“Faith Alone”—Primus Inter Pares: Welcome to the Banquet

Faith alone represents the primus inter pares of the sixteenth‐century Reformation's four solas. Gary Simpson introduces five authors who critically explore and creatively extend the doctrine of justification by faith alone as Dialog with its Fall issues (2013–2017) leans into the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation (2017).     

“SCIENCE,” “RELIGION,” AND “SCIENCE‐AND‐RELIGION” IN THE LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Many intellectuals wrote texts on the relations between Islam and science in the nineteenth‐century Ottoman Empire. These texts not only addressed the massive social and cultural changes the Empire was going through, but responded to European authors’ claims about the extent to which Islam was compatible with the modern world. Focusing on several texts written in the second half of the nineteenth century by the influential Muslim Ottoman authors Namik Kemal, Ahmed Midhat, and ?emseddin Sami, this article shows the influence of these exigencies on arguments on Islam and science. In order to represent Islam as a respectable religion in harmony with science, these intellectuals defined a “pure Islam” that was a set of basic principles that could be found in the Qur'an. Rather than an embedded way of life, Islam in these texts was an objectified, delimitable entity that could be imagined as having relations with other entities, such as science.     

“Dictating the Suitable Way of Life”: Mental Hygiene for Children and Workers in Socialist Mexico, 1934–1940

After the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), an ambitious project of national reconstruction began in which education and health were two priorities in the consolidation of a new nation. In this context of social, cultural, and political transformation, mental hygiene was a field that made it possible to articulate the professional practice of psychiatrists with the project of the nation promoted by postrevolutionary governments. In Mexico, the mental hygiene movement was headed by the same doctors who professionalized the practice of psychiatry and made it a specialized field of knowledge. The first generation of psychiatrists managed to integrate mental hygiene into health and education policies during the socialist administration of president Lázaro Cárdenas; a phenomenon that made evident the articulation between mental hygiene, social medicine, and nationalist discourse. Discussion will focus on proposals made from the perspective of mental hygiene as a function of two social sectors regarded as priorities by the Cárdenas government: children and workers.     

A note on the origin of the term “social science”

The previous literature concerning the origin of the term social science has traced the earliest usage of the English phrase to J. S. Mill in 1829 and of the French science sociale to Charles Fourier in 1808. A prior, albeit vague, employment of the term is found in a 1785 letter by John Adams. In addition, an unambiguous usage of social science has been discovered in the 1825 Articles of Agreement of the London Cooperative Society. The label social scientist appears as early as 1875.     

THE PROBLEM OF “GOD” IN PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION: LONERGAN'S “COMMON SENSE” (RELIGION) VERSUS “THEORY” (THEOLOGY)

The emphasis on God in American psychology of religion generates the problem of explaining divine‐versus‐natural causality in “spiritual experiences.” Especially “theistic psychology” champions divine involvement. However, its argument exposes a methodological error: to pit popular religious opinions against technical scientific conclusions. Countering such homogenizing “postmodern agnosticism,” Bernard Lonergan explained these two as different modes of thinking: “common sense” and “theory”—which resolves the problem: When theoretical science is matched with theoretical theology, “the God‐hypothesis” explains the existence of things whereas science explains their natures; and, barring miracles, God is irrelevant to natural science. A review of the field shows that the problem is pervasive; attention to “miracles”—popularly so‐named versus technically—focuses the claims of divine‐versus‐natural causality; and specifications of the meaning of spiritual, spirituality, science, worldview, and meaning itself (suffering that same ambiguity: personal import versus cognitive content) offer further clarity. The problem is not naturalism versus theism, but commonsensical versus theoretical thinking. This solution demands “hard” social science.     

“Higher” and “lower”: Comparative and categorical interpretations by children

Three-, four-, and five-year-old children's categorical and comparative understanding of high and low were examined in two experiments. Categorical knowledge was assessed by presenting subjects with a single object at varying heights (from 0 to five feet above the ground), and asking if the object was high or low. Comparative understanding of the terms was assessed by showing children two objects at a time and asking which was higher or lower. We observed two patterns of performance in children's categorical treatments: younger children in particular defined disjoint categories for high and low such that they only labelled the extreme heights as high or low, and maintained that middle heights were neither high nor low. Older children defined either-or categories such that all heights were labelled either high or low. We also found that children who defined either-or categories made correct comparative judgments across the entire range of variation whereas children who defined disjoint categories could only judge which of two objects was higher if the objects were not low (at 0 and 1 feet) and which of the objects was lower if the objects were not high (at 4 and 5 feet). The results were interpreted as reflecting a lack of appreciation that the terms are interdefined as negations of each other, and were discussed in terms of the similar semantic-congruity effects found in adults.     

“Shining in the Light of Your Glory”: Finding the Simple Reading of Scripture

This essay argues that without allowing for a legitimate extra‐biblical reasoning for the appropriateness of God's “simplicity,” Christians will be compelled biblically to affirm that God, as such, has a body — or at least Christians will have to accept this as a theologically possible reading of Scripture that cannot be ruled out. Barnes first cites ancient philosophical sources that argue that God has no parts but is utterly simple. In Barnes's quick sketch, the main role is given to Plotinus and especially to the summation found in Alcuinus's Didaskalon X.7 (Alcuinus is known also as Albinus). Barnes then examines readings of Israel's Scriptures that indicate the bodiliness of God (YHWH). Most importantly, divine bodiliness comports with the “plain sense” of Scripture. Here he draws upon such works as Benjamin Sommer's The Bodies of God, Stephen Moore's “Gigantic God,” and Tryggve Mettinger's The Dethronement of Sabaoth; and he also makes reference to the work of the Jewish kabbalist scholar Gershom Scholem. Barnes carefully investigates such passages as Exodus 33, in which God is clearly presented as having bodily parts, including a “face.” As Barnes notes, the Fathers’ arguments for why God does not have a body are tied completely to their arguments for why God exists simply.     

The american “colonization” of northwest European social psychology after World WAR II

The term colonization as used in this article does not refer to the suppression of one culture by another, but to a voluntary intellectual submission, eventually resulting in a “neo-colonial” relationship in which, in spite of a “decolonization” movement, much of the dominant culture has been retained. Contrary to the traditional view, Europe had a rich social psychological literature before the Second World War, and much of this early work still is of interest for contemporary social psychology. The Netherlands is used as an example of the “colonization” of Northwest European social psychology after 1945. It is shown that there has been an effort on the part of the older generation to integrate the European heritage and the newer American social psychology. The younger generation, however, according to an analysis of citations, adopted American social psychology, as a guiding model soon after the Second World War. The colonization metaphor draws attention to the power aspects of knowledge transfer. The author concludes that later “de-colonization” does not imply a turning away from everything American, but a cross-fertilization of perspectives, leading to a truly international approach. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Boundary maintenance in American sociology: Limitations to academic “professionalization”

The institutionalization of social scientific disciplines at the turn of the century did not, in fact, result in academic behavior consistent with the “professionalization” models now in vogue among students of this period. Formal attributes of “professional” status have not proven reliable indices to the degree of consensus predicted for a “mature” discipline, as is evident from the history of a single field, American sociology—ironically the source of many “professionalization” schemes. Such schemes may appeal to historians because they paradoxically reinforce academic ideology; they represent a new variant of “whiggish” internalism, disguised as externalist cynicism. If we are to write accurate historical accounts, we must recognize that the self-consciously “professional” social scientists of the turn of the century sought ends rather different from those imputed to them by “presentist” analysts. Notions of the socially integrative functions of work were widespread during this period and not restricted to those occupational groups we now recognize as “professional”.     

When Research “Unravels”: One Community Psychologist's Tale of Becoming a Nepantlera

This is an autoethnography of one community psychologist's reflections on the abrupt conclusion of a project that resulted in the dismantlement of a Latinx Student Union at a public middle school in the Pacific Northwest. Gloria Anzaldúa's (Borderlands/La Frontera: The new mestiza, Aunt Lute Books, San Francisco, 2002) notion of nepantla is used to situate how an individual's personal identities often intersects with their professional identities in ways that collide within the research environment. Drawing on the “heart work” core competencies within the field of community psychology (The Community Psychologist, 45, 2012, 8; American Journal of Community Psychology, 55, 2015, 266) and extending the dialogue of feminist community psychologists engaged in narrative work (American Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 2006, 157; American Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 2006, 267; Feminist research practice: A primer, Sage, Los Angeles, 2014; American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 2000, 883), the author addresses why it is important for researchers of Color engaged in community collaborations to reflect on projects that have unraveled to understand how their positionality shifts within social contexts.     

An evaluation of a partial training program in psychiatric residency on the later practice of marital and family therapy

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a survey of psychiatrists and residents who received marital and family therapy training during their second year of residency. The data indicate that such training has an immediate positive effect on practice and is carried forward into later practice. Practicing psychiatrists trained in marital and family therapy during residency report spending 25% of their caseloads in marital and family therapy which was seen as producing positive change in patients. In line with previous training, practicing psychiatrists define the unit of treatment as more than an identified patient and treat marital and family therapy cases themselves or refer to others for such therapy. Variations in practice and techniques raise questions regarding the structure and content of marital and family therapy training in psychiatry residency programs and point out the importance of such training in the later practice of psychiatry.     

Development of the AAS Statement on “Suicide” and “Physician Aid in Dying”

In August 2017, the American Association of Suicidology board passed a statement titled “Suicide” is not the same as “Physician aid in dying,” which was developed partly in response to the fact that aid in dying is now legal in a number of jurisdictions. In Phase 1, eight members of the AAS who had indicated interest in this issue were asked to independently draft such a statement; the convener consolidated these drafts and comments into an initial statement. In Phase 2, five additional experts who might be expected to object were asked for their independent input; the convener consolidated these with the previous draft. No one objected to the statement altogether; extensive copyediting and rewording suggestions focused primarily on issues of overlap between “suicide” and “physician aid in dying.” The resulting document represents an effort to try to accommodate the basic concerns of all participants. The document does not speak for or against legalization of this practice, but it may have bearing on whether suicide prevention professionals have an obligation to try to prevent such deaths and whether they may serve as consultants for psychological or psychiatric evaluations as sometimes required under US state law.     

“Take Your Pill Dear”: Kate Millett and Psychiatry's Dark Side

Kate Miliett's book, The Loony-Bin Trip, is an extraordinary account of her personal experience with involuntary psychiatric commitment. The drama of her conflict with professional psychiatry is so tense, so enraging, that one is likely to find oneself having to set the book aside from time to time just to calm down.     

“Thine is the Kingdom,the Power,and the Glory”: New Vistas for the Theology of the Cross

Abstract : This article examines fifteen recent books on a theology of the cross in the English language. Following the publication of Moltmann's The Crucified God and Hall's Lighten Our Darkness in the 1970s, unprecedented interest has been devoted to a theology of the cross in theological literature. The author categorizes this literature into four types: exegetical and historical treatments, critiques of theologies of glory, challenges to the abuse of power, and signals of the coming of God's kingdom. Two hypotheses are ventured regarding the emergence of these works at this time: 1) they evidence a theological response to the enormity of human suffering brought into awareness in an age of instant electronic communication; and 2) the urgent concern for the poor and the cry for social justice, which emerged with liberation theologies, are now finding expression through advocates for the theology of the cross.     

The Liberation of Caring; A Different Voice For Gilligan's “Different Voice”

Recent literature portrays caring as a psychological, social, and ethical orientation associated with female gender identity. This essay focuses on Giliigan's influential view that “care” is a broad theme of moral development which is under-represented in dominant theories of human development such as Kohlberg's theory. An alternative hypothesis is proposed portraying care development as a set of circumscribed coping strategies tailored to dealingwith sexism. While these strategies are practically effective and partially “liberated,” from the moral point of view, they also reflect the debilitating influences of sexist socialization even at the highest level. Gilligan and her colleagues seem to misidentify these inadequacies of mature care. This alternative hypothesis is briefly related to the critical and feminist tradition. Then it is supported with Gilligan's own research and interpretive text.     

“I am NN”: A Reconstruction of Anscombe's “The First Person”

This paper develops a way of understanding G. E. M. Anscombe's essay “The First Person” at the heart of which are the following two ideas: first, that the point of her essay is to show that it is not possible for anyone to understand what they express with “I” as an Art des Gegebenseins—a way of thinking of an object that constitutes identifying knowledge of which object is being thought of; and second, that the argument through which her essay seeks to show this is itself first personal in character. Understanding Anscombe's essay in this light has the merit of showing much of what it says to be correct. But it sets us the task of saying what it is that we understand ourselves to express with “I” if not an Art des Gegebenseins, and in particular what it is that we understand ourselves to express with sentences with “I” as subject that might seem to express identity judgments, such as “I am NN”, and “I am this body”.     

Teaching the College “Nones”: Christian Privilege and the Religion Professor

Working with undergraduate students invites teachers into relationship and conversation with young people at a time when they are emerging as adults and forming their identities. Faith is one area of identity formation often attended to by scholars, college professors, and their institutions. But within that, little attention has been paid to those who do not identify as religious. Additionally, “the overwhelming presence of Christianity at American institutions maintains it as the spiritual norm on campus. … Those within the spiritual norm gain a level of privilege that is often unconscious” (Seifert 2007, 11). This has an effect not only on nonreligious students but on any student who identifies as anything other than Christian; and it has a unique effect on teaching and learning in the religion classroom. In this article, I will explain what Christian privilege is, why it is a unique problem in the undergraduate religion classroom, and what teachers of religion might do in response to it. In the end, I argue that educators need to better understand the effects of Christian privilege in our classrooms and become allies to the nonreligious in particular by using pedagogies that include and support all students, in their many religious affiliations and unaffiliations.