The last three decades has seen a significant shift in the discipline of New Testament studies. In particular we have observed the rise of the social sciences and with them, new methodologies which have eclipsed the more traditional "criticisms" such as form criticism and source criticism. New Testament scholars have realised that we can no longer afford to ignore these advances, and have produced a prolific amount of work which draws upon sociology in particular, and also social anthropology and psychology. Despite the consensus that the social sciences are able to provide invaluable tools for the study of the New Testament, the research that has drawn on these tools has not been without critique. A common thread to these evaluations is that the focus is so exclusively social scientific that the text often becomes lost in the endeavour. When the text is referred to, it is used not unlike a proof text - to prove the suspicions one has already formed. Similarly, we have noticed that those literary studies which relate more to the structure, plot and themes of a text may become so focused on specific words, tenses and so on, that the actual people and context of the text become lost in the exercise. Therefore our challenge is to develop an approach that takes both the social sciences and the text into equal account. This thesis is then an experiment in method. In the quest for an inclusive and holistic approach to the New Testament, we propose to combine Mary Douglas's anthropological "grid/group" model with a series of questions developed by Howard Kee which are aimed at "Interrogating the text". Having discussed a number of methodological considerations we suggest a four step approach which we believe will enable us to analyze the New Testament from a comprehensively anthropological perspective, while at the same time considering the text responsibly and fully. As a test of our methodology we first analyze the complete text of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, and then compare our approach with a similarly anthropological method adopted by Stephen Barton in his 1986 article entitled, Paul's sense of place: an anthropological approach to community formation in Corinth (1) which discusses the specific texts of 1 Cor. 1:17-34 and 14:33b-36. The results of this test were mixed. On the one hand our methodology provided a detailed examination of the views held by both the Corinthians and Paul which we were able to contrast. Our use of Douglas's "grid/group" "model also allowed a certain amount of prediction as to how these players would likely have responded to events. However, we discovered that the questions used to "Interrogate the text" are somewhat tedious and repetitive. Therefore, some modification and refinement of these questions would be advocated. (1.) New Testament Studies, vol. 32, pp. 225-246. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1989.

This dissertation identifies covenant as a primary framework for understanding marriage in the Bible and the divorce and remarriage texts of the New Testament. Chapter 1 defines the need for such a work and provides a basic overview of the present major positions. Chapter 2 provides a theology of marriage based upon the biblical principle of covenant and the foundational principles of Genesis 2:24: leave, cleave, and one flesh. Chapter 3 examines the primary Old Testament texts and their contribution to this discussion. Passages that are examined include Genesis 1-2, Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Malachi 2:10-16, and other pertinent texts. These passages help shape one's understanding of the New Testament teachings on divorce and remarriage. Chapters 4 and 5 serve as the heart of the work and consider the words of Jesus and Paul on divorce and remarriage. It is argued in these chapters that both Jesus and Paul promote the ideal of lifelong marriage but also allow for divorce when the covenant of marriage is violated. Jesus deals with the "one flesh" aspect of the marriage covenant, and Paul addresses the "leave" and "cleave" elements. When these parameters are obstinately violated, divorce is permitted but not required. It is also important to understand and interpret the words of Jesus and Paul in their historical context, for it is only within this context that we can understand fully what they are teaching. Chapter 6 is the conclusion and provides an overview of the work as well as some pastoral implications of the research. / 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.

One of the fundamental issues at the core of evangelical ethical debates involves the use of Scripture. Rejecting historical-critical methods on the one hand, and simplistic prooftexting on the other. Richard Hays wrote The Moral Vision of the New Testament in order to deal with this very problem. By most accounts, Hays's approach succeeds. This dissertation explores the method proposed by Hays in The Moral Vision , seeking to locate the strengths of his approach while noting its primary weaknesses. Upon finding Hays's method wanting, the dissertation posits a constructive proposal, in conversation with Hays, for using Scripture in ethics. The first chapter of the dissertation introduces the problem and suggests The Moral Vision as an ethical text which has garnered sufficient accolades as to make it worthy of examination. Chapter 2 seeks to describe in detail the major lines of argument, giving specific attention to the method Hays proposes to use Scripture in ethics. Chapter 3 offers a critique of The Moral Vision , beginning with several strengths. The thrust of the chapter, however centers on the following four weaknesses of Hays's method: first, Hays's program of appropriating Scripture is built on his view that Scripture speaks in disunity; second, that view of the canon necessitates that Hays identify three focal images to locate a coherent moral voice. The focal images serve to develop, despite Hays insistence to the contrary, a canon within the canon; third, Hays gives priority to narrative in his system, which opens his method up to greater subjectivity and personal bias; and lastly, Hays's approach provides no criteria for judging whether an appropriation is faithful, it unwittingly relies on transcendent ethical principles, and it fails to distinguish between interpretation and application. After offering a critique of The Moral Vision , chapter 4 proposes an original method for appropriating Scripture in ethics. That proposal seeks first to establish foundational convictions regarding Scripture and ethics. Building on those presuppositions, the dissertation prescribes how one might rightly read the ancient text of Scripture and from there draw conclusions about how the Bible gives ethical instructions today. At every turn, the dissertation's interest is concerned primarily with methodology rather than specific ethical conclusions. The chapter closes by drawing conclusions about one contemporary ethical issue ( in vitro fertilization) in order to test the method prescribed and help the reader see how such a proposal might proceed. The final chapter proposes application for the church that arises from the method proposed by this dissertation. The chapter also raises tensions for further research which lay outside the scope of this dissertation's purposes. / 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.

Interpretation of Scripture is not complete until it has been applied. Virtue and Vice examines the personal application of New Testament ethical lists. Catalogues of virtue and vice were common modes of instruction for both Greco-Roman philosophers and the rabbis of Hellenistic Judaism. New Testament writers also used this method to teach Christian morality. Their theological perspective and worldview, however, came from the Old Testament and its fulfilment in Jesus, the Messiah. In context, the NT ethical lists instruct, motivate, warn, and guide Christians toward right behaviour and harmonious relationships. The lists occur as one mode of instruction in larger paraenetic material. They must therefore be studied as sub-genres of these larger units. The classic list of Philippians 4:8 provides a guide to moral discernment (and action) that preserves the unity of the congregation in the humility of Christ. Personal application takes places in a biblical theological framework. The interpretation of a passage is viewed within the overall biblical progress of God's redemptive purposes. Biblical theology also assists the student to position himself/herself in relation to the passage under study. The literary nature of scriptural texts makes it necessary to distinguish the abiding theological principles from the merely cultural or occasional. A principle can be re-applied in a parallel contemporary context. Different genres (such as ethical lists) suggest ways to apply the text. For instance, ethical lists serve as ideals and examples of Christian conduct. The personal dynamics of faith in Christ, dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and a continual process of obedience contribute to the relevance of the text. These three together give the confidence that God's Word may be both understood and lived with fresh power for today. Several of the catalogues occur in contexts of Christian unity in the midst of ethnic and social diversity (Gal. 5:16-25;Eph. 4-6;Phil. 4:8;Col. 3:1-17). They depict an ideal of oneness in Christ between Jew and Gentile. This new identity in Christ does not remove, but transcends ethnic and status differences in local congregations. Models for intentionally implementing Christian unity are assimilation, diversity, and networking. / Systematic Theology / D.Th.

Interpretation of Scripture is not complete until it has been applied. Virtue and Vice examines the personal application of New Testament ethical lists. Catalogues of virtue and vice were common modes of instruction for both Greco-Roman philosophers and the rabbis of Hellenistic Judaism. New Testament writers also used this method to teach Christian morality. Their theological perspective and worldview, however, came from the Old Testament and its fulfilment in Jesus, the Messiah. In context, the NT ethical lists instruct, motivate, warn, and guide Christians toward right behaviour and harmonious relationships. The lists occur as one mode of instruction in larger paraenetic material. They must therefore be studied as sub-genres of these larger units. The classic list of Philippians 4:8 provides a guide to moral discernment (and action) that preserves the unity of the congregation in the humility of Christ. Personal application takes places in a biblical theological framework. The interpretation of a passage is viewed within the overall biblical progress of God's redemptive purposes. Biblical theology also assists the student to position himself/herself in relation to the passage under study. The literary nature of scriptural texts makes it necessary to distinguish the abiding theological principles from the merely cultural or occasional. A principle can be re-applied in a parallel contemporary context. Different genres (such as ethical lists) suggest ways to apply the text. For instance, ethical lists serve as ideals and examples of Christian conduct. The personal dynamics of faith in Christ, dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and a continual process of obedience contribute to the relevance of the text. These three together give the confidence that God's Word may be both understood and lived with fresh power for today. Several of the catalogues occur in contexts of Christian unity in the midst of ethnic and social diversity (Gal. 5:16-25;Eph. 4-6;Phil. 4:8;Col. 3:1-17). They depict an ideal of oneness in Christ between Jew and Gentile. This new identity in Christ does not remove, but transcends ethnic and status differences in local congregations. Models for intentionally implementing Christian unity are assimilation, diversity, and networking. / Systematic Theology / D.Th.

D.Phil. et Litt. / The interaction between law and love in Pauline writing has been an interesting topic, where we have discovered that the law of God cannot be separated from his agape love, which has followed mankind from creation and eventually leads him to eternity. We discovered that the law of God reveals God's character and that is his love. The Law of God and His Love are one and cannot be separated from each other. God gives the law to prove to man that he loves him deeply and eternally. When Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, He died because of the love for his created beings and the law that was broken and could not be altered or changed without the shedding of blood. The redemption of the sinner had to be made possible through the shedding of blood by the one who had not broken God's law. The love and death of Jesus can only be understood through the plan of salvation, which is the interaction between law and love as exposed in Pauline writings. This is a mystery of the wonderful love of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is wonderful to discover the way Paul blends the law and love in a way that it makes it hard to separate the two. If not carefully studied, one would not be able to see this fact in Pauline writings. The Law of God is actually the expression of His love to us. He would like. us to love Him by keeping the first four commandments and loving our fellow man by keeping the last six of the Ten Commandments. We need to have a positive outlook on the law, so that we may love to do God's will and honour Him because He loved us dearly and did not spare His own son for our redemption. The plan of redemption was born out of the eternal love of God towards humanity that could not be measured by anything on earth and in Heaven. In chapter one and two, we look at the overview of law and love in Pauline writings. The Pauline framework, its theology and the ethics of law and love. The whole plan of salvation for all humanity and how God loves all His creation. Although God had a chosen people through Abraham, He only wanted to make His love known throughout the world and all generations. God had always had His special people through whom He made His love and care known although they sometimes failed to is do His will. Like the children of Israel failed him throughout the ages and He has always been patient with them until they killed Jesus on the Cross.

M.A. / The focus of this dissertation is based on the New Testament concept of life, within the framework of the reign of God. The message of the reality and concrescence of the reign of God in human history was articulated by Jesus Christ, both in his ministry and his consciousness as the Son of God. It was Jesus of Nazareth who declared that he was sent from above to bring about reconciliation between God and mankind. Jesus Christ in his prophetic role taught and challenged his audience to make radical decisions for God, by appropriating and aligning their everyday lives with the claims and the demands of the Kingdom of God, through repentance and by seeking God's will. Therefore, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ signifies a purposive, deliberate and redemptive intervention of God in human history. This christological event of God's intervention in human history inaugurates a new age accompanied by a newness of life. The message of the reign of God places serious ethical and moral demands upon all humanity. It affirms the fact that in Jesus Christ God has a Sovereign claim upon life itself, and that there is no area in human life which cannot be radically transformed by the salvific acts of God in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. The objective of this dissertation therefore, is to show how human life, particularly when affected by sickness and disease can be re-oriented by the "transformative purpose" of God in Jesus Christ. We therefore conclude by giving recommendations on how the Church can witness to the people suffering with the HIV-AIDS disease and how the kingdom ethics re-directs the lives of the sufferers themselves.

The goal for this dissertation was to research the music in liturgy and daily life of early Christians (of the first two centuries AD) and to reveal the main factors affecting the fornation of music and liturgy in the early church. Therefore the music backgrounds of the early Christians (the Jewish and Hellenistic music cultures) together with the evidences from early Christian literature (New Testament and some of the Church Fathers) have been examined. On the strength of the investigations done, the author concludes that Christianity inherited musical traditions first of all from Judaism, and later on, as it was extended to the entire Roman Empire, it was influenced by Hellenism as well. Consequently, there was not a united form of worship in early Christian church, and from the very beginning the music of different communities could vary depending on their cultural backgrounds.Thus, music life of Jewish Christianity differed from the churches consisting mainly of Christians from the Gentiles. / Cristian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (New Testament)

This thesis examines whether the theological method currently known as inculturation was used in the Supper Narratives of the New Testament. A methodology is set up in which texts are examined against the backdrop of Graeco-Roman, Judaic and early Christian cultures. This methodology focusses on family resemblances and analogies, rather than genealogy or causal dependence to examine the links between text and context. It also avoids claims for orthodoxy dependent on claims about origins. Engaging with the claims of writers from Schweitzer, through Jeremias and up to the present, three themes are identified: meals, sacrifice and eschatology. The manifestations of each are examined against the three cultural groups:Judaic, Graeco-Roman and early Christian. The Supper Narratives (Mk 14:12-26, Matt. 26:17-30 and Luke 22:7-23 and 1 Cor 11:17-34) are then mapped against these themes. Analogies to the cultural groups are then traced. This process leads to conclusions that the New Testament writers did use a methodology which can be identified as inculturation. It manifests itself particularly through patterns identified by anthropologists as bricolage and re-accentuation. A notable example is "sacrificialisation", in which events and items are invested with a fresh sacrificial significance. Judaic concepts (e.g., covenant and Atonement) and rituals (e.g., sacramentals and Passover) dominate the interpretations of Jesus' last meal with his disciples. This does not mean that inculturation only took place in relation to Jewish culture. Many of the concepts used (e.g., sacrifice and sacrament) share commonalities with Graeco-Roman thought which allows them to engage with such world-views. This process sees Judaic understandings used as correctives to Graeco-Roman thinking about sacraments. It also sees Jewish concepts used to address Graeco-Roman values, and give an added historical depth (antiquitas) to a comparatively recent event. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D.Th. (New Testament)