Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology, 2020, School of Theology

The unique and repeated statement that the “Messiah must suffer according to the Scriptures” in Luke-Acts is an unsolved mystery. There are no specific references to which Scriptures are being fulfilled when this statement is made. The purpose of this study is to explore the internal evidence in Luke-Acts for the Scriptures used to support this statement. This is accomplished through the application of an intertextual method. Three proposed systems which scholars have investigated are explored: first, the Suffering Servant in Isaiah; second, the suffering prophets of Israel and the prophet-like-Moses of Deuteronomy 18; third, the righteous sufferer in the Psalms, who is assumed to be royal David. The project concludes that all three of these motifs can be understood as present in a significant way in Luke-Acts, each with its own particular usage.

Committee: Timothy Schehr Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Biblical Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2008, English (Arts and Sciences)

This dissertation mainly consists of a modernized edition of John Milton's Paradise Lost that is abundantly annotated with Biblical references. The editorial preface outlines the methods used for arriving at these annotations, the rationale for editorial decisions, and a discussion of the Biblical translations consulted. Lastly, this work includes a critical essay that engages how Milton's choices between various translations of the Bible and his depiction of the Holy Spirit in Paradise Lost reveal his disposition toward the Trinity doctrine.

Committee: Andrew Escobedo PhD (Committee Chair); Beth Quitslund PhD (Committee Member); Jeremy Webster PhD (Committee Member); Robert Ingram PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Bible; Clergy; English literature; History; Judaic Studies; Language; Language Arts; Literature; Philosophy; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History; Theology

Master of Arts in Theology, Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology, 2022, School of Theology

In this thesis, I propose that the synthetic thread of Balthasar's theological trilogy is his understanding of the apocalyptic. The problem that I am trying to tackle is that within such a massive body of work, it is easy to lose hold of Balthasar's project. Many scholars have proposed ways of summarizing, synthesizing, and analyzing Balthasar's thought (chapter 1), but none address the specifically biblical and thus eidetic, historical, and noetic way that Balthasar's project concretely comes together. My methodology, then, is aporetic: responding to the gap in scholarship, I propose that it is precisely the apocalyptic that holds image and history in Balthasar in their proper tension with each other and with concept in his thought (chapter 2). The aporetic methodology continues, though, since my examination of Balthasar's apocalyptic synthesis and retrieval raises questions about his definition of the apocalyptic and his relationship with biblical studies. In response to this gap, I articulate Balthasar's specific definition of apocalyptic as imminent expectation of the coming of the kingdom of God while I also point toward Balthasar's own dissatisfaction with the apocalyptic in biblical studies as he reaches out for a more Johannine apocalyptic (chapter 3). I conclude that Balthasar's thought is synthesized by an understanding of the apocalyptic which preserves the horizontal and vertical tension of salvation history as it unites within itself the perennial importance of image and drama, but Balthasar's own understanding of the apocalyptic is more substantially informed by his reading of John's Apocalypse rather than biblical studies. I end by gesturing towards a continued rapprochement between Balthasar and the ‘new perspective on apocalyptic' begun by Christopher Rowland, championed by Crispin Fletcher-Louis, and centered around the open heaven and the Temple: each side could benefit substantially from the other.

Committee: Alan Mostrom Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Bible; Biblical Studies; Philosophy; Religion; Theology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

This dissertation assesses biblical prophets' claims to possess access to suprahuman knowledge. A common modern scholarly construct of biblical prophecy holds that prophets were primarily social critics who denounced social injustice and exhorted repentance. The problem with that construct is not that it acknowledges prophets as decrying social ills and admonishing repentance, but that the construct marginalizes prophets' alleged suprahuman knowledge to the function of social criticism. A close analysis of the prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible, as provided herein, reveals that the modern construct has inverted the primary focus of the ancient texts. Rather than present the prophets as primarily social critics who denounce social injustice and exhort repentance, the biblical authors principally emphasized the prophets as suprahuman knowledge specialists who occasionally decried social ills and preached repentance. The introductory chapter demonstrates the prevalence of the modern scholarly construct by citing numerous statements by scholars who explicitly marginalize biblical claims that prophets possessed access to suprahuman knowledge in favor of interpreting prophets as social critics denouncing social ills and exhorting repentance. Chapter two provides a history of scholarship from the Dead Sea Scrolls through the twentieth century that establishes the origin of the modern construct as a product of the nineteenth century. Prior to the nineteenth century, exegetes never understood prophetic claims of suprahuman knowledge as subordinate to issues of social justice and repentance. In chapter three, I expose how biblical prophetic texts only occasionally depicted the prophets as social critics. Even in cases where the prophets were portrayed as decrying social injustice or exhorting repentance, the authors paired those statements with claims of prophets announcing information beyond normal human ken. Whereas relatively few prophetic texts paint the prophets as (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Samuel Meier (Advisor); Daniel Frank (Committee Member); Michael Swartz (Committee Member) Subjects: Ancient History; Bible; Biblical Studies; Near Eastern Studies; Religion; Religious History; Theology

Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.), University of Dayton, 2017, International Marian Research Institute

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Committee: Bertrand Buby S.M. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Religion; Theology

Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), University of Dayton, 2005, International Marian Research Institute

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Committee: Bertrand Buby S.M. (Advisor) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Theology

Undergraduate Honors Program, Malone University, 2015, Honors Thesis

This paper focuses on the changes Malone went through between 1966-1971. At that time, Christian colleges throughout the nation were deeply wrestling with social upheaval, and many institutions decided to become secular. Then-president Everett Cattell worked with current and prospective students, faculty and staff, and alumni and parents to gather opinions to determine exactly what constituents were looking for in a Christian college. The five years of efforts culminated primarily in removing a single sentence in the student handbook that made reference to students abiding by all policies whether they were commuting or living on campus. Although the change was technically minor, it had major ramifications for the Malone community.

Committee: Amy M. Yuncker (Advisor); Diane Chambers PhD. (Committee Member); Malcolm Gold PhD. (Committee Member); Jacalynn Welling PhD. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Religious Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Theatre and Film

This dissertation treats dramatic representations of biblical women by women that have emerged in the last century within milieus informed by emerging and shifting feminisms. I begin my study with proto-feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and then trace a genealogy of the dramatization of biblical women during twentieth-century American feminisms through the works of female artists. These performers and playwrights include Salome dancers, Florence Kiper Frank, Lorraine Hansberry, Marsha Norman, Madonna, and others. The goal of my project is to argue that theatre and performance provide what feminist theologian Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza describes as a “hermeneutics of creative imagination and ritualization” that “retells biblical stories and celebrates our foresisters in a feminist key.” Feminist religious scholars like Fiorenza, as well as feminists such as Helene Cixous and artists such as Sandra Cisneros, have urged similar re-visionings of biblical women towards feminists ends. These projects, however, tend to privilege critical and non-dramatic texts, particularly the creative writings of contemporary women that endeavor to rewrite biblical women through a feminist perspective. Marjorie Procter-Smith, a scholar of feminist liturgy, ritual studies, and performance theory, cites the need for historical reconstruction, but that which “involves not only remembering with the mind but also remembering with the body.” While Fiorenza and Procter-Smith do not extend their claims to include drama in the reconstruction of feminine memory, the goal of my research is to argue that theatre and performance fulfill this type of hermeneutic. My project asks “Does, or how does, theatre and performance provide an embodied ‘creative and imaginative hermeneutic' to reclaim and reshape feminine religious and social identity?”

Committee: Scott Magelssen Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jonathan Chambers Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lesa Lockford Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susana Peña Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Theater Studies

Master of Humanities (MHum), Wright State University, 2013, Humanities

This analysis responds to an ongoing debate between feminist and traditional readings of sexually violent (SV) metaphors in the prophetic texts of Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the New Testament book of Revelation. Whereas feminist scholars have often argued that such metaphors are built upon the exploitation of women's sexuality, traditionalist scholars have insisted that the metaphors are merely literary devices that should only be read within their historical and literary contexts. Taking a moderate position, this analysis uses the cognitive metaphor theory to explain that the SV metaphors depend on cognitive associations of dangerous feminine sexuality to relate to historically-specific concerns of the original authors and audiences. This analysis then examines said historically-specific concerns to reveal the literary function of the metaphors in their original contexts. Finally, this analysis closes by considering current sociopsychological concerns that cause contemporary society to continue relying on the same cognitive associations of dangerous feminine sexuality as seen the SV metaphors.

Committee: David Barr Ph.D (Committee Chair); Mark Verman Ph.D (Committee Member); Andrea Harris M.A. (Committee Member); Ava Chamberlain Ph.D (Advisor) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Religion; Womens Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2023, English

Zora Neale Hurston is an African-American writer, anthropologist, and ethnographer of the Harlem Renaissance. She is distinguished for documenting and celebrating the religions of African Americans in the South. In this study, the author argues that Hurston represents the practiced religions in Southern African-American communities in Jonah's Gourd Vine and Moses, Man of the Mountain while noticeably omitting Islam, despite the fact that Islam predominated in more Northern African-American Communities as a reclaimed religious history and practice. Hurston's exclusion prompts inquiries into the history of Islamic erasures in Southern African-American communities and introduces ambiguity in interpreting the metaphors found in Jonah's Gourd Vine because of the differences between the Biblical and Quranic narratives surrounding the figure of Jonah. The author concludes that Hurston omits Islam because it was not noticeably practiced in the South among the African-American community. Finally, the author argues that Muslim readers must understand the Biblical Jonah to understand the metaphorical meanings of the vine relative to the protagonist John Buddy Pearson in Hurston's Jonah's Gourd Vine.

Committee: Crystal B. Lake Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Andrew Strombeck Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shengrong Cai Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Literature; Religion; Religious History; Spirituality

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1966, English

Committee: Norbert F. O'Donnell (Advisor) Subjects: Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1963, Psychology

Committee: Robert M. Guion (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology; Religion

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1961, Communication Studies

Committee: Duane E. Tucker (Advisor) Subjects: Communication; Religion

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2021, Theology

This dissertation is an historical study of the Jesus People Movement (JPM) in central Ohio. At present, two of these groups exist as megachurches in Columbus, OH. Each would consider themselves as something other than fundamentalist. Their story owes its importance, in part, to their strong connection to evangelical leaders previously associated with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). This connection extends the narrative outside of Ohio to the West Coast. These mentors had set up a network of JPM experiments including alternative seminary, experimental forms of local church polity and community, other JPM groups (including the Christian World Liberation Front in Berkeley, CA), and experiments in communal living. In other words, this dissertation provides a helpful case study for answering an historically contested question surrounding the JPM: Was it anything new, or were the changes cosmetic? To be sure, these groups believed they were leaving fundamentalism behind, but it proved more difficult to escape than imagined. Three streams that run through evangelicalism are considered. The first stream is the belief in the authority, inerrancy, and the perspicuity of the Bible. It is accompanied by confidence in one's ability to come to a functionally objective, correct interpretation and application of the Bible, both for use in formulating propositional truth and making an application to individuals' lives. This flows into a second stream: restorationism. In this context, it attempts to restore what is assumed to be an errant Christian Church to Jesus' original intent. The groups in this dissertation began with a specific brand of restorationism found in Watchman Nee's writings. Third, the “subjective-experiential” stream flows through the Protestant principle of the “priesthood of all believers,” or the idea that Christians can have a personal and direct encounter with God in which they receive guidance. These events happen in the context of the Charismatic Renew (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Trollinger (Committee Chair); Inglis John (Committee Member); Kallenberg Brad (Committee Member); Balmer Randall (Committee Member); Smith Anthony (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Religion; Religious History; Theology

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2020, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to create a biblical theological resource that provides a plausible interpretation of Scripture about eternal punishment as an alternative to the Augustinian viewpoint which has prevailed in the Western Church since the sixth century. God wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim 2:3-4). Still, some people will go to eternal punishment (Matt 25:46). Both statements are true. The Greek word aionios, often translated eternal, can mean age or eon. Therefore, it is plausible that God can purify and save people in the afterlife. In a survey, mainline Protestant pastors agreed with this interpretation, whereas certain other pastors disagreed.

Committee: Russell Morton Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Bible; Biblical Studies; Religion

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Greek and Latin

This dissertation explores myths from cultures of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean that depict gods performing sacrifice and gods as the victims of sacrifice. The author investigates how the motif of divine sacrifice or ritualized deities is connected to aitiologies of sacrifice and the typology of dying and rising gods. The author situates the myths within a historical framework of cultural exchange in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean to show how different cultures in contact adapted and creatively reworked myths about gods involved in sacrifice. The author begins with a new reading of the Mesopotamian story of Atrahasis and shows through an analysis of Mesopotamian ritual texts that the slaughter of the god Ilawela in Atrahasis should be interpreted as the first sacrifice, which results in the creation of humans who then provide offerings to the gods. The author then uses the Hebrew Bible as a case study to show how the theme of sacrifice and anthropogeny was adapted by a neighboring culture. Then, with a close reading of Hesiod's myth of Prometheus and Pandora and the Greek story of the flood preserved by Pseudo-Apollodoros, the author argues that Greek authors borrowed the Mesopotamian motif of sacrifice and anthropogeny and adapted it to fit Greek theology. Next, in an investigation of the fragmentary Phoenician myth of Melqart, the author offers a new reading of the myth about the attempted sacrifice of Herakles recorded by Herodotos and argues that the historian preserves a Greek adaptation of the myth of the sacrifice of Melqart, who was syncretized with Herakles by the fifth-century BCE. The author then reads the Phoenician myth of the sacrifice of the infant god Ieoud, preserved by the Roman period author Philo of Byblos, as an adaptation of the pattern of a dying and rising god known from the Ugaritic myth of Baal, the historical antecedent of Melqart. Accordingly, the author shows how Philo's myth of Ieoud provides crucial information for reconst (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolina López-Ruiz (Advisor); Fritz Graf (Committee Member); Sam Meier (Committee Member) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Classical Studies; Near Eastern Studies

BA, Oberlin College, 2019, Religion

This capstone thesis examines the human-nature relationship in the Genesis primeval history (Gen. 1-11) and compares it to the human-nature relationship in the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish, Atrahasis, and Epic of Gilgamesh myths. Despite common threads running in the two sources of mythology, I argue that Genesis is the only text that portrays humans in a religiously and royally authoritative position that includes responsibility for nature. To clarify, modern Jewish or Christian thought on Genesis in relation to the environment is not the focus of this study. Instead, this study examines Gen. 1-11 in the context of the ancient Near East, millennia before modern anthropogenic environmental issues existed. The primary sources in each section are incorporated by first focusing on the biblical episode in question and then considering the episode in relation to the Mesopotamian myths. This comparative approach reveals that although Gen. 1-11 has strong Mesopotamian parallels, it fundamentally differs from its Mesopotamian counterparts because it gives humans a degree of environmental responsibility.

Committee: Cynthia R. Chapman (Advisor); Sam Berrin Shonkoff (Committee Member); Joyce Babyak (Committee Member) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Environmental Studies; Near Eastern Studies

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2018, English

The goal of this collection is to complicate the dialogues of womanhood. The collection of poems combines a poetic perspective of womanhood with that of biblical woman, accompanied by a critical introduction that looks at the way contemporary writing and study categorizes narratives in the voice of the feminine with the aim of demystifing the statue of female “other.” This collection creates the female voice as the “I” instead of the Other. By initiating each major theme with a poem told from the voice of a woman from the origins of Christian womanhood, the collection lends legitimacy and belonging to the contemporary female voice. This collection expands through poetry to unfold a series of complicated and unanswerable questions, all of them asking, what does it mean to be a woman?

Committee: David Wanczyk Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Biblical Studies; Fine Arts; Gender Studies

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2018, English

The goal of this collection is to complicate the dialogues of womanhood. The collection of poems combines a poetic perspective of womanhood with that of biblical woman, accompanied by a critical introduction that looks at the way contemporary writing and study categorizes narratives in the voice of the feminine with the aim of demystifing the statue of female “other.” This collection creates the female voice as the “I” instead of the Other. By initiating each major theme with a poem told from the voice of a woman from the origins of Christian womanhood, the collection lends legitimacy and belonging to the contemporary female voice. This collection expands through poetry to unfold a series of complicated and unanswerable questions, all of them asking, what does it mean to be a woman?

Committee: Dr. David Wanczyk (Advisor) Subjects: Fine Arts; Gender Studies; Religion

BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Religion

This paper examines the influence of Genesis 38 on the Book of Ruth. Both texts feature women—Tamar in Genesis 38 and Ruth in the Book of Ruth—whose extraordinary actions result in the preservation of King David's descendants. While the Book of Ruth draws on many received traditions, its use of Genesis 38 has been underappreciated and not fully understood. To explore this, I identify similarities in the stories, as well as the likely political purpose and historical context of each text. I analyze the ancient practice of retelling biblical stories, and argue that evidence points to the Book of Ruth as a rewritten adaptation of Genesis 38 that advocated for intermarriage in Judean communities. The story was written as part of a larger tradition of post-exilic texts that use Genesis 38 as a basis for the debate on the legitimacy of intermarriage, which erupted under Ezra and Nehemiah during the Persian period.

Committee: Cynthia R. Chapman (Advisor) Subjects: Bible; Gender; Judaic Studies; Middle Eastern History; Middle Eastern Studies; Religion; Religious History