Thesis (M.A.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82).

Thesis--Boston University. / Purpose.-What eschatological doctrine is discernible among the presuppositions of the Compiler of the Gospel According to Matthew? The enigma of this Gospel, seen in the emergence of strongly universal overtones from the most Jewish, the most anti-Gentile, and the most apocalyptic of the gospels, leads to the primary question of this dissertation. The dissertation is a study of the editorial methods.--additions, deletions, emendations, and arrangements of materials--employed by the Compiler, as well as of the materials which are peculiar to this Gospel. The purpose of the study is to determine if the Compiler's work was conditioned by a particular eschatological perspective. [TRUNCATED]

This thesis explores, traces, analyses and discusses the development and evolution of Zimbabwean gospel music from 1980 up to 2007. Gospel music in this study defines urban black music culture which is influenced by Christian religion as well as gender, foreign music cultures, indigenous music, the economic and political climate of the country. A general overview of gospel music in Zimbabwe is given including the history of Zimbabwean gospel music and the gospel music industry. Relevant literature on gospel music is reviewed. Selected Zimbabwean gospel musicians and their music are discussed. Methods of collecting data are discussed and their strengths and weaknesses are outlined. Mainly the survey method is used and questionnaires, observation and document analysis are used as instruments of data collection. Gender issues are discussed in relation to Zimbabwean gospel music and the impact of gender on music is also noted. The effects of foreign and indigenous music on Zimbabwean gospel music are explored and analyzed through transcription and analysis of selected songs but it is not the researcher’s intention to go into deep musicological content in the analysis. Political and socio-economic influences on Zimbabwean gospel music are the main focus. The history of the socio- economic and political development of Zimbabwe during 1980- 2007 is explored in relation to gospel music. Until about the mid 1980s, the general atmosphere in the newly-independent state of Zimbabwe was characterized by liberation euphoria and great optimism for the future. Equally so, local gospel music during this period was largely celebrative and conformist as far as the political and socio-economic dispensation was concerned. Socio-economic hardships crept in as a result of the government’s implementation of neo-liberal economic reforms under the guidance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the early 1990s. The ruling party soon found itself confronted by a number of gospel musicians criticizing its policies and malpractices. The lyrics of various gospel artistes (song texts) are used as evidence. This research is an addition to the study of gospel music and popular culture in Africa. It is also a multidisciplinary research, handling sociology, politics, religion and music by looking at music as an expression and reflection of a socio-economic situation. The research has offered a second level of development realizing the theoretical conceptualizations through the analysis of gospel music. The research results presented, interpreted and analyzed provide implications on the future success of Zimbabwean gospel music. Recommendations on the development of Zimbabwean gospel music are also given. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Music / unrestricted

It is the thesis of this study that a basic level of negation exists in the Gospel of Mark. This level of negation is at least as important to the literary structure as is the level of affirmation. The level of affirmation has been recognized for twenty centuries. During all of that time it overrode the negative. The procedure of subsuming negative elements of the gospel under the affirmative has been so obvious that no one could seriously attempt to discredit it. However, the negative level has not been allowed to carry the weight it actually bears within the text. Scholars have been reluctant to allow the weight of the negations to assume full significance. In this study Mark's presentation of Jesus has been examined on the affirmative and on the negative levels. Then supporting evidence for the negative level has been examined. The first task results in a Markan portrait of Jesus which provides a sequential look at each of the two levels. This is a single portrait the negative aspect of which is taken seriously. Following the portrait, the major part of the work involves presenting evidence of the negative level. This negative level is examined beginning with the most obvious and easily acceptable arguments and ending with evidence which can only be considered possible. Chief among the soundest arguments are the contrast with John the Baptizer and the study of the various groups who fail to understand Jesus. Evidence which is strong but less definitive includes the enigma of the final pericope (16:1-8), the lack of resurrection narratives, the treatment of miracles, and the limiting of witnesses. Evidence which can only be considered possible is found in the secrecy commands, in the role of the crowd and in the passive portrayal of Jesus in key episodes. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The goal of this dissertation is to provide a framework for examining the metaphor of Jesus as king throughout the Fourth Gospel. This dissertation argues that the theme of Jesus as king provides one of the unifying themes of John's overall message, blending familial, pastoral, sensory, and judicial metaphors with the metaphor of Jesus as king. This allows for a cohesive depiction of Jesus' kingship that begins in John 1 as Jesus is introduced as king and leads to the climactic vision of Jesus' "exaltation" as king on the cross. This dissertation uses an interdisciplinary theory of metaphor that incorporates elements of cognitive and systemic functional linguistic approaches with literary approaches. This examination assesses the place of the Old Testament metaphors of Messiah, "eternal life/life of the age," shepherd, and exaltation in the conceptual metaphorical network of the kingship metaphor and addresses how these metaphors function in John's Gospel to provide a cohesive and dynamic depiction of Jesus' identity as king, the just character of his kingship, the subversion of power implicit in his crucified form of kingship, and the necessity of response to Jesus as king and his reign. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis argues that the Gospel of Mark reflects a social location within the social boundaries of the Jewish ethnos and outlines relevant features of Mark’s configuration of Jewishness. It is divided into two parts. Part one provides a flexible definition of Jewishness in antiquity in order to assess what it meant to be Jewish and what characterized the boundaries between Jews and non-Jews. It makes an independent contribution to the study of Jewishness in antiquity by using a recent sociological model that explains how and why ethnicity matters in certain societies and contexts to map changes and features of Jewishness during the Hasmonean and Early Roman periods (129 BCE–132 CE) in the Southern Levant. It also addresses the relevant methodological issues for locating texts in relation to a social category such as “Jewish.” Part two addresses the Gospel of Mark through the same methodological lens and in light of the re-conceptualization of Jewishness. It both argues that Mark should be read as a Jewish text and addresses how Mark configures Jewishness. It shows that the categorical boundaries in the text reflect a common Jewish way of categorizing and ranking people. In particular, Mark’s narrative assumes a hierarchical relation between the Jews and other people groups (i.e., “gentiles” or “the nations”) in which Jews are to the nations as children are to dogs. In addition, Mark’s narrative employs the concept of the kingdom of God to remake the boundary system of Roman Judea in two ways. First, Mark attempts to overturn the hierarchical Roman/Jew boundary by presenting the kingdom of God as imminent, earthly, and entailing the end of Roman power. Second, Mark subdivides the Jewish ethnos by limiting kingdom membership to “righteous” members of the Jewish ethnos, a strategy shared with the majority of Jewish texts examined in part one. The concluding section addresses the configuration of Jewishness in Mark’s narrative in terms of six common features of ethnic identity. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis argues that the Gospel of Mark should be read as Jewish literature and examines how Mark configures Jewishness. Part one provides a flexible definition of Jewishness in the Southern Levant during the Hasmonean and Early Roman periods (129 BCE–132 CE). Part two shows that the categorical boundaries in the Gospel of Mark reflect a common Jewish way of categorizing and ranking people groups. It then examines how Mark uses the concepts of the kingdom of God and Torah observance to overturn the hierarchical Roman/Jew boundary and limit kingdom membership to the righteous ones among the Jewish people. While Mark may assume that non-Jews participate in the expected kingdom, the absence of direct evidence highlights the Jewish-centric perspective of Mark’s Gospel.

Magister Artium - MA / This thesis explores the production of music with musicians, singers and music producers who adhere to and promote Pentecostalist Christianity. The music they produce is a recently emerged genre, which I call 'Pentecospel'. I have coined this term to refer to a contemporary form of religiously inspired popular music, which is performed by young musicians belonging to various Pentecostal churches in Cape Town. I argue that 'Pentecospel' music is an emergent social form of self-representation, which is framed around Pentecostalism and the sound of Cape Town, as identified by Martin (2013). Young musicians and singers in Cape Town are absorbing and appropriating global styles of music, concepts and beliefs and music making techniques within their own musical compositions and transform their music performances in a way that enhances their local popularity. Thus, I elaborate on the processes of production through technical and social interpretations. This thesis will explore how performance, engaging audiences, the social interaction between people and technology, and the creation of their own unique sound on their musical instruments are linked to visual approaches located in the anthropology. This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork which took place mostly between December 2014 and February 2015. During this period, I worked with music producers and young people who have recorded at the 'Sounds of the Nations Africa: Cape Town' recording studio in Bellville, Cape Town, sharing their experiences of everyday life in and outside the studio. My three month long fieldwork included in-depth interviews, conversations and discussions, photographic and video material, and activity field notes. I made use of these methods in order to record my observations in the recording studio, during rehearsals and in public performances focusing on the social and musical interaction with the performing artists I got to know, through participant observation. I include my own participation as a musician and audience member with the use of these methods, in recording music in the 'Sounds of the Nations' recording studio for their upcoming album "Sound of Africa" and in public performances.

This thesis takes a different approach to the contested topic of Jesus and the Torah in Matthew's Gospel. Rather than asking whether or not Jesus' radical teaching on the Torah (Matt 5:17-48) affirms the validity of the Torah, surpasses it, or if it situates the Matthean community within or outside the bounds of Judaism, this thesis examines the Matthean Jesus' radical teaching as an example of first-century Torah interpretation. Specifically, it examines Second Temple writing strategies used to present interpretations as an authoritative representation of the Torah and compares them with the way Matthew authorises Jesus' teaching on the Torah. This comparison shows that Matthew uses inherited writing strategies to participate in the Second Temple and late first-century Jewish phenomenon of innovating the Torah to meet the needs of a specific context. Chapter 1 examines the phenomenon of Torah interpretation in the Second Temple period, both the contexts that caused it and the logic behind it. Chapter 2 analyses Matthew's Gospel to see if it exhibits a similar context and logic as other Second Temple texts that interpret the Torah. Chapter 3 then uses Hindy Najman's concept of Mosaic Discourse as a lens to observe the writing strategies Matthew uses to present Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount as an authoritative representation of Sinaitic Revelation. Chapter 4 then considers how the genre of biography was used to legitimise a historical figure in a polemical context. Chapter 5 then examines how Matthew similarly used the opportunities of biographical writing to legitimise Jesus as an authority on the Torah in a polemical context and, therefore, authorise his teaching on the Torah as the correct way to follow God's commandments.

This dissertation analyzes the Matthean “Son of Man” sayings, paying particular attention to their function in the development of conflict and in the anticipation of conflict resolution. The major premise is that the Son of Man is described in Mt as being at the center of the formative conflict that both forced the split between “this generation” of unbelieving Jews and the Matthean community and initiated the community’s Gentile-inclusive mission. According to Matthew, the Son of Man is not engaged in aimless conflict; he confronts and destroys his enemies for the sake of promoting his universal reign and establishing his Church, i.e., the “sons of the kingdom” (13.38), among the nations (cf. OG Dan 7.14; 24.14; 28.18-20). It is his authority over the kingdom of God, given subsequent to and consequent to the judgment of God against “this generation” in 70 CE, that enables the global mission of the disciples, provides the raison d’être for their mission, and assures the Christian community that the Son of Man will return at the eschaton to bring a final end to conflict. A corollary question that will be investigated is what Jesus’ idiomatic self-designation meant to Matthew and his community. The first chapter observes that despite the enormous literary footprint of the “Son of Man” debate, their is a notable lack of adequate studies concerning the Matthean “Son of Man” concept. What literature exists is surveyed, common trends in the debate are analyzed, and a statement of the thesis is provided. Based on the successes and failures of previous studies, it is suggested in the second chapter that the most promising method by which to examine the Matthean “Son of Man” concept is composition-critical and narrative-sensitive. This provides a rational for examining the Matthean “Son of Man” sayings in relation to the gospel’s structure and plot, both of which are shown to have been shaped by the theme of conflict. Finally, interpretive issues such as synoptic relationships, composition date, authorship, provenance, and the status of Matthew’s community are discussed. Chapters Three and Four examine the “Son of Man” sayings in Matthew 8-13 and 16-26 respectively to determine how each saying contributes to the evolving Matthean “Son of Man” concept and the unfolding conflict between Jesus and his “sons” and Satan and his “sons” (cf. 13.37-39). It is shown that the “Son of Man” sayings are not a heterogeneous mixture of “earthly,” “suffering,” and “future” statements that simply concern the life and ministry of Jesus. Matthean redaction has woven the “Son of Man” sayings into a grand tapestry of meaning, sewn into the conflict that precipitated the split of the Matthean community from “this wicked and adulterous generation.” It is shown that the advancement of conflict is matched by the resolution of conflict. This resolution occurs in two stages. According to Matthew, God began to resolve the conflict with “this generation” in 70 CE, whence he destroyed Jerusalem and bestowed upon the Son of Man universal dominion and an everlasting kingdom. The Son of Man’s empowerment enables him to preside over the Eschatological Assize, consequently fulfilling the predictions of end-times reprisal given to “this generation” (cf. 11.20-24; 12.39-42) and bringing a permanent end to conflict. Chapter Five examines the allusion to Old Greek Dan 7.13-14 in 28.18-20 and its connection to the commissioning of the disciples. It is suggested that “all authority in heaven and on earth” is not obtained through a supposed proleptic experience of the Parousia in Jesus’ resurrection or death, or simply by means of his son-ship to the Father. Rather, the Son of Man’s universal sovereignty, by which the Matthean community is empowered to “make disciples of all nations,” was received from the Ancient of Days after the Temple’s ruination in 70 CE. That is, the exaltation of the Son of Man, which is physically signaled by the destruction of Herod’s Temple, initiated and provided justification for the Matthean community’s schism from “this generation” and their mission to the Gentiles. Additionally, the divine empowerment of the Son of Man grounded the community’s eschatological hope for conflict resolution. This chapter ends with a discussion of how this theory impacts one’s understanding of Matthean christology, missiology, and salvation-history. The final chapter summarizes the preceding evidence, details the contributions of this dissertation, and concludes that for Matthew “Son of Man” is more than a mere signal word for speech about Jesus’ death, resurrection, and exaltation. “Son of Man” is a self-designation employed by Jesus that Matthew has interpreted as a title referring to Jesus’ office as the exalted human-like figure of Old Greek Dan 7. Like the enigmatic “man” of Daniel’s night-vision, the Son of Man is the representative of the elect who remains with his community “until the end of the age” (28.20).

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