THE WORLD WE FIND OURSELVES IN

Political Economy,

Human Hands and Feet and Their Functions as Media of Nonverbal Communication in the Narratives of Acts 3:1-11 and 9:1-19a

Shortly after his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples and showed them his hands and his feet (Luke 24:39-40). This was not only evidence of his resurrection but a means of focussing on two human body parts essential to his mission. In relationship to this, the current thesis presupposes a selective representation of Christ on earth by the early church through human hands and feet. These then, are instruments of mission designated by him as they engage in activities of interpersonal communication. This enquiry examines how literal human hands and feet operate as media of nonverbal communication in two of the narratives of Acts. The investigation has a threefold aim: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of human hands and feet with their functions as media of nonverbal communication in the two narratives of Acts and to answer the question—was meaning transmitted; (2) to ascertain whether the nonverbal communication described in the two Acts narratives contributed effectively to the mission of the ascended Jesus through his followers on earth; and (3) to create a bridge between current scholarly comment on human hands and feet with their functions and the outcomes apparent from their use as media of nonverbal communication in the two narratives under scrutiny. The investigation begins with the isolation and examination of the words for hands and feet in the Greek text of the two narratives as well as the words for their functions. This search then extends to include the entire book of Acts. Then the same words are explored in the Gospel of Luke. In order to discover possible Lucan sources the surviving Greek works of Second Temple Judaism as well as four authors from Greek literature are added. These include the classical dramatist Aeschylus and the Hellenistic poet Aratus who are quoted by iv Luke in Acts. Because of the prominence of healings, two medical authors, Hippocrates and Soranus, are also selected. To ensure a credible reference from the field of relational communication the publications of Julia T. Wood are chosen as an authoritative source. The findings are: hands, feet and their functions in the two narratives of Acts communicate meaning; Jesus successfully communicated both mission and method to his disciples as they exercised their hands and feet to communicate as he did; Luke is most specific of all the authors explored in his detailed use of hands and feet as media of nonverbal communication particularly as it relates to the mission of Jesus. Some practical implications for the church of today are also included

The Book of Daniel and the \u27Maccabean Thesis\u27

Up until about a century ago, the claims laid out in the book of Daniel as to its authorship, origin, etc., during the sixth century B.C. were quite generally accepted. However, since 1890, according to Klaus Koch, this exilic theory has been seriously challenged-so much so, in fact, that today it represents only a minority view among Daniel scho1ars.l The majority hold a view akin to that of Porphyry, the third-century Neoplatonist enemy of Christianity, that the book of Daniel was composed (if not entirely, at least substantially) in the second century B.C. during the religious persecution of the Jews by the Seleucid monarch Antiochus IV Epiphanes.2 The book is considered to have arisen in conjunction with, or in support of, the Jewish resistance to Antiochus led by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers

The Apocalyptic Son of Man in Daniel 7

This investigation studies the identity and nature of the manlike figure in Dan 7:13-14 (hereafter referred to as SM). In the first chapter we reviewed the interpretations of the SM in Jewish and Christian literature since the beginning of the second century of our era and noted that with the exception of the seventeenth century study by Carpzov, discussion of the Danielic figure was limited to passing comments. Throughout this period the SM was interpreted mainly messianically or christologically. During the nineteenth century more substantial inquiries attempted to find answers to the identity and nature of the manlike being primarily through philological study. Beginning with the twentieth century, Religionsgeschichte provided SM research with a new direction and the latter sought to elucidate the manlike being through its alleged roots or parallels. It was also within this stream that Nathaniel Schmidt first suggested the identification of the SM with an angel (Michael). Shortly after Religionsgeschichte made its impact upon the study of the Danielic being, literary-critical examinations suggested that Dan 7:9-10, 13 (14) was a fragment from another apocalyptic and had intruded into the vision of the four beasts. Thus it was proposed (later also by traditio-historical research) that the SM was originally an individual figure, which had experienced a more or less complex history of interpretation at the hands of redactors, until he was finally identified with the saints. Currently an array of positions identifies the Danielic figure not only with the saints (on the basis that the SM of the vision [vss. 2-14] is explained by the saints in the interpretation [vss. 15-27]) but also with an angel(s), an incarnation of divine glory, hypostatized wisdom, or some historical human individual. In the second chapter we probed the various alleged origins of and parallels to the manlike being within Babylonian, Egyptian, Iranian, Hellenistic, Gnostic, Ugaritic, and Hebrew literature. We employed the methodology which avoids punctiliar comparison by considering individual phenomena in their contextual totality before making comparison with a similar phenomenon. Our methodology demonstrated a basic discontinuity between the alleged roots and correspondences (whether more or less direct). Of the various biblical prototypes Michael seemed to offer the closest longitudinal parallel to the SM, though Daniel nowhere identifies him as the manlike being. In the third chapter we examined the unity and structure of Dan 7 before passing to the specific passages dealing with the Danielic figure. Our inquiry made it apparent that the criteria inherited from Noth and Ginsberg challenging the unity of Dan 7 are based on inadequate data and occidental syllogistic reasoning. This negative evaluation is corroborated positively by the structures and themes within the chapter. It also became evident that the customary chapter division into vision and interpretation needs revision, for Dan 7:15-16, 19-22 consists of prophetic reactions and supplements to the vision. Consequently the saints are envisaged in the vision before the judgment. Within the setting of Dan 7:9-10, 13-14 the SM is an individual, eschatological, celestial being with messianic traits. Though characterized by divine attributes, Dan 7 does not teach a ditheism for the Danielic being assumes a role subordinate to the Ancient of Days. Whereas the manlike figure is a celestial being, he is, nevertheless, set apart from the heavenly creatures referred to in Dan 7:10. While the SM resembles a human being, he is also distinct from the saints of the Most High who are human beings with whom he, nevertheless, enjoys a solidarity, for he shares with them throughout perpetuity the kingship given him by the Ancient of Days