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The Preface examines the concept of life in the Old Testament which is discovered to be centred firmly on this world; special reference is made to life in the Wisdom Literature. Death at the end of a long and full life was accepted with resignation. Despite the paucity of references to death and the underworld in the Old Testament, there are passages which contain references to the mythology of death. The first chapter provides a background by reviewing the relevant aspects of the mythology of death in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan. Chapter 2 lists the names for the underworld in the Old Testament end considers the mythological allusions which contain references to the location and characteristics of the underworld. Chapter 3 discusses the dwellers in the underworld. The words rp'um in the Ugaritic texts and rp'm in Phoenician inscriptions are surveyed as a background to rephaim in the Old Testament, The practices of necromancy and tomb-offerings are considered and it is concluded that while popular practice condoned them, official religion condemned them. In the fourth chapter the relation between the world ocean and the nether world is set out. As in the rest of the Ancient Near East the underworld was represented as lying in the depths of the ocean at the foot of the pillars which supported the earth. The deceased had to traverse this ocean on his way to the underworld. Chapter 5 deals with the concept of Sheol as a monster with gaping jaws and an insatiable appetite. This figure owes its ultimate origin to the Ugaritic god of death, Mot, whose ravenous appetite was proverbial. The sixth chapter surveys the personifications of death as a hunter, a shepherd and a robber. The powers of the underworld such as Abaddon, Sheol, Death the King of Terrors and the First-born of Death are discussed. In conclusion, it is observed that the mythological allusions are fragmented and moribund, serving, for the most part, a literary purpose within the context of the Old Testament. Death was an experience which meant the cessation of all life.

The aim of my thesis is to destabilise the persistently pessimistic framing of Eve as a highly negative symbol of femininity within Western culture by engaging with marginal, and even heretical interpretations that focus on more positive or sympathetic aspects of her character. My objective is to question the myth that orthodox, popular readings represent the 'true' meaning of Genesis 2-4, and to explore the possibility that previously ignored or muted rewritings of Eve, which emphasise her knowledge or her motherhood, are in fact equally 'valid' interpretations of the biblical text. By staging analytical and dialogic encounters between the biblical Eve and re-writings of her story, particularly those that help to challenge the interpretative status quo, my thesis re-frames the first woman using three key themes from her story: sin, knowledge, and life. Employing a method of ideological reception criticism, I consider how and why the image of Eve as a dangerous temptress has gained considerably more cultural currency than the equally viable pictures of her as a subversive wise woman or as a mourning mother. To conclude, I argue that Eve is neither an entirely negative nor entirely positive figure, but rather that her characterisation, both biblically and in reception, is ambiguous and multivalent. My thesis thus offers a re-evaluation of the meanings and the myths of Eve, deconstructing the dominance of her cultural incarnation as a predominantly flawed female, and reconstructing a more nuanced and balanced presentation of the first woman's role in the Bible and in her afterlives.

This dissertation argues that weekly Sabbath rest is a creation ordinance supported by both biblical-theological and historical evidence, and has ecclesial and personal implications. Furthermore, this dissertation is proposing a mediating position between traditional sabbatarian and non-sabbatarian positions. Historically, the sabbatarians have argued for Sabbath rest being a creation ordinance and non-sabbatarians have argued the opposite. This proposal offers a third option that grounds weekly rest in creation (showing some similarities with sabbatarians), but also highlights the radical transformation of rest found in Christ (showing some similarity with non-sabbatarians while avoiding their idea that fulfillment in Christ exhausts the biblical instruction about weekly rest). This mediating position will allow for avoiding both the legalistic tendencies of traditional sabbatarian theology and the antinomian tendencies that can be found in some non-sabbatarian positions. For the purposes of this dissertation, a creation ordinance is defined as a normative, but not uniformly observed, universal pattern, exceptions to which must fulfill and contribute to the pattern’s fulfillment, moreover, the pattern must be confirmed, not negated or abrogated, by later biblical revelation.

The Church has never formulated an official doctrine of the atonement. Unlike the Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, the atonement was never a major issue in the early ecumenical councils. This central mystery of the faith, which speaks of the restoring of the relationship between God and man through Jesus Christ, has resisted every attempt at 'a formulation or statement in a nutshell'. Tillich has suggested that the Church's refusal to state the doctrine in definite dogmatic terms, is the instinctive recognition of the indefiniteness which is introduced by the human element. This element means that the doctrine has a subjective as well as an objective element. Since in his view the subjective element depends on the incalculable reaction of men to God's provision of a Saviour the formulation of the doctrine must remain uncertain. While we will agree with Tillich that the atonement has an objective as well as a subjective side, we cannot agree that the failure to formulate a doctrine has only to do with the uncertainty implied by the will of men. Intro. p, 1.

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