Thesis advisor: Angela K. Harkins / Romans 5:12-21 has attracted a variety of complex interpretations. It has been read (1) as a theological treatise of original sin (Augustine); (2) as a textual support for the doctrine of justification by faith alone (Luther and the Reformers); and (3) as Paul’s discourse of cosmic powers of sin and death that hold people in bondage and God’s salvific intervention to liberate human beings from cosmic powers of sin and death (contemporary “apocalyptic” school). Three major problems have arisen from reading the passage through these lenses. First, the passage is studied with lack of proper attention to the Roman imperial context in which the text was produced. Second, sin and salvation are over-spiritualized and personalized such that these concepts are rarely applied to concrete contemporary socio-political issues that affect the lives of people today. The result is not only a disjuncture between theology and ethics, but also the disconnection between the Christian kerygma and sociopolitical realities. Third, the rhetorical function of the text for its immediate audience is often underexplored. The implication is that theologians speculate on the themes of sin and salvation in Rom 5:12-21 without paying adequate attention to the concrete ideologies and behaviors that Paul was challenging nor the practices he was calling his audience to embody as a way of counteracting the systemic sins and evils. This study offers an alternative reading of Adam-Christ antithesis in Rom 5:12-21 in light of Roman imperial domination and Paul’s apocalyptic anti-imperial discourse using two contemporary frameworks—empire and postcolonial criticism. Using these frameworks, I read the Adam-Christ antithetical discourse in Rom 5:12-21 as Paul’s critique of the realities of sin and death as embodied by the Roman imperial power. Paul engages in this critique by means of typological reflection on Adam and Christ—the two historical figures whose actions reveal two contrasting ways of being in the world that result either in death or life. Read against the background of Roman imperial domination in the first century CE, I argue that Paul’s personification of sin and death as forces of domination, enslavement, and death-dealing in Rom 5:12-21 can be understood as the way that colonized subjects, such as Paul, give coded expression to the multifaceted experiences of colonial domination, as well as the culture of death that were prevalent within the Roman Empire. In Rom 5:12-21, Paul invites his audience to embody Jesus’ obedience and justice as a way of countering the sinful praxes that he traced their root to Adam. In this way, Christ’s believers can participate in the new age that God inaugurates through the events of Christ and the divine Spirit. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This study was set up to determine how the concept of biblical salvation is understood within liberation theology and how the concept is perceived from Pentecostal standpoint with the aim of developing a theological framework to challenge the dehumanising influences in contemporary society. The central argument of this thesis is that, there are irreconcilable differences between the salvation espoused by liberation theology's praxeological epistemology and the Pentecostal understanding of the concept etymologically and hermeneutically speaking. The study further probes whether Pentecostalism can provide the necessary theological framework that can be used to challenge the perceived dehumanising influences in contemporary society. The study achieved its purpose by setting meaningful objectives and following the appropriate research methodologies. Firstly, the study employed in-depth textual analysis, historiography, lexicology, and hermeneutic principles to understand the etymology of salvation from previous scholarship. This effort helped to elucidate differences that exist between liberation theology and Pentecostal renderings of the concept. Secondly, the concerns of existing contributors on the subject were evaluated by researching historical, linguistic and textual materials as well as exegetical analysis of relevant texts of Scripture. Thirdly, an in-depth literature analysis was undertaken to ascertain liberation theology's hermeneutic methodologies. This is necessary to establish whether the movement is more interested in promoting its ideologies and preunderstandings rather than biblical salvation. Fourthly, it was necessary to review the deep concerns expressed by liberation theology epistemology without compromising the message of the Gospel. This was achieved by a thorough analysis of social ministries undertaken by Progressive Pentecostals across the globe. Fifthly, the study evaluated the Pentecostal criticisms of liberation theology to see if there is any justification for that. This was achieved through an in-depth exegetical and hermeneutic analysis using word studies, theological dictionaries, bible commentaries, and by reviewing scholarly articles on the subject matter. Lastly, by analysing the difference between Pentecostal and liberation theologies, it was clear that their methods of operations are different. This goes to explain why Pentecostalism is growing exponentially while liberation theology is declining. The outcome of this analysis also explains why Pentecostalism is a better alternative in addressing the challenges facing our global community. / PhD (Dogmatics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study was set up to determine how the concept of biblical salvation is understood within liberation theology and how the concept is perceived from Pentecostal standpoint with the aim of developing a theological framework to challenge the dehumanising influences in contemporary society. The central argument of this thesis is that, there are irreconcilable differences between the salvation espoused by liberation theology's praxeological epistemology and the Pentecostal understanding of the concept etymologically and hermeneutically speaking. The study further probes whether Pentecostalism can provide the necessary theological framework that can be used to challenge the perceived dehumanising influences in contemporary society. The study achieved its purpose by setting meaningful objectives and following the appropriate research methodologies. Firstly, the study employed in-depth textual analysis, historiography, lexicology, and hermeneutic principles to understand the etymology of salvation from previous scholarship. This effort helped to elucidate differences that exist between liberation theology and Pentecostal renderings of the concept. Secondly, the concerns of existing contributors on the subject were evaluated by researching historical, linguistic and textual materials as well as exegetical analysis of relevant texts of Scripture. Thirdly, an in-depth literature analysis was undertaken to ascertain liberation theology's hermeneutic methodologies. This is necessary to establish whether the movement is more interested in promoting its ideologies and preunderstandings rather than biblical salvation. Fourthly, it was necessary to review the deep concerns expressed by liberation theology epistemology without compromising the message of the Gospel. This was achieved by a thorough analysis of social ministries undertaken by Progressive Pentecostals across the globe. Fifthly, the study evaluated the Pentecostal criticisms of liberation theology to see if there is any justification for that. This was achieved through an in-depth exegetical and hermeneutic analysis using word studies, theological dictionaries, bible commentaries, and by reviewing scholarly articles on the subject matter. Lastly, by analysing the difference between Pentecostal and liberation theologies, it was clear that their methods of operations are different. This goes to explain why Pentecostalism is growing exponentially while liberation theology is declining. The outcome of this analysis also explains why Pentecostalism is a better alternative in addressing the challenges facing our global community. / PhD (Dogmatics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The Russian Evangelical Soteriology as a phenomenon was evaluated in the dissertation. The original Russian Evangelical confessions of faith and some other historical documents of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries are used to present the following hypothesis. The historic fluidity of Soteriology of Russian Evangelica1s may only be understood in the light of their consistent adherence to the principles of Sola Scriptura and the Priesthood of all believers. We come to conclusion that the existence of Russian Evangelical Soteriology is not a question to be discussed, but a clear historical fact. We show that it has its past and present, a well-defended subject of study with clear presuppositions, rather developed vision, and it is unique as a phenomenon. The major principles of this theology strictly devoted to the Scripture and a flexible formulation of doctrines. We strongly insist that it is impossible without being eclectic combine the Evangelical Soteriology of Scripture with the Orthodox Soteriology of Tradition. The additional result of the study is the attempt to evaluate the possibility for a reconstruction of Russian Evangelical Soteriology as a part of a self-identification process. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This study assesses René Girard's claims regarding the Gospels' understanding of Jesus' death. Though Girard contends that the Gospels never depict Jesus' death as an atonement for sin, there are significant passages that Girard avoids discussing like the Last Supper sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. This dissertation investigates whether these central passages, along with other supporting texts in the Synoptics, jeopardize the viability of Girard's assertions, especially when they are read in light of restoration theology. <br>The core components of Girard's thought, his reading of salvation history, and the ways in which Girard's followers have adapted his thought are adumbrated in the opening chapters. Once the Girardian approach to soteriology has been depicted with its various permutations, the research turns towards Israel's hopes for restoration after the exile, including the reconstitution of its covenantal relationship with YHWH, as they are articulated in the Old Testament and intertestamental literature in order to establish the historical and theological context for reading the Gospels. After identifying the core components of restoration theology, it is argued that the Synoptic Gospels situate Jesus within Israel's hopes for restoration and that this backdrop should inform one's reading of the Synoptics rather than presupposing a polemical relationship between the Gospels and mythology as Girard does. After establishing restoration theology as the leitmotif of the Synoptics, specific attention is devoted to the Last Supper sayings along with other passages that, when read in light of restoration theology, indicate Jesus' death reconstitutes God's covenant relationship with his people by atoning for their sin. Should the exegesis and hermeneutical approach of this study prove persuasive, the conclusions jeopardize Girard's global claims regarding the Gospels' dearth of atonement theology. As a result, concessions or alterations will be necessary. The final segment of the study offers several ways in which Girardian soteriology could be reframed in order to account for the results of this particular study. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Theology; / PhD; / Dissertation;

Thesis advisor: Mark S. Heim / This dissertation is a comparative study of spiritual cultivation in Early Daoism and the spiritual teaching of Augustine's Christianity. My goal is to examine how early Daoism's founder, Laozi, and the Christian bishop, Augustine of Hippo, characterize the fulfillment of humanity through religious transformation. My argument is that the metaphysical speculations that figure in their works---and which scholarly readers often emphasize---are offshoots of profound practical, soteriological concerns. These soteriological concerns reveal that the primary interest for both writers was to discover those spiritual and intellectual practices that could most effectively mediate between human experience and the manifestation of transcendent order. This study takes its inspiration from pioneering instances of comparative theology (particularly works by Francis Clooney S.J. and Lee Yearly), and focuses on the cross-reading of texts. For Laozi, the basic text used in this study is. For Augustine, the primary text is de Trinitate, with some Daode Jing closely related writings. Both texts play similar formative roles in their respective religious traditions. My methodology also makes heuristic use of Bernard Lonergan's study of the fourfold operation of human consciousness as experience, understanding, judgment and decision. This general description of human consciousness is a useful framework to draw out similarities and differences in these texts. The primary thematic interest of the thesis is ethical. I explore how early Daoism and Augustine's Christianity were both animated by the concern to confront human violence through spiritual exercises and the renewal of authentic humanity. In comparing Daode Jing and de Triniate, I consider the ways that each author's encounter with social violence shaped their intellectual projects. Laozi and Augustine's search for transcendent order was motivated by the hope of overcoming disordered human desires. This task required an understanding of human participation in transcendent order which could be realized in direct realms of experience, through knowledge of the operations of interior consciousness and the practice of daily spiritual exercises. Though both thinkers are often treated in dogmatic or philosophical terms, their primary interest was in practical spirituality, a way of living. Both Laozi and Augustine searched for `the Way" for disciples of their respective traditions to nurture personal life and to maintain hope as a religious community in a turbulent world. These issues are dealt with in four chapters. In Chapter One I develop my theoretical framework and the categories of the hermeneutics of consciousness. In Chapter Two I reconstruct the political-religious context of Chinese culture that the author of Daode Jing criticized . Against this context, I then explain in Chapter Three Laozi's major insights into the nature of transcendent order, particularly his understanding of its character as Three in One (Self-so, Nothing and Something), specified in Daode Jing. In Chapter Four I expound Augustine's development of the doctrine of the Trinity as the fundamental signature of divine reality, which is also reflected in the structure of human subjectivity. This leads to Chapter Five where I consider these two views as dialogical partners and advance the view that a juxtapositional reading of these two texts leads to new insights through the way that each can be said to develop a distinctive interpretation of the concept "effortless action." / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: Boyd Coolman / This study considers the development of Augustine's early soteriology in the years leading up to and including his writing of Confessions. Central to that inquiry is a treatment of his increasing use of the term humilitas. Yet that inquiry necessitates a broader account of the fallen soul and its healing by the Incarnate Savior. The result is a mostly chronological survey that shows Augustine developing clearer connections between his soteriology, Christology, and sacramental theology. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This thesis analyses how and why the Westminster Assembly (1643-1653), the Long Parliament’s advisory committee for religious matters, attempted to suppress antinomianism, one of the fastest-growing radical religious movements of the early seventeenth century. The Assembly addressed antinomianism in its dual capacity as an arm of Parliament and, in its own self-understanding, as a body of theologians tasked with religious reformation. In the eyes of the Assembly, antinomianism presented a two-fold threat. Socially, antinomianism had the potential to bring anarchy and disorder: the Assembly responded to this threat by examining antinomian ministers, forming its own antinomian committee, and liaising with Parliament to determine whether antinomians should be branded as heretics with concomitant civil punishment. Theologically, for the Assembly, antinomianism encompassed more than simply the belief that obligation to the Ten Commandments had passed away; it contained a complex structure of soteriology that was fundamentally at odds with the Reformed tradition. Working in the overarching backdrop of the rise of English Arminianism, the divines debated soteriological questions raised by antinomianism, issues at the heart of the Reformation such as: the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, the continued effectiveness of the moral law, the nature of Christ’s propitiatory work of redemption, the role and timing of justifying faith, and the relationship between sanctification and justification. The Assembly’s 1643 debates over antinomian theology, conducted as it revised the Thirty-nine Articles, produced revised Articles, which formed the foundation for the Assembly’s 1646 Confession of Faith. The Assembly then used the Confession of Faith to present a concise but comprehensive refutation of antinomian theology. The study uncovers the significance of antinomianism for contextualising the Assembly’s debates, and thus advances and nuances current perception of both the Westminster Assembly and English antinomianism. Analysis of debates carried out on the floor of the Assembly provoked by antinomian theology reveals that, while the divines as a whole disagreed with antinomian tenets, they were far from united in their understanding of basic soteriological definitions and were also divided over the best way to thwart antinomianism. A detailed investigation of this state of affairs enhances interpretation of the Assembly’s documents, such as the Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, which in and of themselves do not reveal the theological uncertainties and tensions present in the Assembly. The study also offers a new example of the Assembly functioning as a regulatory body. This thesis draws on a substantial new pool of primary material: The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly (edited by Chad van Dixhoorn, OUP 2012, 3200 pages), the first full critical edition of the Assembly’s debates; also, the first volume of Assembly member John Lightfoot’s journal, recently transcribed, which supplies the only record of crucial exchanges between the Assembly and antinomian theologians. A major contribution of this thesis, working with these new resources, is to demonstrate how the Assembly interacted far more with antinomianism than previous scholars have thought. The thesis breaks new ground by using both theological and historical methods to provide a fine-grained contextual account of the Assembly’s debates and actions against antinomianism.

This dissertation proposes that the church plays an active role in the salvation of its members through the proclamation of the gospel. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of the dissertation by positioning it within its current academic and nonacademic context. It then details the thesis and methodology of the dissertation. Chapter 2 demonstrates that the church is viewed as playing an active role in the salvation of believers in church history. It examines the relationship between the soteriology and ecclesiology of four theologians who have significantly influenced the protestant reformed trajectory: Cyprian, Augustine, Luther, Calvin. It argues that through their usage of the "church as mother motif," Cyprian, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin view the church as having an active role in salvation. Chapter 3 provides working definitions of the gospel and the church. It defines the gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin based upon 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. Chapter 3 proceeds by defining the church as the regenerate people of God who have accepted the gospel message by faith in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Chapter 4 contends through scriptural exegesis that the proclamation of the gospel creates members of the church. The scriptural exegesis in this chapter goes in canonical order and focuses on exegeting passages that are recognized as being important in understanding the church's formation. It concludes with a summary of the scriptural data. Chapter 5 also argues through scriptural exegesis the church is the instrument that God uses to proclaim the gospel. Like Chapter 4, it focuses on exegeting recognized passages that indicate the church's instrumental role in the proclamation of the gospel. It also concludes with a summary of the scriptural data. Chapter 6 formulates systematically the scriptural data from Chapters 4 and 5 into a reciprocal relationship between the gospel and the church. Chapter 6 then frames the reciprocal relationship between the gospel and the church in terms of speech act theory. First, it briefly defines speech act theory and discusses why it can be applied to the reciprocal relationship between the gospel and the church. It then develops a speech act formulation of the reciprocal relationship in which the church proclaims both the locution and illocution of the gospel message and the Spirit creates the church, which is the perlocutionary effect of the church's gospel proclamation. It concludes by briefly detailing some of the theological implications of this formulation. Chapter 7 offers a conclusion to the dissertation in which the arguments from Chapters 1 to 6 are summarized. It then proposes areas for further research. It concludes by offering some potential applications of the speech act formulation of the reciprocal relationship between the gospel and the church to the current evangelical church.

<p>The New Testament book known as the epistle to the Hebrews contains little obvious reference to Jesus' resurrection. Modern interpreters generally account for this relative silence by noting that the author's soteriological and christological concerns have led him to emphasize Jesus' death and exaltation while ignoring, spiritualizing, or even denying his resurrection. In particular, the writer's metaphorical appeal to the Yom Kippur sacrifice, with its dual emphasis on the slaughter of the victim and the presentation of the victim's blood by the high priest, allows him to explain the salvific significance of Jesus' death and exaltation. The crucifixion can be likened to the slaughter of the victim, while Jesus' exaltation in heaven can be likened to the high priest entering the holy of holies. In this way the cross can be understood as an atoning sacrifice. Such a model leaves little room for positive or distinct reflection on the soteriological or christological significance of the resurrection. </p> <p>This study argues that the soteriology and high-priestly Christology the author develops depend upon Jesus' bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven. The work begins with a survey of positions on Jesus' resurrection in Hebrews. I then present a case for the presence and role of Jesus' bodily resurrection in the text. First, I demonstrate that the writer's argument in Heb 1-2 for the elevation of Jesus above the angelic spirits assumes that Jesus has his humanity--his blood and flesh--with him in heaven. Second, I show that in Heb 5-7 the writer identifies Jesus' resurrection to an indestructible life as the point when Jesus became a high priest. Third, I explain how this thesis makes coherent the author's consistent claims in Heb 8-10 that Jesus presented his offering to God in heaven. I conclude that Jesus' crucifixion is neither the place nor the moment of atonement for the author of Hebrews. Rather, in keeping with the equation in the Levitical sacrificial system of the presentation of blood to God with the presentation of life, Jesus obtained atonement where and when the writer says--when he presented himself in his ever-living, resurrected humanity before God in heaven. Jesus' bodily resurrection is, therefore, the hinge around which the high-priestly Christology and soteriology of Hebrews turns.</p> / Dissertation