The goal of the thesis is to trace the sequence of materials of different origin in the synoptic Gospels through stylistic features. The question is whether an author's style is typical in the way it employs syntax. Using syntax, the thesis tests whether a sample can be correctly associated with one author, rather than incorrectly associated with another author. 'Syntax,' in this thesis, quite specifically intends 'an assessment of a very broad range of syntax.' The thesis reviews the literary debate over the 'synoptic problem,' finding that Luke knew and depended the triple tradition known to Mark. Luke did not know or use the unique parts of Mark. This set of materials, then, can be used to test whether syntax indicates a similar relationship. Regarding the literature on style in authorship attribution, the thesis develops principles for measuring style through syntax, and compares the distribution of the occurrence-the 'weighted sum of the logs of the ratio'--of syntax in each of three blocks of text. Such a distribution associates a reference block of text with the correct distribution from the distributions in two alternative texts offered. That is, a reference block drawn from the editorial layer in Mark proves to be closer to the remaining editorial layer in Mark (which is correct), than it proves to be to the editorial layer in Luke (which would be incorrect). This is at least a first step towards using this method with sources that appear in New Testament documents, even when they are small or fragmentary. The thesis then applies such an analysis to one of the clearest sources in the synoptic Gospels, namely, the 'triple tradition' as presented by Luke. The analysis is congruent with the results of literary criticism. This supports the idea that syntax can discern or define a source, and so it can help us understand more about the evolution of the New Testament. Nevertheless, the thesis finds that although Luke knew the 'triple tradition' that Mark used, yet Luke appears not to have fully relied on the version of the triple tradition that we know in, and as edited by Mark. / New Testament Studies / D.Th. (New Testament)

The goal of the thesis is to trace the sequence of materials of different origin in the synoptic Gospels through stylistic features. The question is whether an author's style is typical in the way it employs syntax. Using syntax, the thesis tests whether a sample can be correctly associated with one author, rather than incorrectly associated with another author. 'Syntax,' in this thesis, quite specifically intends 'an assessment of a very broad range of syntax.' The thesis reviews the literary debate over the 'synoptic problem,' finding that Luke knew and depended the triple tradition known to Mark. Luke did not know or use the unique parts of Mark. This set of materials, then, can be used to test whether syntax indicates a similar relationship. Regarding the literature on style in authorship attribution, the thesis develops principles for measuring style through syntax, and compares the distribution of the occurrence-the 'weighted sum of the logs of the ratio'--of syntax in each of three blocks of text. Such a distribution associates a reference block of text with the correct distribution from the distributions in two alternative texts offered. That is, a reference block drawn from the editorial layer in Mark proves to be closer to the remaining editorial layer in Mark (which is correct), than it proves to be to the editorial layer in Luke (which would be incorrect). This is at least a first step towards using this method with sources that appear in New Testament documents, even when they are small or fragmentary. The thesis then applies such an analysis to one of the clearest sources in the synoptic Gospels, namely, the 'triple tradition' as presented by Luke. The analysis is congruent with the results of literary criticism. This supports the idea that syntax can discern or define a source, and so it can help us understand more about the evolution of the New Testament. Nevertheless, the thesis finds that although Luke knew the 'triple tradition' that Mark used, yet Luke appears not to have fully relied on the version of the triple tradition that we know in, and as edited by Mark. / New Testament Studies / D.Th. (New Testament)

Due to the often inadequate methodology employed by scholars studying the pre-A.D. 70 Pharisees, new approaches are needed for analyzing the primary sources. Careful attention must be given to the literary genres of the four ancient sources of information on the Pharisees: the Psalms of Solomon, the New Testament, the writings of Josephus, and the rabbinic literature. As an example of such sensitivity to the ancient authors’ purposes in writing and to the literary genres they employed in conveying their information, this study uses the Gospels of Mark and Matthew as test cases. Careful analysis of authorial purpose, as revealed in the literary structuring and redactional modification of Gospel material, led to the following conclusions. First, the authors of Mark and Matthew display on interest in presenting a balanced picture of the Pharisees. Their major concern is to present the good news about Jesus Christ not to give a well-rounded view of those with whom he came into conflict. Information recorded on the Pharisees is limited almost exclusively to situations of conflict with Jesus, and the resulting picture is limited to negative aspects. Second, the different literary structures and authorial purposes of Mark and Matthew reveal both unity and diversity in their respective portraits of the Pharisees. Mark’s emphasis on rapid movement toward the Passion Narrative finds one of its major sources of propulsion in the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, caused by his rejection of their oral tradition. On the other hand, Matthew’s major theme of Jesus as the authoritative interpreter of the Law causes the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees to focus on who properly interprets, teaches, and obeys Scripture. Nevertheless, in spite of the diversity of structure and purpose, the Pharisaic portraits in Mark and Matthew are consistent. Both Gospels present the Pharisees as hypocrites who concentrate on the observance of minute details of religious ritual but who neglect the larger and more important issues of living for God.

It is my deep conviction that the Gospel takes on new meaning as we see its message in the light of its historical background. In this instance we are interested in the influence which the Wisdom Literature exerted upon the Gospel records.

This dissertation addresses the question: how might the Sufi master, Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165-1240 CE), have read the Gospel of John? Although the Gospel of John belongs originally to the Christian tradition, this dissertation is a contribution to Islamic Studies, endeavoring to illuminate Ibn al-ʿArabī’s distinctive manner of reading religious texts and to highlight features of his negotiation of a dual heritage from Jesus and Muḥammad. To set Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought against an Islamic backdrop and situate it in an Islamic context, this dissertation adopts the device of constructing a commentary, guided by seminal passages in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s written corpus, on an Arabic translation of the Gospel of John: the Alexandrian Vulgate, widely circulated in the Arab world during Ibn al-ʿArabī’s time. This amounts not only to a comparison between Johannine doctrines and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s doctrines, but also a comparison between the latter and historical Muslim commentaries on the Christian scriptures—particularly the Biblical commentary (in circulation by the thirteenth century) attributed to the famed Sufi theologian Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, and the fourteenth-century Muslim Biblical commentary by Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī (d. 1316 CE). Part I of the dissertation establishes a foundation for the commentary, inquiring into Ibn al-ʿArabī’s general attitudes towards non-Islamic religions, then considering autobiographical accounts of his relationship to Christianity, the question of his familiarity with the New Testament, and illustrations of his creative engagement with Christian doctrines. Part II of the dissertation constitutes the commentary, considering Ibn al-ʿArabī’s possible views on a number of Johannine doctrines: Jesus’ claim to have been the son of God; Jesus’ claim to have been one with God; the doctrine that Jesus was the embodied Word; the expiatory and epistemic functions of the embodied Word (paralleled by a dialectic relationship between two divergent kinds of witnessing); and the rumor, at the end of the Gospel of John, that the Beloved Disciple would never die.

The synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are commonly regarded as biographical in nature in their presentation of the life and teachings of Jesus. The gospels of Matthew and Luke report that Jesus was born a Hebrew among Hebrews, raised as a Jew within the Jewish nation, and functioned a first century Rabbi in a completely Jewish context during which time he started his own movement called the kingdom of heaven. The Rabbis of that day commonly enlisted a group of followers or disciples. The combination of a Rabbi and his students constituted an academy. Two schools or academies existed during the time of Jesus and were contemporary with him, the school of Shammai and the school of Hillel. The Babylonian Talmud dating from 500 C.E. records exactly three hundred and sixteen legal controversies between these two schools. Legal disputes between Jesus and representatives of one or the other existing schools of thought are recorded in the synoptic gospels. Each record clearly identifies the subject under dispute and the positions of the disputing parties. Nevertheless, the incomplete information provided in the synoptic gospels is not sufficient to allow readers to understand the dispute at hand. For example, a group of unidentified Pharisees approach Jesus with a specific question regarding the legalities of divorce. They ask the following question: "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause (Matthew 19:3)?" This question can raise these questions in the readers minds: Why was this question presented to Jesus? What is the background of this legality? What is the actual law regarding this matter? Is this an unresolved issue? Who are the parties involved in resolving this issue? Is there more detailed information regarding this issue? Ancient Jewish sources provide answers to all of these questions. This dissertation provides the material lacking in the synoptic gospels to enable one to understand the controversy and Jesus' interpretation. This will be accomplished through use of Jewish sources that provide the details of the disputes recorded in the synoptic gospels as well as identifying the various parties involved. Behind the process of presenting background information in this dissertation lies the premise that any study of the life and teachings of Jesus performed without consulting ancient Jewish sources will result in confusion and misunderstanding. This dissertation highlights information relating to these controversies that is lacking in the synoptic gospels and will enable the reader to understand the nature of the controversy and Jesus' conclusions. / text

The study aims, in the first part, at a coherent formulation of a theory of text production, one located against the backdrop of an Hegelian conception of reality which sees text and society as constituting a dynamic and mutually formative relationship. This theoretical appropriation is situated more broadly in the Tri-Polar exegetical framework as set out by my supervisor, Prof. Jonathan Draper, and in this regard also entails a dialogue with his approach. This then constitutes the first pole of the framework, distantiation. At the second pole, contextualisation, the methodological tool by which contemporary society is critiqued, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment, is used to explicate the mythological degeneration of the modern scientific paradigm in its partnership with the culture industry, where the system’s totalising logic is seen as delimiting the realm of legitimate knowledge generation such that forms of knowledge that might be counterpoised in opposition to this paradigm are from the outset proscribed. The section of contextualisation therefore points to the need for alternative forms of knowledge generation, ones which are not complicit with the internal logic of the system and which thereby seek to avoid either co-option or obsoletisation. In the final stage of appropriation two case studies are offered to suggest how this has been, or could further be, achieved with reference, in the first instance, to the Genesis 3 narrative and the field of anthropological studies and, in the second, to John 20 and the sphere of contemporary ecclesial praxis. The case studies draw on the work of biblical scholars from the relevant fields and seek to represent this work in a kind of re-appropriation interpreting it in light of the theory set out at the stage of distantiation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-10-24T19:02:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LuanaGolin.pdf: 1810450 bytes, checksum: 7a19811664efc3cef82740c8bae4fa40 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-24T19:02:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LuanaGolin.pdf: 1810450 bytes, checksum: 7a19811664efc3cef82740c8bae4fa40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-29 / Dostoevsky creates in his novel The Idiot with Prince Myshkin a character with Christ's attributes. The author always had the Bible by his side, specially the New Testament, from childhood to his death. A theoretical framework is dedicated in the first chapter of this study, which deals with the universe of language. Literary text and biblical literature come from the myth, so that reli-gion and literature stay closer and meet each other. The second chapter shows how Christ and the Gospels are recurring subjects, motives, and images in Dostoevsky works. Biblical literature is in the several major works (to varying extents) of the Russian writer and not only in The Idiot. The third chapter hypothesizes, by means of the novel analysis that Dostoevsky creates a Christ and a Gospel with The Idiot. The thesis is that Dostoevsky build a literary gospel with Myshkin: a mixture of a Russian Christ, divine and human at the same time, but also stupid and quixotic. Literature and the sacred are revealed as a divine presence in the intertextual dynamics between the biblical gospels and The Idiot. Christ manifests Himself in Myshkin actions, showing up his light and beauty by the scenes and structure of the plot that com-pounds the novel, but also in the tragedy of a displaced and antinomian trajectory. The love and compassion take shape and life in the prince presence, in his own emptiness, servant of everyone. / No romance O Idiota, Dostoiévski cria, por meio do príncipe Míchkin, uma personagem com as características do Cristo. Sabe-se que a Bíblia, principalmente o Novo Testamento, acompanhou o escritor desde sua infância até o momento de sua morte. O primeiro capítulo, dedicado ao referencial teórico da pesquisa, lida com o universo da linguagem. Tanto o texto literário quanto a literatura bíblica procedem do mito. Neste sen-tido, religião e literatura se tocam e se aproximam. O segundo capítulo foi escrito na intenção de mostrar como o Cristo e os Evangelhos são temas, motivos e imagens recorrentes na obra de Dostoiévski. A literatura bíblica está presente, com mais ou menos intensidade, em diversas das principais obras do escritor russo e não somente em O Idiota. A hipótese de que Dostoiévski cria um Cristo e um Evangelho por meio de O Idiota é demonstrada na análise do romance, no terceiro capítulo. A tese proposta é: Dostoiévski desenvolve um evangelho literário, por meio de Míchkin, misto de um Cristo russo, ao mesmo tempo divino e humano, mas também idiota e quixotesco. Na dinâmica intertextual entre os Evangelhos bíblicos e O Idiota, entre Cristo e Míchkin, a literatura e o sagrado se revelam, como uma presença divina. Nas cenas e na estruturação do enredo que compõe o romance, Cristo se manifesta nas ações de Míchkin, na luz, na beleza, mas também na tragicidade de uma trajetória deslocada e antinômica. O amor e a compaixão ganham forma e vida na presen-ça do príncipe, vazio de si, servo de todos.

A presente dissertação é fruto da pesquisa de campo realizada com o grupo musical Family Soul na cidade de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Negros evangélicos, eles desenvolvem há mais de dez anos a prática musico-performática de pertencimento étnico-racial na liturgia dos cultos de diferentes denominações evangélicas da capital e região metropolitana. Com uma abordagem qualitativa e método etnográfico refletimos sobre os processos de construção étnico-racial, mediados pela música, no contexto evangélico. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido através da vivência em campo, percebendo através da música as conexões que estabelecem as dinâmicas do grupo e as interações em cultos evangélicos. O trânsito dos interlocutores em diferentes denominações evangélicas, a comunicação com a cultura musical afro-americana e com os universos da música gospel, mediado pelos meios de comunicação, forjaram novas formas de se relacionar com a música e atuar com esta musicalidade no contexto evangélico. / This ethnomusicological study is the result of a research carried out with the Family Soul group in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Black Christians develop a performance-musical practice of ethnic-racial belonging the liturgy of cults of different evangelical denominations. With a qualitative approach and ethnographic method, we reflect on the processes of ethno-racial construction mediated by music in the evangelical context. This work was developed through the experience in the field, perceiving musical connections that establish the dynamics of the group and the interactions in evangelical cults. The flow of interlocutors in different evangelical denominations, communication with Afro-American musical culture and the universes of gospel music, mediated by the media, forged new ways to relate to music and to act with this musicality in the evangelical context.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:15:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 moriya_tk_me_assis.pdf: 501928 bytes, checksum: 184bca929388b15cb10c3f08f3aaad4d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Com a descoberta dos escritos gnósticos, popularmente conhecidos como biblioteca de Nag Hammadi, os estudos do cristianismo primitivo encontraram uma nova fonte de informações, e principalmente, de idéias. A concepção de um cristianismo homogêneo no séc. II acabou sendo ultrapassada, tendo em vista a diversidade de pensamento que o gnosticismo cristão traz em si. Formas diversas de se vivenciar a fé cristã foram encontradas em tais escritos, como é o caso do evangelho de Maria, que leva o nome de uma figura enigmática do movimento cristão, Maria Madalena. O presente trabalho procura verificar os elementos que constituem esta nova forma de se viver a práxis cristã, inclusive com a possível participação feminina. O papel social da mulher no cristianismo traz em si uma história de lutas e silêncios, vivência e exclusão. Com o auxilio do movimento feminista e seus desdobramentos nas ciências humanas, nos estudos de gênero e na teologia feminista por exemplos, procura-se reconstruir esta história, trazendo à superfície as vivências de mulheres cristãs no caminho para a realização de sua fé. / With the discover of the Nag Hammadi´s library and the gnostics writings, the Early Christianity studies had found a new information source, and specially, of ideas. The conception of a monolithic christianity in the second century, has been overpassed, in face of the variety of thoughts that the christian gnosticism brings on itself. Different ways of living the christian faith, has been found on this writings, like the gospel of Mary, who takes the name of a enigmatic character of Eartly Christian moviment, Mary Magdalene. This work intents to verify the constitucional elements of this new way of living the christian praxis, including the possibility of feminine actuation. The social role of women on christianity, brings on itself a history of silences and contests, exclusion and participation. With the assistance of the feminist moviment and it´s development on the human sciences, gender studies and feminist theology, we search to reconstruct this history, bringing to the surface, the christian women´s experiences on their path to the achievement of their faith.