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Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Critical New Testament study has drawn on analytical techniques and interrogatory methods from a wide range of disciplines. In recent decades the dominance of historical and ecclesiologicallylocated approaches have been challenged by insights from literary, sociological, anthropological, cultural and ideological scholarship. These challenges have proved fruitful and opened biblical scholarship to new and generative interpretation. This plurality of interpretation has in turn challenged the reductionism of biblical scholarship, leading to the now common acknowledgement that a particular reading or reconstruction is but one of many. Unfortunately many new readings have been too tightly bound to a single method or insight. The broad interaction between these readings has been often overlooked. In contrast to this trend an epistemology of text emerging from the poststructural notion of intertextuality allows the construction of links between a range of interpretive methods. Intertextuality emerges from literary and cultural theory but spills over to make hermeneutical connections with historical, cultural and ideological theory. For the most part New Testament scholars who have appropriated the term have noted this but not thoroughly explored it. In this study an ideologically-declared overtly intertextual approach to the third canonical gospel demonstrates the interlinking hermeneutic allowed by intertextuality. John Howard Yoder's reading of the gospel of Luke underscores the development of a Christian social-ethic. This reading in turn forms the framework for the more overtly intertextual reading offered here. An intertextual reading of the New Testament Scriptures is both narratively generative and politically directive for many Christian communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kritiese Nuwe Testamentiese studies het in die verlede gebruik gemaak van analitiese tegnieke en ondervraende metodes uit ‘n wye verskeidenheid van dissiplines. Meer onlangs is die oorheersing van historiese en kerklik-gerigte benaderings uitgedaag deur insigte vanuit letterkundige, sosiologiese, antropologiese, kulturele en ideologiese dissiplines. Hierdie uitdagings het vrugbaar geblyk en het Bybelse vakkennis toeganklik gemaak vir nuwe en produktiewe interpretasies. Hierdie meervoudige interpretasies het op hul beurt weer die reduksionisme in Bybelse geleerdheid uitgedaag, wat aanleiding gegee het tot die nou algemene erkenning dat ‘n bepaalde vertolking of rekonstruksie slegs een van vele is. Die breë wisselwerking tussen sulke vertolkings word dikwels misgekyk. In teenstelling met hierdie neiging, laat ‘n epistemologie van die teks wat te voorskyn kom uit ‘n poststrukturele begrip van intertekstualiteit toe dat verbande gekonstrueer word word tussen ‘n verskeidenheid van vertolkingsmetodes. Intertekstualiteit spruit voort uit literêre en kulturele teorie, maar vorm ook hermeneutiese skakels met historiese, kulturele en ideologie kritiek. Die meeste Nuwe Testamentici wat gebruik gemaak het van hierdie term, het kennis geneem van sulke verbande, maar dit nie altyd volledig verreken nie. In hierdie studie demonstreer ‘n ideologies-verklaarde, openlik intertekstuele benadering tot die derde kanonieke evangelie die gekoppelde hermeneutiek wat toegelaat word deur intertekstualiteit. John Howard Yoder se vertolking van die Evangelie van Lukas plaas klem op die ontwikkeling van ‘n Christelike sosiale etiek. Hierdie interpretasie vorm op sy beurt weer die raamwerk vir die meer openlik intertekstuele vertolking wat hier aangebied word. ‘n Intertekstuele interpretasie van die Nuwe Testamentiese geskrifte is beide verhalend produktief asook polities rigtinggewend vir talle Christelike gemeenskappe.

This thesis shows that patristic interpretation of the Transfiguration had a sensitivity to visionary and ecstatic motifs within the synoptic Transfiguration narratives, and particularly Luke’s, which prompted a rich breadth of hermeneutic interaction with our texts. I offer the evidence of my survey of the reception history of the Transfiguration in the first 900 years of Christian history as a way of filling a number of gaps in knowledge in modern biblical scholarship concerning the Transfiguration narratives. This thesis begins, in Chapters 1, 2, and 3, with an appraisal of interpretation offered by modern biblical scholars, patrologists, and art historians. Critical comment often overlooks a series of ambiguities in the narratives, particularly the distinct characteristics of Luke’s version. These include the question of whether the disciples enter the overshadowing cloud, the presence of priestly or cultic imagery, visionary motifs frequently found in apocalyptic texts, such as the disciples’ drowsiness, and Peter’s confusion at not knowing what he said. Chapters 4-7 examine the earliest reception in 2 Peter, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Acts of Peter, explore at some length Origen’s and Tertullian’s interpretation, and also look at Latin and Greek comment after Origen. I show many ancient writers to understand the disciples as experiencing ecstatic vision. Some also use cultic language appertaining to the Jerusalem Temple in their exegesis of the Transfiguration. They also employ the narrative to interpret other prophetic or visionary texts. Many of these distinguishing features of interpretation frequently stem from their attentiveness to the Lucan narrative. Chapter 8 examines the earliest artistic depictions of the Transfiguration from the sixth century onwards. This chapter indicates that many of the visionary and cultic themes we have outlined in previous chapters are frequently overlooked by art historians, and also that Luke’s narrative exercised a greater influence on representation of the Transfiguration than many people have imagined. This thesis concludes with a reconsideration of the visionary character of the Transfiguration narratives. Many of the ambiguities, overlooked details, and distinctive traits we pointed to in our opening chapters will be seen to have had much greater significance through many centuries of early hermeneutic tradition and artistic depiction than is the case in modern historical critical scholarship.

This study examined the biblical/theological foundations found in the Holy Spirit for leading ecclesial change within the text of Luke-Acts. Chapter 1 describes the purpose, goals, rationale, and research methodology for the study. Chapter 2 is a literature review that examines secular, Christian, and biblical/theological models for leading ecclesial change. Chapter 3 examines the role of the Holy Spirit in the empowered Messiah and demonstrates how the same Spirit that empowered, enabled, and equipped the Messiah is the same Spirit that enables, empowers, and equips believers today. Chapter 4 displays the manifestation of the Spirit’s work not only in the believer but inside the New Testament church. Chapter 5 offers conclusions of this study. Here the purpose and goals of the study are examined and biblical reflections as well as recommendation for practices are offered.

Thesis advisor: LISA S. CAHILL / The Nuremberg trials ushered in a new era in which the four principles approach has become progressively the norm in Euro-American biomedical ethics, while the concepts of virtue and character become marginalized. In recent decades, the AIDS pandemic has highlighted the social aspects of health and illness, and the individualistic nature of the four principles approach proves inadequate in addressing the social causes of illness and poor health. At the global level, the promotion of the four principles approach as the universal norm can lead to the displacement of local values and customs, and the alienation of people from their cultural heritage. In this dissertation, I argue that although principles are indispensable, the virtue-based approach is more adequate in addressing these needs. The dissertation demonstrates that a virtue-based medical ethics informed by the gospel vision of healing would support models of health care that take seriously the social determinants of illness, and advocate action on behalf of the poor and the marginalized. At the global level, virtue-based medical ethics also allows the coexistence of the universal values and the local norms, and encourages cross-cultural dialogue. This dissertation develops a virtue-based medical ethics grounded in the Aristotelian teleological structure, and integrating insights obtained from the historical critical study of the healing narratives in Luke-Acts. It also provides a correlative study of the love command in Luke and the virtue of humaneness in the medical ethics of eighteenth century Vietnamese physician Hai Thuong Lan Ong. The concluding chapter brings these elements together in a discussion of the work of the Vietnamese Catholic AIDS care network. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:48:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARQUES ALVES MARTINS.pdf: 822137 bytes, checksum: dfbb82b32e5b647556cde82fe2d888f2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-21 / Among all the Gospels, the third has a particular merit that derives from the particular character of its author. The Gospel of Luke, serving up fine traits of his own author ship, presents us with a Gospel message in an almost unique way; transpire leaving us the tenderness of Jesus as the humble and the poor. Lucas becomes, among the synoptic, one that most women face the argument being that any investigation into their role in the early Christian communities certainly can not ignore this reference. However, a careful reading of Luke s account of this matter makes you realize how texts about women are marked by tension, linked to a possible ambivalence about the role of women in the Christian community. Luke presents the woman with characteristics of exemplary human greatness, but also hosts women in their weakness: they are sinful, diseased, possessed, widows, etc.. The woman is now exalted, and sometimes decreased. In order to understand the way in which Luke addresses this topic and especially to become clearer sense of the act of Jesus in the Gospel texts evidenced seems necessary, first of all, to clarify what was the social and historical context which women lived in the Mediterranean region in the first century society were based on the patriarch and culturally androcentric structure, ie, the decisions of men predominated. The present work has as its theme: "The relationship of Jesus with women from the perspective of Luke 7:36-50," consists of an analysis of the biblical text. We propose a reinterpretation that is not exegetical nature and some not so much a theological and historical description of the biblical text. But a rereading pointing the essential aspects as human relations established between Jesus, the Pharisees (Simon) and the marginalized of society (women s figure); the centrality of Jesus act of integrating people on the dynamics of the Kingdom of God. / Entre todos os Evangelhos, o terceiro tem um mérito particular que deriva da índole particular de seu autor. O Evangelho de Lucas, servindo-se de finos traços próprios de sua autoria, apresenta-nos uma mensagem evangélica de um modo quase original, deixando-nos transparecer a ternura de Jesus para com os humildes e os pobres. Lucas se torna, entre os sinóticos, aquele que mais enfrenta o argumento das mulheres, sendo que qualquer investigação sobre o papel delas nas comunidades cristãs primitivas não pode certamente prescindir dessa referência. Todavia, uma leitura atenta da narração de Lucas a respeito desse assunto faz perceber como os textos sobre as mulheres estão marcados por certa tensão, ligada a uma possível ambivalência quanto ao papel da mulher na comunidade cristã. Lucas apresenta a mulher com características de grandeza humana exemplar, mas também acolhe a mulher em sua fraqueza: são pecadoras, doentes, possessas, viúvas etc. A mulher ora é exaltada, ora é diminuída. Para se compreender o modo pelo qual Lucas enfrenta este tema e sobretudo para que se torne mais claro o sentido do agir de Jesus evidenciado nos textos evangélicos, faz-se necessário, antes de tudo, esclarecer qual era o contexto social e histórico em que vivia a mulher na região do mediterrâneo no século I. A sociedade se pautava em uma estrutura patriarcal e culturalmente androcêntrica, ou seja, em que predominavam as decisões dos varões. O presente trabalho que tem como tema A Relação de Jesus com as Mulheres na Perspectiva de Lucas 7,36-50 e constitui-se de uma análise desse texto bíblico. Propomos uma releitura que não é de cunho exegético, nem uma descrição teológica e histórica do texto bíblico. Porém, uma releitura que nos aponta aspectos essenciais como as relações humanas estabelecidas entre Jesus, os Fariseus (Simão) e os marginalizados da sociedade (figura da mulher); a centralidade do gesto de Jesus que integra as pessoas na dinâmica do Reino de Deus.

This thesis argues that the rhetoric of perception opens and closes the Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles, and occurs throughout both narratives as a central plot device. The epistemological theme created by this involves how characters understand the major events of the narrative, especially what seems to be a central element: Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and the scriptural necessity of his suffering and resurrection. The suspense created by the rhetoric of perception allows the author to both communicate key tenets of his theology, as well as offer the audience a model for accomplishing the purpose of his writing, to ‘recognise the certainty’ of his story (Luke 1:1–4). In the Gospel of Luke, suspense is created by the juxtaposition of divine revelation to the disciples and the divine concealment that produces their misunderstanding. This conflict reaches its resolution in the Gospel’s final scenes, in which Jesus opens the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures, enabling them to understand what was earlier concealed, the scriptural necessity of the Messiah’s death and resurrection. In Acts, the conflict of misunderstanding is no longer primarily internal to the disciples but external: It is a characteristic of those who do not believe, those to whom the disciples-turned-apostles preach, and it must be overcome through the repentance and belief of the hearers. The resolution provided by the conclusion of Acts is much more negative than that of the Gospel: In the Empire’s capital city, far from that place of illumination where the disciples earlier came to understanding, the proclamation of the gospel is essentially rejected by a Jewish audience to whom is applied the description of Isaiah 6:9–10, rich in its epistemological metaphor.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Note: This version has been edited to remove names for privacy reasons. For a full copy please contact the author. / Writers of PhDs have a unique, personal and in-depth relationship with their subject-matter, which develops over a number of years. What happens when life intrudes so much into the research and writing that it takes over the subject matter, so that the original struggle for objective scholarship threatens to become subsumed in emotion and self-discovery? How does the supervisor, forced to keep a certain distance from an intimate and tumultuous relationship, still teach? The supervisor can do worse than guide their student towards the genre of Life-Writing, within which a flourishing of sub-genres may be accommodating to such a journey. For a closed-records adoptee caught up in the reunion processes sparked by the 1990 changes to the Adoption Act, critical readings of Peter Carey and Janette Turner Hospital developed into the invention of the Adopted Body, the Subject Adoptee and a new way of seeing: ado/aptive reading and writing. Perhaps in the field of ado/aptive theory, the stolen generations, intercountry adoptees and the white closed-record adoptees of Australia can re-invent themselves, develop their identities and create a genre of academic theory unique to Australia.

Luke's gospel is not infrequently referred to as the gospel of mercy. This declaration has rarely, if at all, been seriously subjected to a critical investigation of its validity and the appropriateness of such a nomenclature. In particular, there has been little recognition of subtle and significant distinctions that can be made between mercy and compassion. This thesis therefore seeks to lay bare how the evangelist employed gospel source materials and his own literary talent to create and compose a sequence of narrative moments that lends itself to what is proposed here, especially a proper articulation of compassion as revealed by Luke's Jesus. Limiting its broader investigative focus to Lk 3:1-9:50 this study is primarily interested in Lk 6:36, its role within the oft neglected Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:20-49), its significance for the content and composition of Lk 7, and then secondarily its connection with the narrative blocks found either side of Lk 6-7, where of particular note is the programmatic sermon of Lk 4:16-30. In this purview a keen eye on detail and patterns relative to word(s) and deed(s) makes it possible to discern certain key theological and Christological authorial assumptions. Specifically, it is through this purposeful depiction of God and Jesus in relation to humankind that Luke insightfully initiates the reader into the mission and ministry of the Christ and his chosen disciples. Observing closely what this Jesus says and does sheds light on the import of extended meaning attaching itself to Luke's writing. To comprehend this better it proves helpful to analyse the meaning and force of Lk 6:36 in its Sermon context, in Luke's larger narrative and within the broad spectrum of ideas that derive from biblical, linguistic, philosophical and theological discussions. Lk 6:36 in translation thus becomes the point of departure for a more expansive treatment of this sometimes elusive theme. Attempting to find the right, appropriately nuanced word in English helps establish an appreciation for the richer strands of meaning that attach to the mercy/compassion realm of language and that with certain conditioning have been either overshadowed or lost sight of altogether. Acquiring that orientation to the biblical concept evoked by Lk 6:36 can only be gained by an investigation that attentively inspects the palette of Hebrew and Greek terminology. A surprising array of interconnected yet distinct words, emphases and associations of image come as a result. When closely examined alongside the linguistic and historical data Luke's composition confirms that the "compassion" Jesus voices / enacts is thoroughly relational; at its core is a personal, life-giving parent-child kinship; God is its primary reference point (invoking the notions of imitatio Dei, imago Dei); its paradigm figure is Jesus whose words and deeds integrally reveal its extravagant, boundary-free, risk-laden outreach to human beings of all sorts; and by natural inclination it redresses suffering and oppression without impossible conditions. To be, feel and act for another in this way is measured ultimately not by a human but a divine standard. The investigative method of this thesis is a redaction-critical / composition-critical analysis of Lukan gospel material where "compassion" is best examined, defined and demonstrated. As a matter of course this approach accepts that Luke is both redactor of received materials (holding to the majority hypothesis on Synoptic sources) and author of a narrative with its own foci, emphases and theological character. Thus to define "compassion" through the words and deeds of the Lukan Jesus is to enter a narrative world virtually unexplored until now.

"I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John" (Luke 7:28). Thus the author of Luke-Acts expresses his basic assessment of John the Baptist. The present study aims to understand the role of John the Baptist as he is portrayed in Luke-Acts through a reading that combines social description and narrative-theological analysis in order to gain hermeneutical access to the subject of our investigation. This study seeks to achieve this aim in two ways. In the first instance there is an attempt (through recourse to a combination of the stated critical methodologies) to provide a reading of Luke-Acts that interfaces social description and narrative-theological analysis in order to make possible a rhetorical engagement with the text in a way that provides hermeneutical access to John the Baptist as he is portrayed in Luke-Acts. In his portrayal of John the Baptist as a prophet and witness who plays a unique role in the history of salvation, the author of Luke-Acts weaves a spell over his readers that draws them into his narrative world and into his particular theological perspective. In the second instance, this study also aims to show how Luke-Acts preserves a unique dynamic of John the Baptist which has rather been buried in the other Gospel traditions. Through this dynamic, Luke seeks to transmit his own ideal of the authentic prophet and witness in such a way that his audience may be moved to emulate John's example with conviction and imagination both in living out their Christian ideal as well as in proclaiming the good news. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.