This thesis identifies Jewish mystical elements in the Dead Sea Scrolls and compares them with analogous elements in the Corinthian Correspondence, to illuminate through differences and similarities how Paul advocates a mystical and communal participation in the spirit. After defining early Jewish mysticism and introducing methodology—heuristic comparison—in chapter 1, Part I identifies and investigates mystical elements in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Chapter 2 explores how the spirit facilitates a liturgica mystica with angels in Hodayota. Chapter 3 shows from 1QS and Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice that the Qumran temple community, in an archetypal relationship, shares in the priestly service of the angels. Chapter 4 argues that Moses-Δόξα traditions in the Scrolls portray Moses as an exalted, angelic-like mediator with supernatural authority—an ideal model for the Qumran priesthood. The ascent texts surveyed in chapter 5 reveal the conceivability of heavenly ascent at Qumran. In light of these studies, the Qumran community’s worship praxis and apperception of divine transcendence can be characterised as a liturgical and communal mysticism. Part II compares these findings with corresponding elements related to participation in the spirit in 1 and 2 Corinthians. Chapter 6 shows how Paul advances an epistemology of the spirit and participation (κοινωνία) in the spirit that is communal. Chapter 7 analyses angelic presence and angelic tongues as extensions of the spirit-enabled temple metaphor. Chapter 8 demonstrates how Paul democratises the spirit-facilitated, mystical encounter with the glory of the Lord and supports an ongoing, christomorphic and theotic transformation of the community. Chapter 9 examines how Paul’s heavenly ascent functions rhetorically to build up and instruct the ekklesia with a cruciform perspective of communal participation. Chapter 10 draws final conclusions showing the fruitfulness and validity of heuristic comparison. Paul appropriates Jewish mystical traditions and reinterprets them to promote the ongoing Christological and mystical transformation of the Corinthian community in and by the spirit. This reveals the predominantly corporate tenor of participation in the spirit for Paul. Overall, this investigation builds upon and contributes to studies of Jewish mysticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul and Jewish mysticism, Corinthians, spirit, and notions of communal participation and theosis.

This thesis argues that (1) Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 are coherent and consistent, and (2) that the apostle’s instructions does not express his departure from Judaism. For many years, scholars working on 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 have struggled to explain how these two chapters are connected and what Paul’s instructions within the two chapters are. I present a new reading of 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 where I argue that these chapters are connected in a coherent way and that Paul deals with two separate, yet connected, contexts in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. In 1 Corinthians 8, he instructs the Corinthian Christ followers that they can take part in the dinners that often followed an animal sacrifice in antiquity, as long as it does not present an issue to another Christ followers. The key reason for this is the social capital at stake, would they not partake in these dinners. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells the Christ followers that they cannot participate at the altar when animals are sacrificed. Doing so would be a violation against their exclusive relationship with the god of Israel and Jesus Christ. Many have read 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 as evidence for Paul’s departure from Judaism. I push back against this understanding by placing Paul’s instructions in the wider web of Jewish literature from the Second Temple period and the early rabbinic period. By comparing Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 to texts from these time periods, it becomes clear that Paul is part of an ongoing Jewish conversation about how someone could remain faithful to the god of Israel while living in a gentile society. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / In this thesis, I examine Paul’s instructions regarding various level of engagement in gentile cults in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. My thesis contributes to a new reading of these two chapters and I argue that 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 deal with two distinct, yet connected, issues. In the former chapter, Paul instructs Christ followers on how they should act when dining in temples dedicated to idols (something he in principle allows); in the latter, he instructs them to avoid all participation at the altar where the sacrifice takes place. By recognizing these two different contexts, Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 become more understandable, coherent, and consistent. In addition, I argue that Paul’s instructions should be read within the wider context of Second Temple Judaism and early rabbinic Judaism, and not as evidence that Paul left Judaism.

Sources from the late antique and Byzantine eras attest that some Christian spouses adopted marital celibacy, or married persons' abstention from sexual intimacy, as an ascetic practice. The prevalent scholarship on marital celibacy has all too often read later practices of marital celibacy into earlier texts, due to scholars' tendency to universalize ascetic practice. This study endeavors to dismantle such universalizing by demonstrating the differences among four church fathers' approaches and attitudes toward marital celibacy, assuming neither the popularity of the practice nor the immediate affirmation of its necessity for marital ascetic piety. The dissertation explores the theme of marital celibacy in the works of four of the most influential men of the late fourth and early fifth centuries --Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea, and Augustine of Hippo-- through a careful analysis of various sources, from funeral orations to hagiographies, to sermons to dogmatic treatises, to letters and to monastic rules. It questions whether the practice was widely embraced in both the eastern and western regions of the empire and distinguishes between theoretical and pragmatic acceptance of marital celibacy. Not only does the study place the men's beliefs regarding marital celibacy within their larger teachings on marriage and virginity, but it also emphasizes the way in which each man's social context and pastoral role contributed to his rhetoric on the topic. It considers the ways in which the rhetoric surrounding marital celibacy intersected with the men's agendas and perspectives concerning other matters, such as their promotion of their saintly family (Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa), their monastic program (Basil), and their apologetics (Augustine). The project highlights the nuances among each father as well as the divergences between the east (represented by the Cappadocians) and west (represented by Augustine). Although each man discusses the topic of marital celibacy in some way and endorses its practice, at least ideally, they also indicate that not everyone was embracing marital celibacy, nor was every ecclesial leader promoting its practice as necessary for marital piety. Their writings reveal that at least a few people had adopted marital celibacy, and that many people--bishops and laity alike--were attempting to understand its theoretic and pragmatic place and role in the Christian life, particularly in light of Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 7. Despite efforts to offer a conclusive analysis of marital celibacy in the works of these four church fathers, the limitations caused by the divergences in the fathers' rhetoric, due to the distinctive contexts and genres of their writings, hinders a straightforward conclusion. Thus this dissertation serves as a glimpse into the diversity of early Christian marital practices through the lens of marital celibacy, underscoring the complexity of both belief and behavior in the late antique Christian world. / Religion

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Text in German and English / Basing the following on the premise that one-seded balance of power in mission work impedes fellowship and partnership (chapter 2), it is the intention of this treatise to investigate, with the help of the method of text pragmatics and incorporating the Malian context (chapter 1), what findings from 1 Corinthians 9 are helpful towards dealing with the problem (chapters 3-4). Paul describes the problem of financial support in detail, yet actually it serves to lead to the real aim of the text, i.e. Paul, while in Corinth, lived exemplarily by renouncing, on his own free will, his apostolic rights, thus demonstrating a model of how the "strong" and the "weak" could treat each other in good partnership. Paul lived his apostolic freedom being bound to Christ and in responsibility for people. This mentality of incarnational lifestyle (chapter 5) enables us to put the missionary's behaviour and the partnership problem between Western mission agency and African church in their proper place both, christlogically, and ecclesiologically (chapter 6). When applying this to practice in missionary life (chapter 7), it becomes evident ... - what consequences renunciation on his own free will has on the missionary's status and social and communicative behaviour (chapter 7.2 and 7.3); - how "power, control and one-sidedness" may be reduced where partners in missionary work cooperate. When putting this in concrete terms we have to ask, how missionaries can contribute to strengthen their partner in the host country by renouncing their right to a say, within the structures on the national level (chapter 7.4). Additionally, possibilities of the African partner having more say in administering finances and in where the missionaries are to serve, are shown. On the international level, suitable management structures are to make clear that the West is ready to renounce one-sided control, and to invite African partners to share responsibilities on the highest level. Finally, it becomes clear that more interchurch partnership certainly reduces the hegemony of the mission agency, but, in the end, may stimulate the missionary effort (chapter 7.5). Annotations on financial support of missionary work ends this treatise. / Ausgehend von der Prämisse, dass einseitige Machtverhältnisse in der Missionsarbeit Gemeinschaft und Partnerschaft negativ beeinträchtigen (Kap. 2) verfolgt die vorliegende Studie das Ziel, mit Hilfe der textpragmatischen Methodik und unter Einbeziehung des malischen Kontextes (Kap. 1) zu untersuchen, welche Einsichten aus 1 Kor. 9 hilfreich sind, um dieser Problematik zu begegnen (Kap. 3-4). Obwohl Paulus das Problem der materiellen Unterstützung ausführlich darstellt, dient es letztlich nur als Hinführung zum eigentlichen Skopus des Textes. Dieser besteht darin, dass Paulus in Korinth freiheitlichen Verzicht auf Inanspruchnahme apostolischer Rechte exemplarisch gelebt hat und so ein Modell aufzeigt, wie "Starke" und "Schwache" partnerschaftlich miteinander umgehen können. Paulus lebt apostolische Freiheit als Bindung an Christus und in Verantwortung für Menschen. Diese Mentalität des inkarnatorischen Lebensstil (Kap. 5) ermöglicht es, das Verhalten des Missionars heute und die Partnerschaftsproblematik zwischen westlicher Missionsgesellschaft und afrikanischer Kirche sowohl christologisch als auch ekklesiologisch einzuordnen (Kap. 6). Bei der missionspraktischen Anwendung (Kap. 7) wird deutlich, ... - wie sich freiheitlicher Verzicht auf den Status und das soziale und kommunikative Verhalten des Missionars auswirkt (Kap. 7.2 und 7.3). - wie "Macht, Kontrolle und Einseitigkeiten" in der Kooperation der am missionarischen Handeln beteiligten Partnern reduziert werden können. Die Konkretionen beziehen sich auf die Frage, wie Missionare im Gastland durch freiwilligen Verzicht auf Mitspracherechte in den Strukturen auf nationaler Ebene zur Stärkung des Partners beitragen können (Kap. 7.4). Des Weiteren werden die Möglichkeiten verstärkter Mitsprache afrikanischer Partner bei der Verwaltung von Finanzen und dem Einsatzort der Missionare aufgezeigt. Auf internationaler Ebenen sollen adäquate Leitungsstrukturen die Bereitschaft des Westens zum Verzicht auf einseitige Kontrolle verdeutlichen und afrikanische Partner zur Mitverantwortung auf höchster Ebene einladen. Schliesslich wird deutlich, dass verstärkte zwischenkirchliche Partnerschaften zwar die Vormachtstellung der Missionsgesellschaft reduziert, aber letztlich die Missionsarbeit befruchten kann (Kap. 7.5). Anmerkungen zur finanziellen Unterstützung missionarischer Arbeit beschliessen die Abhandlung. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

This thesis is a study of the interpretation and reception of the writings attributed to the apostle Paul based on the collation of references to Pauline texts in pre-Nicene Christian writings. The material is analysed utilising a method worked out by Teresa Morgan and Raffaella Cribiore to understand the nature and extent of indebtedness to literary authorities in ancient pedagogy. The application of their method means that the most frequently cited passages from the Pauline corpus become the focus for detailed examination, and a chapter is devoted to the following passages: 1 Corinthians 2.6-16, Ephesians 6.10-17, 1 Corinthians 15.50-58, and Colossians 1.15-20. In each chapter, selections from early Christian texts which use these passages are chosen for in-depth analysis because they are representative in their interpretative approaches of the totality of texts examined. Across many different early Christian writings, images and phrases from these Pauline pericopes were used to support and defend a wide range of theological arguments about the nature of divine wisdom and its contrast with human wisdom, the importance of standing firm in faith, the nature of resurrection and the body, and the nature of Christ. On the basis of the analysis throughout this thesis, conclusions are drawn firstly, about the close connection between scriptural interpretation and theological doctrines; secondly, about early Christian formation, separate from scholarly attempts to recover early Christian catechesis, school teaching, and pedagogy; and finally, about early Christian identity and how it is formed and informed by early Christian use of these four passages.

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Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2017-03-07T12:03:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ISRAEL SERIQUE DOS SANTOS.pdf: 1767343 bytes, checksum: 8ab38c3ebd7bcc910e8f3a807d5c6b0a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-07T12:03:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ISRAEL SERIQUE DOS SANTOS.pdf: 1767343 bytes, checksum: 8ab38c3ebd7bcc910e8f3a807d5c6b0a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-14 / This thesis presents results of the research on the Christian glossolalia phenomenon in the first century from the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1Cor 12,12-26), having as focal point of analysis the relation between social status, charisma and relations of power. The data were analyzed under the prism of Conflict Analysis, using the instruments of bibliographic and exegetical research. This work is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, it is discussed the history of the Roman Empire and the city of Corinth, trying to indicate the points of connection between them and how it, as an imperial colony, reproduced the values and social structures of Rome. In the second chapter, it is discussed the Christian church in Corinth, explaining the historical context of its origin, its ethnic, economic and social composition. Finally, in the third chapter, it is defended the idea that the glossolalia phenomenon was a symbol of power, in which part of the religious agents that belonged to the church, who had high status in Corinthian society, aligned themselves with the values and the social structure of the Roman Empire. / Esta Tese apresenta resultados da pesquisa sobre o fenômeno glossolálico cristão no primeiro século a partir da Primeira Epístola aos Coríntios (1Cor 12,12-26), tendo como ponto focal de análise a relação entre status social, carisma e relações de poder. Os dados foram analisados sob o prisma da Análise Conflitual, utilizando instrumentos da pesquisa bibliográfica e exegética. O trabalho está dividido em três capítulos. No primeiro capítulo, discorre-se sobre a história do Império Romano e da cidade de Corinto, procurando indicar os pontos de conexões entre eles e de que forma esta, como colônia imperial, reproduzia os valores e estruturas sociais de Roma. No segundo capítulo, disserta-se sobre a igreja cristã em Corinto, explicitando o contexto histórico de sua origem, sua composição étnica, econômica e social. Por fim, no terceiro capítulo, defende-se a ideia de que o fenômeno glossolálico era um símbolo de poder, no qual parte dos agentes religiosos pertencentes à igreja, os quais possuíam status elevado na sociedade coríntia, se alinhavam aos valores e à estrutura social do Império Romano.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:48:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EVANDRO ARAUJO BESERRA NETO.pdf: 1510721 bytes, checksum: fc3c7f94a4adf0d594bd1d7b44d86b11 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-31 / Esta dissertação trata do conhecimento e da liberdade dos cristãos em 1 Coríntios, a partir de suas relações com o comer e beber sacrificados aos ídolos. As políticas da Igreja e da cidade de Corinto se configuram ao redor da mesa, nos banquetes rituais e transparecem as estruturas de poder do Império Romano, portanto, reconfigurar os seus assentos é reconfigurar mundos . O comer e o beber sacrificados conferem nomia às coisas e às pessoas de Corinto, eles sustentam o homem e mundo dos homens na colônia romana e no Império. A Ceia do Senhor, celebrada pela comunidade cristã, propõe uma releitura desses rituais e dos espaços que eles significam outorgando cidadania aos marginalizados.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:48:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ISRAEL SERIQUE DOS SANTOS.pdf: 1008807 bytes, checksum: ac152cafdd0aa05f84d73a08845e9f86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-28 / This research examines 1 Corinthians, with the central element for the analysis of the phenomenon known as glossolalia, treated in Chapters 12, 13 and 14 of this epistle. While prophetic charism, a developer of unjust power relations, glossolalia is searched, taking as a tool to interpret those that are proper and related to the exegesis of the concepts of religious studies at the prospect of conflictual analysis. This study is divided into three chapters. At first, it held a bibliography on the topic and presents the basic concepts (symbol, charisma, prophet, conflictual analysis, local social) by which the object of research will be analyzed. On the second chapter has the exegetical analysis of the proposed text to search, giving emphasis to the historical context from which it emerges, the grammatical structures in which it was formatted and the possible interpretations to the glossolalic question. In this chapter, is the conflictual model of analysis of Christian sacred texts, with its emphasis on local social and historic-critical method, which guide this research on power relations in the church at Corinth. The third chapter examines how the glossolalia was elevated to the status symbol of spirituality among the Corinthians, that the deleterious effects of this feature of community life and thought and positioning of the Apostle Paul, before the conflictual situation. Research will define the ideas by which a freeing reading can be presented to readers of this dissertation. Finally, in conclusion, it is the opinion that relates to the phenomenon glossolalic into ideological structure of power and its implications for the current religious situation charismatic. / Esta pesquisa investiga 1 Coríntios, tendo como elemento focal para análise o fenômeno denominado glossolalia, tratado nos capítulos 12, 13 e 14 da referida Epístola. Enquanto carisma profético, fomentador de relações injustas de poder, a glossolalia será pesquisada tendo-se como ferramenta de interpretação aquelas que são próprias da exegese e relacionadas com os conceitos das Ciências da Religião, sob o prisma da análise conflitual. Este estudo divide-se em três capítulos. No primeiro, faz-se um levantamento bibliográfico sobre a temática e são apresentados os conceitos basilares (símbolo, carisma, profeta, análise conflitual, local social) através dos quais o objeto de pesquisa será analisado. No segundo capítulo, tem-se a análise exegética do texto proposto para pesquisa, dando-se destaque ao contexto histórico do qual ele emerge, as estruturas gramaticais nas quais ele foi formatado e as interpretações possíveis para a questão glossolálica. Neste capítulo, é o modelo conflitual de análise dos textos sagrados cristãos, com sua ênfase no local social e o método histórico crítico, que norteiam esta pesquisa sobre as relações de poder na igreja de Corinto. O terceiro capítulo estuda como a glossolalia foi elevada a símbolo de status de espiritualidade entre os coríntios, quais as conseqüências deletérias desta ação para a vida comunitária e o pensamento e o posicionamento do apóstolo Paulo diante desta situação conflitual. Procurar-se-á delinear as ideias pelas quais uma leitura libertadora possa ser apresentada aos leitores desta dissertação. Por fim, na conclusão, há o parecer que relaciona o fenômeno glossolálico à estrutura ideológica de poder e suas implicações para a atual conjuntura religiosa carismática.