A central concern in the public square is the devaluation or subjugation of a people using the shield of religion. It has become an expedient and nonchalant tool to abuse a certain class of people in the name of a higher power. Islam is no exception. Throughout the holy books of…
One of the most lively and enduring debates in New Testament studies is the question of the significance of ‘apocalyptic' thought in Paul. This has recently given birth to a group of scholars, with a common theological genealogy, who share a concern to emphasise the ‘apocalyptic…
Conversations concerning the missional posture of 1 Peter have been dictated largely by the now (in)famous debate between David Balch’s assimilationist position over and against John Elliott’s more sectarian position. More recent work has sought to bridge the gap between Balch a…
"Enrico Norelli's essay describes the Christians' struggle for identity in the second century, who tried to define what is 'christianismos' and what is 'ioudaismos.' To solve this problem, Marcion of Sinope tried to seek the authentic message of Jesus by collecting authoritative…
"The first scholarly work to trace the Temple throughout the entire New Testament, this study examines Jewish and Christian attitudes toward the Temple in the first century and provides both Jews and Christians with a better understanding of their respective faiths and how they …
Though the Bible is a product of West Asia, its influence on Europe and the Americas has received far more attention than its complex career in the East. R.S. Sugirtharajah corrects this imbalance with an expansive new study of Asia's subversive and idiosyncratic relationship wi…
"Although Jewish tradition gives tremendous importance to the Hebrew Bible, from the beginning Jewish interpretation of those scriptures has been practiced with remarkable freedom. Karin Hedner Zetterholm introduces the legal, theological, and historical presuppositions that sha…
This dissertation examines the meaning of γενεά in Matthew 24:34 and concludes it refers to Israel viewed collectively as unfaithful to God. Israel is addressed as disobedient children using γενεά in the Song of Moses (Dt 32). Like the Song of Moses, Matthew uses γενεά with this…
Most scholars recognize that Jesus was believed to be divine very early and in a Jewish context. But how much continuity is demonstrable between this early belief and Jesus’ own claims? In this dissertation, I investigate the kind of authority Jesus claimed to possess by examini…
Religious education involves learning about religion and the possibility of having religious experiences. Although measuring religious knowledge can be fairly straightforward, assessing whether students are having religious experiences can be more difficult. The purpose of this …
Chapter 1 introduces the particular problem to be addressed and also the thesis of the dissertation as a potential answer to this problem. The three test case passages are briefly introduced as well as the rationale for their selection. Attention is then given to surveying the h…
The Problem. The problem this dissertation seeks to address is the origins of the wedding banquet imagery in the teaching of Jesus. Frequently, scholars will state that the image of a wedding banquet was a common messianic image in the first century. However, other than Isa 25:6…
This dissertation recovers the major redaction of the Gospel of Thomas and connects it specifically to the Syrian Orient. The proposal that the Gospel of Thomas is related to Syria is not new; this dissertation differs in that it contends that it is the latest material within th…
This dissertation is a linguistic and rhetorical-theological examination of Paul's language of zelos. I examine comparative literary and epigraphical evidence concerning imitation and jealousy/zeal in antiquity (primarily Greek, but also Hebrew and Latin sources). I consider the…