The BEARdocs digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. https://beardocs.baylor.edu:443/xmlui 2013-06-13T20:50:06Z 2013-06-13T20:50:06Z González, Rudolph D. http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8716 2013-06-12T15:39:55Z 2013-06-12T00:00:00Z

Laying-on of hands in Luke and Acts : theology, ritual, and interpretation. González, Rudolph D. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the ritual practice of laying-on of hands in the Lukan corpus. To achieve a plausible interpretation, the ritual action is investigated from two distinct but complementary disciplines, the theological and the anthropological. While theology is the product of historical grammatical study, anthropology investigates the internal societal factors that are catalytic for the evolution of ritual in religious communal lite. That there is a theology imbedded in the writings of Luke is not questioned. It is the aim of this research, however, to demonstrate that by being attuned to anthropological dimensions a theology which is more sensitive to the original interests of the early church can develop. Six chapters develop the thesis as follows. Chapter one surveys contemporary investigations into Christian hand imposition and discovers that the prevailing approach is to ground it in pagan or regularly in Jewish traditions. The chapter moves forward by proposing a theological/anthropological methodology to pursue a new direction in ritual research.. Chapter two surveys the history 3113 cultural dimensions of hand imposition in Luke's cultural context. The chapter classifies the ritual action into seventeen functional categories. Chapters three and four explore the redactional/theological usage of the laying-on of hands in Luke and Acts respectively. Chapter five applies the ritual categories as defined by Victor W. Tumer to select passages taken from Luke and Acts. The aim of this chapter is to test the adequacy of the concepts of social paradox, lirninality, and communitas as adequate categories for interpreting the evolution of Christian ritual.. The sixth chapter synthesizes the findings and applies the data to a reconstructed first century auditor/reader of Luke and Acts. Christian hand imposition, while forensically similar to Jewish and Gentile practices, should not be misinterpreted as merely a continuation of those traditions. The immediacy of crises unique to messianic Judaism, coupled with its distinctive Christological proclamation suggests the ritual action must be understood uniquely as "Christian. "

2013-06-12T00:00:00Z Mims, Elizabeth http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8715 2013-05-24T22:37:31Z 2013-05-24T00:00:00Z

Awake and Blind: A Novella Mims, Elizabeth In my thesis, a fictional narrative, I have created a fantasy story that explores the philosophies of Descartes, Hobbes, and Plato with regard to the question of reality. Awake and Blind follows Liam through a journey when he wakes to a world where he cannot trust what he sees. He must seek to uncover the source of the illusion and rediscover the truth of reality for the world. In addition to the works of Hobbes, Descartes, and Plato, this story draws upon ideas from many sources, including Utopia, The Prince, 1984, and Tolkien’s On Fairy Stories. My thesis project is centered on the exercise of writing a long piece of fiction, and it also contains an analysis to explain my sources and artistic decisions within the work. Ultimately, within the work, I try to grapple with the concept of interacting with reality and to determine what matters most when we cannot trust anything.

2013-05-24T00:00:00Z Freeman, Amy http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8714 2013-05-24T22:37:06Z 2013-05-24T00:00:00Z

The Ordinary Works of Daily Life in Medieval Spirituality: St. Benedict, Our Daily Work, and Walter Hilton Freeman, Amy This thesis is a study of ordinary work in medieval spirituality and is focused on several texts selected for their continuity of themes: The Rule of St. Benedict (6th century), the Middle English pastoral treatise Our Daily Work, and the Middle English writings of Walter Hilton, namely The Scale of Perfection and Epistle on the Mixed Life. In this thesis, I use the term “ordinary work” to refer to manual labor and deeds of mercy. In all these texts, ordinary work is good not just for the sake of the things it produces, but has intrinsic goodness. First, ordinary work can be offered to God in loving service. The Hebrew concept of avodah, a term for both work and worship, can be seen in the use of the Latin term opus or the Middle English term werke. Second, ordinary work is good for man, serving as a remedy for acedia and helping to cultivate virtue. Finally, for these authors, manual labor and deeds of mercy are an integrated part of a life of prayer. Prayer overflows into all ordinary work of daily life.

2013-05-24T00:00:00Z Haas, Lauren http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8713 2013-05-24T22:36:45Z 2013-05-24T00:00:00Z

A Philosophical Analysis of Petitionary Prayer Haas, Lauren In this paper, I present a philosophical analysis of petitionary prayer, from the perspective of one who engages in petitionary prayer on a regular basis. This paper looks at the basis for petitionary prayer from the Bible and some traditional thoughts and practices associated with it from the church. Primarily, this paper addresses those concerns that are raised against the practice of petitionary prayer. I call these “philosophical problems” with petitionary prayer. I address these three, the problem of free will/divine providence, the problem of hiddenness, and the problem of God’s goodness, all in relation to this practice of petitionary prayer. Through this paper, I hope to show that none of these are problems when addressed from the right context, through the grace of Jesus Christ. It is only by his grace that we can see the perfect light that is revealed in petitionary prayer.

2013-05-24T00:00:00Z