Thesis--Bonn. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-169).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Religious Education, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-115).

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography.

Thesis (M.A. in English literature)--Washington State University, May 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. lxiii-lxvi).

Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century German Catholic nun, became one of the most influential voices in a time when women, especially in the realm of religion, were suppressed. Yet, Hildegard overcame these suppressions through her writing and work subsequently legitimizing her status today as a saint and Doctor of the Church. Hildegard’s influential writings hold weight beyond the Catholic Church especially in feminist circles. This thesis applies rhetorical criticism as the scholarly lens from which to analyze a sample of Hildegard’s writings for the purposes of understanding her contemporary influence. Aided by Kenneth Burke’s interpretive method of logology, this project argues that Hildegard’s legacy is shaped by her consistent use of the “marriage to God” metaphor. The “marriage to God” metaphor functions persuasively, I argue, because its prophetic vision emphasizes a union with God, rather than as a disenfranchisement from God.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / The consistent presence of juridical diction, legal metaphors, and courtroom imagery reveals that Ezekiel 1-33 is set within a precise juridical framework. In this study, I argued that focusing upon these legal elements has two primary benefits for our understanding of the book. First, the juridical framework provides greater clarity and coherence to some passages within Ezekiel 1-33. Second, the book (especially Ezekiel 16) uses its legal elements to articulate a version of Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian hegemony. To connect these legal elements to identity development, I used some insights from the works of Erik Erikson and Urie Bronfenbrenner (the “EB Model”). According to my analysis, Ezekiel 16 equates the legal status of the city with Judahite identity in order to prove that the experiences of Neo-Babylonian domination did not nullify or rescind the legal agreement (ברית) between the deity and Judahites. Rather, the punishment this chapter describes demonstrates the continuing validity of the contract and the version of Judahite identity that is rooted in it. Consequently, the Judahites’ acceptance of the legal appropriateness of Neo-Babylonian domination is the sine qua non for remaining in the legal relationship that defines Judahite identity.

Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / Conventional interpretations of Jonah hold that the book's purpose is to endorse the power of repentance in averting divine wrath, or to promote a greater appreciation among readers for divine mercy rather than justice, or to dispute "exclusivist" attitudes that would confine divine grace to the people of Israel/Judah. This dissertation argues, in contrast to these interpretations, that the book of Jonah should best be understood as an exploration of the problem of a perceived lack of divine justice. In light of the Jonah's composition well after the historical destruction of Nineveh, the use of Nineveh in Jonah as an object of divine mercy would have struck a discordant note among the book's earliest readers. Elsewhere in the prophetic corpus, Nineveh is known specifically and exclusively for its international crimes and its ultimate punishment at the hands of Yhwh, an historical event (612 B.C.E.) that prophets took as a sign of Yhwh's just administration of the cosmos. The use of Nineveh in Jonah, therefore, is not intended to serve as a hypothetical example of the extent of Yhwh's mercy to even the worst sinners. Rather, readers of Jonah would have known that the reprieve granted Nineveh in Jonah 3 did not constitute "the end of the story" for Nineveh. To the contrary, the extension of divine mercy to Nineveh in Jonah, which is set in the eighth century B.C.E., would have been seen as only the first of Yhwh's moves in regard to that "city of blood." The central conflict of the book resides in Jonah's doubt in the reliability of divine justice. In the aftermath of Nineveh's reprieve in Jonah 3, the prophet complains that the merciful outcome was inevitable, and had nothing to do with the Ninevites' penitence. The episode of the growth and death of the qiqayon plant in Jonah 4:6-8, and its explanation in 4:10-11 comprise Yhwh's response to Jonah's accusation. The images employed in the growth and death of the plant, and in the events that follow its demise, connote destruction in the prophetic corpus. When Yhwh explains the meaning of the qiqayon to Jonah in 4:10-11, the deity makes no mention of either penitence or mercy. Rather, having established that the qiqayon represents Nineveh, Yhwh asserts that, although he has spared Nineveh at present, he will not regret its eventual destruction in the future. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 320-344). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Divinity School, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.