Faith as Participation: An Exegetical Study of Some Key Pauline Texts

This thesis explores the Pauline conception of faith in 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. While most studies on this topic focus attention on Galatians and Romans, this thesis begins in letters less commonly explored while also looking beyond the word πίστις to explore conceptual cognates. By expanding the framework in these two ways, this study elucidates disputed passages in Galatians, while casting fresh light on significant debates in Pauline theology. The introductory chapter sets the discussion of faith in the context of contemporary debates on the centre of Pauline theology, the πίστις Χριστοῦ formula, and the relation between divine and human agency. In three chapters on 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians, respectively, we observe that faith, for Paul, is at once both self-negating and self-involving dependence on Christ. As a surrender to God, it is an active and productive mode of existence. In chapters five and six, on Galatians 2 and Galatians 3–6, we test this definition of faith in a number of important and contested texts, which as a result, elucidates three significant Pauline debates. First, we discover that Paul connects faith to both the concept of participation and the doctrine of justification; faith is an ongoing state of participatory dependence in the Christ-mediated process of salvation, not simply the entry point of justification. Secondly, on the interpretation of πίστις Χριστοῦ, the objective genitive is read in a way that preserves the theological priorities of those who advocate the subjective genitive reading while also conveying the vital role of human faith in Pauline theology. Finally, on questions of agency, we discover that divine and human agency cannot be reduced to a competitive relationship; God’s activity grounds and enables human activity as the believer unites himself or herself in a dependent relationship to Christ. In conclusion, several of the apparent conundrums in recent Pauline scholarship turn out to derive from an inadequate understanding of what Paul means by faith, which is the mode of self-negating participation in the prior gracious work of Christ

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Novel loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: A multi-ethnic meta-analysis of 45,891 individuals

Circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone produced predominantly by adipocytes, are highly heritable and are inversely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and other metabolic traits. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 39,883 individuals of European ancestry to identify genes associated with metabolic disease. We identified 8 novel loci associated with adiponectin levels and confirmed 2 previously reported loci (P = 4.5×10−8- 1.2 ×10−43). Using a novel method to combine data across ethnicities (N = 4,232 African Americans, N = 1,776 Asians, and N = 29,347 Europeans), we identified two additional novel loci. Expression analyses of 436 human adipocyte samples revealed that mRNA levels of 18 genes at candidate regions were associated with adiponectin concentrations after accounting for multiple testing (p<3×10−4). We next developed a multi-SNP genotypic risk score to test the association of adiponectin decreasing risk alleles on metabolic traits and diseases using consortia-level meta-analytic data. This risk score was associated with increased risk of T2D (p = 4.3×10−3, n = 22,044), increased triglycerides (p = 2.6×10−14, n = 93,440), increased waist-to-hip ratio (p = 1.8×10−5, n = 77,167), increased glucose two hours post oral glucose tolerance testing (p = 4.4×10−3, n = 15,234), increased fasting insulin (p = 0.015, n = 48,238), but with lower in HDL- cholesterol concentrations (p = 4.5×10−13, n = 96,748) and decreased BMI (p = 1.4×10−4, n = 121,335). These findings identify novel genetic determinants of adiponectin levels, which, taken together, influence risk of T2D and markers of insulin resistance