This study looks at how to interpret Paul's letter to the Galatians in the contemporary South African church. It aims to provide a Bible study method for doing this which accounts both for the context in which interpretation takes place and for the requirements of exegesis. To this end, use is made of a combination of contextual Bible study methods and a recent multidimensional exegetical model, all of which are currently employed in South Africa. Initially, the study surveys a range of recent critical approaches to the Pauline epistles, particularly as these are employed by South African scholars working on Galatians. The fact that different exegetical approaches focus on different dimensions of the text, reveals the usefulness of a multidimensional exegetical model. The multidimensional exegetical model of Rousseau, which functions within a communication paradigm, is then introduced as an exegetical guide. To meet the second requirement of this study, the question of contextual exegesis is examined. Particular use is made of the hermeneutical approach of liberation theology, with its three mediations of social analysis, theological reflection and practical implementation. The central part of this study explores the implications of contextual interpretation and multidimensional exegesis of Galatians. The pre-canonical, canonical and contemporary contexts which affect the understanding of Galatians are discussed, and the multidimensional exegetical model is used to introduce the Galatian letter as a whole. The last part deals with the practical questions of group Bible study. The exegetical and hermeneutical theory developed earlier is simplified to provide a contextual Bible study method and this method is applied to three pericopes from Galatians. The task of bridging the gap between the university and the church is not an easy one, nor one which is solved by a single Bible study method. The exegetical and hermeneutical questions raised here point to the need for ongoing interaction between South African community of biblical scholars and those involved in the everyday life of the South African church

This dissertation argues that persecution in Galatians manifests the cosmic conflict between God and the present evil age. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of persecution in Galatians and the history of research. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Paul uses the theme of cosmic conflict to place the crisis in Galatia within a broader context of a conflict between God who has inaugurated the new creation within the present time and this present evil age. Chapters 3–4 examine Paul’s theological context. Chapter 3 investigates a theme of cosmic conflict in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. Chapter 4 examines the theme in other early Jewish texts (Daniel; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Jubilees; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees; 4 Maccabees; 1QS; CD; 1QM). This survey reveals that Paul’s iteration of the theme possesses continuity and discontinuity with other authors. Chapter 5 offers a historical reconstruction of the instances of persecution mentioned in Galatians. Four instances of persecution in Galatians are examined: (1) Paul the Persecutor (1:13, 23). (2) Paul the Persecuted (3:1; 4:13, 19; 5:11; 6:17) (3) The Opponents as Potential Targets (6:12) (4) The Persecution of the Galatians (3:4; 4:17–18, 29). Paul uses the theme of persecution to reshape the perception of the Galatian believers and to reveal the danger of the false gospel preached by his opponents. Chapter 6 identifies persecution as a specific manifestation of the cosmic conflict between God and this present evil age. Galatians 4:29 directly connects the phenomenon of persecution with the broader cosmic conflict. Paul does so by identifying typology in Genesis 21:9. In light of this understanding of Paul’s use of Genesis, other significant passages on persecution in Galatians are reexamined to see how they fit within a cosmic conflict reading: 1:13, 23; 3:4; 5:11; 6:12, 17. In conclusion, chapter 7 offers three possible results of Paul’s understanding of persecution as cosmic conflict. It then examines the significance of the thesis for global Christianity today.

<p> Paul, the author of Gal 3:23-4:7 and Rom 8:14-25, demonstrates in these two passages a new thing for all believers in Christ-a clear movement from slavery to adoption as sons to the status of heirs. This movement occurs through the process of adoption into God's family and is characterized by inclusiveness regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or gender. This study will explore the promise that the marginalized can participate in a full, new creation inheritance. According to the promise of Rom 4:13, the dispossessed will "inherit the world." This concept of the new creation so clearly seen in Rom 8-expressed also as inheriting the world in Rom 4:13-is critical for correctly interpreting Gal 3:28, framed as it is in a discussion of inheritance and adoption. For this reason, it is of great benefit to study Gal 3:23-4:7 and Rom 8:14-25 together.</p> / Thesis / Master of Theological Studies (MTS)

This study has two major aims: to outline discourse analysis from the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, specifically in relation to the notion of register and context of situation, and to apply this linguistic methodology to a theological discussion, specifically on the New Perspective on Paul. The first chapter introduces the New Perspective on Paul, surveying the history of the discussion and identifying a central disagreement between the New Perspective and the Old: covenantal nomism against legalism. The second chapter introduces discourse analysis and traces a history of its development within the broader field of linguistics and then in biblical studies, noting the strengths of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The third chapter outlines a framework of SFL discourse analysis with special reference to register and context of situation, especially with application to Hellenistic Greek. Chapters 4 through 6 apply SFL discourse analysis to the text of Galatians, with a concluding chapter synthesizing the material. This study argues that a discourse analysis of Paul’s letter to the Galatians reflects a situation that coheres more closely to an Old Perspective rather than a New Perspective on Paul. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study investigates the meaning of Paul's expression 'works of the law' ( tpycx vOμou) • A survey of representative scholars regarding Paul's attitude toward the Mosaic law demonstrates that confusion over this issue continues as a difficulty in Pauline studies. It is suggested that ascertaining the meaning of this expression will help alleviate that confusion. This study indicates that Paul's use of tpyov is ethically neutral: 'work' itself is neither positive nor negative for Paul. The ethical orientation of a given 'work' is determined by the descriptors Paul attaches to it. Paul speaks positively and negatively about the law itself, yet only negative descriptors are used with tpycxvOμou. This gives significant direction for the interpretation of 'works of the law.' The historical backgrounds of Galatians and Romans support this negative orientation for tpycx vOμou. These letters were written to confront separate crisis situations in different churches. Yet they share common situational elements. Paul was faced in both churches with a form of 'judaizing' opposition that insisted that Gentile converts become 'practical Jews' in order to 'complete' the Abrahamic covenant through the Mosaic. Paul addresses this threat to these churches by means of epistolographical and rhetorical mechanisms. He uses these persuasive communication devices powerfully, insisting that these converts recognize what it means to be 'in Christ,' and what it means and does not mean to be 'Jewish.' 'Works of the law' are not necessary for salvation, and were never intended for redemption. Likewise, identity as one who performs 'works of the law' does not provide any claim upon God. One does not have to become a 'practical Jew' to have a right relationship to God, and a Jew has no redemptive status before God on the basis of ethnicity. 'Works of the law,' then, serve as a factor in Paul's polemics because the continuing validity of the Mosaic law is the issue being addressed by Paul and his opponents. They are a feature in Paul's view of the law because he is both positive and negative toward the law, depending upon one's intended salvific orientation to God through it / Psychology of Education / D. Th. (New Testament)

Opposition to Paul as central to the occasion of the letter to the Galatians ·(expressed in scholarly circles in terms of different opponent hypotheses) is identified as a pivotal factor in the interpretation of that letter. An analysis of some of the received opponent hypotheses reveals that today, as throughout the history of the critical interpretation of the letter, they are basically different proposals sharing the same historical and methodological components. Both components are critically examined and it is suggested that inadequate assumptions lead to an anachronistic and ethnocentric view of the nature of the conflict and consequently, from a his­ torical point of view, a distorted cypher key to the interpretation of the letter. The proposal of a social-scientific approach to the letter presents, at the meth­ odological level, the components of an alternative cypher key. It attempts to be interdisciplinary in that it accounts for the otherness of foreign cultures and distant historical eras in an integrated and explicit way. Because of the methodological components an alternative set of historical com­ ponents can be suggested. A focus on contemporary views on first-century Judaism and the expansion of the Pauline communities in the first-century world not only . points to shortcomings in the received views but provides an alternative perspective on the communicative context of the letter. A first but important step is taken to construct a probable first-century Mediterranean communicative context for the interpretation of the letter. In view of this alternative communicative context it is possible to redefine the con­ flict as a truly first-century Mediterranean one in which Paul's authority and honour were at stake. This makes it possible to construe the text in a different way. Instead of regarding the letter to the Galatians as a document of intra-Christian struggle about conflicting theological or doctrinal convictions, it is suggested that the letter be construed as the product of Paul's missionary endeavour within the household setting, the subculture of first-century Judaism, and the confines of orality and reli­ gion in the first-century world. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Th. (New Testament)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:47:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARISTELA PATRICIA DE ASSIS.pdf: 2777127 bytes, checksum: 798c9a7bf3f644d3cbd7704f37756112 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-18 / This dissertation aims to demonstrate the meaning of freedom in the Christian point of view and the resulting implications of an independent Christian living in addition to demonstrating the relations between faith, Christian freedom, love and service. This work was specifically based on Paul s letter written to the Galatians and, more precisely, on the Gl 5, 1-14 pericope where Paul substantiates the issue of Christian freedom. With this work the author intends to analyze the Christian freedom, delimitating its practice and locating its experience, defining its concept and discussing its consequences and how to live it at community in those days when the slavery imposed by the Roman Empire predominated, in a scientific knowledge construction. / Esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar o significado de liberdade do ponto de vista cristão e as implicações resultantes de um viver cristão independente, além de demonstrar as relações entre fé, liberdade cristã e serviço. Este trabalho se baseou especificamente na carta de Paulo escrita aos gálatas e mais precisamente na perícope de Gl 5, 1-14 onde Paulo fundamenta a questão da liberdade cristã. Com este trabalho a autora pretende analisar a liberdade cristã delimitando a sua prática e localizando sua vivência, definindo seu conceito e discutindo suas consequências e como vivê-la na comunidade naqueles tempos em que predominava a escravidão imposta pelo Império Romano numa construção de conhecimento científico.

This thesis uses a model of honour to make sense of Paul's response to the situation in Galatians as he describes it in Galatians 6.12-15. We argue that the use of εὐpieροsigmaωpieέω at 6.12, and its close proximity to kappaalphaυχάομalphaι in the following verses, highlights that honour concern is present in this situation. We assess this by considering face, a term used by social theorists to describe the 'self as it appears to others', and facework, the strategies for maintaining and managing such - this is considered both as a social-scientific model and as a concept within ancient Mediterranean culture. This argument holds that Paul contradicts the opponents' seeking of 'good face' (εὐpieροsigmaωpieέω) as it is in direct contrast to what we term God's 'prosopagnosia' - pieρόsigmaωpieον [ὁ] θεὸς ἀνθρώpieου οὐ Gammaalphaμβάνει (2.6), and to his own position, which is to 'boast in the cross' (6.14). We read the idea of the boast in the cross as Paul's attempt to reconfigure honour within the Christian assemblies of Galatia, a reconfiguring that centralises Christ's disregard for common perceptions of honour, exemplified in his crucifixion. This approach then makes sense of Paul's autobiographical data as his own attempt to model Christ's 'prosopagnosia' and similarly reads the data in 5.13-6.10 as Paul's exhortation that the community live in this manner.

Galatians who entered into Anatolia in about 280 B.C., in order to help the Bithynian king Nicomedes I against his brother Zipoetas, had a significant role in the history of the ancient Asia Minor. Archaeological material that were recovered from different sites such as Gordion, Pessinus and Tavion and fort settlements mostly dating to the late Hellenistic Period are the most important sources that provide information on their presence in Galatia region named after them. The main purpose of this thesis is to bring together all the archaeological, historical and epigraphical data to present in a coherent way and examine the fort settlements around Ancyra attributed to the Galatians. It both aims to understand the Galatians archaeologically and also by applying new methods such as Visibility Analysis through GIS studies, it hopes to materialize some of the assumptions regarding settlement systems. In order to achieve these, after a thorough presentation of the archaeological and historical data, the forts surveyed around Ancyra are described individually and then studied as a system with the help of Visibility Analysis. The thesis also confirms the presumed relationship between the location of the forts and the topography as well as identifying criteria for choice of location for ancient settlements.

This study investigates the meaning of Paul's expression 'works of the law' ( tpycx vOμou) • A survey of representative scholars regarding Paul's attitude toward the Mosaic law demonstrates that confusion over this issue continues as a difficulty in Pauline studies. It is suggested that ascertaining the meaning of this expression will help alleviate that confusion. This study indicates that Paul's use of tpyov is ethically neutral: 'work' itself is neither positive nor negative for Paul. The ethical orientation of a given 'work' is determined by the descriptors Paul attaches to it. Paul speaks positively and negatively about the law itself, yet only negative descriptors are used with tpycxvOμou. This gives significant direction for the interpretation of 'works of the law.' The historical backgrounds of Galatians and Romans support this negative orientation for tpycx vOμou. These letters were written to confront separate crisis situations in different churches. Yet they share common situational elements. Paul was faced in both churches with a form of 'judaizing' opposition that insisted that Gentile converts become 'practical Jews' in order to 'complete' the Abrahamic covenant through the Mosaic. Paul addresses this threat to these churches by means of epistolographical and rhetorical mechanisms. He uses these persuasive communication devices powerfully, insisting that these converts recognize what it means to be 'in Christ,' and what it means and does not mean to be 'Jewish.' 'Works of the law' are not necessary for salvation, and were never intended for redemption. Likewise, identity as one who performs 'works of the law' does not provide any claim upon God. One does not have to become a 'practical Jew' to have a right relationship to God, and a Jew has no redemptive status before God on the basis of ethnicity. 'Works of the law,' then, serve as a factor in Paul's polemics because the continuing validity of the Mosaic law is the issue being addressed by Paul and his opponents. They are a feature in Paul's view of the law because he is both positive and negative toward the law, depending upon one's intended salvific orientation to God through it / Psychology of Education / D. Th. (New Testament)