From Matthew to the Mishnah: A Study of the Sources of The Protevangelium of James

The Protevangelium of James (PJ) is what scholars refer to as a non-canonical Christian text, which means that PJ is a text written by a Christian author (around 150 CE), but that the text was not accepted into the body of literature that was eventually canonized. PJ\u27s exclusion from the canon most likely resulted from its unique and unfamiliar stories. The text includes stories of Mary\u27s birth, her sanctuary-like bedroom, her dedication and childhood in the Temple, her betrothal to a widower named Joseph, the miraculous birth of Jesus in a cave, her continued status as a virgin after Jesus\u27s birth, and her actions that saved Jesus from Herod\u27s men, who had been sent to kill all the male children under two years old, by wrapping him in swaddling cloths and hiding him in an oxen manger. But despite the fact that these stories deviate from what we now know as canonical tradition, PJ\u27s absence from the list of ecumenically approved texts does not mean that it can be dismissed as inconsequential to early Christian communities, and it does not justify scholars\u27 failure to engage PJ as an important text for the study of early Christianity

Menorah Review (No. 27, Winter, 1993)

Transcending Tolerance -- In the Lifeboat Together: American Protestants and Jews -- Great Jewish Thinkers -- Beyond Words -- Book Briefing

Deep Learning for Period Classification of Historical Texts

In this study, we address the interesting task of classifying historical texts by their assumed period of writing. This task is useful in digital humanity studies where many texts have unidentified publication dates. For years, the typical approach for temporal text classification was supervised using machine-learning algorithms. These algorithms require careful feature engineering and considerable domain expertise to design a feature extractor to transform the raw text into a feature vector from which the classifier could learn to classify any unseen valid input. Recently, deep learning has produced extremely promising results for various tasks in natural language processing (NLP). The primary advantage of deep learning is that human engineers did not design the feature layers, but the features were extrapolated from data with a general-purpose learning procedure. We investigated deep learning models for period classification of historical texts. We compared three common models: paragraph vectors, convolutional neural networks (CNN), and recurrent neural networks (RNN). We demonstrate that the CNN and RNN models outperformed the paragraph vector model and supervised machine-learning algorithms. In addition, we constructed word embeddings for each time period and analyzed semantic changes of word meanings over time

Quantitative Perspectives on Fifty Years of the Journal of the History of Biology

Journal of the History of Biology provides a fifty-year long record for examining the evolution of the history of biology as a scholarly discipline. In this paper, we present a new dataset and preliminary quantitative analysis of the thematic content of JHB from the perspectives of geography, organisms, and thematic fields. The geographic diversity of authors whose work appears in JHB has increased steadily since 1968, but the geographic coverage of the content of JHB articles remains strongly lopsided toward the United States, United Kingdom, and western Europe and has diversified much less dramatically over time. The taxonomic diversity of organisms discussed in JHB increased steadily between 1968 and the late 1990s but declined in later years, mirroring broader patterns of diversification previously reported in the biomedical research literature. Finally, we used a combination of topic modeling and nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques to develop a model of multi-article fields within JHB. We found evidence for directional changes in the representation of fields on multiple scales. The diversity of JHB with regard to the representation of thematic fields has increased overall, with most of that diversification occurring in recent years. Drawing on the dataset generated in the course of this analysis, as well as web services in the emerging digital history and philosophy of science ecosystem, we have developed an interactive web platform for exploring the content of JHB, and we provide a brief overview of the platform in this article. As a whole, the data and analyses presented here provide a starting-place for further critical reflection on the evolution of the history of biology over the past half-century.Comment: 45 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

A Research into the Influence of Jewish Priests, Scribes, and Canonical and Non-Canonical Jewish Apocalyptic Literature on M Materials

M materials refer to any content in Matthew that is not found in Mark and Luke and hence considered to be not part of the hypothetical Q. Questions are raised regarding the source and historical reliability of M materials. Many scholars consider M narratives to be fictional. Research work has been lacking among Matthean scholars to identify a source for M narratives. The primary goal of this research is to identify the Jewish priests as a plausible source of some M narratives. The research also attempts to unravel the reason for the Jewish apocalyptic influence on M materials and argues that it is due to Matthew’s self-identity as an apocalyptic scribe. In chapter one significant M materials are identified, a literary review is presented, the need for this research is demonstrated, and the methodological tools used in this research are listed. In chapter two, the research looks at the influence of Jewish apocalyptic literature on M materials and based on its unique vocabularies and peculiar narrative structure, argues that the entire body of M materials is the work of a single mind; and that the apocalyptic influence is due to Matthew’s self-identity as an apocalyptic scribe. Therefore, the research negates the possibility that other scribes were involved in the development of M. In chapter three, the research does case studies of five narrative passages in M to identify Jewish priests as a plausible source of a large number of M materials. Chapter four summarizes the findings of the research to support the main argument and subordinate arguments of the research. A conclusion is provided to argue that the Jewish priests can be identified as a plausible source of a large number of M narratives, M materials seem to be the work of a single mind who considered himself to be an apocalyptic scribe, and that some of the findings on the literary features and evidence support the case for the historical reliability of M narratives

Begotten Anew: Divine Regeneration and Identity Construction in 1 Peter

This thesis argues that the divine regeneration metaphor in 1 Peter is fully integrated into the author’s theological goal of constructing Christian identity in ethnic terms. The author grounds Christian regeneration on Christ’s resurrection (Chapter 2, 1:3) and the preaching of the word, through which the imperishable seed is implanted in believers (Chapter 3, 1:23-25). Believers are then socialized into their new identity by feeding on spiritual milk like newborn babes (Chapter 4, 2:1-3) and being built into a spiritual house and corporate temple (Chapter 5, 2:4-10). All of these images contribute to Christian ethnic identity by activating different aspects of Jewish and Greco-Roman perceptions of what constituted ethnic identity. Chapter 1 prepares the groundwork for this study by reviewing previous scholarship on Petrine regeneration, metaphor theory, and ancient and modern perceptions of ethnicity. This chapter also maps the letter’s structure to provide a bird’s eye view of the letter as a whole. The following chapters then examine one Petrine metaphor in light of its Jewish and early Christian precedents. In most cases, 1 Peter is in continuity with Jewish and Christian traditions, though the author of the letter always recasts these traditions for his own purposes. Each of these metaphors link together to bring the reader into the interpretive process as an active participant. These metaphors also relativize the importance of physical familial relationships, heritage, and group belonging in favor of heightened awareness of Christian membership. People acquire ethnic identities through birth and by living according to the group’s values. In 1 Peter, believers acquire their new identity through their divine regeneration, but this regeneration must be fostered, maintained, and developed by living holy lives dedicated to God in order to become his chosen people

Fuller Library Bulletin - October, 1953 - September, 1954, No. 20 - 23

Originally published in print for the library of Fuller Theological Seminary from 1949 through 1958.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/fts-lib-bulletin/1013/thumbnail.jp

Documenting a Derided Profession: Algernon Lindo and The Art of Accompanying

Pianist Algernon Henry Lindo (1862-1927) was a respected performer, composer, author, and pedagogue in turn-of-the-century London. His groundbreaking work, The Art of Accompanying (1916), was the first book written about the discipline now referred to as Collaborative Piano. Although almost completely overlooked since his death, Lindo\u27s life and writings have much relevance in the twenty-first century. This study aims to make The Art of Accompanying accessible to the contemporary reader, providing a comprehensive critical edition of the work. In order to provide context for his treatise, this study presents, for the first time, a biography of Lindo. This study also offers a reading of the social and professional implications of the text, one that allows modern audiences to glimpse the ways in which accompanists were viewed and treated in the early years of the twentieth century. Finally, a comprehensive, annotated list of Lindo\u27s compositions and writings has been appended, providing further documentation of the life and work of this important, if unknown, musician

Beliefs on Heredity in Welkom, Free State

South Africa is a diverse country in language, culture, and beliefs. The beliefs on heredity vary widely and may in part relate to an incomplete understanding of the concept of heredity. Congenital disorders, many of which are genetic in origin, are one of the major contributors to neonatal deaths in South Africa. Which is one of the reasons why it is important to document what the beliefs of heredity are in different environments. Being sensitive towards beliefs can improve communication in healthcare service delivery. An understanding of what genetics means to members of the public should also be documented. Objectives 1. To explore the understanding of genetics in the study community. 2. To investigate the beliefs about heredity. 3. To explore the role culture plays in the understanding of heredity. Methodology The study took place in Welkom, in the Matjhabeng municipality area in the Free State, where genetic counselling services are not available and currently no educational intervention on heredity has been done. The study population was foster parents from two of the prominent geographical areas in the area, namely Thabong and Welkom central. Foster parents were sampled as a convenient sample within the study communities and they are already in established groups and were therefore expected to be more open to discussion in a focus group than a group that had been randomly selected. The study is an exploratory cohort study. The main instrument of data collection was focus group discussions (FGD). Between four and eight people made up each focus group and there was a total of five FGDs with 28 participants. The participants were grouped according to to their preferred language. The FGDs were audio recorded, the audio files were then translated and transcribed to allow for thematic analysis. The transcripts were analysed using a coding system and themes were established. Results The beliefs surrounding heredity were categorized into five main themes; namely lifestyle, behaviour, familial, curses and prevention and management. Heredity is believed to be influenced by choice of lifestyle which can be passed on to a future generation. Behaviour is believed to be a heritable trait that can be traced back through many generations. Heredity is thus used as a tool to try to explain or understand a person’s behaviour. Behavioural traits are also believed by some participants to represent “clan inheritance”. Heredity is also seen by participants within families through familial resemblance. Genetic disorders are believed by some to be caused by curses based on cultural beliefs, however, participants also believed that these curses can be broken using prayer and rituals and thus prevented from being transferred to the next generation. Antenatal care was also considered being important in preventing genetic disorders. Conclusion In conclusion, cultural influences and beliefs play a role in how people understand genetics and heredity. Understanding these influences and beliefs will not only provide insight into the public’s views on genetics but can also be used in implementing educational programs that can educate and inform the public about genetics

NEW EXISTENCE AND RIGHTEOUS LIVING IN COLOSSIANS AND 1 PETER IN CONVERSATION WITH 4QINSTRUCTION AND THE HODAYOT

The present study consists of a comparison of the impact of the Christ-event on the existence of the elect in Colossians and 1 Peter. As such it is a study in the theological anthropology of two significant New Testament texts. The main argument of this thesis is that Colossians and 1 Peter contain distinctive emphases in their understanding of: the σάρξ (“flesh”) of the elect (anthropology), the temporal axis of salvation (eschatology), the extent to which the elect participate in the “heavenly” sphere (cosmology), and the means to live rightly (agency). Because a NT author’s beliefs prior to faith in Christ reflect a particular cognitive environment formed by the author’s historical setting and cultural milieu, setting the author’s views in the context of Early Jewish texts throws fresh light on his thought-world and understanding of the new existence. I argue that many of the features distinguishing Colossians from 1 Peter stem from the possibility that Colossians reflects the thought-world of 4QInstruction and 1 Peter that of the Hodayot. The thesis has the following structure. Chapter 1 explains the reasoning for comparing Colossians and 1 Peter by showing their manifold similarities with one another including their respective Christologies which undergird their remarkably similar paraenetical material. The question is raised why, if the epistles end up offering almost identical paraenesis, they have such distinctive theological patterns of thought. Chapter 2 is an overview of scholarship demonstrating that this question has not been adequately answered. This is due partly to an emphasis on the recipient context and to reading each respective author’s theology primarily as a response to the Sitz im Leben of the recipients. The overview will also demonstrate that both authors draw from the HB and EJL to interpret the impact of the Christ-event, but do so with distinctive language, emphases, and metaphors. Chapter 3 will analyze 1 Peter’s understanding of the new existence locating it within the author’s worldview in which suffering is a significant aspect of being God’s ‘end of days’ people. Chapter 4 will explore the Hodayot and demonstrate the manifold ways in which it provides antecedents to ideas identified in 1 Peter. Chapter 5 will analyze the worldview of the author of Colossians and his understanding of the new existence including his emphasis on the elect as possessing the “mystery” of God. Chapter 6 will explore 4QInstruction and demonstrate the manifold ways in which it provides antecedents to ideas identified in Colossians. Chapter 7 will conclude the thesis drawing the threads together and summarizing the distinctive emphases of Colossians and 1 Peter in their respective understandings of the new existence and the means to live rightly