This thesis explores the theme of messianism in the entire corpus of the Old Greek of Isaiah (LXX-Isaiah) as an important piece of Jewish theological literature from (and for) the Jewish community in Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.  This is done through the lens of an intertextual hermeneutic employed by the Isaiah translator as a mode of reading this text. The study looks at the need in scholarship to investigate the topic of messianism in the Greek Bible in general, and in the whole of LXX-Isaiah in particular.  After dealing with a few issues involved in the understanding of the LXX-Isaiah as a translation and the person responsible for it, the study also surveys thoroughly the meaning of the term ‘intertextuality’ from its inception and its use in biblical studies (including LXX research). Chapter 2 re-examines a few arguments pertinent to the scholarly opinion that messianic hopes were not prominent among the Alexandrian Jews in comparison to their co-religionists in Palestine.  It is argued that the unhelpful view that points to one Jewish community to the detriment of the other as witnessing to the rise of messianic expectations should be abandoned. Chapter 3 analyses exegetically nine selected messianic passages within the LXX-Isaiah (7:10-17; 9:1-7(8:23-9:6); 11:1-10; 16:1-5; 19:16-25; 31:9b-32:8; 42:1-4; 52:13-53:12; and 61:1-3a).  In each, the study begins with an exploration of the context of the passage, followed by an analysis of the text in comparison with its Hebrew <i>Vorlage.</i> Then a search for any significant ‘messianic language’ is carried out.  The study argues that any doubt concerning the contention that there is a dynamic messianic thought running through the whole of the Greek Isaiah should be abandoned.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Seminary, Portland, Or., 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-192).

As a case-study, this thesis investigates the political challenge posed by Darul Arqam, an Islamic movement, to the Malaysian state from 1968 until 1996. As a general manifestation of Islamic resurgence, the challenge sheds light on three important issues: the tactics, methods and strategies pursued by Islamic movements; the secular authorities' pattern of response to Islamic movements; the impact of repression on Islamists. The Darul Arqam challenge was unique in dispensing with conventional Islaniist ideas and practices, in generating an atypical reaction from the state and in producing an unconventional counter-response to state-initiated suppression. Darul Arqam's roots are traced to Malaysian Islam's largely sufi inclinations, which have been neglected by most contemporary Islamists for their perceived disadvantages, but which Darul Arqam successfully harnessed to its benefit. Given Darn! Arqam's disavowal of political violence and the state's strategy of emphasising cooptation and accommodation of Islaniists, its full-blown repression of Darul Arqam in 1994 deserves scrutiny in its myriad aspects and implications. The paradox of Darul Arqam's challenge is underlined by its innate capacity to weather external pressure, showing that wholesale repression would not necessarily amount to liquidation of a grassroots movement. - Applying the case-study of Darn! Arqam to wider historical and situational seftings, this thesis urges a rethinking of issues and concepts of general theoretical and practical significance. Malaysia and Darni Arqam are contextually situated within the Islamic periphery: a subject area which has eluded the serious attention of scholars intent on unearthing the phenomenon of Islamic resurgence. Yet, unconventional cases in the periphery, often guided by a pragmatic appreciation of indigenous mores, may be a more appropriate yardstick to gauge the potential of political Islam on account of its inherent grassroots appeal. Within the context of political Islam in Malaysia, this study examines the relative impact of long-term internal structural processes and global developments in moulding the contemporary scenario. Ideologically, the empirical case-study of Darul Arqam as a dynamic movement, combining the theory of sufi-messianic Islam with an achievement-oriented economic ethic, challenges conventional theories which postulate an incompatibility between religion, especially in its otherworldly dimensions, and modernisation, as measured mainly in terms of material development. Darn! Arqam, despite its heavily spiritual inclinations, emerged in the 1990s as an independent economic powerhouse which threatened the status quo of Malaysian politics. It is the successful marriage between apparently contradictory modes of social organisation, arguably unprecedented among contemporary political Islaniists, which underlines Darn! Arqam's distinctiveness and merits as a case-study with global implications.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Seminary, Portland, Or., 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-192).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Seminary, Portland, Or., 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-192).

Levinas has come to be seen as one of the principle representatives in contemporary thought of a certain philosophically articulated concept of 'messianism'. On the one hand, the appeal by philosophy to messianism is conceived by many as a 'turn' within postmodern thought broadly conceived towards a theology and ethics. On the other hand, there is the closely related consensus that Levinas‘ messianism is an expression of a certain 'correlation' between 'philosophy' and 'Judaism', a correlation in which Judaism becomes the suppressed voice of conscience of the latter. We revisit some of the consensuses upon which these related understandings are based. Firstly, we consider whether the heterogeneity of Levinas‘ different articulations of the messianic dimension should be emphasized, a heterogeneity which defies simple classification. Secondly, we consider whether Levinas‘ thought can properly be called messianic as such: we emphasize the functional character of messianism in Levinas, and how messianism is structurally re-ordered according to the function it takes on. We explore namely the manner in which messianic discourse in Levinas is implicated in the construction of a certain humanism, and how it is called upon to negotiate the obstacles which such a construction faces. Re-ordered according to this regime, we consider whether what unites the various expressions of messianism in Levinas is not the articulation of a discourse which progressively realizes its non-eschatological status. We frame this thesis in terms of what we call the 'parody' of messianism, a notion we derive from Nietzsche. This complicates any notion of a 'turn' within postmodernism; and yet it can be shown to be an intensification of a certain tendency at work already within normative Judaism.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Univ. Federal de Pernambuco, Diss.--Recife, 2002.

One of the most long-standing and controversial questions in historical Jesus research is that of whether Jesus was a Davidic messianic figure. This question is part of the broader ‘messianic question’, i.e., the question of whether Jesus thought of himself as a messiah and, if so, in what sense. Virtually every comprehensive work on the historical Jesus addresses this more focused Davidic messianic question at some point, as do numerous journal articles and essays in edited volumes. However, detailed studies devoted to this particular question are lacking. This dissertation is my attempt at such a study. I will divide this dissertation into two parts, each of which I believe offers a significant contribution to scholarship. The first, ‘Challenging the Status Quo’, will highlight three trends that I believe have dominated recent research on the Davidic messianic question with the aim being to demonstrate that the manner in which scholars have gone about answering this question is significantly problematic and that a fresh approach is therefore needed. I will then offer an approach that I believe will meet this need. The second part of this study, ‘The Making of Jesus the Davidic Messiah’, is where I will attempt to implement the fresh approach that I will have offered. More specifically, I will attempt to determine whether Jesus’ inner circle of disciples, i.e., the Twelve, viewed him as the Davidic Messiah and how Jesus behaved in response to this view. This group dynamic of which Jesus was a part will then serve as the basis on which I will offer my answer to the Davidic messianic question. In the end, examining this interplay between Jesus and the Twelve leads me to conclude that the historical Jesus was, in fact, a Davidic messianic figure. It would be ideal if I could convince others of this and perhaps move scholars closer to a consensus. However, even if I cannot accomplish this, it is my hope that this study will at least continue to move research on the Davidic messianic question forward.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Division of the Social Sciences, December 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Alsoi available on the Internet.