Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament) by Subject "Bible -- Hermeneutics"

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    Interaction between scholarly and non-scholarly reading of Genesis 11:1-9 in the South African context
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2006-03) Rathbone, Mark; Bosman, Hendrik; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The interaction between scholarly and non-scholarly readings of Genesis 11:1-9 in the South African context refers to the transformation in biblical hermeneutics from the world of the text to the world of the reader and the post-colonial critique of Western essentialist scholarly modes of reading the Bible. This study explored three essentialist modes of scholarly reading from the South African context that perpetuated imperialism and colonialism: Anglocentric -, Afrikaner - and Anti-colonial modes of reading. Non-scholarly readings of Bible Study Groups, African mythology and artworks of Azaria Mbatha view the text as subject. Non-scholarly readings, from the margin of the South African context, informed by a holistic and interconnected cultural discourse, deconstruct essentialism and constructs responsible readings of the Bible. These readings deconstruct centralistic essentialist discourses and construct a liminal space for new creative and responsible readings of the Bible in the South African context that stimulates healing. The ubuntu reading of Genesis 11:1-9 by Desmond Tutu reflects this. His reading incorporates the African connected reading praxis of non-scholarly readings, from the margin of the 'South' African context, and makes use of scholarly discourse. Tutu's mode of reading leans on Western humanism and ecclesiology that does not follow a critical-holistic cultural discourse. The African Independent Church developed as a reaction to Western ecclesial structures. In the African Independent Church the concept, Moya or Spirit functions as a reading matrix that deconstructs the discriminatory and exclusive forces of essentialist disconnection. The study proposes that a Moya reading is an open-critical and inclusive theological-ethical concept. The interpretative thrust is decolonial, deconstructing essentialism and creating a liminal space, for new responsible readings of Genesis 11:1-9. A Moya reading is holistic and connects people to the land, a perspective that is foreign to essentialist scholarly readings of Genesis 11:1-9. This study contributes to the hermeneutical debate in South Africa, Africa and the global context by emphasising the importance of a continued interaction between scholarly and non-scholarly readings of the Bible from the margin.
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    The Sin of Gibeah? : reading Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 in the context of migration and trauma
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-11-12) Fry, Alexiana Dawn; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores an intertextual connection of the texts Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 based on the phrase “the sin of Gibeah” through the methodological lenses of trauma hermeneutics and migration theory. With particular consideration of the impact of the Judean exile on texts not only in the exilic period, but also post-exilic, I propose in this study that the sin of Gibeah can best be understood as one of Othering. A central argument of this dissertation is that both Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 can be read as stories of migration, as writing impacted by exile, depicting the horrors the community had experienced. In these texts, we find that the literary figures of the bodies of the women Gomer and the nameless Concubine are characters through whom the trauma of migration played out in order to make sense of the senseless for the community in the form of narratives. Yet, from the position of the authorship of both texts, this understanding is not necessarily to be condoned. The sin of Gibeah as Othering demands that the history of exile be told with all truth, with all horror, even as it calls many to account. The importance of these biblical narratives of migration is brought into sharper focus when read also in the context of contemporary narratives of migration. The role of trauma narratives as formative, enabling the re-making experience for both individuals and communities impacted by migrating, manifests in biblical as well as contemporary stories of migration. In exploring the intersection of trauma, migration, and gender in contemporary discussions on migration, specifically in my context of the United States, this study’s understanding of the sin of Gibeah as the sin of Othering continues to point the finger at those in power, asking if we too will bear witness.
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    A Theological interpretation of violence (חָמָס ) in relation to Joshua, Son of Nun : a paradigm for a Christian conflict prevention in Northern Nigeria
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-11) Audu, Bulus Makama; Cezula, Ntozakhe Simon; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a response to ethnic/religious violence that plagues Northern Nigeria. Of even great concern is that this violence is sometimes perpetrated under the banner of faith and God. The study speculates that some of the perpetrators deliberately distort Scriptures to gratify their selfish interests and in the process manipulate unsuspecting believers to assist them in their selfish and cruel interests. However, some may be engaging in these grave acts in the belief that they are being obedient to Scripture and God. This may happen in at least two ways. They may be reading the Scripture literarily without the necessary skills to interpret the Word of God. They may also be the victims of the scrupulous leaders who use the Word of God to attain their selfish and cruel goals. These are the circumstances that motivate this study. In its response, the study proposes a paradigmatic reading of the Scripture. The study acknowledges that the Bible contains different theological approaches to violence. Some texts present violence as a divine instruction and thus portray God as sanctioning violence as a means to enforce obedience to Him. The Book of Joshua is an example of a book that contains such texts. Other texts however, present God as sponsoring rest and peace for both His own people and foreign nations. The Book of Chronicles is an example of such a book. In a situation where the Bible contains both violence orientated texts and peace orientated texts, readers of the Bible find themselves in a situation where they can endorse violence as divine obedience when it suits them and peace as divine obedience when it suits them. This study argues that these texts themselves, in their own contexts, are not in collaboration but in contestation. In its proposal for a paradigmatic reading of the Bible in the context of ethnic/religious context in Northern Nigeria, the study takes note of a few factors. The first one is that ethnicity is a contributory factor in the violence witnessed in Northern Nigeria. The second one is that religious diversity is also a contributory factor when not handled cautiously. In the light of these observation, it becomes imperative to distinguish between an exclusive ethnic/religious theology and an inclusive ethnic/religious theology. For this reason, the study engages in the reading of Joshua 6:1-27 and 1 Chronicles 7:20-29 as two texts representing two different theological perspectives on violence. With the help of two analytical tools, namely, de-ideologisation and Canonization, the study does exegesis of these texts. Specifically, the study investigates a character named Joshua in the two narratives. It examines his role in the occupation of Canaan and interprets that as also evincing an ideological perspective on violence. The study is of the opinion that the canonical presentation of Joshua carries elements serving as model for the people of YHWH to judge and act in their own circumstances. The study continues to evaluate the ideologies discernible in the two presentations of Joshua to confirm whether they are violence orientated or peace orientated. At this point the study examines the Northern Nigerian situation concerning ethnic/religious violence. The study then compares the theologies from Joshua and Chronicles to investigate which is proper to be a biblical paradigm for violent conflict prevention in Northern Nigeria. A peace orientated ideology is a proper paradigm for violent conflict prevention in Northern Nigeria, the study concludes. A paradigmatic approach does not only provide moral/ethical guidance but, additionally, also provides a theological framework to engage with Scripture. Such a framework collaborates with similar biblical theological perspectives and contests with contrasting biblical theological perspectives.
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    Toward an Old Testament theology of light : from physical concept to metaphysical analogy
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Ruark, Joel D.; Jonker, Louis C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The rise of Cognitive Linguistics as an academic discipline in the last fifty years has spawned a new chapter in linguistic approches to biblical theology. This dissertation utilizes the cognitive theories of embodied cognition and conceptual metaphor theory––both of which are foundational to cognitive lexical semantics––to analyze the referential and metaphorical uses of lexical terms for light in Biblical Hebrew and to propose a consistent and coherent cognitive model that fits the textual evidence within the Old Testament. The Old Testament uses the physical concept of light to conceptualize the abstract concepts of both WISDOM and LIFE, with YHWH as the common and determinative conceptual element. Furthermore, the use of both nominal and verbal concepts suggests the cognitive metaphor YHWH IS SELF-GENERATING LIGHT as an operative theological axiom in the ancient Israelite conceptual world underlying the Old Testament text. This dissertation then conducts a typological analysis of the referential and metaphorical use of light in ancient Israelite culture in comparison with other ancient Near Eastern literature and iconography. While numerous conceptual congruities can be seen among the various cultures, many attestations of the metaphorical use of light in the ancient Near Eastern material can be explained via the conceptual metaphor POWER IS RADIANCE, a metaphor conspicuously absent from the Old Testament. Rather, the Old Testament utilizes the metaphors WISDOM IS LIGHT and LIFE IS LIGHT but always avoids the POWER IS RADIANCE metaphor, even when discussing concepts such as lightning or salvation which necessarily involve the expression of divine power. A conceptual analysis of the lexical data in the Old Testament consistently and coherently displays the conceptual metaphor YHWH IS SELF-GENERATING LIGHT as a genuine metaphysical analogy, yielding a cluster of theological concepts. Light theology in the Old Testament is cataphatic, revealing the omni-temporal sovereignty of YHWH. Light theology in the Old Testament is also dialectical, revealing YHWH in his efficience yet concealing YHWH in his essence. The beneficent nature of this efficience in the physical world reveals the fundamental goodness of YHWH. Finally, light theology in the Old Testament heralds the establishment of YHWH's immanent physical presence in the cosmos during the eschatological age, but falls short of expounding either an incarnational revelation of, or a sacramental participation in, YHWH's divine efficience.