Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-157).

Th. 3e cycle--Lett.--Metz, 1976. Th.--Méd.--Paris 6--Broussais-Hôtel Dieu, 1978. N°: 61.

One of the distinctive features of the Fourth Gospel is the emphasis placed on the divine name (ὄνομα). The name occurs eight times (5.43; 10.25; 12.13, 28; 17.6, 11-12, 26), in key passages and in striking expressions such as “I have made known your name” (17.6) and “your name, which you gave me” (17.11). This thesis uses historical-critical methodology in a close reading of the Fourth Gospel to determine why John is so attracted to the name category. It is argued that, for John, the divine name was fundamentally an eschatological category with a built-in duality or “associative” significance, which he derives primarily from his reading of Isaiah. It is plausible that Isaiah was the primary impetus for John’s interest in the divine name, because name language is bound up with the “I am” expression and glory language in Isaiah— both of which more clearly underlie John’s “I am” sayings and glory motif. Furthermore, the significance of the name in Isaiah as the object of eschatological expectation (Isa 52.6), and as a concept by which God is associated with his Servant, attracted John to the name category as ideal for his nuanced presentation of Jesus. In John’s use of the name category, it is possible to distinguish the question of significance from that of referent, meaning, and function. This, in turn, facilitates a clear evaluation of possible catalysts for John’s name concept. It is demonstrated that a variety of Jewish and Christian background influences contributed to John’s name concept at the level of referent, meaning, and function. However, the eschatological and associative significance of the name in the Fourth Gospel is particularly indebted to the name concept in Isaiah. This is significant, in part, because Isaiah places such emphasis on the exclusivity of God. It may be that a zeal for God’s exclusivity had generated accusations against the community of believers known to John, that, by their allegiance to Jesus, they were guilty of blaspheming the name in particular. The name was, perhaps, a “flashpoint” for the community, and the text of Isaiah a key battle-ground for defining fidelity to God, and the identity of the people of God. By associating Jesus with the divine name, John legitimates the allegiance of believers to Jesus in the face of Jewish opposition, as well as comforts those who were troubled by the continued absence of Jesus, with the point that they were yet identified by the divine name (17.11), and that eschatological revelation of the name promised in Isaiah was extended to their own time as well (17.26b).

In 1 Kings 1-2 King David’s impending death divides the monarchy over which of his two sons, Adonijah or Solomon, should be the future king. At this pivotal moment one might expect YHWH to reveal who should take over after David, as YHWH had done before (1 Sam 9:1-10:1; 16:1-13); however, YHWH is silent and the human characters take the lead. Nevertheless, YHWH has not disappeared completely from 1 Kings 1-2 because, as the narrative unfolds, YHWH is invoked twenty-four times. Although this language has drawn some attention, with scholars arguing that it either adds theological validation to the characters’ actions or re"ects a theological perspective that assumes that YHWH acts behind the scenes, there is more that might be said regarding its function in the narratives. In this study, I adopt narrative criticism to undertake a close reading of 1 Kings 1-2 that pays particular attention to how characters and the narrator use invocations of YHWH and the events in the plot that prompt or result from this language. I argue that invocations of YHWH have a number of functions in 1 Kings 1-2, with the function of characters’ invocations being particularly dependent on the identities of the characters, their relationships, and the narrative contexts in which they participate.

Orientador: Krunislave Antonio Nobilo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-21T23:45:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Piccin_MarciaRegina_M.pdf: 1561219 bytes, checksum: a33dc6f96a29dc3881514e9f97cd0e1f (MD5) Previous issue date: 1997 / Resumo: Esta pesquisa foi realizada com a finalidade de verificar a presença da "Proporção Divina" nos segmentos da face, por meio do método fotográfico, em pacientes dentados. A "Proporção Divina" já era utilizada desde a Antiga Grécia por escultores e arquitetos na confecção de suas obras, tendo sido estudada durante o Renascimento. Esta Proporção está presente não apenas nas artes plásticas, como também na natureza. A amostra deste estudo constituiu-se de 121 indivíduos totalmente dentados, de raça branca, de ambos os sexos, cuja faixa etária variou entre 20 e 26 anos de idade. Os pacientes foram posicionados em um cefalostato de Broadbent no qual foram fotografados em norma lateral direita, na posição postural de repouso fisiológico. Sobre as fotografias foram realizadas mensuraçóes de três segmentos da face: A (distância entre os pontos faciais Lc e Sbn ) , B (distância entre os pontos faciais Sbn e St) , C (distância entre os pontos faciais St e Gn), por intermédio de um paquímetro de precisão. Tomando-se por base esses segmentos verificou-se, segundo a análise estatística pelo método de Teste de Hipótese, sua correlação com a "Proporção Divina", obedecendo à razão segundo a qual o segmento maior dividido pelo segmento menor seria igual à soma dos dois, dividido pelo segmento maior, resultando no "número divino" ou "áureo" : 1.618. Também investigou-se a presença da proporção sugerida por Willis (distância entre os pontos faciais Lc e St igual à distância entre os pontos faciais Sbn e Gn). O nível de significância adotado foi de 5%. ...Observação: O resumo, na íntegra, poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital / Abstract: The aim of this research project is to verify the presence of the Divine Proportion in the facial parts of dentate patients by means of the photographic method. The Divine Proportion has been used since Ancient Greece by sculptors and architects in the making of their works and was studied during the Renaissance. This proportion is present not only in art but also in nature. The sample group of this study is composed of 121 dentate Caucasians, of both sexes and between 20 and 26 years old. The patients were set in a Broadbent cephalostat in which they were photographed on the right side norm, in resting position. Three facial fraction measurements were taken by means of a precision caliper: A (the distance between facial points Lc and Sbn), B (the distance between facial points Sbn and St), and C (the distance between facial points St and Gn). The presence of the Divine Proportion was ascertained, based on the statistical analysis of these fractions and following the reasoning that the" largest fraction divided by the smallest should be equal to their sum, which, when divided by the largest fraction, results in the Gold Number: 1.618. The presence of the Willis proportion (the distance between facial points Lc and St as equal to the distance between facial points Sbn and Gn) was also investigated. ... Note: The complete abstract is available with the full electronic digital thesis or dissertations / Mestrado / Fisiologia e Biofisica do Sistema Estomatognatico / Mestre em Odontologia

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joao Marcos Lemos dos Santos.pdf: 289614 bytes, checksum: 9d78f88f615e35fade79889a7eae32be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-06 / This dissertation presents a study of the themes of nature and grace in C. S. Lewis' novel The Great Divorce. The first chapter introduces the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva and C. S. Lewis concerning the relation between texts. From that theoretical foundation, the second chapter studies descriptions of the afterlife in the works Lewis borrows from most in The Great Divorce: Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and Valdemar Thisted's Letters From Hell, and observes the way in which Lewis integrates these intertexts into his novel. Finally, in the last two chapters the dissertation examines different characters from The Great Divorce and the way in which they act out different aspects of human nature or divine grace, in order to determine Lewis' position as to the relation between nature and grace and his concept of salvation. / Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo dos temas de natureza e graça no romance O Grande Abismo, de C. S. Lewis. No primeiro capítulo, são introduzidas as teorias de Mikhail Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva e C. S. Lewis sobre a relação entre textos. Partindo desta base teórica, o segundo capítulo examina as descrições da vida após a morte nas principais obras das quais Lewis toma emprestado, A Divina Comédia, de Dante Alighieri, e Letters From Hell, de Valdemar Thisted, e nota as formas em que Lewis integra estes intertextos ao seu romance. Finalmente, nos últimos dois capítulos a dissertação examina diferentes personagens de O Grande Abismo, e a forma em que eles encarnam diferentes aspectos da natureza humana ou graça divina, para determinar a posição de Lewis quanto à relação entre natureza e graça e sua concepção de salvação.

Prof. H.P.P. Lotter

A la lecture des récits de Bernanos, Gide, Kane, Achebe inscrits dans notre corpus, il ressort que l’imagerie religieuse offre un tableau composite. En effet, s’appuyant sur un ensemble de représentations, la religion varie selon les époques et les sociétés. Bien que considérant le divin comme entité influente, elle intègre des croyances et théogonies locales. Par ailleurs, la divinité ne conditionne pas toujours l’appartenance religieuse car « pas plus qu’il n’y a de religion sans société, il n’y a pas de société sans religion: une société athée serait sans doute une société sans dieu(x), mais il ne s’ensuit pas qu’elle serait sans religion ni croyance ». Il est notable que dans ces textes, l’évocation de la religion, par-delà les marques de ferveur qu’elle est susceptible de traduire, pose un problème existentiel. Plus qu’un rapport entre le divin et l’humain, c’est l’avènement d’une conscience évolutive chez l’homme dans un univers où les liens qui ont toujours forgé l’unité collective tendent à se délier. Autrement dit, la religion se veut le reflet d’un faisceau de valeurs sur la base desquelles s’inspirent les conduites humaines. Et c’est œuvrant à l’encontre d’une telle prescription que le malaise s’est instauré chez la plupart des personnages des romans. Au demeurant, de l’approche de la religion résulte le constat à la fois séduisant et décevant qu’offre l’image d’un univers pris dans le tumulte des exigences sociétales. Au regard des fictions, il s’avère que la nature du sacré émeut et se meut à travers les peuples mais, aussi, s’estompe plus qu’elle ne s’affirme, se dévoie plus qu’elle ne s’enracine. Bien qu’adossé au point de repère de la foi, l’homme est de plus en plus gagné par le vertige. Et ce malaise s’universalise car « une religion est un phénomène qui se vit collectivement ». Autrement dit, les textes dévoilent la dérive de l’être aux prises avec le mal. Mais plus qu’une lutte contre autrui, c’est plutôt l’expression d’un combat acharné contre soi afin de renaître à la première splendeur. Il est clair que l’univers des récits est peuplé d’individus dont la voix porte l’écho du divin. Une perpétuelle cohabitation entre le bien et le vice, ainsi s’établit la condition humaine telle qu’elle est présentée dans les romans. Car, que peut bien révéler le journal d’un curé, arborant la flèche de Dieu et faisant face aux démons, si ce n’est la symphonie d’une aventure ambiguë voire périlleuse. / In reading the stories of Bernanos, Gide, Achebe incorporated in our corpus, it emerges that religious imagery offers a composite picture. Based upon a set of representations, religion indeed varies according to the times and society. Though viewing the divine as an influential entity, religion implies beliefs and local theogonies. In fact, divinity doesn’t influence religious belonging for no much more than there is not religion without society, there isn’t society without religion: an atheist society undoubtedly would be a godless society but it wouldn’t mean a society devoid of religion or belief. It is worth noting that in these texts the mere mention of religion poses an existential problem beyond any fervor it is likely to stand for. More than a relationship between the divine and the human, it’s about the advent of man’s evolving conscience in a universe where bonds which have always created the collective unity tend to untie. In other words, religion is meant to be a set of values by which human behaviors are inspired. It is in fighting against such a prescription that some discomfort came to be among most characters in some novels. As a result, the observation both stunning and unsatisfactory provided by the image of a universe caught up in the turmoil of societal demands stems from the approach of religion. In view of fictions, it turns out that the nature of the sacred stirs and moves throughout all peoples but also fades away more than it shows off, leads astray more than it takes root. Though leaned to the landmark of faith, the human being is more and more subjugated by vertigo. This uneasiness becomes universal because religion is a collectively-lived phenomenon. In other words, the texts unveil human being’s drift in his struggling against evil. But more than a fight against the others, it’s rather a bitter struggle against oneself in order to be reborn to the first splendor. It is obvious that the universe of stories is peopled by individuals whose voices bear the echo of the divine. A perpetual cohabitation between good and evil, this is how the human condition is established and so depicted in the novels. For what may reveal the diary of a priest bearing the arrow of god and striving against demons except that it is the symphony of an ambiguous adventure, if not a perilous one.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study will contribute to the substantial corpus of secondary scholarship on the life, ministry, and theology of the German theologian, church leader, and modern-day martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). Bonhoeffer’s legacy has also elicited considerable interest in the South African context, concerning a wide variety of themes such as the Confessing Church movement, secularisation, discipleship, confessing guilt, spirituality, and ethics. The critical question articulated by Bonhoeffer predominantly in his Letters and Papers from Prison, namely ‘Who is Jesus Christ, for us, today?’ has been raised by different generations of South African theologians in rapidly changing contexts. This study will concentrate on Bonhoeffer’s own Christology. The focus will be not so much on the significance of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ within a particular social context, but on how Bonhoeffer understands the person of Christ. More specifically, the problem investigated in this study is how Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s evolving views on the so-called ‘two natures’ of Christ should be understood. The Nicene confession,’ that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he is ‘truly God’ and ‘of one being with the Father, ’ prompted considerable reflection in Patristic Christianity. One crucial question was how the confession of the divinity of Christ reconciles with the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth portrayed so vividly in the canonical gospels. The formulation of the Council of Chalcedon, namely that one may speak of ‘two natures’ and ‘one person,’ has never been satisfactory and prompted further controversy but remains a point of reference in ongoing Christological debates to this day. The question, therefore, raised: How does Bonhoeffer understand the relationship between the ‘divine’ and the ‘human’ nature of Jesus Christ? This question is pertinent given the consistent Christological concentration in Bonhoeffer’s theology (even to the point of a Trinitarian reductionism), his increasing emphasis on a ‘this-worldly’ understanding of God’s transcendence and his consistent Lutheran intuition that the finite can indeed contain the infinite. Bonhoeffer’s Christology has been the subject of much scholarly interest. There is consensus that his Christology remains not only incomplete but also unresolved. A core problem in this regard is his understanding of the divine nature of Christ – which he assumes but of which he does not offer any full account. This study will contribute to the available literature by exploring Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the ‘two natures’ of Christ based on the primary and secondary research with specific reference to Sanctorum Communio (1927/1963), Act and Being (1930/1996), Christology, Discipleship (1937/1959), Ethics (1955, 6th edition and 2005, new critical edition) and Letters and Papers from Prison (2010). There has been considerable controversy in Bonhoeffer scholarship regarding the continuity and discontinuity in Bonhoeffer’s theological thinking from his student years to his death in 1945. It would, therefore, be wise to allow for Bonhoeffer’s ‘evolving’ views on the ‘two natures’ of Jesus Christ to speak for itself. This study will seek to describe and assess (in terms of Bonhoeffer’s sources and secondary scholarship) Bonhoeffer’s views in each of his main works to trace the developments in his thinking.

This doctoral dissertation examines the interrelation between three aspects of Heraclitus’ thought: (1) his interest in perspectival or context-dependent conceptions of the opposites; (2) his views on the obstacles to and limitations of human (as contrasted with divine) knowledge; and (3) his conception of reality as a unity, along with the divergent kinds of unity that he associates with the divine and the human perspective. This dissertation argues that Heraclitus conceives of reality as an undifferentiated unity that can only be understood from a “perspectiveless” state. In other words, reality is such that it can only be grasped from a state unconditioned by the perceptual and cognitive features arising from one’s idiosyncratic “creaturely” constitution – especially one’s needs and values. This perspectiveless state also corresponds to the divine “perspective.” Heraclitus’ logos, this thesis argues, is a method for recognizing the underlying structure of human thought and discourse, and the view of reality that this structure yields. However, this method, when used consistently and globally, serves to undermine both the logos itself and the human perspective that it reflects. Through an analysis of Heraclitus’ perspective juxtapositions, this thesis shows that a full engagement with the logos’ method of evoking the unity of opposites allows the audience to achieve a (temporary) collapse of perspective and apprehension of reality as a unity free of oppositions and differentiations. By viewing Heraclitus’ statements concerning human knowledge in this light, we can resolve certain puzzles in Heraclitus’ conception of unity, his preoccupation with the perspectival (despite his rejection of the idiosyncratic) and his attitudes towards human knowledge. The unity of opposites, while not part of the nature of reality, plays an essential part in the common structure of human thought. By cleaving to this common structure, and by engaging fully with the conflicting perspectives which it brings together, and which are equally idiosyncratic with respect to the true nature of reality, the audience overcomes the limitations of the human perspective, and achieves a temporary apprehension of a reality which cannot be grasped from within its constraints.