No description available.

Note:

No description available.

In Ephesians, readers of the New Testament encounter one of the most intriguing phrases throughout the whole of Scripture. The expression “in the heavenlies” appears five times in the letter and is not found in any other place in the New Testament. While there is nothing inherently intriguing about the words έυ τοις έπουραυίοις, the phrase proves to be of interest to Biblical scholars because of the various contexts in which it is utilized. The two appearances which have caused the most consternation among New Testament scholars are the session of earthly believers έυ τοις έπουραυίοις in 2:6 and the presence of the spiritual forces of evil evn έυ τοις έπουραυίοις in 6:12. The seeming implausibility of these two statements has led commentators to interpret this peculiar expression in a variety of ways. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to perform a lexical, exegetical, and conceptual analysis of the expression έυ τοις έπουραυίοις in Ephesians. Within this broader purpose, this thesis: 1) argues against the prevailing interpretation of “the heavenlies” propagated by Hugo Odeberg and subsequently adopted by Michael E. McGough in his unpublished ThD dissertation “An Investigation of vEpoura,nioj in Ephesians” 2) builds upon and augments A. T. Lincoln’s research from his article “A Re-Examination of ‘the Heavenlies’ in Ephesians” and from his monograph Paradise Now and Not Yet 3) provides in-depth examinations of three significant concepts associated with this expression, namely the redeemed on earth having a heavenly status, evil powers in heaven, and the cosmology of Ephesians. The evidence considered includes an examination of the term evpoura,nioj from Greek sources, Jewish sources, the Apostolic Fathers, and the Septuagint. In addition, the New Testament uses of evpoura,nioj outside of Ephesians are analyzed through a brief exegesis of the passages in which the term appears. The exegetical chapters within the letter of Ephesians itself will include comparisons with the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Second Temple Jewish texts including the Qumran manuscripts and apocalyptic literature. From my examination of the evidence, I conclude 1) that there is no basis for a distinction between the terms ouvrano,j and evpoura,nioj in Ephesians 2) that the prevailing interpretation of “the heavenlies” is both flawed and untenable 3) that Qumran and apocalyptic texts can shed light upon and assist in a proper understanding of the difficult passages in which the expression evn toi/j evpourani,oij appears. The primary contribution to the New Testament field is that this thesis represents the most comprehensive study of “the heavenlies” in Ephesians. Throughout the course of the thesis, other areas of contribution include studies of the term evpoura,nioj, a heavenly status for the redeemed on earth, evil powers in heaven, the cosmology of Ephesians, and the role of “the heavenlies” within the thought of Ephesians.

Much of Kenneth Cragg's writing is devoted to finding common ground between Christianity and Islam. A conservative Christian upbringing and a liberalising education based on the Enlightenment's values have contributed to this approach. Although Cragg often quotes the Bible, he has not written on Christian Scriptures to the same extent that he has on the Qur'an. His theology of Christian Scriptures has been affected by his engagement with the Qur'an. Cragg's traditional approach to the Bible has been reinforced by Muslims' view of their Scripture. To handle problems his traditional approach creates, Cragg filters Scriptures through a single model of revelation. Thus Scriptures are valued only for their contribution to this revelation. The result is that he unconsciously develops a canon within the canon. He solves problems with the Old Testament by handling it in a way similar to the Qur'an: both become a type of old testament to the New. In connection with the New Testament, 'hospitality' is key to Cragg's interpretation. Those parts which communicate his understanding of hospitality are one major, though often unarticulated, criterion for his canon within the canon. Cragg was one of the earliest to propose comparing Christ rather than the Bible to the Qur'an. His understanding of different scriptural issues between the Bible and the Qur'än has led him to see the comparison as one of revelation to revelation rather than Scripture to Scripture. Some of the difficulties that Cragg has had with the Bible as Scripture could be helped within the framework of his theology if he were to consider a variety of models, rather than a single one, for understanding Scriptures. His exegesis tends to be intuitive and at crucial points vulnerable to a more historical approach which is concerned to work with the meaning the author would have had for the text.

This paper explores the distinctions in interpretation of surah al-Rahman of the Holy Qur’an based on the exegeses of al-Tabari, al-Huwwari, al-Qushayri, al-Qurtubi, al-Jalalayn, and al-Maraghi. These commentaries range in time period from the late ninth century to the late twentieth century and are also representative of different modes of thought, such as mainstream, Sufi, and modernist frameworks. Interpretations also reflect emphasis upon grammatical explanations or legal issues in some cases. The study first discusses a context for the time and location of each commentator, whereupon the paper moves into an analysis of the components and depictions of the surah, or chapter. The final section of the paper illustrates the timelessness of this surah and its significance to Muslims everywhere. / B.A. Honors Thesis in the Department of Religious Studies, 2011 / Dr. David B. Cook - Rice University Religious Studies

In recent years, several scholars of the Reformation have worked to complicate the notion of early Protestantism as a singular and liberating hermeneutic movement. In particular, critics like James Simpson and Ramie Targoff have targeted Tudor Bible scholarship as stifling and restrictive. Looking at Elizabethan psalm explications, I see neither a purely liberating nor a purely restrictive hermeneutic culture, but instead a combination of the literal and the figurative, of poetics and theology. Examining three different psalm explications by Martin Luther, John Hooper, and Thomas Wilcox, I find a wide variety of approaches to the Psalms, which suggests a relative interpretive freedom even among the Elizabethan Protestant elite. This analysis leads me to conclude that even early in the development of Protestant England there was no such thing as a unified Protestantism, but instead a patchwork of methods that trace back to humanism and Catholicism as well as emerging theories of literalism and poetics. / text

No description available.

This study presents a work of theatre art in the form of an autobiographical monodrama, supported by three exegeses: a review of informing literature, one of the writing process, the third of the critical reactions to the play at different stages of its development by readers and audiences. The thesis considers the two questions, How can theatre depict my autobiography? and How can monodrama be used to express this autobiography? The first question implies an examination of the process of writing and producing an autobiography for the theatre. The second question is answered through the process that developed in this study towards the choice of the form of a monodrama. The methodology emerged as the play was written and a journal recorded. At times the approach, particularly as it affected the writing of the play, was more like action research in which the play was reacted to and then amended in a cyclical manner, the writer also developing new understandings in the process. The reflective process was used to help in understanding the development that was taking place. A survey, and interviews with audience members were conducted as part of the investigation once the artwork was presented. In addition, after the piece had been developed to the point of presentation, it was subjected to critical evaluation, The data from the audience assisted in the development of the artwork as well as developing an understanding of the research question and the possible answers or further questions. The Generic Exegesis arose out of the reading, and developed as an exegesis accompanying the writing of the play once the form of the play had clearly become a monodrama. The Generic Exegesis is designed to show background reading that has informed directly the writing and performing of the play, 'The Changeling'. A principal objective for writing the play developed from a desire to help others to understand something of the conflicts and dilemmas facing adoptees towards the search for self identity and its relationship to acting. Part of the conflict for an adopted person was crystallised in Derridas concept of erasure and the use of the trace to recognise the coexistence of both sides of a binary, which rationalised the splitting of the central character into the two traces, Dominic and Frank. My need for control of the outcome affected the selection from the autobiography, the development of some scenes, and was one of the reasons for the use of fiction. The data for the Process Exegesis came from the journal that was kept during the writing, production, performance and rewrites of the play. The role of the audience had emerged in the interview data and one of the interview questions asked what kind of audience the respondent thought the play suitable for. The Process Exegesis shows that part of the answer to the research question is arrived at through the systematic recording and analysis of the processes that were involved in the writing of the autobiographical play. These have shown that artistic worth was increased as a factor of the distance achieved. The Critical Exegesis showsthat the issues that the play addressed such as adoption and a search for identity were also perceived as important by the readers and the audience. Significant contributions to the development of the play were made by the Dramaturg (Dl) and some cogent points were made by a second dramaturg. The respondents who were interviewed reacted to the content of the play, namely adoption, identity and the issues associated with them, as well as the performance. This study investigates the processes of the development of an autobiographical performance from the generation of the script to the public presentation. It shows that theatre can artistically depict an autobiography and that the perceived appropriate contemporary theatre formis the monodrama. The main issue to be recognised as arising out of the play and the process is that the whole project has been a search for identity. That identity is defined in the range of characters portrayed in the play as well as the process of writing it. The outcome of the investigation was a piece of dramatic performance text that I had written and performed, accompanied by a critical commentary on the creation, production and reception processes.

No description available.