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Browsing New Testament by Author "Tolmie, D. F."
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Item Open Access The characterisation of Pontius Pilate in the four gospels(University of the Free State, 2003-09) Nthuping, Michael; Tolmie, D. F.English: The absence of a consistent narratological analysis of Pontius Pilate may be indicated as a gap in the research on this interesting figure. The aim of this study is to rectify this by presenting a detailed study of the portrayal of Pontius Pilate in terms of a narratological approach, in particular in terms of a narratological approach to characterisation in texts.This is achieved by means of a detailed narratological analysis of the characterisation of Pontius Pilate in each of the Four Gospels. The results are as follow. In the Gospel according to Mark Pilate is portrayed as a flat character since only a few traits are revealed. His character does not show any development and relatively little of his inner life is revealed. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having two objectives: first he tries to see that justice prevails, but in the end he is forced to replace this objective by another one, namely that of pleasing the people, thus knowing that justice does not prevail. He is also portrayed throughout as reacting to events as they unfold instead of taking the initiative. The narrator characterises Pilate as a flat character and therefore only a few traits are revealed to the implied reader, namely "attempting to be just", "weak >> wanting to please people", "unable to understand Jesus", "shrewd", and "thorough". Of these, the first two are the most important to such an extent that it can be said that the characterisation of Pilate in the Gospel according to Mark is dominated by the conflict between these two traits. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Pilate is portrayed as being somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character does not show any development and relatively little is revealed of his inner life. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having two objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails, but in the end he is forced to replace this objective by another one, namely that of (unsuccessfully!) trying to convince the crowd that he is innocent of Jesus' blood. Pilate is also portrayed throughout as unwillingly doing something he is forced to do and shows more resistance than the Pilate of the Gospel according to Mark. In terms of the traits associated with this character the following four dominate: "attempting to be just", "unwilling to act as God wants him to", "weak >> succumb to pressure", and "trying to shift the blame". The implied reader thus has a very negative picture of Pilate. In the Gospel according to Luke, Pilate is portrayed as somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character shows some development, as he develops from an enemy of Herod to a friend of Herod. Almost nothing is revealed of his inner life: his inner thoughts are revealed only once when the narrator tells that he wants to release Jesus. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having three objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails. This is followed by the second objective, namely getting out of the situation by sending Jesus to Herod. Lastly, he attempts to convince the crowd of Jesus' innocence. With regard to the traits associated with Pilate in the Gospel according to Luke, a number of these were identified, namely "authority", "cruelty", "shrewd", "attempting to be just", "witness to Jesus' innocence", "weak", and "enemy of Herod >> friend of Herod". The narrator portrays Pilate in such a way that only one trait dominates his characterisation, namely "witness to Jesus' innocence". In the Gospel according to John, Pilate can be described as being somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character shows no development and almost nothing is revealed of his inner life: his inner thoughts are revealed only once when the narrator tells that he became more afraid than ever. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having three objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails. In doing so, his objective shifts to something new, namely that of determining the identity of Jesus. However, he fails in this objective, as he is unable to grasp the real nature of Jesus' kingship. In the end both objectives (seeing that justice prevails, and determining the identity of Jesus) give way to a final objective, namely being a friend of the emperor. The only way in which Pilate could reach this objective was by failing to reach the other two objectives. A fairly large number of traits are associated with this character in the Gospel according to John. Two of these traits dominate, namely "unable to understand the identity of Jesus" and "powerful <> afraid of Jesus". The characterisation of Pilate fits a general pattern in the gospel in that it shows a negative reaction to the identity of Jesus: although Pilate is shrewd and attempts to be just, he is unable to understand the identity of Jesus. It should also be pointed out that the narrator succeeds in creating a fairly complex picture of Pilate by revealing some interesting traits not found in the other Gospels, namely "respecting the religious feelings of the Jews", "irritable", "cynical" and "wilful".Item Open Access Church discipline in the Pauline churches: a socio-theological approach(University of the Free State, 2010-05) Lee, Sang- Kue; Tolmie, D. F.English: In this study church discipline in the Pauline churches, especially in the churches of the Thessalonians and the Corinthians, was investigated. Traditionally, when New Testament scholars approach church discipline, they tend to concentrate on the nature of the theological issue or on the Question of what kind of theological motive gave rise to the problem. Thus, they research the theological background of the particular offence, what kind of theological issue caused the problem, the background of the church discipline and/or what kind of theological perspective surfaces in the study of church discipline. Some scholars, however, oppose such a "theological approach" and follow another approach, the so called a "sociological approach." They investigate the social and cultural nature of the Biblical text and its environmental backdrop. Disregarding a theological approach, they have contributed studies with a broadened understanding of the sociological character of primitive Christian communities and a focus on the social and cultural conditions that characterized the Biblical world. In this study it is argued that it is not necessary that one approach should exclude the other. The relationship between a "sociological approach" and a "theological approach" should thus not be seen as exclusive and conflicting, but rather as complementary and synthetic. The guiding hypothesis of this study is thus that a combination of a sociological and a theological approach is the best way to explain the problems in the Pauline congregations in Corinth and Thessalonica. In Part II church discipline in the Thessalonian church is examined. The significant problem that occurred in the church of the Thessalonians was that some members of the congregation were idle and caused trouble to the believers and/or non-believers, interrupting other persons' business (2 Thess. 3: l l : cf. 1 Tim. 5: 13). I indicated that this problem embodied both theological and sociological issues: Theologically, there were (1) spiritual enthusiasm, (2) Paul's opponents, and (3) realised eschatology; sociologically there were (1) Hellenistic philosophy such as Epicureanism, (2) voluntary associations, and (3) the system of patronage. In Part III church discipline in the Corinthian church was investigated. The notorious problem that occurred in the church of the Corinthians was that a member of the congregation "has his father's wife" (1 Cor. 5: 1) and that the Corinthian church was proud of it (1 Cor. 5:2). I indicated that this problem of immorality embodied both theological and sociological issues: Theologically, there were (1) Judaisrn, (2) spiritual fanaticism, (3) Christian freedom, and (4) realised eschatology; sociologically, there were (1) Hellenistic philosophy such as Gnosticism, (2) Hellenistic religious cults, and (3) the system of patronage. This study concludes that the two approaches, a "sociological approach" and a "theological approach," should not be taken as exclusive or in conflict, but rather as complementary in order to reach a more suitable answer to the problem of the disorderly in the church of the Thessalonians and that of immorality in the church of the Corinthians.Item Open Access Making sense of Jesus: experiences, interpretation and identities(SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein (SUN PReSS imprint), 2017) Tolmie, D. F.; Venter, R.Making sense of Jesus is comprised of twelve chapters of a Christological nature, which are the result of a multidisciplinary theological research project. The aim of this book is to ascertain how, in the current cultural situation, an encounter with Jesus is determined by specific historical and personal conditions, and what the consequences of such an encounter may be. The book is divided into two parts, the first of which contains research that deals with encounters, mediated by New Testament and historical studies, while the second is dedicated to contemporary and constructive issues of a cultural, technological, moral and existential nature. The basic approach of the research, and that of this publication, is not to continue conventional Christology, but to generate new knowledge therein. In this approach, issues are raised and questions are asked which, while both inspiring and unsettling, no serious academic can afford to ignore. - Prof. C.J. Wethmar, University of the PretoriaItem Open Access The origin of Paul's concern for the gentiles and Paul's gentile mission(University of the Free State, 2007-11) Kim, Tae Hoon; Tolmie, D. F.English: This purpose of this study is to investigate the origin of Paul’s concern for the Gentiles and of his Gentile mission. Chapter 1 serves to show that recent Pauline studies tend to focus only on Paul at and post-Damascus, and then provides the outline for the thesis. Chapter 2 focuses on the origin of Paul’s concern for the Gentiles. I argue that the main background of the pre-Damascus Paul’s thought was not Hellenism, but Judaism. Thus, it is highly likely that Paul was aware of patterns of Jewish universalism with regard to the inclusion of Gentiles into God’s people. There are two representative patterns of Jewish universalism: One is the tradition of an eschatological pilgrimage; the other is that of Gentile proselytism. On the basis of Gal. 5:11 and Rom. 11, I argue that Paul shared the tradition of Gentile proselytism rather than that of an eschatological pilgrimage. Therefore, Paul’s concern for the Gentiles originated before Damascus. Chapter 3 focuses on the origin of Paul’s Gentile mission. In Gal. 1:11-17 and 2 Cor. 4:4-6 Paul explains the origin of his gospel and his mission. In particular he links them to Damascus. Furthermore, we do not have evidence that a period of time elapsed after Damascus before Paul began preaching to the Gentiles. On the contrary, we do have evidence that Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles immediately after he experienced the Christophany at Damascus. Therefore, Paul’s Gentile mission originated at Damascus. Chapter 4 serves as conclusion of the study. I conclude that Paul’s concern for the Gentiles originated before Damascus and that his Gentile mission originated at Damascus, and suggest that this implies that the pre-Damascus Paul’s concern for the Gentiles played a definite role in his Gentile mission.Item Open Access A text-centered rhetorical analysis of Paul's letter to Titus(University of the Free State, 2007-11) Genade, Aldred Auguse; Tolmie, D. F.This study has been conducted upon the presupposition that the Letter to Titus still has to benefit from a thorough rhetorical critical analysis that will demonstrate its uniqueness as a coherent, comprehensive portion of New Testament literature that can be interpreted independently from the two letters to Timothy. Accordingly, a review of existing scholarship on the Pastorals generally and Titus specifically was conducted (Section1) followed by a comprehensive text-centred rhetorical analysis of the Letter to Titus (Section 2). Finally, a summary of the results of this study was presented (Section 3). In Section 1, the review of existing scholarship on the authorship, theology, structure and coherency, and rhetorical approaches to Titus revealed how, due to the pervasiveness of the authenticity or authorship debate about the Pastorals, the Letter to Titus has been marginalised and interpreted in the light of the Timothean correspondence. In all the above categories, the individuality and uniqueness of Titus have been compromised. The authenticity of the Pastoral Letters went unchallenged until the turn of the nineteenth century when German scholars expressed their doubts about the alleged Pauline authorship of this corpus. The key dispute issues related to theological, ecclesiological, stylistic and historical inconsistencies that New Testament scholars observed in their analysis of the three letters. In response to these apparent inconsistencies, various theories were developed to account for the origin of the three letters. The first was the pseudonymous or fiction hypothesis according to which it is argued that the Pastorals were authored by someone other than Paul, but who used his name, probably some time after his death. Scholars who defend Pauline authorship of the Pastorals have challenged pseudonymity on the basis of ethics, history, hermeneutics, and apostolic objections. The origin of the letters have also been explained by the following theories: fragment hypothesis, secretary or amanuensis hypothesis and the allonymity or allepigraphy hypothesis. Theology, Christology, pneumatology and soteriology are central emphases in the theology of Titus, but tend to be interpreted in relationship with the other two letters. Structurally, the Letter to Titus, when compared to the other Pastorals, has been described as not having any structure, being incoherent. This position has been proposed by James Miller. In defence, Ray van Neste has argued for the coherence of the letter. Rhetorical studies devoted exclusively to Titus have been found to be severely lacking. The exception has been the work by Joachim Classen entitled “A rhetorical reading of the Epistle to Titus”. While having much to commend it, the article has been shown to have several serious shortcomings: although the article deals with what is there, it does not address the issue of persuasion; in other words, it does not evaluate why the author says things in the way he does; it is more exegetical than rhetorical; it is not a comprehensive treatment of the whole letter; it is silent about the obvious theological emphases in the letter. There have been increasing calls for an appreciation of the three letters individually. This study attempted to respond to that call on the basis of the following hypothesis: A thorough text-centred rhetorical approach to the Letter of Titus (i.e. without relating it to the other two Pastoral Letters or approaching it in terms of the authenticity/inauthenticity debate) will yield new insights for its interpretation. In Section 2 the rhetorical situation was presented followed by a comprehensive rhetorical analysis of the letter, using a text-centred, minimal theory framework approach, formulated by D.F. Tolmie (2005). The objective was to investigate and analyse the rhetorical strategy of the author from the text, which was divided into 11 rhetorical units. Each unit was demarcated and described in terms of the dominant rhetorical objective of the author. This was done based on a verse-by-verse analysis of the text. This approach yielded much insight into the unique rhetorical structure of the letter as a whole and provided rich insights into the coherence of the letter. A variety of rhetorical techniques revealed the intricate rhetorical structure that characterise this short letter. Some techniques have been observed that may not yet have been categorised by scholars to date. In Section 3 the results of the study have been summarised. It sets out the rhetorical objective of the text in terms of the chronological development of the author’s argument as it develops from unit to unit. A second way to describe the rhetorical strategy of the author has been described in terms of the overlap between the various units which revealed several controlling rhetorical objectives. Furthermore, the rhetorical techniques used in the letter have been summarised in this section. New techniques have also been defined and listed in the concluding section. The study concludes with the conviction that the Letter to Titus can stand independently from the rest of the Pastorals and makes a significant contribution in our understanding and appreciation of Paul’s use of rhetoric.