School of Graduate Research Student Theses

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1 Corinthians 1-4: A Rhetorical and Social Analysis and its Evaluation from a Korean-Confucian Christian Context
(2009-05-08) Kwon, Oh-Young
This thesis investigates 1 Corinthians 1-4 and argues that a divisive culture of rhetorical and patronal elitism lies behind the schisms identified by Paul. Further, that this culture was influenced by Greco-Roman wisdom literature. Pauline critique of Roman wisdom traditions shapes a critical reflection on similar dynamics amongst 21st Century Korean Christians.
An exploration of the Holistic relationship between grace, truth and love in the fourth Gospel.
(2014-03-08) Nguyen, Toni
This thesis begins with an observation that our understanding of “grace upon grace” and “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” demands revelation beyond human imagination. Grace, as God’s undeserved kindness, speaks of the truth, Jesus Christ, as self-giving love. This is the consistent testimony of Jn. 1:14-18—that grace and truth cohere in the person Jesus Christ. The portrayal is complete, which John then expounds in this completeness. In approaching this thesis, various themes will be examined through a composite interpretive approach, using the works of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean-Luc Marion, and Kelly and Moloney as a premise to engaging those selected dialogues of the Gospel. What is of particular interest in these works is their focus on the whole form of Jesus Christ as God’s demonstrative expression of grace and truth that is engaged at a theological level akin to aesthetics. The beauty of grace and truth is unreservedly given in love but only become tangible in the experience and lives of the beholders of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father.
Contesting public transcripts in Biblical studies: an adventure with Zacchaeus
(2016-01) Storie, Deborah
This thesis investigates interpretive approaches that facilitate responsible readings. Part One explores the worlds behind the text. Part Two examines the worlds of, and in front of, the text. It offers a first-person reading of Luke 19.1-27, surveys pertinent schloarship, and proposes strategies to nurture cultures of transformative reading.
Cosmology and the Cosmic Journey in the Book of Revelation: The Experience of Story-Space and Conflicting Visions of Reality
(2021) Rothman, Joel
Revelation draws the hearer into its story-space, a four-layered cosmos of hyper-heaven, sky-heaven, earth, and abyssal depths. The spatial construction has ideological import: in the conflicted sky-heaven empire is exposed as draconian, thus demanding nonparticipation in its social and economic practices, while the transformative hyper-heaven makes nonparticipation a genuine option.
Curing and Healing: Vital Elements of Catholic Health Care
(2017-11-08) Torres, Eric Manuel
In this research, the significance of curing and healing will be explored with an emphasis on how both are vital to Catholic health care. This essay aims to show that only by embracing both components can health care professionals truly care for the whole person. Moreover, Christian health care professionals ought to follow Christ’s example in order to serve in His mission of caring holistically for those that are ill. As Luke’s account of the Haemorrhoissa (Lk 8:42-48) not only provides a vignette distinguishing between curing and healing, but also an excellent example of how Christ attended to both elements, this essay will interpret this story in order to gain insight into the indispensability of both to whole person Catholic health care. Further, examples extracted form palliative care, an area of health care where curing and healing can be clearly distinguished, will be used to illustrate these elements in practical terms.
Did God not choose the poor? (Jas 2:5): A Preferential Option
(2024-02-15) 'Sullivan, Jeanette M.'
Compelled by a question that commands an affirmative response (Jas 2:5), the Letter of James has an important contribution to make to Catholic social teaching on the preferential option for the poor. Within this teaching, Leo XIII’s (1878–1903) 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum declares an option for the poor, but its expression in terms of preference did not take root until the papacy of John XXIII (1958–1963) when, just prior to Vatican II, he decreed the Church to be the Church of the poor. In the 1960s and 1970s, the preferential option for the poor was embraced by Latin American liberation theology and the Latin American Episcopal Conferences (CELAM). A dialogue with the Vatican opened up and continues today in the teaching of Pope Francis (2013– ). In this respect, the Letter of James has much to offer Catholic social teaching on the preferential option for the poor.
Divine and Roman Warriors: The Roman Imperial Cuirass in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–10
(2020) Janssen, David
This thesis adopts Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation to explore the impact of Paul’s use of armour language in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The approach examines the interaction of visual, cultural and written texts (‘textures’) related to the discourse of 1 Thessalonians 5:1–10. Specific consideration is given to the blending of imagery from Roman Imperial cuirass breastplate statue types and the Divine Warrior motif. The thesis contends that, rather than emphasising eschatological alertness or readiness for cosmic battle, Paul’s transposition of these figures informs the identity and behaviour of the implied audience in a civic context where clear tensions are emerging because of their faithful response to Christ.
Early Christian Readings of Paul on Moral Regeneration
(2022) Rowse, Paul
Since God judges everyone according to their deeds, Paul regards the cultivation of moral conduct as a crucial task. Responding to the scholarly deadlock on whether believers’ ethical capacities are themselves regenerated or simply overlaid with divine power and otherwise unchanged, we engage with Romans 6:1-14 and its direct citations up to the death of Origen, where direct citations are identified by an attribution signal and literality. We ask whether moral regeneration is present in the early readings of Romans 6:1-14. Irenaeus’ three citations argue for the unity of Christ, the salvageability of the flesh, and a distinction between fleshly deeds and the flesh itself. Understanding the Spirit as formative of those whom he indwells, Irenaeus cites Romans 6:4 in order to demonstrate believers’ moral regeneration if they continue in the Spirit. Clement of Alexandria’s four citations are proof-texts against the Basilideans and the Valentinians. Clement’s Apostle signals believers’ exoneration for involuntary misdeeds because he says that they are “under grace”. Tertullian adapts two extended citations to his sympathetic audience in order to argue for the salvageability of the flesh and for the exclusion of recidivist baptized adulterers from the Church. Tertullian’s Apostle expects that all wrongdoing comes to an end with baptism. Origen adopts a voluntarist hermeneutic in his Commentary on Romans against opponents who promoted moral determinism. Thus, we find his strong witness to personal responsibility for moral action. His Commentary also contains his deduction from Romans 6:12 that the desires of the Spirit overlay the desires of sin, which believers still have. Origen’s other works contain proof-texts from our passage which display symbolic readings of “sin” and moral degeneration in recidivists; these too mainly make the case for personal responsibility. Thus, Clement, Tertullian, and Origen witness to perspectival renewal, and Irenaeus and Origen also to moral regeneration.
Escorting Paul and the Other Emissaries of Jesus in Acts: The Significance of the Motif of Escort, Seen through the Lens of a Late First- (Early Second-) Century Mediterranean Cultural Script for Hospitality Conventions
(2016-02) Spalding, Dean
The motif of escort features in many Lukan hospitality scenes, but, heretofore, escort has escaped scholarly attention. In the Book of Acts, Paul, an emissary of Jesus, is often the subject of escorted arrival and escorted departure. This thesis aims to study the motif of escort in Acts in the light of the motif’s appearance in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Retrieval of this background enables the establishment of a cultural script, particularly with respect to a shared understanding of the significance of escorted arrivals and escorted departures in the context of a wider framing of hospitality. The thesis then undertakes a narrative and syn¬chronic reading of Luke’s escort-material in the Gospel and Acts from the perspective of the implied reader who interprets the text through the lens of this cultural script. Finally, the thesis explores the significance of its findings in relation to contentious issues in contemporary Acts scholarship.
Joining the Conversation: An Exegetical Approach to Ascertaining Contextual Meanings for Low-Frequency Lexemes in the Peshitta Gospels as a Proposal to Benefit the Lexicography of the New Testament
(2015) Lewis, Tim
The thesis seeks to ascertain contextual meanings for several low-frequency lexemes in the Peshitta Gospels. It proposes that intratextual exegesis can benefit lexicography, especially in cases where meanings given in current lexicons are unclear in regards to the contexts upon which such meanings are based. An exegetical methodology is developed that defers the study of social backgrounds and instead prioritises narrative context for examining Gospel lexemes. The thesis grew from an evaluation of the ‘convulsive’ meaning given in KPG for the Peal of ܚܒܛ (Mk: 9:18, 20). Twelve low-frequency Syriac lexemes are examined: ܢܳܪܓܳܐ (Mt 3:10//Lk 3:9); ܝܘܽܕ (Mt 5:18); ܣܶܪܛܳܐ (Mt 5:18); ܩܰܛܺܝܢܳܐ (Mt 7:14); ܢܶܩܥܳܐ (Mt 8:20//Lk 9:58); ܡܶܕܪܳܐ (Mt 13:5); Peal of ܫܘܚ (Mt 13:5); Peal of ܥܨܒ (Lk 10:34); Peal of ܚܒܛ (Mk: 9:18, 20); Ethpaal of ܒܥܩ (Mk 9:20); Peal of ܫܚܩ (Mk 9:26; Lk 9:39); and Pael of ܡܥܣ (Lk 9:42).
Luke's Paradise in its Judicial Setting (Lk 23:43)
(2011-03-18) Tucker, Steven
My study begins with “paradise” as it is found in the Lukan Jesus’ promise to the second criminal crucified with him (Lk 23:43). I look at the different associations “paradise” carried in the Septuagint and in Second Temple Judaism, from a royal park to the garden of Eden. Next I concentrate on the immediate context of Luke‘s “paradise,” and suggest that an informal trial and judgment is taking place in the dialogue between the two criminals and Jesus. Finally, I examine Luke‘s passion narrative and Luke-Acts for further signs of conflicting judgment between human beings and God: those whom people reject, God favours. In the end, I suggest that Luke’s thinking on “paradise” coheres with his theology of the divine reversal of unjust human situations.
“Other boats were with him” (Mk 4:36). The radical inclusivity of the Samoan motu o tagata reading of Mark.
(2022-10) 'Saga, Visesio.'
This thesis explores a radically inclusive understanding of the Greek ochlos (‘crowd’) and other characters in Mark’s Gospel. The Samoan translation, motu o tagata, promotes this inclusivity which is qualified only by some opposition to Jesus. Even so, these failures are overturned by the open call for all to repent and faithfully engage the Goodnews.
Overcoming Resistance: The Holy Spirit as Legitimator of Mission in Luke-Acts
(2019) Otobo, Francis
This thesis argues that the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts functions to legitimate the mission to the Gentiles for Jewish followers of Jesus, both those resisting and those open to the world-wide mission. At the same time, Luke connects with Greco-Roman pneumatic experiences to encourage Gentile believers in their acceptance of the faith. Using a narrative approach together with careful exegesis of selected texts, I show that the Spirit is used to address the challenges of ethnic diversity in the implied audience of the Lukan communities — for both the resisting Jewish Christian reader and those from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In so doing, I argue that the presence of the Spirit at key points of the narrative in both the Lukan Gospel and Acts legitimates the mission to the ethnē in contexts where there is ongoing resistance, both for those resisting and those who are being attracted by the signs of the Spirit.
Participation with Christ: Past, Present and Future Aspects of the Believer’s Death and Resurrection with Christ in Romans 6:1-14
(1998-03) Weymouth, Richard John
The thesis explores the motif of death and resurrection with Christ in Romans 6:1-14, Paul’s language, its connection to the redemptive events, to Christian baptism, faith, and ethics, and the interrelationship between its past, present and future tense aspects, concluding that it is essentially participationist in nature.
Potential Barriers to Membership of the Pauline Churches
(2011-05-12) Johns, Reginald B.
This Thesis presents a reconstruction of two of St Paul’s writings, the Letter to Philemon and 1 Corinthians, Chapter 7. Both writings deal with personal inter-relationships relevant to the specific addressees and to their communities. Paul must be heard and understood within his own cultural milieu and the Thesis discusses the socio-cultural characteristics of his and his audience’s society. Honour and Shame, Patronage and Kinship are characteristics discussed in some detail in order to understand how Paul’s preaching may have been received (leading to membership of the Pauline Communities) or rejected. Paul’s advice is sensitive to his audience who are often persons of higher status and who in turn could have been influential within the Churches. Paul does address slaves directly, particularly in 1 Cor. 7 but the Letter to Philemon is a letter on behalf of apparently a common Christian slave to his Christian Slave-owner. It suggests an alternative way of relating to such a person and the slave can be taken as representative of the disadvantaged persons who were in a majority . The advice in the Letter suggests an attitudinal change which would have been seen as a radical departure from the social norm; its influence, however, did survive in the Early Church for a good 200 years!
Priestly Christology and the Gospel of Mark
(2009-05-08) Cheeseman, Mark
The Christology of the Gospel of Mark incorporates a priestly dimension. This has often been neglected due to a bias against priests and a lack of appreciation of the significance of priestly messianism in second temple Judaism. As an investigation into messianic expectations illustrates, there was a substantial ongoing tradition of messianic expectation on which to draw by the first century C.E. Jesus' cleansing of the leper and healing of the paralytic portray him functioning as a priestly figure, first taking the place of the priest in purifying the leper, then functioning as a priestly messianic agent in mediating divine forgiveness. Jesus' time in Jerusalem portrays him as appropriating the role of the existing priesthood as national leaders and teachers. Subsequently, Jesus' appearance before the high priest portrays a stand-off between the existing high priest and Jesus, who claims the high priest's authority.
Reading Revelation as Drama: Reading and Interpreting Revelation through the lens of Greco-Roman Performance
(2018-01) Low, U-Wen
This thesis argues for a reading of Revelation alongside Greco-Roman dramatic performance through three lenses: visual exegesis, performance criticism, and a postcolonial mindset. This approach demonstrates that Revelation satirizes Roman imperial society whilst providing encouragement to its audience. This approach provides a framework for better understanding the text’s allusions and imagery.
Reading the Kingdom Teaching of Matthew from the Context of Myanmar
(2009-05-08) Dah, Ner
Following an analysis of the sectarian tensions within the Matthean community, and the polemics that the Gospel writer employs in response to those tensions, this thesis explores the socio-political context of Myanmar, and illustrates how Jesus’ Kingdom teaching in Matthew’s Gospel is similarly applicable to the persecuted Myanmar Christian community.
Rethinking the Acceptable Year: The Jubilee and the Basileia in Luke 4 and Beyond
(2019) Luthy, Christopher
This dissertation questions the presence of alleged Jubilary motifs in Luke-Acts and argues that such features are better understood within the broader and more explicit tradition of the Basileia of God. Particular attention is given to the Nazareth Pericope (Luke 4:14-30).
Rethinking the Western Non-interpolations: A Case For Luke Re-editing His Gospel
(2018) Capuana, Giuseppe
This thesis presents a new paradigm for understanding the Western non-interpolations. It argues that when Luke originally wrote his Gospel it did not contain 22:19b–20; 24:3b, 6a, 12, 36b, 40, 51b and 52a. However, at a later time, around the time Luke wrote Acts, he returned to his Gospel creating a second edition which contained these readings.

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Browsing School of Graduate Research Student Theses by Subject "B - New Testament"

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