A New Testament Geography: Description, Perspectives, and Implications for the Field of Geography
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2001 A New Testament Geography: Description, Perspectives, and Implications for the Field of Geography. George Alphin Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Alphin, George, "A New Testament Geography: Description, Perspectives, and Implications for the Field of Geography." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 261. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/261 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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A NEW TESTAMENT GEOGRAPHY: DESCRIPTION, PERSPECTIVES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by George Alphin B.A., College of William and Mary, 1966 B.A., Ambassador College, 1978 M.T.S., Emory University, 1989 Ph.D., Baylor University, 1994 May 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3016524 UMI__ <9 UMI Microform 3016524 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................... iii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.............................. 1 2 GEOGRAPHY IN THE SYNOPTICGOSPELS ........ 72 3 GEOGRAPHY IN THE GOSPEL AND THE EPISTLES OF J O H N ............................... 131 4 GEOGRAPHY IN ACTS ....................... 150 5 GEOGRAPHY IN THE EPISTLES ................ 174 6 GEOGRAPHY IN REVELATION.................... 207 7 CONCLUSION.............................. 237 REFERENCES .................................... 274 APPENDIX A A GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE..................285 B A CLIMATOLOGY OF PALESTINE................ 292 C A GEOGRAPHY OF ACTS ..................... 296 D M A P S ................................... 311 VITA ..........................................315 ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The general purpose o£ this study is to relate the fields of geography and religion at both the academic and the practical levels. Primarily, it investigates the New Testament description of the land and its human occupancy. Secondarily, it identifies New Testament attitudes toward geography and suggests implications for its study and practice. It describes the geography, both physical and human, for each of the five classes of the document's book in a separate chapter. The chapter on the synoptic gospels discusses mountains, weather, biogeography, agriculture, occupations, and urban geography. Pour kinds of soil reveal different responses to the word. While the house of the wise builder stands against the storm, that of the foolish builder falls. In the gospel of John, one's attitude is more important than terrestrial location in the worship of God. The messiah is the true vine and the good shepherd. In Acts, Paul is shipwrecked on the way to Rome. The early church holds possessions in common and distributes to the needy. In the epistles, Paul uses the olive tree to illustrate God's dealings with Jews and Gentiles. Abraham looks for a city designed and built by God. Jerusalem above is a model for the earthly city. New heavens and a new earth are coming. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In Revelation, trumpet and bowl plagues devastate much land and water. The righteous and the wicked are harvested at the eschaton. The conclusion identifies seven New Testament attitudes toward geography — the distinction between the literal and the symbolic, teleology in creation, heavenly counterparts, the worlds above and below, the temporality of the world, the destiny of the world, and God as the author of geography. The conclusion also discusses implications for the field of geography. Humans as stewards of the creation are responsible to God. Both the study of specific cases and the formulation of general laws are proper activities. Both physical and human components may form a united geography. Geography has a place for both qualitative and quantitative statements. That the world is passing away may suggest directing research to worthy rather than trivial issues. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Purpose of Study The general purpose of this study is to relate the fundamental fields of geography and religion at both the academic and the practical levels. More specifically, the study analyzes the biblical New Testament in its geographical content and context. Primarily, it investigates the New Testament description of both nature or the land (as broadly conceived) and the human occupancy of the land. Secondarily, it identifies New Testament attitudes toward the land and its occupancy and suggests implications for the study and the practice of geography. Introduction What are the relations between the contents of the major academic fields or, equivalently, the interactions within the universe of theoretical knowledge? Are these fields independent in some degree with no necessary connections or cure some or all of them naturally related to each other? Due in part to the rapid growth of the content of knowledge, most academicians have become specialists. Even within one of the basic fields, the subdivisions are significant enough that communication with understanding among specialists is beyond reasonable likelihood. In order for each field to contribute more effectively to the whole, 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. it would be helpful to know how the advances in one field might inpact the nature of research that would be conducted in another field. This dissertation is a partial attenpt to relate two of the major academic fields. Broadly we might categorize the major fields into three areas: natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The relations between fields within each area may be closer than those between fields in different areas. However, some fields on boundaries between areas might have more in common with a field in another area than with some fields in its area. Some fields may be more firmly rooted in one area, while others may stretch over two or all three areas. It may also be useful to subdivide the three areas. For example, the natural sciences would include both the physical and the biological sciences. For another example, the humanities may contain literature, the fine arts, and religion/philosophy. By working at relatively high levels, we find the number of major academic fields to be rather small. In this discussion we are concerned with the academic fields only and not with the allied professional fields, which might be associated with one or more of the academic fields. For instance, the business curriculum could be under the field of economics and medicine under the fields of biology and chemistry. Of this rather small number of major or primary fields then, this dissertation is an attempt to deal with only two 2 Reproduced with permission