This dissertation uses Paul's letter to the Galatian Christians as a guide for gospel-centered preaching. The dissertation argues that evangelical Christianity suffers from a lack of gospel rich preaching, assesses that Galatians can be understood as a sermon, and then analyzes each passage in light of the gospel. In Galatians 1-4 Paul alternates between proclaiming and defending the gospel; in chapters 5-6 Paul applies the gospel. The final conclusion is that pastors who wish to be gospel-centered in their preaching do well to look to Galatians and ask three summary questions of any passage from which they will preach: 1) How does this Scripture proclaim the gospel? 2) How does this passage defend the gospel? 3) How does this text apply the gospel? The gospel-centered preaching paradigm is a tool to help contemporary expositors follow Paul's model and become gospel-centered in their preaching. The goal of these sermons is to help unbelievers receive the gospel and to continually become more like Jesus as they walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

This dissertation studies the concept of gift in the Gospel of John, especially as it relates to God's gift of salvation to humanity. Chapter 1 defines the problem of the gift both for New Testament studies as well as philosophy and sociology. In light of the discussion of the gift historically and in contemporary scholarship, and in view of the biblical text of the Gospel of John, chapter 1 presents the thesis that the Fourth Gospel describes salvation as a gift rather than an economic exchange. Chapter 2 argues that the Fourth Gospel presents God as a unilateral giver. The foundation for this argument is the Prologue of John's Gospel, which sets forth creation, light, life, and grace as unilateral gifts of God. When the Gospel of John discusses these gifts, it insists that when God gives them, He receives nothing in return from the recipients. Chapter 3 narrows the focus to God's gift of salvation. It begins by defining salvation in Johannine terms. When John's terminology for salvation is examined, it becomes clear that salvation means nothing less than deliverance from the condemnation that results from sin unto eternal life. Salvation is tied to God's gift of His Son. Indeed, salvation is given in the gift of the Son. The gift of the Son, however, is a transcendent gift wherein God gives to humanity exhaustively. Chapter 4 discusses the role of the recipients in the giving and receiving when the giver is God, who gives unilaterally and transcendently. The role of human donees must be viewed within a Johannine concept of Trinitarian giving. The triune nature of divine giving and God's gift of the Spirit to His people present an aneconomic model of giving. Chapter 5 summarizes the main arguments of the dissertation, focusing on the epistemological presuppositions requisite to understand the gift and offering a definition of gift. It also notes remaining challenges that need to be addressed in future studies on the gift in the context of Christian theology.

This dissertation seeks to answer the following question: If ancient Jewish and Christian Two Ways texts have a common literary structure and reoccurring apocalyptic dualisms, how and why does the Didache neglect to frame the Two Ways with an apocalyptic worldview? The thesis argued that the Didache’s Two Ways coheres with an ancient apocalyptic Two Ways genre, yet the Didachist does not incorporate the apocalyptic features, dualistic connotations, and the two spirits scheme to maintain a purely ethical version of the Two Ways. Chapter 1 summarizes the history of scholarship and generational Didache studies as they have inquired about the apocalyptic undercurrents of the Didache’s Two Ways. Chapter 2 examines historical scholarship and reception of John J. Collins’s work on apocalypticism and joins this work to the study of the Two Ways. Lists of texts, a typology of salient apocalyptic features, and summaries of the ancient Two Ways reveal the undercurrents of an apocalyptic worldview beyond a two angels scheme. Chapter 3 offers a close critical reading of ancient Two Ways texts that are often compared with the Didache’s Two Ways. The argument focuses upon the apocalyptic features of the Treatise of the Two Spirits (1QS III, 13–IV, 26); Testament of Asher; Galatians 5:16–24; Barn. 18.1–21.1; De Doctrina; and Herm. Mand. 6.1–2 (35–36). Chapter 4 builds upon the work of Nancy Pardee’s delimitation of the Didache and argues for the Didache’s Two Ways to comprise of material in Did. 1.1–6.2. Textual cohesion, discourse boundaries, and comparison with other ancient Two Ways reveals that Did. 1.1–6.2 is uniquely structured and assimilates unique material into the Two Ways literary frame. Chapters 5 and 6 collectively argue that the Didache’s Two Ways lack an apocalyptic worldview that is often associated with a Two Ways genre. Assessing the literary frame and selected readings within the Didache’s Two Ways, I demonstrate how the Didache does not include common apocalyptic undercurrents of an ancient Two Ways genre.

ABSTRACT ADOPTION AND THE FORMATION OF ESCHATOLOGICAL IDENTITY: AN EXEGETICAL STUDY OF HUIOTHESIA Christopher Frederick Wehrle, PhD The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Chair: Dr. Mark A. Seifrid Paul used divine adoption (υἱοθεσία) as a religious metaphor in a rich and diverse way. The variety of approaches to this theme in scholarship attests to this depth and richness. This study argues that the most important purpose of υἱοθεσία within the Pauline correspondence was to help create, define, and ground the identity of believers in Jesus Christ in the early church, especially in the face of difficult and disconcerting questions regarding the role of ethnicity within the eschatological people of God. To this end, this study combines the modern tool of Social Identity Theory with detailed exegesis of key texts in Galatians in order to demonstrate that υἱοθεσία is an eschatological event which creates a new identity for believers in Jesus Christ and functions as a resolution to difficult questions regarding ethnicity and membership in the people of God. Chapter 1 provides a summary and critique of the most important recent studies of υἱοθεσία, followed by a brief outline of the contours of Social Identity Theory. Chapter 2 gives an introduction to the historical and theological background to Paul's letter to the Galatians. This includes an exegetical overview of Galatians 2:15-21, along with an introductory summary of how Social Identity Theory relates to Paul's rhetorical strategy in the epistle. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 supply detailed exegesis of key passages within Galatians, with specific reference to how they contribute to the theme of adoption within the epistle, and noting how Paul follows patterns recognizable to the categories of modern sociology. Chapter 6 addresses the four other occurrences of υἱοθεσία within the Pauline corpus (Rom 8:15, 23; 9:4; Eph 1:5). It offers a brief analysis of the background and purpose of these epistles, and supply an introductory foray into the adoption pericopae. Finally, it will give a synopsis of primary conclusions from each of the texts, and attempt a synthesis of these results.

D.Litt. et Phil. / In this study James 3:13:4:12 is examined by applying the basic premises presented by a semiotic as well as a hermeneutic inter textual theory in order to (a) understand the specific functioning of the text in its socio-historic context and (b) investigate the possibilities of reading this text from a post-modern perspective. The application of these basic aims delivers some surprising and exciting results: The basic argument presented in 3:13-4:12 is clarified, namely the writer's concern about the competing wisdom teachers in the Christian community. Criteria for identifying wise and unwise teachers are given. The investigation into the literal relationships reflected in James 3:13-4:12, contibutes to solve sintactical and semantical problems functioning on the structural surface of the text. Questions concerning the transactional aspects of the text, namely the pragmatic function of inter texts in this specific pericope is answered. The context implied by James 3:13-4:12 is clarified, namely the extra-textual situation (teachers competing since the positions of wisdom teacher in holds financial advantages and status in the community), the dating of James (written around the second quarter of the second century), the theme of wisdom in James, the mythological framework supposed, Hellenistic topics reflected in this writing, James' usage of the Old Testament and the eschatological theme. The text is reread in a post-modern context. The text reveals ideological interests and explains the author's views on the place of females in the church structure. It is argued that the social categories and the hierarchal system of leadership found in this writing are relative to its time and should be re-evaluated against the needs and circumstances of our own time. It is concluded that a intertextual approach to reading, interpreting and understanding New Testament texts may render a significant contribution to New Testament studies.

The purpose of this thesis is to study Matthew's messianic interpretation of Scripture as a contribution to narrative study of his Christo logy. While narrative approach to the Gospels has been appreciated in Gospel studies, it has often failed to take seriously into account the distinctive nature of the Gospel text, that is, its relation with the Old Testament. Thus, in order to remedy this deficiency of the narrative approach, this thesis attempts to study Matthew's messianic interpretation of the Old Testament and integrate the results of it into understanding of Matthew's narrative presentation of Jesus. The study of Matthew's messianic interpretation of the Old Testament, furthermore, helps us to understand Matthew's Christology in its historical context from which early narrative criticism has tended to distance itself. This thesis attempts to explore early Jewish messianic interpretation of the Scripture so as to understand the significance or effect of Matthew's messianic interpretation of the Old Testament upon the implied reader of Matthew.

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M.A. (Biblical Studies) / The aim of this study is idiom, personification, and book of Lamentations. to investigate the use thereof the metaphorical as found in the The method that has been justified combination of exegetic steps. Work has chapters, but the book as followed in this investigation is a both the synchronous and diachronic primarily been done on the first two a whole has also been implicated. Within the use of personification as poetic language functioning in the respective lamentations, the poet highlights the sorrow of Jerusalem to the reader. Jerusalem is 'presented to the reader by means of personification figures, e.g. widow, empress, conscript and daughter of Zion. Personification creates stress and expectations on the part of the reader. The personified Jerusalem enters into conversation with God as well as the passersby, and this prompts the forming of dialogue. The attention of the reader is drawn and kept by the use of the direct as well as the indirect speech of the poet. The reason for the fall of Jerusalem, viz. her sins, is discovered by means of dialogue which is formed with the help of personification. The destruction is God's way of punishing her for her sins. perand upon reader The characteristics of the different personalities of sonification, e.g. mourn, loneliness, conversation, eye mouth, allow the reader to experience the grief imposed Jerusalem. The grief of Jerusalem is described to the in terms of human characteristics (personification). By using personification, the poet highlights the relationships between the widow and, respectively, God, friends and enemies. It is mentioned how these relationships had been in the past, as well as the way they are now after the destruction of Jerusalem. The poet's use of personification as poetic idiom results in the reader becoming involved in the grief inflicted upon Jerusalem and in this way the grief is accentuated strongly.

M.A. (Greek) / The production of literature is a cultural process. A literary work is therefore used for affirming or transforming the relationship between man and his environment. The science of semiotics studies all cultural processes including literature as processes of communication (Eco 1976:8). The ultimate aim of a semiotic approach to a literary work is to establish the way in which the writer attempts to transform the world vision of the addressee (Eco 1976:290) ...

M.A. (Biblical Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract