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One of the central issues of early Christianity was the identity of Jesus Christ. Paul and other early Christians discussed this question within the framework of traditional Jewish monotheism and used the language of deity to describe Christ. This thesis explores how and why they integrated the two concepts of monotheism and the deity of Jesus. As a window into this process, it particularly examines Paul’s discourse in 2 Cor 3:16–4:6, employing grammatical-historical exegesis with insights from rhetorical criticism and Oneness Pentecostal Christology. We consider three fundamental questions: (1) What does the exalted language concerning Christ in this text represent? (2) How did Paul reconcile the deification of Jesus with his monotheistic heritage? (3) Why did Paul deify Jesus? What interests were served, and what were the practical consequences? The conclusion is that early Christians, prior to and including Paul, worshiped Jesus within a Jewish monotheistic context and not as a result of Hellenization. They viewed Jesus as the revelation of the one God, not as a second deity or a different personage. Although they reinterpreted their core beliefs in light of Jesus, they did not see their worship of Jesus as violating their core beliefs. The evidence from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence does not require an explicit binitarian or trinitarian model, but it reveals that many early Christians viewed God as both transcendent and immanent and worshiped Jesus as the God of Israel manifested in human identity. We identify four significant socio-rhetorical factors in the monotheistic deification of Jesus: (1) In a context of rapid social change it enabled Christians to combine Hebrew monotheism with Greek longing for universals, thereby claiming both traditional heritage and Christocentric distinctiveness. (2) It gave them a unique social identity and cohesiveness. (3) It affirmed their soteriological experiences, beliefs, and outreach. (4) It positioned the movement to attract all people, moving the new faith beyond Jewish ethnicity and traditional boundary markers so that it became a universal monotheism with a missiological focus. The socio-rhetorically constructed identity of Jesus Christ defined the identity of the early Christians. The result was a distinctively Christian faith. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

One of the central issues of early Christianity was the identity of Jesus Christ. Paul and other early Christians discussed this question within the framework of traditional Jewish monotheism and used the language of deity to describe Christ. This thesis explores how and why they integrated the two concepts of monotheism and the deity of Jesus. As a window into this process, it particularly examines Paul’s discourse in 2 Cor 3:16–4:6, employing grammatical-historical exegesis with insights from rhetorical criticism and Oneness Pentecostal Christology. We consider three fundamental questions: (1) What does the exalted language concerning Christ in this text represent? (2) How did Paul reconcile the deification of Jesus with his monotheistic heritage? (3) Why did Paul deify Jesus? What interests were served, and what were the practical consequences? The conclusion is that early Christians, prior to and including Paul, worshiped Jesus within a Jewish monotheistic context and not as a result of Hellenization. They viewed Jesus as the revelation of the one God, not as a second deity or a different personage. Although they reinterpreted their core beliefs in light of Jesus, they did not see their worship of Jesus as violating their core beliefs. The evidence from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence does not require an explicit binitarian or trinitarian model, but it reveals that many early Christians viewed God as both transcendent and immanent and worshiped Jesus as the God of Israel manifested in human identity. We identify four significant socio-rhetorical factors in the monotheistic deification of Jesus: (1) In a context of rapid social change it enabled Christians to combine Hebrew monotheism with Greek longing for universals, thereby claiming both traditional heritage and Christocentric distinctiveness. (2) It gave them a unique social identity and cohesiveness. (3) It affirmed their soteriological experiences, beliefs, and outreach. (4) It positioned the movement to attract all people, moving the new faith beyond Jewish ethnicity and traditional boundary markers so that it became a universal monotheism with a missiological focus. The socio-rhetorically constructed identity of Jesus Christ defined the identity of the early Christians. The result was a distinctively Christian faith. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

Revelation is God's Word addressed to the human being and so speaks of God in relation to the person and the world. Revelation can therefore only be fully understood, proclaimed and lived through an encounter with the world and its conceptions. To understand the evolution of human consciousness and the creation of the soul, we look to the sources of revelation (scripture and tradition) in dialogue with secular anthropology. The latter's paradigm of development and growth is not foreign to the former's understanding of conversion and growth in grace . The image of God, which characterises the human person, is shown to be an emergent likeness, which is created and drawn to its fullness by God. This accounts for Pius XII' s insistence that the soul is created immediately by God, who is responsible for the physical dynamics that bring forth consciousness and the personal dynamics that empower the human soul to develop. / Philosophy Practical &Systematic Theology / M.Th (Systematic Theology)

This thesis explores the philosophical and theological motivations for early Christian celibacy prior to the appearance of monasticism. This thesis will challenge recent scholarly positions that portray early Christian celibacy only in light of the emergence of monasticism in the fourth century, and which argue that celibacy as an ascetic practice was motivated primarily by resistance to the dominant social structures of antiquity. The practice of celibacy was a significant movement in the early church well before the appearance of monasticism or the development of Christianity as the dominant social force in the empire, and although early Christian sexual austerity was similar to the sexual ethics of Greco-Roman philosophical constructs, early Christian sexual ethics had developed in relation to uniquely Christian theological and cosmological views. Moreover, a segment of the early Christian community idealized celibacy as an expression of the transformation of human nature amidst a community that continued to remain sexually austere in general. / vi, 267 leaves ; 29 cm.

In our time we, of course, face problems in Christian dogmatics within a different context from Calvin. let in the Reformed Churches we believe we would greatly impoverish ourselves if we departed from his locus or disregarded his seminal teaching. Thus, the underlying question of the thesis is: can Reformed theology go the same fundamental way as Calvin and yet go further, i.e., let Calvin's theology extend and make itself explicit in the face of our theological problems? We think so. We have chosen three areas in which to test this assertion, all of which are lively areas of discussion in modern theology: natural knowledge of God, history and ethics. In each of the respective chapters we try first to represent what Calvin said; then we suggest the problems these doctrines of Calvin present for modern (Reformed) theology. Finally, we let Calvin's doctrine of the Word extend and make explicit his statements in each of these areas; i.e., knowledge, history and ethics, in the face of the problems of today. In order to follow this procedure we set forth in the First Chapter the heart and norm for all of Calvin's theology, his doctrine of the Word, In sum, then, we let Calvin's doctrine of the Word clarify the Christological character of Calvin's doctrines of our knowledge of God, the Providence of God, the Law of God and the life of the Christian man in the face of contemporary theological discussion.

Revelation is God's Word addressed to the human being and so speaks of God in relation to the person and the world. Revelation can therefore only be fully understood, proclaimed and lived through an encounter with the world and its conceptions. To understand the evolution of human consciousness and the creation of the soul, we look to the sources of revelation (scripture and tradition) in dialogue with secular anthropology. The latter's paradigm of development and growth is not foreign to the former's understanding of conversion and growth in grace . The image of God, which characterises the human person, is shown to be an emergent likeness, which is created and drawn to its fullness by God. This accounts for Pius XII' s insistence that the soul is created immediately by God, who is responsible for the physical dynamics that bring forth consciousness and the personal dynamics that empower the human soul to develop. / Philosophy Practical andSystematic Theology / M.Th (Systematic Theology)

Please read the "Conclusions" in the section 05chapter5 of this document / Thesis (PhD (NT Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

以往的明末清初耶佛相遇研究,更为注重天主教和佛教间的冲突和对比。本文更倾向于身处耶佛相遇处境内的士人的宗教内对话。来世问题不仅是耶佛宗教间论辩的焦点，也是士大夫的宗教内对话转化信仰的主旨。 / 这是因为晚明时期传统儒学影响，更加关注生死问题的讨论。晚明儒释交融，逃禅悦禅狂禅成为一时风尚。而天主教的传入给关心生死议题的士大夫提供了另一种资源。相对于流于空虚玄妙的禅学而言，很多人认为天主教是一种"实心"、"实行""实学"的思想体系。 / 明清之际，佛学的发展趋势是禅净合流，唯心净土与弥陀净土慢慢融合。禅净双修在士大夫中很受欢迎。因此，士大夫对天主教生死关的理解不仅与禅学相关，也与净土相关。 / 明朝政策使瑜伽僧和禅讲僧鼎立，使经忏法事弥漫于士人的日常生活中，这也与净土信仰相关联。对这些经忏科仪的批判，也成了天主教徒理解来世的一个面向。 / 来世问题，中国天主教徒认为这是儒学的疏略之处，构成了"补儒易佛"的重要内容。 / Most of the existing studies of the Buddhist‐Christian encounter during the Ming and Qing dynasties emphasize the conflict and contrast between Chinese Buddhism and Catholicism. The present study tends to focus on the intra religious dialogue of the participants. It will indicate that the problem of next‐life or life after death was not only one of the foci of dialogue, but also one of the key aspects of the transformation of faith caused by intra‐religious dialogue of the Chinese intellectuals at that time. / During the late Ming period, under the influence of traditional Confucianism, the matters of life and death became a focus of debate. At that time, the escapist Ch’an Buddhism became an ethos, and interactions took place between Buddhism and Confucianism. When Catholicism was introduced into China, it offered a spiritual alternative to the Chinese intellectuals who cared about matters of life and death. In contrast to the relatively more speculative and mysterious Ch’an, many Chinese found Catholicism a more genuine, concrete and practical system of thought. / With regard to the Buddhism during the Ming and Qing dynasties, an important trend of development was the combination between Ch’an and Pure Land Buddhism, particularly the gradual integration between the Amitabha Pure Land and the Heart‐Only Pure Land. Dual cultivation of Ch’an and Pure Land was very popular among the Chinese intellectuals. For this reason, the Chinese intellectuals’ understanding of the Catholic view of life and death related not only to Ch’an, but also to Pure Land Buddhism. / The governmental policy of Ming dynasty made the ritual monks stand on equal footing with the lecturing monks, and the Buddhist rituals, including those related to Pure Land Buddhism, integral part of the daily life of the intellectuals. The critique of these rituals formed an important aspect of the Catholic view of next‐life. Many Chinese Catholics took the problem of next life as one of the limitations or neglect problems of Confucianism, and made it one of the major contents for the strategy of "supplementing Confucanism and replacing Buddhism". / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 劉晶晶. / Thesis submitted: December 2013. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-205). / Abstracts also in English. / Liu Jingjing.

王學晟. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-221) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Wang Xuesheng.