In this study we will attempt to discover the background of [apostolos] among its pagan ancestors. In addition to this area, we will also be concerned with the Jewish background which exerted a formative influence on the meaning of the word. Finally, an attempt will be made to see the result of this combination of backgrounds as it came to be reflected in the New Testament.

Until recently, very little had been written directly on the problem of the New Testament kergyma. Works designed solely for the purpose of setting forth the nature of the message of the primitive preaching of the church, and the forms of the preaching of the primitive message of the church, were woefully lacking. However, in recent years there has been a return to a discussion of this problem. This thesis seeks to provide a survey of some of the literature of this recent investigation of the kergyma of the New Testament.

Several years ago the writer became interested in a study of the New Testament concept of the church. Since the major part of the New Testament collection dealing with this concept is made up of the writings of the apostle Paul he felt that the study should begin with these writings. In making a preliminary study it was found that the apostle's concept would be too extensive and too inclusive to incorporate in its entirety within the scope of a thesis written as partial requirement for the Master of Arts Degree. Consequenty this work is limited, being primarily foundational. In order to maintain this foundational character the writer decided to make a study of a representative passage of each variant shade of Paul's concept, and, that only where some form of the term (ecclesia) appears in the text. So that Paul's usage of the term might be more fully understood the first and second chapters are designed to serve as a background. These chapters will show that Paul, when he had become a Christian, had inherited a word that was potent with vital significance for him and for others like him in the new religion. The remainder of the thesis is divided according to the major emphases which Paul makes upon the term 'ecclesia'. This has caused a shift of the Galatian letter from its traditional date of composition which places it shortly after the writing of the Corinthian letters into a closer proximity with the Thessalonian letters. The concept of 'ecclesia' in Galatians is more in accord with that found in the Thessalonian letters than with that in Corinthians and Romans.

Among the twenty-seven books in the New Testament canon, there is an epistle addressed to the church which met at Golossae. This epistle isn't very large; in fact it barely consumes four or five pages in the entire Bible. Yet it is important; for with it there is left to the Christian world a remnant of history, both of the life of the church and of the life of her greatest apostle, which it would not have otherwise possessed. A great number of Christian communications which, if they would have been preserved, would have yielded many times over the information in the Colossian epistle. But because these are lost, there is even more reason to regard this work as one of the precious gems of the faith. It remains as one of the touchstones by which the Christian world of today can be connected with its early heritage.

Apoštol Pavel a římské zákony Apostle Paul and the Roman Law bc. Ladislava Říhová The thesis deals with problematics associated with the life and first of all with Apostle PaulVs Roman citizenship. The first chapter contains a brief description of PaulVs life which de facto makes the outline of the whole work. Special attention is being paid to PaulVs origin, his education and last but not least to his conversion to Christianity. Noticed is also PaulVs missionary activity and his end. In the second part of the first chapter there is discussed the view of the Scipture on the Roman citizenship of the Apostle, supplemented with a historical excursus about the history of Roman citizenship as such taking into special consideration the time of Paul's life i.e. the time of the Early Principate. Of course, the possibility of the Apostle's double citizenship is mentioned. From Paul's civil state follow necessarily his rights which form his further destiny. In particular there are concerned Paul's iudicial proceedings which are extensively discussed in the Acts of the Apostles. The second chapter therefore engages in the history and necessities of Roman iudicial proceedings and the appellate right of Roman citizens, which was used by Paul as Roman citizen, too. Whereas the second chapter of the work is...

This dissertation ascertains the meaning of the Unjust Steward parable (Luke 16:1-13) by examining its language, historical background, and literary context. Chapter 1 introduces the parable's interpretive problems, acknowledges that it is perhaps the most difficult of Jesus' parables to understand, and offers a method for deciphering the meaning. Chapter 2 offers a detailed history-of-interpretation with special attention given to the work of Dennis J. Ireland ( Stewardship and the Kingdom , 1992) and the interpreters who have come after him, especially those who depart from the traditional interpretation. Chapter 3 first examines the text-critical concerns for the parable and then analyzes the language of 16:1-13 at the lexical, grammatical, and syntactical levels. Chapter 4 examines four historical background matters that some scholars have offered as interpretative keys for understanding the parable and determines that most of these background features have been overemphasized and are of limited help. Chapter 5 examines the literary concerns of the parable. This chapter first examines the nature of the "parable" genre, Luke's use of parables, and the history of parable interpretation in general. The chapter then examines the literary context of the parable, giving special attention to the relationship between the Unjust Steward and all of the major units in Luke 15 and 16. Finally, the chapter examines a few literary conventions that some scholars have proposed as interpretive keys. The conclusion is that some are of more value than others. Chapter 6 synthesizes the information and conclusions from Chapters 3, 4, and 5 to answer the nine most pressing questions that the parable presents to the reader. The dissertation concludes that the traditional interpretation, which perceives the parable to be about a dishonest transaction that serves as an exhortation about both the proper use of monetary possession and preparing for the kingdom of God, is still the most plausible. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Anotation This diploma thesis "Reflection of the Canonical Approach of Brevard S. Childs" deals with the charakteristic focuses and postulates of the canonical approach of Brevard S. Childs with focusing on his two important publications: Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (1979) and Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (1993). It shows a short intersection of his longterm academic exploratory work and with respect to the interpretative emphasis describes a brief overview of history of the canon exploration from the Reformation to the so called New Biblical Theology. The content centre of the diploma thesis is to introduce the main methological foundations of Childs'canonical approach with regard to its central postulates - for example: canonical intentionality, final form of the text, etc. and to those hermeneutical elements which are applicable in practical pastoral work of the church. At the end of the diploma thesis there is a short practical guide to the theological exegesis based on the main hermeneutical principles of the Childs'canonical approach.

Chapter 1 introduces the particular problem to be addressed and also the thesis of the dissertation as a potential answer to this problem. The three test case passages are briefly introduced as well as the rationale for their selection. Attention is then given to surveying the history of modern research by examining those scholars who maintain that Paul's use of the OT is either a generally non-contextually rooted approach or a contextually rooted approach, respectively. The closing section sets out the methodology of examination. Each of the next three chapters is given to the three hard cases of Paul's use of the OT. Paul's use of Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9 in Romans 11:26-27 is discussed in chapter 2 and demonstrated to be a contextually rooted use of the OT by arguing that Paul employs these passages with the same burden as their OT context, namely that one day all Israel will be saved. However, in Paul's modified form it also serves to reinforce the mystery concerning how that salvation will take place. Chapter 3 is a focused interaction with Paul's use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8. After discussing the inadequacies of the various approaches which seek to locate Paul's form of the text as employing an existing interpretive tradition, it is argued that Paul modified the wording of the quotation, not to disregard the OT context, but rather to summarize succinctly the entire psalm and use it to draw together several important themes in his letter. The quotation of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 is the subject of chapter 4. While Paul does again modify these texts, he builds upon their original contexts as a way of showing how Christ's resurrection has conquered death. The judgment prophesied in the OT context has been poured out on Christ, thereby clearing a path for resurrection life for his people. Chapter 5 concludes with a synthesis of Paul's hermeneutical method in these passages. Paul's use of the OT is contextually rooted, but also comes through the interpretive lens of the apostle in light of his place in redemptive history.

Les quatre homélies de Jean Chrysostome In principium Actorum trouvent leur origine à Antioche entre les années 386 et 397. Elles sont prévues pour la période suivant la fête de Pâques ; le prédicateur s’adresse en particulier aux nouveaux baptisés et il cherche à introduire ses auditeurs à la lecture du livre des Actes des apôtres qui leur est peu familier. Ces textes portent sur l’importance des titres (première homélie), sur le terme « actes » (deuxième homélie), sur le terme « apôtres » (troisième homélie) et sur la raison de la lecture du livre des Actes juste après la fête de Pâques, et non après la fête de la Pentecôte (quatrième homélie). Une homélie sur l’auteur du livre des Actes, aujourd’hui perdue, s’insérait entre le premier et le deuxième texte. On montre que ces homélies forment une « micro-série » ouverte, en lien étroit avec d’autres homélies (De mutatione nominum 1-4, In Genesim sermo 9, In illud : Si esurierit inimicus). L’examen de la tradition manuscrite directe, la prise en compte de la tradition indirecte (eclogae, florilèges, chaîne sur les Actes, tradition arménienne, encomium pour la fête de saint Paul, témoignage dans la littérature byzantine) et l’analyse des premières éditions anciennes permettent de reconstituer l’histoire de ces quatre textes en vue d’une édition critique et de confirmer la cohérence de ce corpus malgré une transmission parfois éclatée. On propose une nouvelle édition des homélies In principium Actorum en la fondant sur des rameaux plus sûrs de la tradition manuscrite grecque. On donne ensuite une nouvelle traduction française des quatre homélies et on présente trois pistes de commentaire. Tout d’abord, la méthode adoptée par le prédicateur pour introduire à la lecture du livre des Actes a des conséquences sur l’exégèse des exemples bibliques choisis : on en montre quelques-unes tout en questionnant la proximité avec un éventuel commentaire suivi et avec des textes d’autres auteurs grecs (Didyme l’Aveugle, notamment). On met en avant l’importance de la mission dans ces homélies : enraciné dans la fête de Pâques, l’appel à la mission permet de créer un lien étroit entre le prédicateur, ses auditeurs et les absents. Ce dernier point mène pour finir à l’étude des visées apologétiques de ces textes : la conversion passe par un retournement de sens et elle se traduit par un changement irréversible de mode de vie, qui doit imiter non seulement celui de Paul mais aussi celui d’autres figures bibliques et du Christ lui-même. / The four homilies In principium Actorum originate in the Antiochene period of John Chrysostom's priesthood (386-397). Their liturgical frame is Easter time; the preacher is speaking especially to neophytes and aims at introducing his listeners to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which they are not familiar with. In these texts the preacher explains the importance of titles (first homily), the word "Acts" (second homily), the word "Apostles" (third homily) and the reasons why this book is read just after Easter, and not after Pentecost (fourth homily). There used to be another homily about the author of the book of the Acts, which is now missing, between the first and the second homily. These homilies form an open "micro-series" which is strongly linked to other homilies (De mutatione nominum 1-4, In Genesim sermo 9, In illud: Si esurierit inimicus). The study of the direct manuscript tradition, the account of the indirect tradition (eclogae, anthologies, catena in Acta Apostolorum, Armenian tradition, encomium for the feast of saint Paul, testimony in Byzantine literature) as well as the analysis of the first editions make it possible to reconstruct the history of these four texts in preparation for their critical edition. It also confirms the coherence of the corpus, although the homilies have not always been transmitted together. The dissertation presents a new edition of the homilies In principium Actorum which is based on more reliable parts of the Greek tradition. A new French translation of the four homilies is also given. The commentary explores three important aspects. First, the preacher's method of introducing the Acts has consequences on the exegesis of the chosen biblical examples: the dissertation shows some of those consequences and questions the proximity to a continuous commentary and to texts from other authors (for instance Didymus the Blind). The importance of the mission in those homilies is then put forward: rooted in the feast of Easter, the call to mission creates a strong relationship between preacher, listeners and absentees. This last point leads to the apologetical aims of the texts: conversion is due to a shift in meaning and results in a complete change of lifestyle, which should imitate Paul's but also the way of life of other biblical figures and of Christ himself.

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)