http://hdl.handle.net/2104/4796 2013-05-19T14:19:45Z http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8602 Metropolitan designs and colonial realitites : a comparison of the work of the Church Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in the West Indies and Sierra Leone, 1785-1835. Welty, Kyle L. This dissertation examines the work of two missionary societies in two fields and explores how these missions differed from the visions formulated in London. The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society and Church Missionary Society were British Evangelical missionary organizations with origins in the late eighteenth century, and they expanded their work throughout the nineteenth century. The societies’ objectives were nearly identical: they hoped to convert “the heathen” and improve the lives of foreign peoples through education. Despite their shared aims and use of similar means, the resulting missions were each unique. Moreover, this was true even of two missions operated by the same society. Particular attention is devoted to the power of West Indian slave societies, which exerted great force on the missionaries operating in the Caribbean. In the context of Sierra Leone abolitionist efforts were prominent, and the campaigns to end the slave trade and slavery shaped the missionary enterprise in West Africa. Through examination of missionary correspondence from the field, this study will document the challenges that diverse colonial contexts presented and examine how missionaries themselves could alter the course of their society’s work in a particular setting. Drawing upon extensive evidence from missionaries’ letters, this dissertation argues that these missions were hybrid ventures, retaining distinctives from the metropolitan center while taking on colonial adaptations. 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8587 In heaven as it is on earth : the development of the interpreting angel motif in biblical literature of the neo-Babylonian, Persian and early Hellenistic periods. Melvin, David Paul. The motif of angelic interpretation of symbolic visions is a major feature of late prophetic and apocalyptic literature, yet the development of this literary motif has remained largely unexplored within biblical scholarship. This study fills this gap in scholarship by tracing the development of the interpreting angel motif from its first appearance in Ezek 40–48 through its maturation in Dan 7–8. Following the introductory chapter which reviews previous scholarship and lays out the goals of this study, each chapter focuses on the development of the interpreting angel motif in a different historical period. In each period, new developments of the motif appear, as angelic interpretation replaces prophecy as the primary means of divine revelation, accompanying the shift from prophetic literature to apocalyptic literature. Each chapter also considers external influences on the development of the interpreting angel motif. These include the mirroring of political intermediaries in the empires of the ancient Near East and a divinatory religious context which emphasized the interpretation of signs and symbols to discern the plans of the gods. Each chapter begins with an overview of the historical context of the period and evidence for imperial administration which relied on intermediaries acting on behalf of the king. Next follows analysis of the primary texts, beginning with a discussion of major historical-critical concerns and proceeding with a detailed analysis of the interpreting angel motif in these texts, noting especially continuities and discontinuities with earlier forms. Examination of extra-biblical parallels and the broader religious context of the period follows, and the chapter concludes with a brief summary of its findings. The final chapter synthesizes the findings of the study and traces the development of the motif. It also notes the role of external influences (imperial administration and divination) on the development of the motif and offers an interpretation of the function of the motif. Finally, it offers areas for further research on the topic and related issues. 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8559 Ad theophilum : a socio-rhetorical reading of Peter in Acts in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis. CroweTipton, Vaughn Eric. This study is an exercise in biblical interpretation that focuses on the concepts of readers and meaning. Through the use of both literary and sociological models this study takes a particular given context for Codex Bezae and reads the manuscript in light of that context with three distinct yet intertwined horizons in view: the innertexture, the intertexture, and the extratexture. The innertexture focuses on the level of the text itself and how the text teaches the authorial audience to read. The intertexture focuses on the use of significant intertexts, progenitors that have both influenced and were adapted by Codex Bezae and the authorial audience. The extratexture focuses on the cultural and social texts -- social norms -- that comprise the baggage the authorial audience brings to the reading process. These three horizons are intertwined to provide a holistic reading that attempts to account for each of these unique levels reading response. After an introductory chapter to explain the purpose, approach, and scope of this study, chapter two develops the areas of the authorial audience's competency into two areas: (1) external knowledge the reader is expected to bring to the text; and (2) internal knowledge the reader gains during the reading process. This chapter then traces the historical economy of knowledge of the authorial audience. Chapter three develops the authorial audience's narrative economy of and concludes with an assessment of the reader and proposal for the exegetical work of this project. Chapters four and five set the reading methodology into practice by examining the major character in the first half of Acts: Peter. These two chapters examine how the authorial audience would respond in a cumulative reading to this significant character and his role in the text given a cumulative reading strategy. Chapter six concludes this project by summarizing the findings of the previous chapters. 2013-04-16T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8520 The characterization of Aaron : threshold encounters in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Buell, Susan Darr. This study presents a reader-constructed portrait of Aaron, the high priest of the ancient Israelite people. The portrait was developed according to the literary theory which proposes that a narrative character is an interdividual defined by the other characters with whom he interacts at the moment of their direct meeting. That point of interaction is designated as a threshold encounter. Therefore, texts for the study were selected based upon Aaron’s engagement in various threshold encounters. These include Exodus 32 (the golden calf incident), Leviticus 10 (the destruction of Nadab and Abihu during the inaugural sacrificial service), Numbers 12 (Miriam’s and Aaron’s challenge to Moses’ authority), and Numbers 20:1-13 (Moses’ disobedience of Yahweh). These four texts were examined from both literary and reader response perspectives. The study concludes that Aaron was a complex interdividual, as revealed through his action and speech in response to Yahweh, his sister Miriam, his brother Moses, and the Israelite people, as well as through contrast with Moses and with his own previous responses. In the narrative of the Pentateuch, Aaron presents as a character who possesses both positive qualities and unfortunate foibles. The study identifies a number of his traits which are consistently displayed across multiple threshold encounters. Additionally, the study concludes that several aspects of Aaron’s character change over the course of the pentateuchal narrative. 2012-11-29T00:00:00Z