Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953) was a Harley Street doctor, an analytical psychologist trained by C. G. Jung (1875-1961), and a student of the independent 'spiritual' teachers G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) and P. D. Ouspensky (1878-1947). In his later years he became a mystical philosopher, a biblical exegete, and leader of his own groups of students. Early in his life he rejected his natal Christian religion associated with his father, Sir William Robertson Nicoll (1851-1923), eminent litterateur and Free Church of Scotland minister. Vindication of this rejection came to Maurice Nicoll through a mystical experience: a 'moment of insight' which propelled him into a life-long search to discover what 'really mattered'. I will argue that although this apparently involved a journey away from his natal Christian practice, Nicoll came to understand that he was working towards a 'truer' form of it. Nicoll's oeuvre as a whole - published works as well as archival sources, including a large amount of recently discovered original material - will be analysed to show the development of his thinking on what he came to call 'esoteric Christianity'. After a biographical 'portrait' the start of Nicoll's journey will be presented as a reaction against the religious stance of his father. Maurice Nicoll's early 'moment of insight' is described and analysed in the light of the ideas of William James (1842-1910) on mystical experience. Following this Nicoll's first book, Dream Psychology (1917), an interpretation of the views of Jung which demonstrates clearly the early formative influence of Jung on Nicoll is treated. I then turn to Living Time (1931), in which Nicoll integrates Ouspenksy's ideas on time and higher dimensions into his own psychological system. Following the influence of Jung and early Ouspensky, Nicoll's next work reveals the influence of the system of ideas and practices known as 'the Work' taught by Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, which Nicoll encountered at first hand in Gurdjieff's colony near Paris and subsequently at Ouspensky's classes in London. The Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky (1957) was compiled from notes used by Nicoll in teaching his groups his own version of 'the Work' from 1931. However, the completion of Nicoll's quest for an understanding of 'esoteric Christianity', it will be argued, is documented in his two mature texts, The New Man (1950) and The Mark (1954). These books analyse New Testament writings in the light of influences partly absorbed from Jung, but most centrally from Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. In these books Nicoll interprets the narrative theology of the New-Testament texts in terms of a form of 'esoteric psychology', encapsulating his vision of how 'the Kingdom of Heaven' is really to be understood: not in terms of a life after death, or a millennial restoration of Christ's Kingdom, but as the psychological development and fulfilment of the individual in this life. It is argued that this 'esoteric psychology' is Nicoll's version of the psychology he saw as underlying the Gurdjieff-Ouspensky system, but given an explicitly Christian locus and interpretation. In conclusion some reflections are made on the significance of understanding Nicoll's writings as 'esoteric Christianity' and their implications for contemporary religious thought.

The thesis summarizes conclusions of exegetical studies of all fourteen texts containing a word "treasury" (thesauros) according to concordance of the Greek New Testament, and furthermore in three instances substitutes for treasury, using lingual and textual analysis and accessible Czech and foreign language commentaries. As far as other terms are concerned, a term "talent/mina" is used in the Gospel of Mathew and Luke in The parable of the talent/minas, where "talent/mina" fulfills all internal and external attributes for "treasury". In the Gospel of John, where we find no term "treasury", there is chosen "ointment" in the story of Anointing in Bethany for its symbolic meaning and relation to the Easter, where John's version is compared with description of the story in the synoptic gospels. Classifying of concluding interpretational frames of all seventeen texts, we get several fundamental models characterizing the role of "treasury" in the New Testament from the point of view of substance, allegory, symbolism or connotation. The treasury is the image of something precious, strange to the world, something we have a very small experience with, because we usually have not opportunity to be confronted with it. Therefore we need to be led by the values, we have accepted by feeling of Holy Spirit as ours. The...

This thesis focuses on the analysis of John the Baptist by using exegetical methods in the context of the gospel of Matthew. The thesis begins with a short introduction of the gospel of Matthew and the background of the analyzed texts Mt 3,1-12 (which deals with the activities of John the Baptist, the controversy between him and the Sadducees and Pharisees, and John's warning against the Last Judgment) and Mt 11,1-19 (which describes doubts concerning Jesus' mission, Jesus' confirmation of John's part, and the rejection of John's and Jesus' proclamations by the Jewish party). This part briefly summarizes the interpreted texts as well as the description, division, and broader framework of their background or parallel comparison of the synoptics. A translation of the verses from Greek to Czech follows which is accompanied by annotations, interesting facts, references to the peculiarities that arise from the translation, or differences among the Czech and other foreign translations of the Bible. Then comes the exegesis of the individual verses supplemented by findings acquired through research, followed by a summary of the chapter. The central source of information for this thesis is predominantly the biblical text itself, supplemented by information found in several commentaries, articles, monographs,...

Bc. Ji í Ondruš The Jesus' Beatitudes in the Context of the Gospel of Matthew Anotace v anglickém jazyce: The Jesus' Beatitudes cannot be understood as a completely isolated part of Jesus' teaching. Therefore, the knowledge of the whole gospel of Matthew is necessary for their understanding. In this thesis I compare the individual words contained in the Beatitudes with the same words in the Gospel of Matthew outside the Beatitudes. By this means I find the meaning of Jesus' message in the Beatitudes contained in the Gospel of Matthew. I also present and compare ancient Greek copies (the Sinai Code and the Vatican Code) and six most famous Czech translations of this Gospel. I also compare the exegesis of well-known biblical scholars, especially what they agree on, but also what they fundamentally differ on. An important part is also a synoptic comparison with the Beatitudes of the evangelist Luke. The aim of this thesis is to get as close as possible to the meaning of the specific section of Mt 5: 1-12, which represents the lifelong program of Jesus' followers, but also Jesus. Jesus introduces himself at the beginning of the mountain sermon. He speaks not only of how his disciples are supposed to be, but also of how he is.

The present diploma thesis is an exegetical attempt to interpret Paul's parenesis in his Letter to the Romans 14,1-15,13. It tries to find answers to the following questions: Who are the "strong in faith" (15:1)? Who are the "weak in faith" (14:1)? What "day" is meant in chapter 14:5? What kind of dietary restrictions are in the background of 14:2? What is the solution that Paul suggests? The analysis has led to the following conclusions: Paul is trying to resolve a particular dispute between two groups of believers in Rome. The "weak" probably had a problem with the "strong" eating the meat and drinking the wine defiled with idolatry (14:21) and not keeping fasting days, or certain Jewish feast days (14:3). So, the "weak" may be identified as the Jewish Christians and the "strong" with the Christians of gentile origins. Paul tries to move both groups away from judging each other (14:3) to respect the opinion of the other group (14:4) and leads them above all to mutually build loving relationships to each other (14:19). Key words: weak in faith, strong in faith, day, food, dietetary restriction, Lord, Christ, Kingdom of heaven

The quest for the historical Jesus can be advanced by a consideration of disagreement scenarios recorded in the gospels. Such “conflicts” afford the opportunity not only to analyse the positions of the protagonists, but by comparing them, to better appreciate their relative stances. ¶ One area of disagreement that has remained largely unexplored is that between Jesus and the Pharisees over the “kingdom of God”. Indeed, “kingdom of God” formed the very foundation of Jesus’ preaching and thus ought to be the place where fundamental disagreements are to be found. As Luke 17:20-21 represents the only passage in the Gospels where the Pharisees show any interest in the kingdom of God, it forms the central hub of the thesis around which an account of the disparate beliefs of Jesus and the Pharisees on the kingdom of God is constructed. ¶ The main thesis is this. Luke 17:20-21 can best be explained, at the level of the Pharisees and Jesus, as betraying a fundamental disagreement, not in the identity of the kingdom of God, which they both regarded as primarily the Divine Royal Presence, i.e. God himself as king, but in the location of that kingdom. The Pharisees located the kingdom in the here-and-now, Jesus located it in heaven. Conversely, at later stages in the formation of the pericope, the pre-Lukan community identified the kingdom as the Holy Spirit located in individuals with faith in Jesus and the redactor identified the kingdom as Jesus, located both in the Historical Jesus and the Jesus now in heaven. ¶ Chapter 1, after the usual preliminary remarks, presents an analysis of Luke 17:20-21 as a chreia, a literary form ideally suited as the basis on which to compare the beliefs of the Pharisees and Jesus. The work of three scholars vital to the development of the main thesis is then reviewed and evaluated. By way of background, a portrait of the Pharisees is then presented, highlighting in particular, issues that will be of importance in later chapters. Finally, a section on the Aramaic Targums suggests that some targum traditions may be traced back prior to AD 70 and that these reflect the influence and beliefs of first century Palestinian Pharisees. ¶ Chapters 2 and 3 are a consideration of every instance of the explicit mention of God as king (or his kingship) and the Divine Kingdom respectively, in contemporary and earlier Jewish Palestinian literature and in Luke-Acts. A model of the kingdom of God is developed in these chapters that will be applied to Luke 17:20-21 in the next chapter. ¶ Chapter 4 presents a detailed exegesis of Luke 17:20-21, taking into account scholarship on the pericope since the last monograph (an unpublished dissertation of 1962) on the chreia. It offers a composition history of the pericope and measures previous exegesis against the view of the kingdom of God as developed in chapters 2 and 3. ¶ Chapter 5 presents a summary of the work that relates directly to Luke 17:20-21, some implications arising from the findings and, several possible avenues for future research.

I den här uppsatsen har jag undersökt hur Jesus förkunnelse om Guds rike kan förstås utifrån Lukasevangeliet. Att närstudera ett enda evangelium, och dessutom inte hela evangeliet utan bara fyra perikoper i det, innebär en mycket tydlig avgränsning. Värdet i att försöka förstå vad Jesus säger utifrån denna enskilda sammanhängande källa är att den kan ha ett större djup än en bild som sätts ihop av ett godtyckligt antal fragment från olika källor. I Lukasevangeliet nämner Jesus ordet rike med syftning på Guds rike över 20 gånger fördelat på 18 episoder. Med metoden diskursanalys har jag delat in dessa ställen i tre kategorier som jag kallar diskurs A, B och C. Diskurs A handlar om att Guds rike har högsta prioritet, men beskriver inte riket. Diskurs B beskriver på olika sätt hur Guds rike är. Diskurs C omtalar Guds rike som ett löfte. De fyra perikoper jag analyserar i detalj representerar på olika sätt de diskurser jag identifierat i evangeliet som helhet. Luk 11:1-4 hör till diskurs A, Luk 11:14-23 och Luk 17:20-21 till diskurs B, och Luk 22:24-30 till diskurs C. Traditionen att författaren till dubbelverket Lukasevangeliet och Apostlagärningarna är just Lukas går tillbaka till mitten av 100-talet. Verket utmärks av universalism och en viss syn på rikedom och fattigdom som antagligen kom från författarens församling i Antiochia. Där predikades evangeliet för icke-judar, och där fanns engagemanget i de fattiga och behövande. Det var viktigt att inte fastna i det världsliga livet och lockas att samla rikedomar. Lärjungaskapet skulle vara helhjärtat. När Jesus talar om Guds rike i Lukasevangeliet kan det låta som om det handlar om ett territorium. Men begreppet Guds rike, i grundtexten ἡ βασιλείατοῦΘεοῦ, betyder snarare Guds herravälde. Det är inte ett område eller en plats, utan ett tillstånd som är bestämt av att Gud regerar. Samtidigt är det omöjligt att härska i ingenstans, så det finns ändå ett underförstått territorium i begreppet. Det fanns en dubbelhet i uppfattningen om Guds rike på Jesus tid som innebar att det både var en aktuell tillämplig föreställning på världens aktuella situation och en eskatologisk föreställning. Genom en detaljexegetisk analys av grundtexten för varje perikop har jag nått fram till slutsatser om texternas teologiska budskap om Guds rike. Analysen av Luk 11:1-4 visar att Herrens bön innehåller en indirekt beskrivning av Guds rike som ett idealtillstånd. Gud förutsätts ha makten att få riket till stånd, men människornas vilja och aktivitet spelar också roll. Perikopen Luk 11:14-20 visar att Guds rike är där Gud verkar. Det kan vara här och nu. Gud verkar i Jesus när han befriar en man från en stum demon. Men han verkar inte bara i Jesus utan i alla som gör gott. I perikopen Luk 17:20-21 ställs frågan när Guds rike ska komma, och Jesus svarar på ett sätt som får det att verka inom räckhåll redan i nuet. I Jesus löfte till lärjungarna om jämlik gemenskap med honom själv i sitt eget rike i Luk 22:28-30 jämställer han sig själv med Gud. Han lovar en framtid i härlighet för dem som är honom trogna. Ett försök till syntes av de teologiska budskap som analysen av varje perikop lett fram till är att Guds rike enligt Lukasevangeliet verkar syfta på det alltigenom godas seger över det onda. Begreppet mister dock inte sin mångtydighet och gåtfullhet för det. Det analyserna främst bidrar till är att belysa grundtextens möjliga betydelser, som med nödvändighet begränsas i varje översättning. / In this thesis I have examined how Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God can be understood from the Gospel of Luke. A close examination of a single gospel, and moreover not the whole gospel but only four pericopes in it, narrows the scope considerably. The value in trying to understand what Jesus is saying based on this single coherent source is that it can have a greater depth than the picture put together by any number of fragments from different sources. In Luke's Gospel Jesus mentions the word kingdom as referring to the Kingdom of God over 20 times, in a total of 18 episodes. With the method of discourse analysis, I have divided these occurrences into three categories which I call the discourse of A, B and C. Discourse A is about the kingdom of God having the highest priority, but there is no description of the kingdom. Discourse B describes the kingdom of God in some way. Discourse C mentions the kingdom of God as a promise. The four pericopes I analyze in detail, in different ways represent the discourses I have identified in the gospel as a whole. Lk 11:1-4 belong to discourse A, Lk 11:14-23 and Lk 17:20-21 to discourse B, and Lk 22:24-30 to discourse C. The tradition that the author of the double work of Luke-Acts is precisely Luke, goes back to the mid 100's. The work is characterized by universalism and a certain vision of wealth and poverty that probably came from the author's congregation in Antioch. There the gospel to non-Jews was preached, and there was commitment in the poor and needy. It was important not to get caught up in the worldly life and be tempted to accumulate wealth. Discipleship should be wholehearted. When Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God in the Gospel of Luke, it may sound as if it is about a territory. But the concept of the kingdom of God, in the original text ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ means rather God's dominion. It is not an area or a place, but a state that is determined by God's reign. At the same time, it is impossible to rule ”nowhere”, so there is still a territory implicit in the concept. There was a duality in the perception of the kingdom of God in Jesus' time, which meant that it was both a way of conceiving the world's current situation and an eschatological concept. Through a detailed exegetical analysis of the basic text for each pericope I have reached conclusions on the theological message of the kingdom of God in the texts. The analysis of Lk 11:1-4 shows that the Lord's Prayer contains an indirect description of God's kingdom as an ideal state. God is assumed to have the power to bring the kingdom into being, but the human will and activity also plays a role. Pericope Lk 11:14-20 shows that God's kingdom is where God is at work. It can be here and now. God works through Jesus when he frees a man from a dumb demon. But he doesn't only work through Jesus but through all who do good. In pericope Lk 17:20-21 the question of when the kingdom of God will come is asked, and Jesus responds in a way that makes the kingdom seem within reach already in the present. In Jesus' promise to the disciples of equal fellowship with him in his own kingdom in Lk 22:28-30, he equates himself with God. He promises a future of glory for those who are faithful to him. An attempt at a synthesis of the theological messages that the analyses of the four pericopes led to, is that the kingdom of God according to the Gospel of Luke seems to refer to the victory of the perfect good over evil. The concept of the kingdom remains ambiguous and mysterious. What the analyses contribute to is mainly highlighting the possible meanings of the received text, which are inevitably limited in each translation.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to understand how theories of organizational culture canenrich our understanding of Matthew’s group, his parable speech and the parables of thekingdom of heaven. I argue that Matthew edited and constructed the parable speech to fit hisintentions so that he could call for righteous behavior from the members of his group. I thenargue that the parable speech can be viewed as a regulatory document that addresses externalproblems of adaption and internal problems of integration that Matthew’s group had to face.I also argue that the parables of the kingdom of heaven are related to externaland internal problems and that the parables can be understood as artifacts that express thepreferred behavior applied by the leaders of Matthew’s group.My conclusion is that the theories of organizational culture give us a betterunderstanding of the complex situation of Matthew’s group and that the parable speech isrelated to these issues and addresses the group. It can therefore be considered a regulatorydocument. The parables of the kingdom of heaven can be understood as stories that call forrighteous behavior and persuade the Jewish people to join Matthew’s group through followingthe law according to view held by Matthew’s group.

[pt] Esta pesquisa versa sobre o maior entre os nascidos de mulheres, com base no texto de Mt 11,2-15. Partindo desse princípio, a pesquisa aborda sobre João, o Batista, no testemunho dado por Jesus aos discípulos que estavam à sua volta. É bem verdade que a vida de João, o Batista, é um enigma a ser desvendado, tendo em vista as poucas informações oferecidas a respeito de sua vida, com exceção daquelas que são encontradas em textos do Novo Testamento (Evangelhos e Atos dos Apóstolos) e em textos extrabíblicos. Ao pesquisar essa perícope, encontramos um paralelo em Lc 7,18-28, com suas semelhanças e diferenças, sobre as quais faremos menção aqui em nosso estudo e abordagem. Nesse sentido, esse trabalho faz uma análise do texto base aqui pesquisado, recorrendo ao contexto histórico de Mateus, passando pela comunidade mateana, onde o Evangelho foi desenvolvido e o testemunho de Jesus foi identificado a João, o Batista. Em outro momento, faremos um status quaestionis a respeito do tema João, o Batista, o maior entre os nascidos de mulheres em Mt 11,2-15 com as contribuições necessárias de alguns autores. Por fim, faremos uma exegese da perícope de Mt 11,2-15, seguindo os critérios do Método Histórico-Crítico e da Análise Retórica Bíblica, para alcançarmos o sentido próprio do texto direcionando para a compreensão do tema: João, o Batista, o maior entre os nascidos de mulheres: Uma análise exegética de Mt 11,2-15. / [en] This research deals with the greatest among women born based on the text of Mt 11,2-15. Based on this principle, the research addresses John the Baptist s testimony given by Jesus to the disciples around him. It is quite true that the life of John the Baptist is a riddle to be unraveled, given the little information offered about his life, except for that found in New Testament texts (Gospels and Acts of the Apostles). and in extrabiblical texts. In researching this pericope, we find a parallel in Luke 7,18-28, with its similarities and differences, which we will mention here in our study and approach. In this sense, this work makes an analysis of the base text researched here, using the historical context of Matthew, passing through the Matean community, where the Gospel was developed, and the testimony of Jesus was identified to John the Baptist. In another moment, we will make a status quaestionis on the theme John the Baptist, the greatest among the born of women in Mt 11,2-15 with the necessary contributions of some authors. Finally, we will make an exegesis of the pericope of Mt 11,2-15, following the criteria of the Historical-Critical Method and Biblical Rhetorical Analysis, in order to reach the proper meaning of the text, directing to the understanding of the theme: “John the Baptist, the greatest among women born: An exegetical analysis of Mt 11,2-15.

Text in German / Zusammenfassung Die Predigten zur Parusie Jesu finden im Perikopenplan der Evangelischen Landeskirche eine geringe Aufmerksamkeit. Die Thematik beschränkt sich auf das Ende, wie auf den Anfang des Kirchenjahres, genauer gesagt auf den 2. Advent. Das Thema der Parusie Jesu ist nicht unbedingt ein Hauptthema in der Predigtarbeit. Aber die Parusie Jesu ist das Hauptziel des Glaubens der Christen. Durch diese Arbeit soll der Predigtarbeit, sowie dem Thema der Parusie Jesu mehr Beachtung geschenkt werden. In dieser Arbeit wird die DDR Sozial- und Kirchengeschichte mit den Kurzbiographien der Prediger vorgestellt. Diese sind zum Teil Hintergrundinformation für die Predigtanalysen. Die Arbeit widmet sich einer Predigtanalyse zum biblischen Hintergrund und zum historischen Hintergrund der DDR, um den Stellenwert der Parusie Jesu in den Predigten zu erforschen. Die Bewertung der Predigtpraxis und die Evaluation bilden den Abschluss der Arbeit. Zusammenfassung Die Predigten zur Parusie Jesu finden im Perikopenplan der Evangelischen Landeskirche eine geringe Aufmerksamkeit. Die Thematik beschränkt sich auf das Ende, wie auf den Anfang des Kirchenjahres, genauer gesagt auf den 2. Advent. Das Thema der Parusie Jesu ist nicht unbedingt ein Hauptthema in der Predigtarbeit. Aber die Parusie Jesu ist das Hauptziel des Glaubens der Christen. Durch diese Arbeit soll der Predigtarbeit, sowie dem Thema der Parusie Jesu mehr Beachtung geschenkt werden. In dieser Arbeit wird die DDR Sozial- und Kirchengeschichte mit den Kurzbiographien der Prediger vorgestellt. Diese sind zum Teil Hintergrundinformation für die Predigtanalysen. Die Arbeit widmet sich einer Predigtanalyse zum biblischen Hintergrund und zum historischen Hintergrund der DDR, um den Stellenwert der Parusie Jesu in den Predigten zu erforschen. Die Bewertung der Predigtpraxis und die Evaluation bilden den Abschluss der Arbeit. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology))