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- PublicationLiturgia Dei: Worshipping the Worshipping God(2024) Couchman, AdamThe task of this thesis is to offer a definition of worship (liturgia Dei) that incorporates the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ, the perichoretic relationship of the Trinity, and the implications of both of those doctrines for the church’s ongoing worship. This will be achieved through an investigation of the worshipping Jesus Christ in the light of the church’s confession that this one person is fully human and fully divine. In addressing this problem this thesis considers the following research questions. How should worship be defined in the light of its performance by Jesus Christ? How is his performance of worship to be understood in the light of the church’s confession that he is both fully divine and fully human? What is revealed about the relationship between the divine and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ when he performs worship? What is revealed about intra-trinitarian relations when he performs worship? How does humanity reflect (imago Dei) the God who worships (liturgia Dei)? In what ways does this investigation impact the church’s performance of worship? It will be shown that worship is eternally taking place between the divine persons of Father, Son, and Mother Spirit. As such, anthropocentric definitions of worship fail to account for this eternal performance. In their place a theocentric definition of worship will be offered; the eternal glorification of God that extends from, and returns to, the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Mother Spirit. The church joins in this worship to, through, and with Jesus Christ.
- PublicationLiturgia Dei: Worshipping the worshipping God(2024) Couchman, AdamThe task of this thesis is to offer a definition of worship (liturgia Dei) that incorporates the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ, the perichoretic relationship of the Trinity, and the implications of both of those doctrines for the church’s ongoing worship.This will be achieved through an investigation of the worshipping Jesus Christ in the light of the church’s confession that this one person is fully human and fully divine. In addressing this problem this thesis considers the following research questions. How should worship be defined in the light of its performance by Jesus Christ? How is his performance of worship to be understood in the light of the church’s confession that he is both fully divine and fully human? What is revealed about the relationship between the divine and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ when he performs worship? What is revealed about intra-trinitarian relations when he performs worship? How does humanity reflect (imago Dei) the God who worships (liturgia Dei)? In what ways does this investigation impact the church’s performance of worship? It will be shown that worship is eternally taking place between the divine persons of Father, Son, and Mother Spirit. As such, anthropocentric definitions of worship fail to account for this eternal performance. In their place a theocentric definition of worship will be offered; the eternal glorification of God that extends from, and returns to, the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Mother Spirit. The church joins in this worship to, through, and with Jesus Christ.
- PublicationEarly Christian Readings of Paul on Moral Regeneration(2022) Rowse, PaulSince 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.
- PublicationAll the Rage: A Practical theological study of how local congregations can care for people who experience a tension between faith and habitual patterns of anger(2024-02) 'Peck, Albert R.'We live in communities where the impact of anger is often experienced. This truism is even more complicated within a local church setting, where anger has traditionally been maligned and silenced. One of the subtle impacts of this view is the silencing of those within local churches who struggle with habitual patterns with anger. They are often marginalised and judged as people of whom to be wary and avoid. It is therefore important that a practical theological study on how local congregations can care for people who experience a tension within their faith and their anger be undertaken. This thesis explores the lives of nine participants from local churches who struggle with habitual patterns with anger, and who volunteered to be involved in a practical theological, qualitative research project. This led to a study on the emotion of anger and its possessive nature, that was then tested through the lens of three selected biblical texts that involve anger.
- PublicationOmri in Context: An Israelite King Between History and Theology(2023-10) 'Brown, Kevin B.'The thesis explores the question of how the contextual approach developed by William Hallo illuminates a text against its wider linguistic, cultural, and archaeological background. The case studies examine the depiction of King Omri in 1 Kgs 16:21–28 in the light of extra-biblical traditions concerning the house of Omri. The research illuminates the similarities and differences between various methodologies, especially the “grammatical-historical method” and “historical criticism.” The thesis shows how textual, cultural, and archaeological data may be synthesised within a “contextual” methodology. To achieve this goal Hallo’s own contextual methodology is examined and modified. A new articulation of this methodology is proposed as a fruitful way to move beyond simplistic methodological contrasts between text and history. Among the key findings, I argue that the theology of 1 Kgs 16:25–26 provides a different perspective on Omri from the more positive tradition in 1 Kgs 16:24 revealed by contextual research.