The Function of Divine Manifestations in New Testament Times - A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of New Testament and E... #246264

Acquaintance with the historical remains of the ancient world reveals a mass of material relating to a wide range of occurrences which may be designated as divine manifestations. The character of these occurrences may be indicated by a few typical examples. The god Dionysos dis played himself to the Thebans in the form of a man. Yahweh the god of the Hebrews permitted Moses and the seventy elders to obtain a glimpse of his person. The divine Logos incarnate in the historical Jesus passed a considerable period among the dwellers on earth. Zeus once drew off a flood of waters which swept over the earth, and Yahweh sent an inundation to destroy mankind. Demeter made the corn to grow, Zeus regulated the seasons and sent hail, snow, and rain, and Yahweh caused the earth to yield its increase. Deity in a Vision informed the mother of Augustus that her son had been engendered by Apollo, and an angel in an apparition announced to Mary the mother of Jesus before her marriage that she should conceive under the influence of the Holy Ghost and bear a son who should be called the Son of God. The divine frenzy of the worshipper of Dionysos indicated to him that he had actually become god, and the Christian in a similar state felt that his exalted mental condition was proof that an immortal spirit dwelt within him.