Browsing by Subject "Bible"

Genesis is central to both hegemonic and counterhegemonic conceptions of communal identity. Read one way, the book undergirds contemporary assumptions about the nature of communality and the categories through which it is constructed. Read another way, however, it undermines them. This project considers these two readings of Genesis, their asymmetrical approaches to the book, and the intersection between them.

Using family storytelling as an approach to biblical interpretation allows this study to hold together the constitution of the reading community and the interpretation of the biblical text. In a Eurocentric reading of Genesis, the constitution of the reading community governs engagement of the biblical text. Conversely, in the YHWH-centric reading advocated here, the biblical text governs the constitution of the reading community. This study reopens the question of what it means to be an "us" rather than leaving participation in an "us" as an (often unacknowledged) a priori condition of all interpretation. In doing so it does not deny the existence or the significance of such preexisting commitments, but rather it refuses to regard those commitments as fixed and final.

From an exegetical standpoint, this study challenges Eurocentrism by finding in Genesis a vision of communality that, in emphasizing the importance of living out the relatedness of all humans to one another and to God, holds the potential for more fruitful relationships between communities. From a methodological standpoint, it offers a reading of Genesis that incorporates features of the text that have been neglected by colonizing readings and avoids the difficulties and internal inconsistencies from which they suffer. Making use of Benedict Anderson's account of the relationship between the imagined community of the nation and religiously imagined communities, as well as Jonathan Sheehan's account of the Enlightenment Bible, this study argues that certain ways of reading the Bible arose to help the West articulate its sense of itself and its others. Drawing attention to the text's reception and the way in which Eurocentric approaches displace Jews and marginalize (the West's) others, this project considers alternative ways of conceptualizing the relationship between the Bible and those who call it their own.

St. Ambrose of Milan led the church to seek ministry with the poor as a mark of virtuous Christian life. With an emphasis on the sacrament of holy baptism, Ambrose demonstrated how to reciprocate God’s love by clarifying the poor as treasures in God’s economy.

While there is great reason to laud its innovative economic development and valiant leadership, this research shows how the Roman Empire failed humanity with exploitive treatment of the poor. Likewise, this research exemplifies how Ambrose’s pedagogical leadership exposes the church’s failure to lead, paving a road of justice for the poor with equality, charity, and sacrificial giving.

This thesis argues Ambrose sought to contextually reframe the church’s understanding of incarnational leadership as a form of liberality. Ambrose’s On Joseph sermon revealed the threat of prodigality and greed when Joseph is faced with his own leadership power in the pit, in the prison, and in the palace. The thesis provides substantial evidence how God’s justice and Joseph’s leadership grounded in liberality create space for grace and empathy in family relations, human social consciousness, and community economic empowerment. This work argues that Ambrose’s exemplary contextual reframing of church resources and ministry practices proves as a model for philanthropic leadership against the unintended practice of toxic charity. This work also illustrates strategic practices to identify toxic charity and to embrace a virtuous life of giving. Furthermore, this research exhibits how the virtue of liberality plays an impactful role in philanthropic traditions as strong pillars in Christian ministry today.

St. Ambrose of Milan led the church to seek ministry with the poor as a mark of virtuous Christian life. With an emphasis on the sacrament of holy baptism, Ambrose demonstrated how to reciprocate God’s love by clarifying the poor as treasures in God’s economy.

While there is great reason to laud its innovative economic development and valiant leadership, this research shows how the Roman Empire failed humanity with exploitive treatment of the poor. Likewise, this research exemplifies how Ambrose’s pedagogical leadership exposes the church’s failure to lead, paving a road of justice for the poor with equality, charity, and sacrificial giving.

This thesis argues Ambrose sought to contextually reframe the church’s understanding of incarnational leadership as a form of liberality. Ambrose’s On Joseph sermon revealed the threat of prodigality and greed when Joseph is faced with his own leadership power in the pit, in the prison, and in the palace. The thesis provides substantial evidence how God’s justice and Joseph’s leadership grounded in liberality create space for grace and empathy in family relations, human social consciousness, and community economic empowerment. This work argues that Ambrose’s exemplary contextual reframing of church resources and ministry practices proves as a model for philanthropic leadership against the unintended practice of toxic charity. This work also illustrates strategic practices to identify toxic charity and to embrace a virtuous life of giving. Furthermore, this research exhibits how the virtue of liberality plays an impactful role in philanthropic traditions as strong pillars in Christian ministry today.

This dissertation investigates Iron II Judean pillar figurines and their place in Judean ritual. First, the project identifies major trends in the interpretation of figurines and evaluates them using ancient Near Easter texts, archaeological context, the Hebrew Bible, and iconography. Second, it focuses on the significance of major iconographic shifts in figurine production, using the various types of data to understand these shifts and their implications for figurine function.

The dissertation first analyzes four major trends in the study of these statuettes, showing that interpreters begin with assumptions based upon figurine iconography and only then take into account Israelite religion, biblical texts, and archaeology (Chapter 2). The study then explores textual descriptions of figurine rituals from the Neo-Assyrian Empire. These suggest that figurine rituals were highly complex and that the absence of accompanying ritual texts is a barrier to interpretation (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4-7 examine the archaeological contexts and technological characteristics of the figurines. Chapter 4 focuses on Kathleen Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem, Chapter 5 focuses on Yigal Shiloh's excavations in the same area, Chapter 6 describes the results of a new petrographic study of Jerusalem figurines, and Chapter 7 summarizes the data and compares them with the archaeological contexts of figurines found in other areas of Judah. The analysis demonstrates that the majority of figurines were found as random trash in domestic structures, that figurines were used by people from various socio-economic levels, that most figurines were not associated with domestic shrines, and that figurines have no significant correlation with artifacts associated with women's activity areas. The data also have important implications for the understanding of iconography in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.

Turning to the Hebrew Bible, Chapter 8 explores the descriptions of clay objects and idol production in biblical texts. This survey of passages shows that production from clay was never prohibited in the biblical text and that concerns over the production of idols focus on images from stone, wood, and metal. It also demonstrates that clay, as a production material, had a unique ability to bridge the gap between sacred and profane realms.

Chapter 9 investigates the various components of the figurines through stylistic analysis and comparative iconography. The chapter argues that the figurines were probably associated with protection and healing. It also discusses the rise of the pillar figurine style in Judah and Jerusalem, the significance of its regional adaptation, and the importance of the image's ambiguity for its function and dissemination.

Finally, Chapter 10 locates the figurines in their socio-historic context within Iron II Judah, as a part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The chapter evaluates the likelihood that the Neo-Assyrian Empire provided the cultural context for the spread of figurine rituals associated with healing and protection in the Iron II. It also summarizes biblical depictions of healing rituals and the role of divine intermediaries, closing with a final evaluation of the dominant interpretive paradigms and a summary of figurine development and function.

In this dissertation, I offer a pedagogical proposal for learning the Christian Scriptures guided by respect for the nature of the reader and the integrity of the biblical text. Christian educators have profitably developed recent theoretical interest in the body’s role in human meaning with regard to worship and praxis methodologies, but the implications of this research for communal study of the biblical text merit further development. I make the case for adopting scriptural imagination as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Christian Scriptures. The argument proceeds through a series of questions addressing both sides of the text/reader encounter.

Chapter one considers the question “what is the nature of the reader and, subsequently, the shape of the reader’s ways of knowing?” This investigation into recent literature on the body’s involvement in human knowing includes related epistemological shifts with Christian education. On the basis of this survey, imagination emerges as a compelling designator of an incorporative, constructive creaturely capacity that gives rise to a way of being in the world. Teachers of Scripture who intend to participate in Christian formation should account for the imagination’s centrality for all knowing. After briefly situating this proposal within a theological account of creatureliness, I make the initial case for Scriptural imagination as a pedagogical aim.

Imagination as creaturely capacity addresses the first guiding value, but does this proposal also respect the integrity and nature of the biblical text, and specifically of biblical narratives? In response, in chapter two I take up the Acts of the Apostles as a potential test case and exemplar for the dynamics pertinent to the formation of imagination. Drawing on secondary literature on the genre and literary features of Acts, I conclude that Acts coheres with this project’s explicit interest in imagination as a central component of the process of Christian formation in relationship to the Scriptures.

Chapters three and four each take up a pericope from Acts to assess whether the theoretical perspectives developed in prior chapters generate any interpretive payoff. In each of these chapters, a particular story within Acts functions as a test case for readings of biblical narratives guided by a concern for scriptural imagination. Each of these chapters begins with further theoretical development of some element of imaginal formation. Chapter three provides a theoretical account of practices as they relate to imagination, bringing that theory into conversation with Peter’s engagement in hospitality practices with Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18. Chapter four discusses the formative power of narratives, with implications for the analysis of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27:1-28:16.

In the final chapter, I offer a two-part constructive pedagogical proposal for reading scriptural narratives in Christian communities. First, I suggest adopting resonance above relevance as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Scriptures. Second, I offer three ways of reading with the body, including the physical, ecclesial, and social bodies that shape all learning. I conclude by identifying the importance of scriptural imagination for Christian formation and witness in the twenty-first century.

As faith communities engage in conversations about the meaning and significance of gender, many people have begun exploring the concept of gender beyond a fixed binary of male and female. These conversations can be challenging, raising complicated questions and employing unfamiliar concepts. This thesis seeks to engage the conversation about gender by attending to voices found in the biblical tradition, discovering a resource for better understanding the contemporary questions that have been posed. Although some may argue that the Bible endorses a strict, male-female binary, a close examination reveals that the Bible paints a much more complex picture of gender and its significance. This thesis will explore gender from several angles, discovering biblical and theological resources for a more expansive conception of gender beyond the binary. Written from a perspective that supports the full inclusion and embrace of transgender and nonbinary people in Christian churches, this thesis seeks to highlight ways that the Bible can be a useful tool for understanding gender in a way that is more nuanced and ultimately more faithful to the beautiful complexity of God’s creation.

Economics primarily focuses on describing the systems that govern the allocation of resources in human society. Many religious traditions also use terminology from these economic systems to express theological concepts; within the Hebrew Bible, this is especially evident in Isaiah 40-66. Drawing from theories from the field of Cognitive Linguistics, particularly the Blending Theory of Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner and treatments of literary metaphor by Paul Werth and others, I argue that redemption in Isaiah 40-55 draws from the ancient economic practice of paying a price to buy somebody back. YHWH, having sold Israel into debt servitude in the exile to pay off the debt of her sins, later redeems her by paying off this debt himself. The language that the authors use to express YHWH’s retribution also comes from the economic realm—YHWH pays wages to Israel and YHWH’s enemies in exchange for work. These two images are distributed unequally in different parts of Isa 40-66, as redemption discourse abounds only in Isa 40-55 and retribution discourse abounds only in Isa 56-66. Other economic metaphors also appear on a smaller scale in this corpus, which shows the extent to which economic thought was starting to take hold of the imaginations of the Judean thinkers of the time.

By explaining the meanings of redemption and retribution in their original historical contexts, this dissertation also sheds light on many other key motifs in Isaiah 40-66 (such as sin, forgiveness, atonement, mercy and retribution), which leads to a better understanding of the section as a whole. My conclusions also bear on other discussions in Hebrew Bible scholarship. First, this study fills a lacuna in treatments of metaphors in the Hebrew Bible by treating economic metaphors, which have not received sufficient attention. Second, it argues that the rise in economic rhetoric amongst the Judeans started already in the exile and thus earlier than previously recognized. Third, it indicates that different authors wrote Isa 40-55 and Isa 56-66. Finally, it shows that Isa 40-55 is an authorial or editorial unity and that Isa 56-66 is a composite text.