Date of Award
2-1979
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
First Advisor
Robert A. Wild
Second Advisor
Richard A. Edwards
Third Advisor
Joseph Lienhard
Fourth Advisor
William S. Kurz
Fifth Advisor
Thomas Caldwell
Abstract
Mt 10.34 ["Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword"] is an enigmatic verse, the meaning of which continues to confound and elude modern Biblical commentators. It is my thesis that failure to illuminate this so-called 'hard' or 'difficult' saying of Jesus is due primarily to an inadequate treatment of both the redactional nature of the saying itself and the heavily redacted context in which the saying appears, namely, the Second Discourse of Matthew (9.35-10.42). Since in this discourse Matthew has joined two concerns which many scholars today consider to be central to his theology, i.e., mission and discipleship, an investigation of the unusually forceful saying of Mt10.34 in light of its context is both timely and worthwhile.