This thesis explores the relationship between theology and laughter. It adopts the Superiority theory, confirmed through biblical and theological analyses. Chapter 1 discusses recent theologies of humor and outlines the occasion for the present one.
Chapter 2 begins with an historical review of the church's attitude towards laughter and discusses humor's relationship to major areas of theology.
Chapter 3 traces the development of the Superiority Theory and contends that much of our laughter is the ridiculing of a butt. Laughter performs a didactic function when it enforces a moral perspective by mocking deviants. Chapter 4 combs Scripture to confirm the theory.
Chapter 5 observes that because of competing perspectives, laughter must have an eschatological dimension. It concludes that Heaven will contain the sounds of joy and triumph, defeat and derision.
Chapter 6 discusses the implications for a postmodern context and makes application by affirming the role of humor in preaching. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:SBTS/oai:digital.library.sbts.edu:10392/438 |
| Date | 28 November 2007 |
| Creators | Theobald, David Nathanael |
| Contributors | Allison, Gregg R. |
| Source Sets | Southern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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