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The subject and scope of this dissertation is Paul’s use of honour and shame language in 1 Cor 1–6. The methodology applied is a modified socio-rhetorical criticism as developed by George A. Kennedy. Two interrelated aspects of first century Corinthian culture will also be examined in connection with Paul’s rhetoric in 1 Cor 1–6; that of the patron-client relationship and the role of honour and shame in that relationship and in the larger society. It will be argued that Paul’s rhetorical argument in 1 Cor 1–6 is heavily based upon the social values of honour and shame. This study will examine 1 Cor 1–6 in three sections. The first section to be examined will be that of 1:1–2:5. Paul begins this section by presenting Jesus as the super-patron who is over and above all the members of the congregation. This presentation of Jesus rebukes the patronal based factionalism and it also elevates Paul to the unique status as that of apostle and proclaimer Jesus. The second section to be examined will be 1 Cor 4. In this section Paul continues to reduce the status of the patrons as he elevates his own status. By the end of this section Paul seeks to re-establish himself not only as the apostle and proclaimer of Jesus, but also as the Corinthians’ father through the gospel. The third section to be examined will be 1 Cor 5–6. In this section it will be argued that Paul addresses three issues in connection with patronal abuse; that of the incestuous man in 1 Cor 5, the abuse of the law courts in 6:1–10, and immoral banquets in 6:11–20. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

No figure of fourth-century Christianity seems to be at once so well known and so clouded in mystery as Hilary of Poitiers. His work as an historian provides invaluable knowledge of the mid-fourth century, and he was praised as a theologian throughout late antiquity. Today, however, discussions of his theology are founded upon less solid ground. This is largely due to methodological issues. Modern scholarship has often read Hilary through anachronistic historical and theological categories which have rendered his thought incomprehensible. Recent scholars have sought to overcome this and to reexamine Hilary within his own historical, polemical, and theological context. Much remains to be said, however, in regard to Hilary's actual theological contribution within these contextual parameters. This thesis contends that in all of Hilary's polemical and constructive argumentation in De Trinitate, which is essentially trinitarian, he is inherently and necessarily developing an anthropology. In all he says about the divine, he is saying as much about what it means to be human. This thesis therefore seeks to reenvision Hilary's overall theological project in terms of the continual, and for him necessary, anthropological corollary of trinitarian theology-to reframe it in terms of a 'trinitarian anthropology'. My contention is that the coherence of Hilary's thought depends upon his understanding of divine-human relations. I will demonstrate this through following Hilary's main lines of trinitarian argument, out of which flows his anthropological vision. These main lines of argument, namely, divine generation, divine infinity, divine unity, the divine image, and divine humanity, each unfold into a progressive picture of humanity from potentiality to perfection. This not only provides a new paradigm for understanding Hilary's own thought, but invites us to reexamine our approach to fourth-century theology entirely, as it disavows any reading of the trinitarian controversies in conceptual abstraction. Further, theological and religious anthropology are widely discussed in contemporary scholarship, and Hilary's profound exploration of divine-human relations, and what it means to be a human being as a result, has much to offer both historical and contemporary concerns.

Plusieurs textes du Nouveau Testament permettent d’envisager une forme de généralisation de la prophétie au sein du christianisme naissant. Cela tranche avec l’absence relative d’une attente similaire au sein du judaïsme intertestamentaire, mise en évidence par une enquête au sein des littératures juives antiques. Une analyse des sources chrétiennes permet de constater la pratique d’un prophétisme communautaire au sein du christianisme primitif. Ces éléments d’arrière-plan pris en compte, il est démontré comment trois textes néotestamentaires envisagent, chacun à leur manière, le déploiement de la généralisation de la prophétie. Pour l’auteur des Actes, les croyants en Jésus-Christ forment un peuple prophétique qui est au bénéfice du déversement eschatologique de l’Esprit de prophétie annoncé par Joël 3. En 1 Corinthiens 12 à 14, Paul propose un ensemble de régulations concernant la mise en œuvre communautaire de la généralisation de la prophétie. L’Apocalypse invite à considérer le peuple de l’Agneau comme étant porteur d’un témoignage prophétique dans ce monde. L’analyse de ces textes prête une attention particulière aux enjeux sociologiques liés à la généralisation de la prophétie. / Several New Testament texts reflects a certain form of generalization of prophecy within early Christianity. This belief contrasts with the relative absence of a similar expectation within intertestamental Judaism, brought to light through an investigation of ancient Jewish literature. An examination of Christian sources reveals the practice of congregational prophecy within early Christianity.In light of these background elements, it is shown how three New Testament texts view, each in its own way, the deployment of the generalization of prophecy. For the author of Acts, believers in Jesus-Christ constitute a prophetic nation who is experiencing the eschatological outpouring of the Spirit of prophecy announced in Joel 3. In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul offers a set of regulations regarding the implementation of the generalization of prophecy in the Christian community. The book of Revelation invites to consider the people of the Lamb as bearers of a prophetic testimony in this world. The analysis of these texts pays attention to sociological issues related to the generalization of prophecy.

This paper attempts to explore the creation of Satan as an embodiment of evil in Early Christian theodicy. I use Greco-Roman myth and the Old Testament Book of Job to explore "duality," a system in which good and evil are encapsulated in gods or God. I attempt to trace the trajectory of a shift from this duality to a system of Christian cosmic "dualism," in which good and evil are separated as opposing forces. This shift is explored through the intertestamental Pseudepigrapha of 1 Enoch and Jubilees, towards the New Testament story of the Temptation of Christ in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Finally, exploring post-New Testament Christian ideas with Origen's seminal work On First Principles and the martyr text of Perpetua to investigate the Early Christian community's ideas of good, God, evil, and Satan.

The Gospel According to Thomas is found in the second manuscript of codex II of a set of texts found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, collectively referred to today as the Coptic Gnostic Library. This gospel was readily identified as Thomas due to fragments of a Greek version of the text having already been discovered and identified in the 1890s at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. However, the discovery near Nag Hammadi in 1945 C.E. was not of fragments, but it actually contained the entire text of Thomas. Thus, the finding of the entire text in Nag Hammadi brought about a set of questions that had not yet surfaced from the fragments of Thomas previously found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. For example, was Thomas actually written by Didymus Jude Thomas? If Thomas did not write it, then by whom was it written, and why did the actual author claim it to be written by Thomas?

The Gospel According to Thomas is found in the second manuscript of codex II of a set of texts found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, collectively referred to today as the Coptic Gnostic Library. This gospel was readily identified as Thomas due to fragments of a Greek version of the text having already been discovered and identified in the 1890s at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. However, the discovery near Nag Hammadi in 1945 C.E. was not of fragments, but it actually contained the entire text of Thomas. Thus, the finding of the entire text in Nag Hammadi brought about a set of questions that had not yet surfaced from the fragments of Thomas previously found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. For example, was Thomas actually written by Didymus Jude Thomas? If Thomas did not write it, then by whom was it written, and why did the actual author claim it to be written by Thomas?

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Trier, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-328) and indexes.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität Trier, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-328) and indexes.