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TABLE OF CONTENTS
0  PREFACE.................................................................................................................................................. 7 
1  INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 9 
1.1  SUBJECT OF THE TREATISE ..................................................................................................................... 9 
1.2  TEXTS ANALYZED: THE CORPUS ............................................................................................................ 10 
1.3  DYNAMIC-SEMANTIC MACROFIELD....................................................................................................... 12 
1.4  SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACH................................................................................................................ 13 
2  RELIGIOUS TEXT: STYLISTIC ISSUES.......................................................................................... 15 
3  RELIGIOUS TEXT: SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE ............................................................ 17 
3.1  MICRO-LEVEL VS. MACRO-LEVEL.......................................................................................................... 17 
3.2  THE LEXICO-SEMANTIC DIMENSION ..................................................................................................... 19 
3.3  THE STYLISTIC DIMENSION ................................................................................................................... 20 
3.4  PROSODY ............................................................................................................................................... 21 
3.5  RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY ................................................................................................ 22 
4  THE BIBLE & ITS PLACE IN THE RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE .................................................... 24 
4.1  BIBLE IN THE RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE ................................................................................................... 24 
4.2  THE CANONICAL CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE......................................................................................... 24 
4.3  TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE............................................................................................................... 25 
4.4  CHRISTIANS AND THE BIBLE................................................................................................................. 26 
5  TEXT ANALYSIS – GENERAL REMARKS...................................................................................... 28 
5.1  THE THEORY OF FSP: EVOLUTION ....................................................................................................... 28 
5.1.1  The linear modification factor................................................................................................. 33 
5.1.2  The contextual factor................................................................................................................. 34 
5.1.3  The semantic factor ................................................................................................................... 37 
5.1.4  The hierarchy of communicative units................................................................................... 40 
5.1.5  The dynamic-semantic strings................................................................................................. 43 
5.1.6  Semantic homogeneity.............................................................................................................. 45 
5.2  THE CHARTS OF ANALYSIS..................................................................................................................... 46 
5.3  FSP ON DIFFERENT LEVELS: DISTRIBUTIONAL MACROFIELD............................................................... 47 
5.3.1  Co-referential strings ................................................................................................................ 49 
5.3.2  Dynamic semantic tracks ......................................................................................................... 50 
5.3.3  Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations within FSP......................................................... 51 
6  THE NARRATIVE................................................................................................................................. 53 
6.1  GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................................................ 53 
6.2  TEXT ANALYSES .................................................................................................................................... 53 
6.2.1  The Birth of Jesus Christ I (Matthew 1:18-4:25)................................................................... 54 
6.2.2  The Birth of Jesus Christ II (Luke 2:1-20).............................................................................. 62 
6.2.3  The Coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; 10:30-35) ......................................................... 68 
6.2.4  The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-34).......................................................... 73
6.2.5 “Who Is Who?” (1Cor 15:24-38)............................................................................................... 75
6.3  SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................. 77 
7  THE DIALOGUE ................................................................................................................................... 80 
7.1  GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................................................. 80 
7.2  TEXT ANALYSES..................................................................................................................................... 81 
7.2.1  Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-42).......................................................... 81 
7.2.2  Jesus Teaches Nicodemus (John 3:1-18) ................................................................................ 84 
7.2.3  John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ (John 1:19-28) .................................................... 87 
7.3  SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................. 89 
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8  THE POETIC TEXT.............................................................................................................................. 91 
8.1  GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................................................. 91 
8.2  TEXT ANALYSES..................................................................................................................................... 92 
8.2.1  The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) ...................................................................................... 92 
8.2.2  The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)............................................................................................. 97 
8.2.3  In the Beginning (John 1:1-9 & 14)........................................................................................ 101 
8.2.4  He Is the Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15-20) ................................................ 103 
8.2.5  Psalm 145................................................................................................................................... 105 
8.2.6  Being in Very Nature God (Philippians 2:5-11)................................................................... 108 
8.3  SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................ 110 
9  CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................... 112 
9.1  FSP CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGIOUS TEXTS..................................................................................... 112 
9.2  APPLICABILITY OF FSP PRINCIPLES IN THE ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS TEXTS...................................... 114 
9.3  THE DYNAMIC-SEMANTIC LAYERS...................................................................................................... 115 
9.4  SPECIAL ASPECTS OF THE FSP ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 117 
9.4.1  Paragraph as a Distributional Macrofield .......................................................................... 117 
9.4.2  Deducibility vs. Retrievability ............................................................................................... 117 
9.4.3  The Extended Presentation Scale .......................................................................................... 118 
9.4.4  Quantity Focus Anticipator.................................................................................................... 120
9.5 FINAL REMARKS .................................................................................................................................. 120
10  APPENDIX 1 – CORPUS OF THE TEXTS ANALYZED................................................................ 122 
10.1  THE NARRATIVE ................................................................................................................................. 122 
10.1.1  The Birth of Jesus Christ I (Matthew 1:18-4:25)................................................................. 122 
10.1.2  The Birth of Jesus II (Luke 2:1-20)........................................................................................ 125 
10.1.3  The Coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; 4:31-35).......................................................... 125 
10.1.4  The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-35) ........................................................ 126 
10.1.5  “Who Is Who?” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) – Version A....................................................... 126 
10.1.6  “Who Is Who?” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) – Version B....................................................... 126 
10.2  THE DIALOGUE ................................................................................................................................... 127 
10.2.1  Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-26)....................................................... 127 
10.2.2  John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ (John 1:19-28) .................................................. 128 
10.2.3  Jesus Teaches Nicodemus (John 3:1-18) .............................................................................. 129 
10.3  THE POETIC TEXT ............................................................................................................................... 129 
10.3.1  The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) .................................................................................... 129 
10.3.2  The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)........................................................................................... 130 
10.3.3  In the Beginning… (John 1:1-9+14)....................................................................................... 130 
10.3.4  He is the Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15-20) ................................................ 131 
10.3.5  Psalm 145................................................................................................................................... 131 
10.3.6  Being in the Very Nature God (Philippians 2:5-11)............................................................ 132 
11  APPENDIX 2 – THE CHARTS OF FSP ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 134 
11.1  CHART 1 • THE BIRTH OF JESUS I (MATTHEW 1:18-4:25).................................................................. 134 
11.2  CHART 2 • THE BIRTH OF JESUS II (LUKE 2:1-20) .............................................................................. 142 
11.3  CHART 3 • THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (ACTS 2:1-4; 4:31-35)................................................. 144 
11.4  CHART 4 • THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN (LUKE 10:30-35)............................................. 146 
11.5  CHART 5 • WHO IS WHO? (1COR 15:24-28) – VERSION A: NKJV TRANSLATION.............................. 147 
11.6  CHART 6 • WHO IS WHO? (1COR 15:24-28) – VERSION B: NLST TRANSLATION .............................. 148 
11.7  CHART 7 • JESUS TALKS WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN (JOHN 4:1-42)................................................ 149 
11.8  CHART 8 • JESUS TEACHES NICODEMUS (JOHN 3:1-18)..................................................................... 154 
11.9  CHART 9 • JOHN THE BAPTIST DENIES BEING THE CHRIST (JOHN 1:19-28) ....................................... 157 
11.10  CHART 10 • THE LORD’S PRAYER (MATTHEW 6:9-13) – VERSION A............................................. 159 
11.11  CHART 11 • THE LORD’S PRAYER (MATTHEW 6:9-13) – VERSION B............................................. 159 
11.12  CHART 12 • THE BEATITUDES (MATTHEW 5:1-12) – VERSION A .................................................. 160 
11.13  CHART 13 • THE BEATITUDES (MATTHEW 5:1-12) – VERSION B................................................... 161 
11.14  CHART 14 • IN THE BEGINNING… (JOHN 1:1-9&14) ...................................................................... 162 
11.15  CHART 15 • HE IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD… (COLOSSIANS 1:15-20)............................ 163 
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11.16  CHART 16 • PSALM 145 .................................................................................................................. 164 
11.17  CHART 14 • BEING IN VERY NATURE GOD… (PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11)............................................... 166 
12  LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)...................................................... 167 
13  WORKS CITED.................................................................................................................................... 169