Note: Most universities now require the author of a PhD dissertation to write an abstract. The following abstracts have been taken from the author’s written summary of his/her work.
Keck, Elizabeth. “The Glory of Yahweh, Name Theology, and Ezekiel’s Understanding of Divine Presence.” PhD diss., Boston College, 2011. [Israel/Solomon/Ezekiel/
Abstract: In this study, I contend that Ezekiel’s portrait of the Glory represents an understanding of Yahweh’s earthly presence that is markedly different from how the earthly divine presence is understood in Deuteronomistic Name theology. As formulated in Deuteronomy and maintained in the Deuteronomistic History, “Name theology” understands the divine earthly presence to be restricted to the “one place that Yahweh will choose,” which is designated as the Jerusalem Temple. Contrary to traditional scholarly understanding, this does not divorce Yahweh from his Temple and place him in Heaven alone, and does not relegate the Temple to symbolic status only. Rather, Name theology not only affirms the divine presence in the Temple, but views it as the only legitimate location for that presence. From his position of exile, Ezekiel depicts the Glory with no exclusive connection to the Temple or the land; the Glory vacates the Temple to allow for its destruction and appears in Babylonia, where God disputes the Jerusalemites’ contention that the exiles are now far from him (Ezek 11:15-16). I maintain that Ezekiel’s portrait of the Glory finds its inspiration in the Priestly account of the Exodus wanderings before the Tabernacle’s existence; in Priestly tradition, this was the only time the Glory appeared outside sanctified precincts. These appearances occurred outside Israel, amidst dislocation, with no physical sanctuary – a situation homologous to Ezekiel’s own.
Full text available online through ProQuest.