This dissertation delves into the portrayal of Sabbatai Zevi, the 17th-century Jewish messiah who converted to Islam, within 20th-century literary works. Specifically, it scrutinizes how this historical figure is woven into literature and delves into the significance of his portrayal in works written in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English. Utilizing Fred Davis’s insights on nostalgia’s correlation with historical disruptions and Svetlana Boym’s notions of nostalgia for both the past and future, this study interprets Sabbatai Zevi’s melancholic demeanor and his followers’ disillusionment with his conversion as manifestations of a concept termed here as “melancholic nostalgia,” denoting feelings of irretrievable loss. Given that these literary pieces emerged during pivotal moments in 20th-century Jewish history, this dissertation asserts that Sabbatai Zevi’s literary representation serves as a poignant symbol of melancholic nostalgia, resonating with the profound shifts in modern Jewish narrative.

The focus of this dissertation is Frank Herbert‘s use of messiahs and martyrs in selected novels of the Dune Chronicles. I make connections with Herbert‘s studies, inspirations and background to his treatment of religion, establishing the translation of these ideas in the texts. To identify and study every aspect of religion in the series is impossible; however, I will include other features that I deem important to my understanding of the religious theme in these texts. I intend to scrutinize these novels to find evidence of Herbert‘s claim that he studied religion at great length. I will also observe Herbert‘s attitude to and engagement with religion in the Dune Chronicles / English Studies / M.A. (English Studies)

The focus of this dissertation is Frank Herbert‘s use of messiahs and martyrs in selected novels of the Dune Chronicles. I make connections with Herbert‘s studies, inspirations and background to his treatment of religion, establishing the translation of these ideas in the texts. To identify and study every aspect of religion in the series is impossible; however, I will include other features that I deem important to my understanding of the religious theme in these texts. I intend to scrutinize these novels to find evidence of Herbert‘s claim that he studied religion at great length. I will also observe Herbert‘s attitude to and engagement with religion in the Dune Chronicles / English Studies / M.A. (English Studies)

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has provided an opportunity to reexamine the formation of the Gospel of John. This study will utilize Dead Sea finds coupled with other Second Temple literature to examine how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as being a king. The approach of this study to use a narrative approach that builds on the Gospel of John as a finished text. The contribution of a source critical approach is not disparaged but the narrative approach will allow the Johannine community to be seen in the context of the immediate post-Second Temple era. The limited literacy of the probable first audience of this text suggests that a narrative approach will best be able to understand the background to the formation of the Gospel of John. A central contention of this study is that the Gospel of John was composed after the Jewish Revolt and after the Synoptics. Thus it deserves the appellation of the Fourth Gospel and is called such in this study. The Fourth Gospel was composed at a time when Roman interest in anything connected to Judaism was sure to attract special interest. Thus the portrayal of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah needed to be handled carefully. The imagery of the new David found in 4Q504 compared with the imagery of Jesus being the Good Shepherd becomes an important part of the argument of this study on whether this Gospel portrays Jesus as being the Davidic Messiah. Jesus as the Good Shepherd showed Jews that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah without overtly offending Roman sensibilities. Furthermore evidence from Christian and Jewish sources indicates that an interest in a Third Temple was still stirring between the Jewish and Bar-Kochba Revolts. The Fourth Gospel shows Jesus as the Davidic Messiah who replaces the Temple because the Good Shepherd was the perfect sacrifice. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

Les textes qumraniens nous fournissent des témoins de première main pour l’étude du développement du messianisme dans le judaïsme durant la période du Second Temple. L’une des découvertes les plus frappantes dans la bibliothèque de Qumrân est la pluralité des attentes messianiques et l’existence de locutions diverses avec un sens messianique. À l’aide d’une analyse littéraire, ainsi que d’une approche socio-critique, surtout à partir d’une distinction typologique entre un messianisme restaurateur ou utopique, nous nous proposons d’examiner les rapports des textes sectaires messianiques de Qumrân 1) aux données bibliques et extra-bibliques contemporaines, 2) aux façons de conceptualiser les différentes figures messianiques et 3) au contexte socio-politique de l’époque. La recherche présente quatre principaux paradigmes à travers desquels les diverses idées messianiques ont été formulées dans la communauté qumrano-essénienne, tandis que l’interprétation resserre la problématique autour de la typologie restauratrice et utopique. Les analyses dévoilent un aspect des attentes du judaïsme ancien, marqué par la croyance en une pluralité d’agents de salut aux traits messianiques: il s’agit d’un schéma oscillant entre l’aspiration à la restauration des structures religieuses et politiques de l’Israël d’autrefois et l’espérance utopique d’un monde dramatiquement transformé. Malgré qu’il soit difficile d’envisager un développement linéaire, unanime et cohérent sur la base du contenu et de la chronologie des textes messianiques, cette recherche démontre une tendance générale qui jalonne l’évolution historique des idées messianiques de Qumrân. C’est la combinaison de plusieurs dynamiques, soit la critique des prêtres-rois asmonéens, la préoccupation de la pureté rituelle et de l’observance de la Loi, et une perspective apocalyptique entrevoyant une transformation catastrophique conduisant à un renouvellement du monde, qui a généré la ferveur messianique propre à la communauté qumrano-essénienne. / The Qumran scrolls provide us the first-hand sources for the study of development of messianism in Judaism during the Second Temple period. One of the most striking characteristics of Qumran library is the plurality of messianic expectations, as well as the variety of expressions with messianic meaning applied to different figures. Using a literary analysis and a socio-critical approach, especially a typological distinction between restorative and utopian messianism, this dissertation investigates the relationship between Qumranian sectarian messianic texts and 1) biblical and extra-biblical data, 2) the forms through which the various messianic figures are conceptualized, 3) the socio-political context of the period during which these texts were in use. The dissertation presents four major patterns through which the various messianic ideas were formulated in the Qumran-Essene community, whereas the interpretation of the texts focuses on the issues around the restorative/utopian typology. The analyses reveal an aspect of messianic expectations in Ancient Judaism, marked by the belief in a plurality of agents of salvation endowed with messianic attributes, oscillating between the desire for the restoration of religious and political structures of an ideal past Israel, and the utopian hope aspiring to a dramatically transformed world. Although it is difficult to establish an unanimous, consistent and linear development based on the content and the chronology of the messianic texts, this research demonstrates the general tendency of the historical evolution of Qumranian messianic ideas. It is the combination of several dynamics, namely a critical attitude against the Hasmonean priest-kings, a concern for ritual purity and observance of the Law, and an apocalyptic perspective envisioning a catastrophic transformation leading to a renewal world, which generated the messianic fervor of Qumran-Essene community.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University, Aberdeen, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [323]-352) and indexes.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has provided an opportunity to reexamine the formation of the Gospel of John. This study will utilize Dead Sea finds coupled with other Second Temple literature to examine how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as being a king. The approach of this study to use a narrative approach that builds on the Gospel of John as a finished text. The contribution of a source critical approach is not disparaged but the narrative approach will allow the Johannine community to be seen in the context of the immediate post-Second Temple era. The limited literacy of the probable first audience of this text suggests that a narrative approach will best be able to understand the background to the formation of the Gospel of John. A central contention of this study is that the Gospel of John was composed after the Jewish Revolt and after the Synoptics. Thus it deserves the appellation of the Fourth Gospel and is called such in this study. The Fourth Gospel was composed at a time when Roman interest in anything connected to Judaism was sure to attract special interest. Thus the portrayal of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah needed to be handled carefully. The imagery of the new David found in 4Q504 compared with the imagery of Jesus being the Good Shepherd becomes an important part of the argument of this study on whether this Gospel portrays Jesus as being the Davidic Messiah. Jesus as the Good Shepherd showed Jews that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah without overtly offending Roman sensibilities. Furthermore evidence from Christian and Jewish sources indicates that an interest in a Third Temple was still stirring between the Jewish and Bar-Kochba Revolts. The Fourth Gospel shows Jesus as the Davidic Messiah who replaces the Temple because the Good Shepherd was the perfect sacrifice. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

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This study investigates, via the socio-rhetorical approach, how the Jewish-Christian conflict that occurred during the formative period of early Christianity, and the environment contemporary to the writing of John, took shape around three main questions to which the researcher's answers are given. The event described in John 9 is an historical and significant illustration of the conflict. Jesus is shown rhetorically, by the writer, as the Son of Man, in whom "divine reality" operates away from the temple or other traditionally sacred places like the synagogue, and finds a new locality in the persona of Jesus himself. From a polemical view, John endeavours to portray Jesus as holy man, the only one to mediate heavenly and earthly realities, and that is why Jesus is presented as the real locus of the encounter between God and human beings, a locus of the divine presence, or "the conduit for the transmission of the divine." / New Testament / MTH (NEW TESTAMENT)

This study investigates, via the socio-rhetorical approach, how the Jewish-Christian conflict that occurred during the formative period of early Christianity, and the environment contemporary to the writing of John, took shape around three main questions to which the researcher's answers are given. The event described in John 9 is an historical and significant illustration of the conflict. Jesus is shown rhetorically, by the writer, as the Son of Man, in whom "divine reality" operates away from the temple or other traditionally sacred places like the synagogue, and finds a new locality in the persona of Jesus himself. From a polemical view, John endeavours to portray Jesus as holy man, the only one to mediate heavenly and earthly realities, and that is why Jesus is presented as the real locus of the encounter between God and human beings, a locus of the divine presence, or "the conduit for the transmission of the divine." / New Testament / MTH (NEW TESTAMENT)