........................................................................................................................................................ ii Declaration .................................................................................................................................................. iii Table of

Triune God and the hermeneutics of community: church, gender and mission in Stanley J. Grenz with reference to Paul Ricoeur

GO MAKE DISCIPLES: SERMONIC APPLICATION OF THE IMPERATIVE OF THE GREAT COMMISSION Scott Allan Gilbert, PhD The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017 Chair: Dr. Robert A. Vogel This dissertation argues in light of a careful hermeneutic of application that preaching the Great Commission necessitates exhorting every believer in the congregation to go and engage intentionally in both evangelism and discipling less mature believers among all the nations of the earth. Chapter 1 states the thesis and explains the need for this study. Chapter 2 establishes the hermeneutic of application used in the dissertation. Rather than principlization, this chapter argues for the advantageous use of Abraham Kuruvilla’s conceptualization of the world in front of the text for determining sermonic application. Chapter 3 begins the interpretive analysis of verse 19 by attempting to answer the question of for whom the Great Commission is intended. After summarizing five main views, the chapter argues that Matthew intends the imperative to apply to every believer; this conclusion derives not only from interpretation of the pericope, but also from Matthew’s overall narrative and rhetorical purpose in the gospel. Chapter 4 seeks to answer three remaining exegetical decisions which are necessary before determining contemporary application: what Matthew means by “make disciples,” the best translation of πορευθέντες, and the meaning of πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Using linguistic analysis, rhetorical criticism, and narrative criticism, the chapter concludes that Matthew’s conceptualization of “make disciples” involves both evangelism and discipling less mature believers, πορευθέντες has an imperatival function, and πάντα τὰ ἔθνη includes both Jews and Gentiles. Chapter 5 takes the conclusions drawn from chapters 3 and 4 to explain the transhistorical intentions and contemporary exemplifications that a preacher may extrapolate from Matthew’s intended meaning. The imperative is for every believer, obedience requires intentionality, disciple-making includes both evangelism and discipling less mature believers, and the context is both one’s community and the nations. The final chapter summarizes the preceding material and offers a brief explanation of how a preacher can apply this passage in a sermon. It also suggests additional lines of inquiry for further study of preaching the pericope. In order to further illustrate the homiletical implications of the conclusions of this dissertation, an appendix provides a sample sermon of Matthew 28:16-20.

Go Make Disciples: Sermonic Application of the Imperative of the Great Commission

THE ILLEISM OF JESUS AND YAHWEH: A STUDY OF THE USE OF THE THIRD-PERSON SELF-REFERENCE IN THE BIBLE AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN TEXTS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CHRISTOLOGY Ervin Roderick Elledge, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Dr. Robert L. Plummer This study explores the relationship between the use of the third person for self-reference by Jesus and Yahweh and suggests the potential for both divine and royal themes associated with this manner of speech. Chapter 1 highlights that this issue has received little attention in scholarship. In order to offer a thorough evaluation, the study offers a comprehensive survey of illeim in the Bible, highlighting its prominence and various rhetorical implications. Chapter 2 surveys the use of illeism in antiquity in order to address whether illeism was a common manner of speaking. Though various Greek historians refer to themselves in the third person, evidence indicates that this was a rhetorical effort sometimes used to give a sense of objectivity to their works. No evidence was found that would indicate that illeism was commonly used in direct speech. Chapter 3 surveys the Old Testament and categorizes the various uses of illeism. The study highlights the similar and prominent use by both OT kings and Yahweh. Chapter 4 explores the ANE literature for occurrences of illeism and notes the relatively prominent use among both ANE kings and preeminent pagan gods. Chapter 5 addresses the illeism of Jesus, the only person in the New Testament to use illeism in direct discourse, and finds a similar manner of use and rhetorical intention as that of Old Testament and ANE kings and that of Yahweh. In each case the illeism serves to p z p k ’ unique identity and authority associated with royal and/or divine status. The study also notes the illeism of Yahweh and Jesus share the common characteristics of prominence of occurrences, a shifting between first and third person, a variety of distinct self-references, and similar rhetorical intent. Chapter 6 summarizes the study and highlights the suggestive nature of the evidence. In light of the evaluation of the use of illeism by Jesus and Yahweh, based on the similar usage among Old Testament and ANE kings, and ANE gods, as well as the analysis of the various rhetorical implications of illeism, the evidence suggests that a royal and divine theme may be associated with the third-person self-references of Yahweh and Jesus. Furthermore, in light of the parallels between the two uses, the study f p y y w y J p lf “ G .”

The Illeism of Jesus and Yahweh: A Study of the Use of the Third-Person Self-Reference in the Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Texts and Its Implications for Christology

James Archer Layton Jr. Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2018 A narrative approach of teaching Scripture to adolescents is an integrative methodology that draws from both narrative theology as well as developmental psychology. It considers both the narrative of the Bible and the psychosocial development of people during adolescence, which happens narratively. A narrative approach to teaching Scripture to adolescents offers the redemptive narrative found in the Genesis to Revelation story as a possible world by which adolescents can interpret their lives. When constructing their identity through the lens of the Christ event, adolescents are grafted into God’s story as active agents in his redemptive plot for the world. To inhabit the world of Scripture is to embody a new identity as adopted children of the triune God and participate in the interlocking of heaven and earth through Christ. The goal of a narrative approach is to help youth see they are not just viewers, but both characters and co-authors in the midst of a redemptive saga produced by God. The great task of those who teach Scripture to adolescents is to help them discover that God has invited them to be active agents in the epic drama presented in Scripture. A narrative approach invites adolescents to reconstruct their past, perceive their present, and imagine their future autobiographically in light of the biblical narrative. As adolescents psychosocially write themselves into the biblical drama in consort with the triune God, and the larger believing community, the way they view themselves and interact with the world becomes congruent with God’s revealed reality. Ultimately, it is by the enactment of Scripture that adolescents are fused into the family of Christ and ushered onto the world stage where they live out their identities as God’s saints within the biblical drama of redemption. Content Reader: Chap Clark, Ph.D.

https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1298&context=dmin

Storydwellers: A Narrative Approach to Teaching Scripture to Adolescents

This study examines Jesus’ authority and influence in the Gospel of John and shows that Jesus’ style of leadership is exemplary or prototypical rather than autocratic. Jesus’ programme is ‘to testify to the truth’, that is, to proclaim the divine reality to the world. He uses influence (education and personal example) rather than authority (commands) to urge his disciples to continue his programme, so that people may believe and partake in a life-giving relationship with the Father and Son. This leadership style would be useful for contemporary models of leadership.

/pdf/jesus-authority-and-influence-in-the-gospel-of-john-towards-s5id9fvpp6.pdf

Jesus' authority and influence in the Gospel of John: towards a Johannine model of leadership

Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction. By Jonathan T. Pennington. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. Pp. xiv + 268. Paper, $24.99.

Alicia D. Myers

Papers

Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction. By Jonathan T. Pennington. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. Pp. xiv + 268. Paper, $24.99.