The relationship between the Epistle to the Hebrews and Second Temple Judaism has long been a subject of debate within biblical scholarship. For most of the history of New Testament interpretation, Hebrews has been understood to be a Christian text written for the purpose of deterring Christians from relapsing back into their former religion, Judaism. Recently, however, scholars have argued for a variety of alternative proposals, and some have attempted to situate Hebrews as a text within Judaism. Consensus regarding Hebrews’s relationship to Judaism remains elusive, however, suggesting that a different way of approaching this issue is necessary. This dissertation argues that Hebrews is best understood as addressing the pastoral needs of a Jewish-Christian community facing a crisis related to issues of Jewish socioreligious identity. Using frameworks of social-historical description, theories of Jewish identity, and thematic analysis assisted by semantic domain theory, this research assesses Hebrews’s relationship to Judaism by examining the author’s treatment of themes related to the Law, the Temple, and the Promised Land, cultural frameworks which were significant for Jewish social and religious identity in the first century CE. This research finds that the writer of Hebrews textually constructs for himself and his audience an unmistakably Jewish identity. However, it will also be demonstrated that Hebrews evinces patterns of, as Steve Moyise says, ‘"both tradition and innovation” in how the writer appropriates vital identity-forming traditions from Judaism for his own pastoral purposes. This study, therefore, further contends that Hebrews evinces a community with an emerging Jewish-Christian identity as theirs is an expression of Judaism which has become largely defined by their devotion to Jesus. The context of looming crisis which permeates Hebrews and the writer’s treatment of traditions from common Judaism further suggests this community also has likely become estranged from Jerusalem and its temple system. This research thus contends that the traditional ‘‘relapse theory” interpretation which historically has interpreted Hebrews as taking a polemical stance against Judaism is without adequate support. Conversely, this research also suggests that some of the various “within Judaism” approaches which have become more popular in recent New Testament scholarship, while promising, require further nuancing when applied to Hebrews. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Dans la capitale péruvienne, trois danses continuent de rythmer la vie des Ayacuchanos émigrés bien que leurs contextes de performance aient subi des changements radicaux. Il s‟agit de danses de compétition réservées à des artistes spécialistes : la danse des ciseaux, celle des huaylías et celle des negritos de cinta. Dans les villages de la sierra, ces expressions représentent de véritables rituels qui s‟inscrivent au coeur des relations socioreligieuses de la communauté : elles les figurent mais participent aussi à leur renouvellement et à leur équilibre. Associée à celle qui en découle dans le domaine agricole, cette action contribue à unir la communauté et à assurer sa perpétuation tout en prenant en compte les changements et les évolutions. Ce rôle est appuyé par les modèles musico-chorégraphiques eux-mêmes puisqu‟ils laissent une grande marge de liberté et incitent à la variation et à la création. Les artistes, fins connaisseurs des usages sociaux, offrent ainsi un reflet de la société dans ce qu‟ils dansent et jouent. Le public, lui, gère la nouveauté à la fois pendant la performance mais aussi à travers les diverses mémoires qui se construisent autour des danses. De ce fait, le milieu de Lima apporte essentiellement l‟innovation et celui de la sierra la valide. Les trois danses agissent aussi dans ce sens sur le plan social : elles favorisent une certaine indépendance entre le milieu migrant et les villages tout en maintenant une unité communautaire en dehors d‟un territoire physique. Ainsi, malgré la migration, leur rôle n‟a pas vraiment changé mais s‟est juste adapté à la nouvelle situation. / In the Peruvian capital, the Ayacuchano migrants‟ life is still governed by the rhythm of three dances even if their performances have undergone radical changes in their circumstances. They are competition dances restricted to specialist dancers, i.e. the scissors dance, the huaylías‟ dance and the dance of the negritos de cinta. In the sierra villages, these expressions represent genuine rituals which lie deep within the community‟s socio-religious relationships: they are their symbols but they also participate in renewing and ensuring their equilibrium. Being combined with following actions at an agricultural level, this activity contributes to uniting the community and securing its perpetuation while taking into account changes and evolutions. This role is backed up by musical-choreographic patterns since these patterns leave significant room for interpretation and encourage variations and creation. Thus the artists who are real connoisseurs of social practices present a reflection of society in what they dance or perform. As for audiences, they control the latest elements both during the performance and within the different memories built around dances. In fact the Lima milieu essentially provides innovation and the sierra environment ratifies it. The three dances also have a similar influence at a social level: they favour some independence between the migrant environment and the villages while preserving a unity of the community outside a physical territory. Consequently in spite of migration, their role has not really changed; it has simply adapted itself to the new situation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:19:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Valter Luiz .pdf: 1272899 bytes, checksum: 4ba44e6c7cba0445d95497329369b9d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The footwashing in Jo 13,1-17 which is the subject of this thesis aims to present their cultural and socio-religious significance. On the complex variety of meanings of the Johannine narrative focus of the analysis turns to the context of the characteristics of the cultural custom implicated in footwashing in the context of meal in the Mediterranean world of the first century of the CE. Based on the analysis of the history of the Johannine narrative essay is presented as the result of a process of recovery of traditional memory to change the value and dignity of footwashing and those to whom this task was assigned: women, slaves and children. In the context of the Johannine community the footwashing becomes not only renunciation or reversal of status, but reciprocity of roles assumed by all as a concrete gesture and symbol of the abolition of any discrimination or inequality that may exist between people. The footwashing in the two levels that describe the first interpretations prevalent in the community (Jn 13: 12-17 and John 13.6-10) is therefore not religious ritual cleansing of sin, nor only the testimony of a humble service of those who occasionally renounce their status, but the expression of the identity of a discipleship that aims to live a radical equality in the daily exercise of power and the division of tasks. / O lava-pés em Jo 13,1-17 é objeto dessa tese que tem por objetivo apresentar sua significação cultural e sociorreligiosa. Em meio à complexidade do caráter polissêmico do relato joanino o foco da análise volta-se para o contexto das características do costume cultural implicados no lava-pés em ambiente de refeição no mundo mediterrâneo do primeiro século da EC. Com base na análise da história da redação o relato joanino é apresentado como fruto de um processo de recuperação da memória tradicional para ressignificar o valor e dignidade do lava-pés e dos sujeitos aos quais essa tarefa era atribuída: mulheres, escravos e crianças. No contexto da comunidade joanina o lava-pés transforma-se em proposta não apenas de renúncia ou inversão de status, mas de reciprocidade de papéis assumida por todos como gesto concreto e, ao mesmo tempo, simbólico, de abolição de qualquer discriminação ou desigualdade que possa existir entre as pessoas. O lava-pés, nos dois estratos que descrevem as primeiras interpretações predominantes na comunidade (Jo 13, 12-17 e Jo 13,6-10), não é, pois, ritual religioso de purificação de pecado, nem apenas o testemunho de um serviço humilde de quem renuncia provisoriamente ao seu status, mas sim a expressão da identidade de um discipulado que pretende viver um igualitarismo radical no cotidiano do exercício de poder e da divisão de suas tarefas.

Traditionally, it has been argued that the Gospel of John was never a mission book (Missionsschrift) but rather a “Gemeindeschrift” written to confirm or deepen the faith of the early Christians of the Johannine community. In this study however, it is argued that although John’s Gospel may be encouraging to believers, the author rhetorically intended to persuade his readers to embody the missional motif, which started with the mission of Jesus. The narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-42, is investigated as an example of how Jesus for the sake of His mission crossed all barriers of His time to reach out to the Samaritans and therefore issued a pattern, which is to be followed by His followers. It is also argued that when the mission of Jesus and the narrative of the Samaritan woman are integrated, an ethical missional paradigm is constructed in which the believers as members of God’s family are called to embody the “missional ethics” of Jesus. Finally, it is argued that the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman could be interpreted as a narrative of social and spiritual reunion with moral principles that challenges the contemporary church to embark on missional journeys of restoration as Jesus did with the Samaritans. / Dissertation (MA Theol)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / New Testament Studies / Unrestricted

This research was stimulated by pastoral concerns pertaining to the South African Hindu Community. It was found that the community had a noticeable number of individuals stagnant or stranded at the level of gross spirituality. On the other hand it is known that the primary texts of Hinduism and its long mystical traditions, from the Vedic Period to the Neo-Vedanta Movement, had adequate motivational and goal-orientated material to address this challenge. This work surveys the Vedic and Upanishadic texts in order to show the literary, social and philosophical conditions under which they were produced. Hindu mysticism emerges from all these strands of development. Gross mysticism in the form of elaborate rituals occupies the attention of the early Vedic seers. This graduates into subtle subjective mysticism in the Upanishads. At each phase there is a paradigm shift which this study interprets in the light of Shankara (medieval period) and Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan of the Neo-Vedanta Movement. In the early Vedic period the soul is a metaphysical entity. Upon death it is judged in accordance with its good or bad actions. Heavenly rewards or the punishment of hell are meted out to it. Heaven and hell are final eschatological goals for the soul in the Vedic period. In the Upanishadic period heaven and hell are temporary eschatological goals. The ultimate Upanishadic goal is Liberation which implies the mystical cessation of empirical existence and the realization of Unitary Consciousness. The Taittiriya Upanishad defines the soul analytically as a formulation of five sheaths : body, vital energy, mind, intellect and bliss with an immortal consciousness as its divine focus. These sheaths are fundamental to Hindu sacred psychology. Functioning under the effects of ignorance each sheath binds the soul to mundane existence. However, each sheath also possesses an intrinsic capacity to liberate the soul from suffering. This research explores the limitations and opportunities of each sheath and indicates the path by which the soul's divine potential may be realized. In the light of the Neo-Vedantic outlook this process is considered with a life-affirming attitude which is of relevance to South African Hindus. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Lit et Phil. (Religious Studies)

This research was stimulated by pastoral concerns pertaining to the South African Hindu Community. It was found that the community had a noticeable number of individuals stagnant or stranded at the level of gross spirituality. On the other hand it is known that the primary texts of Hinduism and its long mystical traditions, from the Vedic Period to the Neo-Vedanta Movement, had adequate motivational and goal-orientated material to address this challenge. This work surveys the Vedic and Upanishadic texts in order to show the literary, social and philosophical conditions under which they were produced. Hindu mysticism emerges from all these strands of development. Gross mysticism in the form of elaborate rituals occupies the attention of the early Vedic seers. This graduates into subtle subjective mysticism in the Upanishads. At each phase there is a paradigm shift which this study interprets in the light of Shankara (medieval period) and Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan of the Neo-Vedanta Movement. In the early Vedic period the soul is a metaphysical entity. Upon death it is judged in accordance with its good or bad actions. Heavenly rewards or the punishment of hell are meted out to it. Heaven and hell are final eschatological goals for the soul in the Vedic period. In the Upanishadic period heaven and hell are temporary eschatological goals. The ultimate Upanishadic goal is Liberation which implies the mystical cessation of empirical existence and the realization of Unitary Consciousness. The Taittiriya Upanishad defines the soul analytically as a formulation of five sheaths : body, vital energy, mind, intellect and bliss with an immortal consciousness as its divine focus. These sheaths are fundamental to Hindu sacred psychology. Functioning under the effects of ignorance each sheath binds the soul to mundane existence. However, each sheath also possesses an intrinsic capacity to liberate the soul from suffering. This research explores the limitations and opportunities of each sheath and indicates the path by which the soul's divine potential may be realized. In the light of the Neo-Vedantic outlook this process is considered with a life-affirming attitude which is of relevance to South African Hindus. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Lit et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)