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This dissertation is a survey of the homiletical contributions of James W. Cox with particular emphasis upon his writings and methodology. Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter that explains the significance of this study. Heretofore no scholar has written on Cox as the sole subject of research. Chapter 2 is biographical, tracing Cox's background as far back as possible, then moving forward chronologically, leading up to the beginning of his teaching career at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Attention is given to areas such as Cox's conversion experience, call to ministry, education, family, and occasions for pastorates. Chapter 3 is an overview of Cox's written homiletical contributions. The emphasis of this chapter is upon Cox's major homiletical books and articles. Interaction with other homileticians is provided where appropriate. Chapter 4 surveys Cox's hermeneutics for preaching. The focus of this section concerns Cox's convictions about Scripture and the location of meaning in a text. Chapter 5 examines Cox's homiletical method. The chapter surveys Cox's teaching and methodology concerning the preparation and delivery of sermons. Chapter 6 analyzes Cox's sermons. Eight sermons are critiqued according to guidelines Cox himself sets forth in his writings. Chapter 7 is an overview of how Cox is perceived by his colleagues. The author has excerpted critical comments from scholars who have reviewed Cox's published homiletical writings and has provided comments from five of Cox's colleagues who were interviewed for this chapter. Chapter 8 is a summary and conclusion. The significant homiletical contributions are summarized from each section of the dissertation. The dissertation includes six appendices: (1) Time-Line of Significant Events in Cox's Life; (2) Examples of Sermon Preliminaries; (3) Guiding Principles for the Interpretation of the Bible; (4) "A Meditation" (reproduction of weekly article written when Cox was a teenager); (5) Preaching Engagements; and (6) Miscellaneous Anecdotes and Information. / 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.

There is a great deal of work on campaign finance at the national level, however, state level research is sparse. My dissertation fills this void in the literature by examining the motivations of contributors to state legislators. The literature discusses two major motivations of contributors universalistic contributors, who hope to influence election outcomes, and particularistic contributors who hope to influence legislative votes. The primary hypothesis is that proximity to the general election is the primary factor in explaining contribution patterns in state legislatures; however, proximity to a legislative vote of interest to the contributor will also be significant in explaining contribution patterns. Additionally, the dissertation examines the impact of session limits on contribution patterns. I use campaign contribution data collected by the National Institute on Money in State Politics and select twenty-five bills in nine states to test the primary hypothesis. I use a contributor fixed effects model to test for increased or decreased levels of contributions for each contributor, given the proximity to the election and legislative votes important to the contributor. The results indicate that contributions increase across all states in the two months prior to the general and primary elections, and that proximity to the election is the most important factor in explaining campaign contributions in state legislatures. In 32% of all cases in the study, there was direct evidence of interest groups attempting to influence the outcome of legislative votes. Additionally, an increase in contributions close to a major legislative vote occurred in 77% of the cases without session limits, indicating that interest groups are highly active in attempting to influence policy outcomes. An additional examination of contribution patterns indicates that PACs shift their contributions to the beginning of the legislative session when faced with session limits. My research contributes to our understanding of the motives of campaign contributors and their actions when faced with legal restrictions on their contributions. This research, therefore, allows campaign finance reformers to make better reform decisions.

The intention of campaign finance regulations was to reduce the influence of special interest groups while increasing citizen contributions. Critics have suggested an unintentional consequence of this policy of increasing bias in campaign contributions in favor of incumbents. These claims of intentional and unintentional consequences, however, have rarely been tested. My dissertation examines the intentional and unintentional consequences of campaign finance regulations in the American states. This study adopts a theoretical framework emphasizing the different effects of regulations on two distinctive types of contributors. A particularistic contributor, whose motivation is influencing policy, is likely to be affected by contribution limits. A universalistic contributor, motivated by helping his or her favorite candidates, is not likely to respond to regulations. Furthermore, the disparity of contributions is not expected to be affected by contribution limits. Two specific hypotheses reflecting the theoretical consideration are tested: 1) Restrictive contribution limits reduce the number and amount of particularistic contributions and increase the disparity between the numbers as well as the amounts of contributions, and 2) Contribution limits do not affect the number, the amount, or the disparities of universalistic contributions. Individual contribution records on gubernatorial elections are collected from 1990 to 2000 in 42 states. After aggregating individual contribution records by state and candidate, two analyses are conducted at the state and candidate level. The results indicate that campaign finance regulations work without the unintentional consequence of providing a financial advantage to incumbents at both the state and candidate levels. Contribution limits increase the number of total contributors, reduce the number and amount of particularistic contributions, and increase the number of universalistic contributors. In addition, further analyses show a dynamic effect of contribution limits on corporations, labor unions, individuals, parties, and ideology PACs. Restrictive contribution limits reduce the number and amount of corporate contributions, but only reduce the amount of labor union contributions. On the other hand, strict contribution limits encourage individual contributions, but discourage party and ideological PAC contributions. The intentional consequence of campaign finance regulations does not result in the unintentional consequence of increasing bias in favor of incumbents. These findings suggest that current regulations that limit campaign contributions should remain in place.

Contemporary Hobbesian contractarianism began in the wake of John Rawls' revitalization of contractarianism in A Theory of Justice and the subsequent body of critical literature which has grown up around it. Philosophers have been impressed with Rawls' powerful application of a contractarian framework to traditional issues in moral and political philosophy but dismayed at the extensive normative precommitments of his particular contractarian theory. They have thus sought an equally powerful contractarian approach unwed to strong normative precommitments. Of all extant contractarian theories, Thomas Hobbes' theory in Leviathan uniquely constitutes such an approach. Like all contractarians, Hobbes specifies a hypothetical choice problem consisting of a choice environment, a choice problem, and a method of resolution. But Hobbes' choice environment purports to make virtually no substantive normative precommitments. The strength of Hobbesian contractarianism is that it seeks to generate substantive normative conclusions from premises established in a normatively minimalistic theoretical framework, and thus promises not to beg any fundamental normative questions. This dissertation considers in detail three comprehensive and game-theoretically sophisticated books which are central to the current corpus of contemporary Hobbesian contractarianism. These are Jean Hampton's Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition, Gregory Kavka's Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory, and David Gauthier's Morals by Agreement. We explain the common denominators and points of divergence among these theories while undertaking an extensive critical investigation of each. Two fundamental themes emerge from these investigations. First, Hobbesian contractarianism tends to run afoul of collective action problems at various levels of its overall argument. Collective actions problems arise when the requirements of individual and collective rationality diverge. Second, the normative minimalism which is heralded as the primary virtue of Hobbesian contractarianism is also revealed as one of its fundamental problems. By minimalizing its normative precommitments, Hobbesian contractarianism undermines its ultimate goal of generating powerful normative conclusions.

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Currently, a great schism exists in the way that the law of financial provision treats cohabiting and married couples on relationship breakdown. Given that research consistently demonstrates that women are predominantly responsible for carrying out homemaking activities regardless of employment status, at the heart of this divide is the way that the law attributes value to this traditionally female role. In the married context, on divorce, breadwinning and homemaking contributions have equal value, yet in the cohabitation context only financial contributions are recognised, with homemaking having no value attributed to it. This polarised approach has received extensive criticism from the courts, the legal profession and the academic community, both for overvaluing domestic contributions in the married context and for ignoring or at best undervaluing them in the cohabitation context. Yet, despite the agreement over the inadequacies in this area, there is a lack of consensus over the direction that reform should take, and so far attempts have been slow and have often come to nothing, especially in the cohabitation context. Furthermore, feminist opinion is divided about whether financial recognition of domestic contributions in family law poses a threat to the financial autonomy of women, encouraging patriarchal financial dependence; or whether such developments redress a glaring inequality inherent in gendered roles freely chosen within the family. Consequently, this project uses the two very differing feminist positions of Ruth Deech and Martha Fineman who embody this divide as the lens through which to explore this dichotomous tension underlying the law in this area. To test out these two feminist stances, this project uses a range of doctrinal, feminist and empirical methodology, namely interviews with legal practitioners, to compare the approaches in New Zealand, Scotland and Queensland, Australia alongside England and Wales, where each jurisdiction differentially reflects a point on a spectrum between Deech and Fineman’s contrasting positions. This project also uses focus groups with members of the public in England and Wales to ascertain the affected communities’ views on these models of financial provision. Drawing on these results, this thesis shall consider how the law of financial provision in England and Wales should divide assets on relationship breakdown in the marriage, civil partnership and the same- and different-sex cohabiting context. Should it promote financial autonomy or should it offer greater protection to those who lead gendered lives in the private sphere?

Contributions for pension savings This thesis in the first place deals with the contributions of pension savings and the process of it's administration. The purpose of my thesis is a description, analysis and evaluation method of selection contributions for pension savings. The thesis is based on some new concepts that are associated with administration of insurance. It means that new contributions for pension savings are closer to taxes than to the premiums for social security. The basic source of legislation is Act No. 397/2012 Collection of Laws, about contributions for pension savings (ACPS). This thesis is divided systematically into six chapters. The first chapter is introductory. This chapter defines the aim, the methods of use and literature. The second chapter briefly describes the implementation of the pension reform, focusing on II. pillar, it's current status, proposed changes and possible future developments. The largest chapter is Chapter Three - financing of retirement savings. The starting point for description, analysis and evaluation of the regulation of contributions is Comment to the Act about contributions for pension savings. The third chapter is divided into five parts - Legislation before taking ACPS, approval of new legislation, contributions, administration of contributions...

This research investigated patterns in elevation change in newly built wetlands in the Atchafalaya delta, and newly restored wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta. RSETs were used to measure small changes in elevation, and soil cores were processed to examine mineral and organic contributions. Elevation change was highly variable, responding to influences from water level, river discharge, storms and vegetation. Mineral matter consistently added more to the marsh soil through volumetric and gravimetric contributions. Organic contributions were not significantly different across sites, suggesting the type of emergent vegetation at a site may not be the most important factor. Sites with the lowest elevations had the highest rates of positive elevation change. Higher elevation sites were more exposed and had negative rates of elevation change. The findings suggest ideal sites for marsh building are in areas that receive sediment input, are protected from high-energy events, and can support emergent vegetation.

[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.