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Title: Apostolic memory leveraged : the development of apostolic identification for purposes of theological validation in the first two centuries of the Church
Contributor: D. William Springer (author), Bruce Guenther (thesis supervisor), Archie Spencer (second reader), Craig Allert (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: This thesis examines apostolic memory and the manner in which these memories were leveraged in the early church. Chapter One provides a summary of the apostolic portrait in the New Testament and charts all references to the twelve among the apostolic fathers, through to Justin and Hegesippus. These writers reveal a view of the apostles distinguished primarily for their honoured role as Christ’s messengers. Chapter Two demonstrates how Irenaeus utilized apostolic memory in such a way that led to an all-encompassing apostolic identity for the church. This development is compared with Tertullian’s ideas, and the comparison reveals a marked difference in emphasis and strategy. In contrast to Irenaeus, Tertullian minimized apostolic referencing and identification, and instead utilized language more dependent on Christocentric identity. These differences are explained in Chapter Three, which argues that the key point of differentiation was the writers’ perspectives on the apostles’ empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
Publication Year: 2014

Title: The Born-again Friar: American Evangelical Appropriations of Saint Francis of Assisi, 1972-2013
Contributor: Paul R. Foth (author), Bruce L. Guenther (thesis supervisor), Robert K. Burkinshaw (second reader), Don M. Lewis (third reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: Beginning in the late twentieth century, some evangelical Protestants in America turned to historic Catholic saints as inspirational exemplars of Christian faith. A surprisingly diverse range of American evangelicals appealed to Saint Francis of Assisi because he was perceived as a quintessentially authentic Christian. Saint Francis provided historical justification for some of these evangelicals’ own ideals of Christian discipleship, and served as an example for inspiration and emulation as they navigated contemporary American culture and the evolving evangelical movement. This thesis examines a range of American evangelical appropriations of Saint Francis of Assisi from 1972 to 2013, focusing on several sub-groups or movements within American evangelicalism. This examination of the evangelical reception of Saint Francis of Assisi contributes to a deeper understanding of evangelical Protestant interactions with Catholic spirituality, while also illuminating changing evangelical conceptions of what constitutes true Christian faith.
Publication Year: 2019

Title: Discerning Between True and False Prophets in Jeremiah
Contributor: Janick Fortier (author), Andrew Krause (thesis supervisor), Robert J. V. Hiebert (second reader), Lissa M. Wray Beal (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: How does one differentiate between true and false prophets? The Bible gives numerous criteria for such discernment, but biblical scholars have long recognized the challenge to their applicability. Focusing on the book of Jeremiah, my investigation leads me toward a clearer understanding of what constitute a true prophet and a list of criteria on how to distinguish them from false prophets. My criteria bring attention primarily to the person and the message of the prophet. These criteria do not eliminate all doubts for all prophetic claims, but I argue that they prove to be useful enough to inspire confidence for the assessment of prophets. It is my contention that complexity and difficulties should not lead one to conclude that prophetic discernment is impossible. Like in many more areas, discernment criteria expect the use of prudence and wisdom in their application.
Publication Year: 2022

Title: How a story means : a narrative linguistic reading of Exodus 2-4
Contributor: Douglas Dunbar (author), Robert Hiebert (thesis supervisor), Larry Perkins (second reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution), Dirk Büchner (external examiner)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: Well-written narratives communicate more than information. What a story communicates is as important as how the story communicates. The narrative flow of a story engages the reader in the action. Narrative conventions assist the reader in connecting prior knowledge or experience with the story. Authors also make linguistic decisions as to how the story is conveyed. The syntax of clauses, sentences, paragraphs and whole documents conveys the story to the reader in expected, and at times unexpected, ways. This study merges narrative and text-linguistic exegetical methods in the reading of Exodus 2-4. Text-linguistics, the primary method employed, examines the syntax of the story in an effort to understand how the language has been employed in the communicative act. These observations are then combined with narrative observations: characterization, plot, type-scenes, and connections with other stories within the same work, in this case the Pentateuch.
Publication Year: 2015

Title: The "Law of the Land" in the Land of Lagides: A Comparative Analysis of Exodus 21:1-32
Contributor: Joel F. Korytko (author), Larry J. Perkins (thesis supervisor), Robert J. V. Hiebert (second reader), Dirk Büchner (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: Septuagint Exodus has long been recognized as an outlier when it comes to the general rigidity and stereotypical translation practices found in other books within the LXX corpus. The general freedom exhibited by the translator, though expressed within careful limits, is well-documented when it comes to grammatical, syntactical, and lexicographical evaluations. This thesis, while engaging in the descriptive analysis of these topics, is also directed towards a new type of synthesis: a comparison of the translation with Ptolemaic legal norms. It is due to the idiosyncrasies and anomalies arising from a translation-technical analysis that the question is asked, “Could these differences be accounted for by consulting Greek legal and societal standards?” With respect to Exodus 21.1-32, the answer in many cases is, “Yes.” This study demarcates these potential influences on a verse by verse basis after briefly identifying the broader legal structures and forces at play in Ptolemaic Egypt.
Publication Year: 2018

Title: The significance of Karl Barth’s conception of petitionary prayer as divine–human correspondence in church dogmatics, iv/4 and the Christian life: cd, iv/4: lecture fragments
Contributor: Suzette Benjamin (author), Archibald Spencer (thesis supervisor), Ken Radant (second reader), Ross Hastings (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: Karl Barth claims in Church Dogmatics that calling upon God as Father in prayer (invocation) is exemplary human action. Barth’s treatment of prayer in this way provides a different vantage point on the topic of prayer than is often studied in contemporary Christian scholarship, where Christian prayer is studied to establish its devotional or community value. Barth’s presentation of prayer is worth studying because it reveals prayer as the vehicle through which humans learn about themselves and about God. Moreover, prayer reveals God’s divine nature as He connects with the Christian pray-er. Barth calls this relationship between God and the Christian divine–human correspondence. My focus is to explore Barth’s theology to determine the significance of prayer in the context of divine–human correspondence and then to relate it to prayer in everyday Christian life. I conclude that prayer, as effective human action, is inherent to human correspondence with God.
Publication Year: 2016

Title: TERTULLIAN’S THEOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS: TOWARDS IDENTIFYING TERTULLIAN'S PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION
Contributor: Rob AJ Blazecka (author), Archie Spencer (thesis supervisor), Bruce Guenther (second reader), Craig Allert (third reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: This thesis is an attempt to articulate Tertullian’s principles of hermeneutics. It gathers relevant statements from across his recognized works, and attempts to synthesize his thought on hermeneutics. What emerges are eight principles that determine his Scriptural interpretation. In the first chapter, Tertullian’s treatises are placed in the literary context of classical rhetoric, and an argument is advanced that Tertullian took much influence from the rhetorical tradition, but does not uniformly conform to exact parameters of Ciceronian rhetoric. Rather, Tertullian is an original writer who synthesized classical rhetoric with the literary structures of the Scriptural canon as he saw it. The second chapter explores Tertullian’s view of the Scriptures, arguing that he held to a unified canon of writings that he understood to be God’s word. The third chapter is the mainstay of this thesis, and argues that many of Tertullian’s treatises are best read as a unified theological project. It is argued that many of his writings evince an effort on Tertullian’s part to apply hermeneutic principles to an array of theological topics, and thus may profitably be read as a concentrated literary effort in hermeneutics. Lastly, an attempt to state his hermeneutics in eight principles are explained and demonstrated.
Publication Year: 2020

Title: Very god, very man : a theological exploration of Karl Barth’s christological anthropology
Contributor: Tyler J. R. Harper (author), Archie Spencer (thesis supervisor), Kenneth Radant (second reader), Ross Hastings (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: In opposition to the historical context of twentieth-century human centered religion, Karl Barth argues for a theologically based anthropology, fixing human self-knowledge on divine revelation and so constructing his understanding of humanity from within his Christology. In founding his concept of humanity on the reality of Christ, Barth is able to avoid the twin pitfalls of optimistic and pessimistic descriptions of humanity in the surrounding zeitgeist. Barth’s anthropology depicts the existence of true humanity as it is only made possible and represented by the person of Jesus Christ, who is simultaneously God for humanity and humanity for God. For Barth, this is humankind as it was created to be. This thesis examines Barth’s corpus to answer the question: Does a coherent theological treatment of humanity exist throughout Barth’s corpus, as it is grounded in the person of Jesus Christ?
Publication Year: 2015

Title: Was Jesus a Mythical Figure? Responding to the Charge that Jesus of Nazareth Never Existed
Contributor: Chris H. Christiansen (author), Paul Chamberlain (thesis supervisor), Kent Clarke (external examiner), Brian Rapske (second reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine and refute the arguments made by mythicists, who deny the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth. It begins by investigating the historical development of myth. Next, it explores the history of mythicism since its inception in the eighteenth century. The penultimate chapter outlines the main criticisms that mythicists level against the Gospels; the final chapter responds to these arguments. There are two major findings of this thesis. First, the mythicists’ standard for evidence is not applied consistently. Second, they fail to show why their interpretations of the available data are better than more traditional approaches. The conclusion is that they do not provide sufficient reasons for doubting the existence of Jesus as a human in history.
Publication Year: 2020

Title: Writings of an ancient poet : a theological composition of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens’ soteriology as depicted in his Liber Cathemerinon
Contributor: Erika M. McAuley (author), Archie Spencer (thesis supervisor), Bruce Guenther (second reader), Christopher Morrissey (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Theological Studies
Abstract: By his poetic declarations concerning Jesus Christ, Prudentius appeals to some as a flagship for fourth-century Nicene theology. This thesis investigates the poet’s concept of salvation to determine its congruity with Nicaea’s underlying soteriology. To that end, Athanasius’ Against the Gentiles-On the Incarnation and Prudentius’ Liber Cathemerinon are read in juxtaposition, drawing out and comparing theological themes. Prudentius exhibits an inherent fixation on the problem of sin and its effect on salvation. This diminishes the significance and hope offered by the Incarnation. Yet, Athanasius purports that Nicaea’s Christological proclamations are founded on God’s saving action in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Therefore, while the Christological confessions of Nicaea appear to prefigure the theology of Prudentius in his pastiche, Liber Cathemerinon, a closer analysis reveals that his conception of salvation is inconsistent with the underlying soteriological impetus of Nicene theology.
Publication Year: 2013

Title: An Analysis of the Ongoing Validity of the Documentary Hypothesis for Final Form Interpretation: The Portrayal of Outsiders in the Abrahamic Narratives as a Case Study
Contributor: Daniel E. Hawkins (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Andrew B. Perrin (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: This thesis will investigate three inter-connected questions. First, how are outsiders portrayed in the Abrahamic narratives? Secondly, is the portrayal of outsiders different between the different sources of Genesis, and, if so, what does the possible historical context of each source contribute to an understanding of why these differences exist? This in turn will contribute to the larger and third question: does the Documentary Hypothesis specifically, and diachronic analysis in general, have sufficient value for understanding the text as it now stands? It will be shown that while the Documentary Hypothesis involves some speculation, it offers a more coherent framework through which one can interpret and understand many of the complexities that arise in a reading of the Pentateuch. As such, diachronic analysis proves to be an invaluable tool for interpreting the final form of Genesis, if one is aware of its limitations.
Publication Year: 2020

Title: Cinematic Childhood(s) and Imag(in)ing the Boy Jesus: Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Late Twentieth-Century Film
Contributor: James Magee (author), Dirk Büchner (thesis supervisor), Adele Reinhartz (external examiner), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: Despite sustained academic examinations of Jesus in film over the past couple of decades, as well as biblical scholars’ multidisciplinary work in the areas of children’s and childhood studies, the cinematic boy Jesus has received little attention. This thesis begins to fill the lacuna of scholarly explorations into cinematic portrayals of Jesus as a child by analyzing two adaptations of Luke’s story of the twelve-year-old Jesus in late twentieth-century film. Using methods of historical and narrative criticism tailored to the study of film, I situate the made-for-television movies Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and Jesus (2000) within the trajectories of both Jesus films and depictions of juvenile masculinity in cinema, as well as within their respective social, cultural and historical contexts. I demonstrate how these movie sequences are negotiations by their filmmakers between theological and historical concerns that reflect contemporary ideas about children and particular idealizations about boyhood.
Publication Year: 2019

Title: Conceptualizing Historical Periodization in the Apocalypse : The Canonical Shaping of the Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns
Contributor: Omele Burrell (author), Kent Clarke (thesis supervisor), Tony Cummins (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: The academic study of the seven-headed sea beast symbolism in the Apocalypse has proceeded along contemporary historical lines since the modern period. This approach seeks to locate the meaning of this symbolic reference within the historical context from which the book derives. While it remains true that careful historical analysis has advanced our understanding of the world in which the seer of Patmos lived and wrote, a strictly contemporary historical focus threatens to confine the significance of this apocalyptic symbol to the environs of the first century. In seeking to recover the theological and contemporary relevance of this symbol as a critique of imperial ambitions, this thesis argues for a reading strategy which locates the Book of Revelation foremost in the context of "canon." Such a reading stance illuminates the meaning of the symbolic beast in relationship to the deep intertextual and theological history which the final book of the Bible shares with the canonical corpus of Christian Scriptures.
Publication Year: 2015

Title: A Critical Edition of Codex 0150 Including Its Textual and Reception History
Contributor: Matthew J Hama (author), Kent D Clarke (thesis supervisor), Dirk L Büchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: Codex 0150 is an unpublished New Testament manuscript that has received minimal scholarly attention since its discovery. This critical edition offers a conservative transcription of 0150 based upon high resolution digital images provided by the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM). The transcription includes a comprehensive analysis of variants, which occur when 0150 is read against both the NA28 and the RP versions of the Greek New Testament. This edition critically engages background information of the manuscript such as date, provenance, and content, while also providing a close examination of scribal features present in 0150. Additionally, this work maximizes digital imaging technology to better understand the contents of the manuscript, its author, and the ancient world from which it arose. This edition provides access to an important piece within the New Testament manuscript tradition, and offers a rich foundation on which future scholarship can build.
Publication Year: 2017

Title: Employing Deuteronomy: an Analysis of the Quotations and Allusions to Deuteronomy in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Contributor: Joshua M. Matson (author), Martin G. Abegg, Jr. (thesis supervisor), Andrew Perrin (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: The study of quotations and allusions to the Hebrew Bible in religious texts has only recently began to be methodically approached and analyzed. Although previous studies on quotations and allusions to the Hebrew Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls are amply available concerning individual manuscripts, no such study has sought to approach the subject from a perspective of universality. This study seeks to identify and analyze universal conclusions that have been obtained by a study of the quotations and allusions to Deuteronomy in all of the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts. This is accomplished through an in-depth study of the history of studies on quotations and allusions in religious texts, a detailed explanation of the methodology utilized in this study, and an analysis of fifteen universal conclusions that are exhibited by the authors/scribes of the Dead Sea Scrolls when quoting or alluding to the Deuteronomy text of the Hebrew Bible.
Publication Year: 2015

Title: The exegetical interpretation of Leviticus 19:1-18 and the restoration of the Jewish community in the post-exilic period
Contributor: BaeSick P. Choi (author), Dirk Büchner (thesis supervisor), Craig Broyles (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: The goal of this thesis to look at the functions of the commands and laws in Leviticus 19:1-8 as follows: (1) the function of Leviticus 19: 1-18 and the Holiness Code; (2) Leviticus 19:1-18 as an aid to the restoration of Jewish Community. (3) The Prophet Ezekiel's understanding of the Holiness Code and possible connections to Leviticus 19:1-18. The thesis is divided into sections as follows: Chapter 1 will present an exegesis of Leviticus 19:1-18. The relationship between these two sources will be discussed in chapters 1 and 2 in order to show the function of Leviticus 19 in relation to the other Pentateuchal sources. Chapter 2 will examine the life of the Jews in the exilic. Chapter 3 will present the ideas in Leviticus 19 against life in the exile. The Book of Ezekiel with its close relationship to H will also be brought into focus.
Publication Year: 2013

Title: Incorporating syntax into theories of textual transmission : preliminary studies in the Judaean desert Isaiah scrolls and fragments
Contributor: James Tucker (author), Martin Abegg (thesis supervisor), Dirk Büchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: Prior to the discovery of the Qumran and Judaean Desert scrolls and fragments, text-critical scholars conducted their investigation of textual variation by means of manuscript stemma, among which ! and its associated scribal school was the golden rule. With nearly seventy years of research now complete, scholars have emended their methodological framework to account for variation by means of the scribal practices of the Second Temple era. To analyze textual variation vis-à-vis scribal practices and approaches has required that scholars incorporate historical linguistics into existing philological methods. The linguistic categories of orthography, phonology, and morphology have received a significant amount attention, mostly in Emanuel Tov's Non-Aligned theory. However, syntax has received little attention. To test the hypothesis that syntax should likewise be incorporated into transmission theory methodology, several case studies from the Judaean Desert Isaiah corpus are presented. The conclusion of the present study affirms that syntax offers a viable method to account for the extant readings witnessed in the Judaean Desert Isaiah corpus.
Publication Year: 2014

Title: Jewish monotheism : the exclusivity of Yahweh in Persian period Yehud (539-333 BCE)
Contributor: Abel Sitali (author), Kent Clarke (thesis supervisor), Dirk Buchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: Studies about the origin of monotheism—the belief in one god while denying the existence of all others, have continued to be a matter of debate among Hebrew Bible scholars. The debate has often fallen into two contrasting categories. On the one hand, there are those who argue for an early origin in which it is posited that monotheism must have begun somewhere between the time of Moses and the monarchical period. On the other hand, others have argued for a late date which stretches from the exilic period to the Persian period. In spite of the different explanations given by the proponents of early monotheism, this thesis builds on the hypothesis that exclusive monotheism was only realized during the Persian period. The monotheistic rhetoric that characterized the message of Deutero-Isaiah, only came to be put into practice by the confessional community of faith among the returning exiles in Yehud.
Publication Year: 2014

Title: Memories of Balaam: Translatability of a Religious Specialist in Ancient Israel
Contributor: Ryan D. Schroeder (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Dirk Büchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: Scholars have employed the biblical Balaam traditions both in the defense of and in opposition to Jan Assmann’s assertion that early Israel rejected cross-cultural religious translatability. The Hebrew Bible’s diverse portrayals of Balaam have long stimulated scholarly, literary-critical analysis. Also, the Deir ʿAlla inscription provides an intriguing extra-biblical glimpse of this enigmatic character. In this study, I discern how these early depictions of Balaam reflect socially shaped and shared memories of Balaam as a foreign religious specialist who participated in Israel’s past. I argue that early memories of Balaam suggest his warm reception among Yhwh worshipping Israelites in spite of his foreign status. However, later guardians of Israel’s written traditions came to remember and write about Balaam as a diviner whose role in Israel’s past primarily served to demonstrate the dangers of non-Israelites and their abominable religious practices.
Publication Year: 2015

Title: The Messiah and Eschatology in the Psalms of Solomon
Contributor: Scott Reynolds (author), na na (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Biblical Studies
Abstract: The central purpose of this thesis is to read the Psalms of Solomon as a literary and theological whole while considering the particular historical and theological milieu in which they were written. My reading of the Psalms of Solomon will demonstrate that, in these poems, the Messiah is expected to be a Davidic monarch who will restore the righteous to their appropriate position under the rule of YHWH with a decisive victory that will include the ingathering of the exiles in the penultimate period of history and an everlasting theocratic peace. I will further demonstrate that the writers of these psalms came to this conclusion through a careful rereading of their scriptural traditions based on their current historical circumstances. Connections will be drawn between this understanding of the Messiah’s eschatological role and the role of messianic figures in the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as messianic interpretations in the Septuagint.
Publication Year: 2016