Conclusion: The [Abrahamic] stories reveal a man caught up in the struggle of faith. But the God who took the initiative in establishing the Covenant shows that in spite of first appearances, He is faithful. The stories present various pictures of Abraham as a Covenant Mediator. Because he is in a sense Israel in microcosm it is not strange that he is described in the terms of Israel's most important institutions: prophet, priest, and king. Nevertheless the most significant Sitz im Leben is the family. While he is usually meant to be understood as an individual representing his immediate family, his descendants, and even all nations, at times, because he is the founding ancestor of Israel and therefore Israel in microcosm, he is best understood as a "Corporate Person". He and Israel are to be a source of blessing to the nations.

Dr. James Barr is a prolific writer who has contributed significantly to theology and biblical studies for over four decades. Indeed, he is a writer and a Bible scholar who deserves a hearing. I became aware of Barr's works and influence on theological trends in the summer of 1991 while taking a graduate course in hermeneutics under Dr. Kenneth Shoemaker at Prairie Graduate School in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. This study is on Barr and his view of biblical inspiration. The main body of this dissertation is composed of seven chapters: Chapter One (Introduction) locates Barr in the broad context of biblical studies, especially in the arena of ongoing issues concerning the difference between evangelical and liberal scholarship. Attention is given to the inquisitiveness of the human mind, the place of the Bible in Christianity, and the ongoing need to study the Bible with an open mind in order to enhance biblical studies. Barr is introduced within the context of his academic standing and contributions to theological studies. Chapter Two gives an overview of the history of the doctrine of biblical inspiration and the formation of the canon of Scripture. This chapter provides the important background for analysing and evaluating Barr’s view of biblical inspiration within a broader context. Various theological camps (evangelical and non-evangelical) are discussed showing their attempts to address the issue of biblical inspiration. The history of the evangelical development of biblical inspiration is also presented. Chapter Three attempts to help the reader to understand Barr’s view of biblical inspiration. It starts by exploring his hermeneutical conclusions on biblical inspiration, his interpretation of two key biblical texts used, conventionally, to support inspiration. The chapter also identifies and discusses specific assumptions Barr makes about the Scriptures. The chapter ends by presenting his preferred view of biblical inspiration. Chapter Four analyses and evaluates, exegetically, Barr’s interpretive conclusions on key biblical texts and his preferred view of biblical inspiration. The chapter also provides a detailed analysis of and treatment of the crucial texts Barr uses to formulate his conclusions on inspiration. Attention is given to the exegetical issues and understanding of specific texts vis-a-vis their relation to the doctrine of inspiration. Chapter Five critically evaluates Barr’s preferred four-point view of biblical inspiration, his hermeneutical principles, and their implications for the Scriptures. Chapter Six discusses the perennial issue of biblical authority as the point of departure for evangelical and liberal approaches to studying the Scriptures. This chapter shows clearly that our presuppositions about the Bible affect how we handle the Bible. Chapter Seven responds to the discoveries of this dissertation and assesses Barr’s contribution as being part of the contemporary theological trend to help us sharpen our tools. Thus, a four point view of biblical inspiration is suggested. Considering that theology is a human contrivance, the four views are offered within the context of trying to establish a view of biblical inspiration that is biblical in the light of recent theological and exegetical developments. Chapter Eight, the conclusion, summarizes this dissertation and offers some specific comments on the biblical doctrine of inspiration. Attention is given to the need to bring the reader into the world of the biblical text, if the voice of God in the written Scriptures is to be heard in our generation as well as in the generations to come. Barr’s constructive comments are considered and carefully integrated into these comments. The dissertation closes with a suggestion for further study on the topic of biblical inspiration. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

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<p> "Sowing Stories Deep in the Soul" is a creative, interactive workshop model focused on "Transformative Biblical Storytelling Ministry with Adolescent Young Women" to meet the need for this course within the Congress of Christian Education of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist State Convention of Indiana. Adolescent young women and leaders participate in the study of Scripture as ancient stories within an oral/aural media experience and performance paradigm to elicit positive impact. Qualitative research findings show a relationship between internalizing stories, applying them personally, performing them by heart, and the impact of transformative spiritual formation for adolescent young women.</p>

Paul, like other apostles who adopted the so-called 'charismatic poverty, ' could have relied on his churches for the funding of his mission. He rejected such support and opted to work on a trade, a choice which ultimately rested on his conception of the gospel and the influence it had on his life. He gives three reasons for his actions: love for his converts, not to hinder the gospel, and his independence/freedom. This shows also an awareness of his social milieu. This thesis utilises 'models from the environment' to demonstrate that Paul extensively adopted, reshaped or modified the social conventions of his day, as need be. He conceived the gospel as received and interpreted within his social context, appreciating the good aspects of that social context. He accepted hospitality and benefaction only when it did not 'hinder the gospel' as he put it. Similarly, Paul expected the churches of his mission to run their local finances on these same principles, with the social conventions of hospitality, and benefaction featuring prominently. Such hospitality and benefaction were however understood in the light of the gospel message described as the 'law of Christ' (&vogoc XPLUTOO). His admonitions on work indicate that he expected his converts to follow his practice. Although he anticipated that out of love his converts would help one another, especially the poor, he did not by that expect that the poor would be lazy. For translocal finances, he expected that his reshaped, and modified form of patronage and benefaction would be adopted, taken in conjunction with the theological conception of giving as the grace of God bestowed for generosity.

The aims of this thesis are to study how the Pentateuch portrays land ownership and to answer some of the theological questions which arise from the study. By considering the Pentateuch as a literary work of art, relevant texts in their finished form are analysed in their contexts. The first Part, examining the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Gen. 12-50, deals with the idea of land ownership on two levels: (i) Yahweh's promise of the land to each patriarch and statements about a future owning of the land promised. The study of land promise accounts discusses issues such as the identity and extent of the promised land, the meaning of the giving of the land and the present and future owners of the land. (ii) The other aspect is the actual purchase of pieces of land and owning them, the cultivating of vacant land and appropriating it, and the digging of wells and claiming them. The second Part, examining the stories of Liberation, the Sinai Covenant and the Conquest in Exod. I--Num. 36, deals with the idea of the ownership of land by Yahweh and by the people of Israel. In the discussion of Yahweh's ownership is included his claim to the whole earth, agricultural land and a mountain sanctuary in the promised land. Regarding the ownership of land by the Israelites, different methods of possessing the land, rights and responsibilities of their tenancy, Levitical use of the pasture land and the priestly care of the dedicated land are discussed in detail. The third Part is the Farewell Address of Moses in Deuteronomy. Three ideas of land ownership are discussed in detail: Yahweh's ownership of the entire heaven and earthi the Isr~aelite ownership of the land possessed in Transjordan and the land to be possessed in west Jordan and the conditions of land ownership, and the ownership of land by other ethnic groups. In the Conclusion, some important questions identified during the analysis of the texts are answered from the total perspective of the study.

<p> This dissertation considers the political implications of the doctrine of holiness. I proceed by demonstrating the neglect of holiness in political theology, the viability of the holiness movement as an embodied witness of the political implications of the doctrine of holiness, and a biblical trajectory in Leviticus that extends into the New Testament. I describe this scriptural holiness as vocation for all of God&rsquo;s people through personal formation and outward societal action to extend God&rsquo;s holiness. </p><p> With attention to the approaches of political theology and formation, I demonstrate that the holiness movement of the nineteenth century offers an example of holiness in practice that addresses societal problems (e.g., urban housing crisis, intemperance, and slavery). I then propose three theological issues that undermined the political vision of the holiness movement in the twentieth century. First, the scope of sin narrowed resulting in a less hopeful expectation of sanctification&rsquo;s power. Second, most of the holiness movement adopted premillennial eschatology, which altered the way it viewed social structures. Third, the holiness movement was marginalized by its theological rejection of the Third Great Awakening, which served to influence religious and civil approaches to social problems in the twentieth century (e.g., the New Deal and Social Gospel). </p><p> Three case studies (race, global missions, and temperance) demonstrate the influence these respective theological shifts had on social action. I argue that a theological interpretation of Leviticus 17-26 guides the holiness movement to embody the vocation of holiness as an alternative vision to the formation of modern politics regarding social orderings. I extend Israel Knohl&rsquo;s insight that Lev 17-26 responds to prophetic critiques of cultic practices and reconceives holiness to address social challenges. I argue that Jesus picks up this stream when he recites, &ldquo;love your neighbor as yourself,&rdquo; and that Christian embodiment of this Scriptural holiness sustains the political vocation of holiness in changing contexts (including the modern bifurcation of life into private and public spheres). I conclude that vocational holiness enables a Christian understanding of political community.</p>

Ever since Melanchthon assumed the historical role of spokesman for the Lutheran movement in the sixteenth century, debates have raged over his manner of relating human reason to biblical faith. Since the pioneering critical work of H. Heppe in 1854, until quite recently, it was generally agreed upon in the historiographical tradition that Melanchthon was to blame for an excessive and damaging use of humanistic values in developing his Protestant theological position. It has been commonly held that his systematic methods had the result of petrifying the creative, vibrant insights of Luther, that he was, hence, the forerunner of a too rationalistic Protestant scholasticism, that he stressed human realities at the cost of attention to the divine, and finally, that he failed adequately to uphold Luther's crucial principle of <i>sola scriptua</i> in reference to philosophy. The present dissertation has arisen in part from concerns which have been brought forward by a body of research published mainly during the last twenty-five years. It is now a growing interpretative view that the central subject of faith and reason in Melanchthon cannot be accurately assessed apart from thorough knowledge of his pre-Lutheran rhetorical theory, the values and thought-forms of which nearly governed his initial, formative interpretation and expression of Luther's theological teaching. These recent studies have called for more work on the subject of Melanchthon's pre-Lutheran rhetorical doctrines and their influence upon the rise and development of his early Lutheran theology; they have also shown the pressing need for research into the subject of Melanchthon's theoretical understanding of Scripture and of the hermeneutical principles which he applied in forming his theological doctrines. Thus the primary aim of the dissertation is to show how the values and thought-forms of Melanchthon's rhetorical system influenced the idea of biblical authority which he cultivated during his first years at Wittenberg up to the publication of his deeply influential <i>Loci communes</i> of 1521. The main thesis is that the rhetorical thought-forms of the pre-Lutheran period directly and decisively shaped his emerging concepts of Scripture as a diverse but coherent canonical whole, and of biblical perspicuity, efficacy, truthfulness, and inspiration as the unequalled Word of God. Using a mainly chronological method of presentation, the author first discusses the development of Melanchthon's pre-Lutheran system at Heidelberg and Tubingen, secondly, seeks to show how the rhetorical thought-forms influenced each of these several levels of biblical authority in Melanchthon, and, finally, defends the view that a detailed understanding of Melanchthon's idiosyncratic forms of expression will lead eventually to substantial revisions of the aforementioned historiographical traditions.

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