedness, and humility is essential to healing a wounded congregation. </p>

<p> Recognizing the lack of consensus among studies of the letter of James concerning its original situation, this thesis is a study in the circumstances that precipitated the letter of James; it argues that the letter responds in significant measure to the inclination of some pre 70 Diaspora Jews to rebel violently against the Roman Empire. In so doing, it is suggested that the paralleled passages of Jas 1:2-20 and 5:7-11/12 might covertly critique a set of convictions and behaviors of the letter&rsquo;s audience that configures a &ldquo;war agenda.&rdquo; This thesis finds sufficient reasons to read the letter of James as a paralleled literary structure rather than as a linear progression of thought. Reading it thus provides a better control on the exploration of the plausibility of a &ldquo;war agenda&rdquo; as the original situation of the letter of James, inasmuch as such exploration can be speculative. Some corroborating evidence for the plausibility of the &ldquo;war agenda&rdquo; is provided in the form of identifying a highly volatile political environment in mid-first-century Palestine with important implications and reverberations in the Jewish Diaspora. Such evidence is correlated with the letter of James. </p><p> The letter of James can be seen thus as an authoritative exhortation embedded in the thought-world of the Old Testament as interpreted according to the teachings of Jesus. It is argued that such exhortation was addressed to the Jews in the Diaspora, irrespective of whether they were Christians, and that its author was James, the brother of Jesus and a Christian Jew. This James emerges then as a recognized leader in the nascent Christian movement, with influence among his Jewish brethren in Palestine and in the Diaspora, at a time when there was no clear discontinuity between Christianity and Judaism. Such reading seems to account for some of the clear, and at times problematic, traits identified by other studies in the letter of James, including the seemingly meager Christology, a strong Jewish ideological background, a reflection of the thought-world of Jesus, and the social concern for the marginalized.</p>

<p> The Researcher has coordinated and attended a <i>Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Pilot Group</i> with eight Korean minister&rsquo;s wives a few years ago, hosted and mentored by Dr. Sunny Song. The experience with Korean ministers&rsquo; wives with the Pilot Group gave conviction of the possibility of small group dynamics for change and upgrade of transformation of women in leadership. This research discovered several factors why a <i> Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Group</i> could work well. All the members were continuously reminded and reshaped with new understanding about emotional aspects of inner being, relationship, and spirituality. The researcher believes that the <i>Bibliotherapy Centered Growth Group</i> can be an advanced ministry model besides other small group dynamics for pastors&rsquo; wives to healthier and deeper relationship with God and among church members.</p>

<p> This study examined how aesthetic leadership behaviors relate to or express leaders&rsquo; personal cohesion of inner self. The hypothesis asserted that (a) leaders who were exposed to prolonged/profound trauma and did not work through this trauma may retreat their identity into their leadership role, attempting to epitomize the ideals of their movement to escape from the pain; (b) once their identity is confined to the pursuit of embodying their movement&rsquo;s values, these leaders may feel compelled to sacrifice everything including intimacy, rest, and health, for the prototypical ideals, and live in a constant state of hyper-arousal (fight or flight) and social constriction (Schick, 2011); (c) in this state, leaders may be capable of abnormally high performance outputs with expansive, lasting impact&mdash;but this performance may be indicative of brokenness and disintegration from oneself; and (d) leaders&rsquo; personal coherence will be observable in their aesthetic actions. For disintegrated traumatized leaders, the fracture was hypothesized to be aesthetically expressed in hyper-prototypicality as a leader, with simultaneously observable difficulty in maintaining healthy self. In a companion study, a hybrid hermeneutical personal narrative approach was utilized to analyze the parallel texts of <i>Testament</i> (Francis, 1226) and the <i> Life of St. Francis</i> (Thomas of Celano, 1246) to examine the inner cohesion of Saint Francis of Assisi, as well as the parallel texts of <i> This is That</i> (Semple McPherson, 1923) and <i>Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America</i> (Sutton, 2007) in the examination of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson&rsquo;s cohesion of self. The study demonstrated that research of a leader&rsquo;s inner person requires study of multidimensional aesthetic exchanges rather than aesthetic action alone. Role development in the family also shaped leaders&rsquo; understanding of calling and expectations. Additionally, aesthetically expressed disintegration of core identity appears to have triggered the embrace of ministry lifestyles that sustained hyper-arousal. Finally, four variables emerged as the primary causal factors in the disintegration of both leaders&rsquo; personhood: (a) intense/overbearing parental influence, (b) overwhelming desire to have widespread impact, (c) skewed understanding of God or personal application of the gospel, and (d) lack of capacity to process trauma&mdash;variables that leaders in numerous contexts may experience. </p>

<p>Since the advent of Gutenberg&rsquo;s printing press (AD 1455) to the present day, the Bible has been translated into nearly 2,500 languages and reproduced six billion times. Its influence on western culture can hardly be denied. And the Bible has never been more accessible in a variety of formats than it is today. This is why the statistics on biblical literacy in America are startling. The Pew Research organization found that atheists, agnostics, and Jews scored five percent higher on religious knowledge surveys than Christians. Additionally, out of twelve Bible knowledge questions, Mormons scored 7.9 while Christians only scored 6.2. The Barna Group also found that biblical literacy is declining among Millennials (ages eighteen to twenty-nine). For example, only thirty-seven percent of Millennials could name the first five books of the Bible and only eight percent could name the first five books of the New Testament. </p><p> In response to the widespread problem of biblical illiteracy in the local church, this project designed and deployed a biblical literacy, small group training course for disciples at Eastpoint Church. The purpose of this project was to encourage believers to learn the contents of the Scriptures in the context of community. Prior to the biblical literacy course, participants took a biblical literacy test that gauged their knowledge and understanding of biblical themes and content. After the ten-week course, the participants took the same test and filled out a qualitative questionnaire that measured their experience in the course and their personal learning habits. The result of deploying the curriculum was that disciples showed a marked increase in their knowledge and understanding of the Bible&rsquo;s contents and themes. </p>

<p> The analysis in this thesis is centered around a technical examination which I conducted based on the Pseudo-Clementine research of Bernhard Rehm, Georg Strecker, H. U. Meijboom and F. Stanley Jones along with the inquiry of Brenda Dean Schildgen regarding the reception of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament. The first goal is to revise the Markan Pseudo-Clementine correlations of Rehm, Strecker and Meijboom. The second goal is to present a more correct and accessible list of Markan correlations for future research of the reception of scripture into the Pseudo-Clementines. The third goal is to determine which author or authors of the Pseudo-Clementines used the Gospel of Mark and to what purpose. The most important goal is to further the scholarly research on the reception of the Gospel of Mark. It is my hope that this research prompts scholars in the future to search more thoroughly for the reception of Mark in the PseudoClementines.</p>

<p>In comparison to Mark and Luke, Matthew's Gospel contains a striking preponderance of economic imagery, especially in passages dealing with sin, righteousness, and divine recompense. This cluster of economic terms is found in every strand of tradition in Matthew's Gospel, and frequently appears to be the result of Matthean redaction. A good chunk of this language occurs in five uniquely Matthean parables dealing either with the pricelessness of the kingdom or judgment and reward (the hidden treasure in 13:44; the pearl in 13:45-46; the parable of the unforgiving servant in 18:23-35; the parable of the workers in the vineyard 20:1-16; the sheep and the goats in 25:31-46). Matthean additions to the triple tradition also tend to contain economic language. </p><p> In this dissertation I begin by analyzing Matthew's economic language against the backdrop of similar language in other early Jewish and Christian literature. I then go on to examine the import of this language for the narrative as a whole, arguing that some of the Gospel's central claims about Jesus emerge from this conceptual matrix. To be more specific, the narrative provides a coherent description of how Jesus saves his people from their sins and comes to be enthroned as Son of Man. Matthew draws on images of exile and debt-bondage to depict the people Jesus came to save as captives because of the debt of their sins. Jesus is introduced as the one born to save his people from their sins (1:21), and throughout the Gospel he does this by teaching them how to find debt forgiveness and store up treasure in the heavens in order to acquire eternal life. From the time Jesus begins predicting his death and resurrection he also teaches his disciples to follow him in giving their lives and being repaid with resurrection (16:24-28; 19:29), participation in the rule of the Son of Man (19:27-28), and the price of release for others who are in captivity. The passion narrative portrays the very repayment Jesus told the disciples that both he and they would receive: Jesus is raised from the dead, given all authority as Son of Man, and earns the ransom-price for the many. The end of the age remains in the future, and so suffering and doubt persist. Nevertheless, God's repayment of Jesus' self-giving is a foretaste of the coming settling of accounts.</p> / Dissertation