From the Historical Reformation to the “Digital Reformation”

This article analyzes the challenges presented for contemporary theological thinking by the current shifts in communication, starting from the concept of a “digital reformation” as a counterpart to the theological revolution that occurred with the historical Reformation. It goes on to consider how processes of communication on the Internet require us to rethink certain theological categories – from the new and renewed ways of constituting and manifesting theological knowledge within the digital environment through the emergence of new loci, subjects, and theological syntheses. We conclude that the challenges of contemporary digital culture and the need for a connected theology mean that theology, as a field of knowledge, requires a new theological synthesis.     

A Review of “A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion”

ABSTRACT

HOLMAN OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY: EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS. Glen S. Martin. Nashville, TN: Broadman &; Holman Publishers, 2002, 387 pp., $19.99. Reviewed by Gregg Watson.

THE WESTMINSTER DICTIONARY OF NEW TESTAMENT AND EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND RHETORIC. David E. Aune. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003, xii, 595 pp., ISBN: 0-664-21917-9, $49.95. Reviewed by Iren L. Snavely, Jr.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND WAR, Routledge Encyclopedias of Religion and Society Series. Edited by Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez. New York &; London: Routledge, 2004, 512 pp., 33 b/w illustrations, ISBN: 0-415-94246-2, $125.00. Reviewed by Al Vara.

READING IS BELIEVING: THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THROUGH LITERATURE AND FILM. David S. Cunningham. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2002, 237 pp., $18.99. Reviewed by Robert F. Darden III.

UNDERSTANDING THE HADITH: THE SACRED TRADITIONS OF ISLAM. Ram Swarup. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2002, 258 pp., $22.00. Reviewed by Jeannie Colson.

AN INDEX TO ENGLISH PERIODICAL LITERATURE ON THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES, Vol. VIII, ATLA Bibliography Series, 21. Compiled and edited by William G. Hupper. Lanham, MD and London: The American Theological Library Association, and The Scarecrow Press, 1999, 483 pp., $70.00. Reviewed by John Dickason.

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF EVANGELICALS. Editor: Timothy Larsen; Consulting Editors: David Bebbington and Mark Noll. Leicester, England and Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003, 816 pp., $45.00. Reviewed by J. Michael Garrett.

LOGOS BIBLE SOFTWARE SERIES X-SCHOLAR'S LIBRARY (QB). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, 2004, $599.95, CDROM or DVD. Reviewed by Jason D. Baker.     

A Review of “Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus”

SUMMARY

The library Web site is a significant access point to a library's collections, resources, and services. A Web site can and should provide information about the library in a way that can be efficiently navigated and used by all library patrons. The usability of a library Web site can be improved through changes in organization and design informed by the experiences of real users. User expectations should be primary in determining the content, purpose, organization, and design of the site.     

A Review of “The Reformation. A Brief History”

Scholars researching the varieties of Orthodox Judaism have different types of primary and secondary resources available to them electronically. Books and journals are available digitally. Web sites emanate from institutions, organizations, and individuals that have clear ideological and political preferences. There is increasing use of the Internet by Orthodox and Haredi Jews for a variety of religious, communal, personal, and educational purposes. Religious Jewish residents of the West Bank maintain community Web sites that provide historical, theological, institutional, and communal information. This article describes some of the Web-based resources and tools that reflect the wide range of Orthodox thought, activity, and practices.     

A Review of “Personality and the fate of organizations”

In this study, we compared self-ratings and informant ratings of personality as predictors of implicit motives, need for achievement (nAch), and need for affiliation (nAff). A total of 120 participants wrote creative stories to 5 images from the Picture Story Exercise (Smith, 1992 Smith, C. P., Feld, S. C. and Franz, C. E. 1992. “Methodological considerations: Steps in research employing content analysis systems”. In Motivation and personally: Handbook for thematic content analysis, Edited by: Smith, C. P. 515–536. New York: Cambridge University Press.  [Google Scholar]) and completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa &; McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. Revised NEO Personality Inventory and NEO Five-Factor Inventory: Professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]). Three well-acquainted informants rated each participant's personality with the Big Five Inventory (John &; Srivastava, 1999 John, O. P. and Srivastava, S. 1999. “The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives”. In Handbook of personality: Theory and research, , 2nd ed., Edited by: Pervin, L. A. and John, O. P. 102–138. New York: Guilford.  [Google Scholar]) and Saucier's (1994) Saucier, G. 1994. Mini-Markers: A brief version of Goldberg's unipolar Big-Five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63: 506–516. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] Mini-Markers. Consistent with the study hypotheses, peer ratings of Conscientiousness significantly predicted nAch scores after controlling for word count and self-rated Conscientiousness. Contrary to hypotheses, peer ratings and self-ratings in all 5 domains did not significantly predict nAff scores. The findings are considered in the interest of bridging the gap between trait and motive concepts in personality assessment.     

Reformation and Mutual Accountability: A Common Agenda for the Reformation and the Ecumenical Movement Today?

This article argues that commemorating the Reformation properly means doing so in a spirit of mutual accountability to others in God's world from whom we learn, through affirming the gifts we have received and shared, and through constructive critique. Mutual accountability involves dialogue about how we deal with the differences and divisions that have developed, and how we are stewards of this legacy.     

A Review of: “Brothers and Sisters”

Abstract

Swimming Pool. Directed by François Ozon.     

What Kind of Reformation?: The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation and Today

While Luther did not intend to start a Reformation with his 95 Theses, the increasingly sharp conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities led to a separation between Luther and his followers and the Catholic Church of the time. Nevertheless, while the focal point for the 500th anniversary commemorations is Germany, even in the 16th century the Reformation had more centres than Wittenberg, such as Zürich, where Zwingli was active, and particularly Geneva. From here the impulse of Calvin's Reformation together with Free Church traditions prepared the way for the development of the culture of modernity in its various social and political manifestations. In view of the contemporary cultural conflicts in the globalized world, the churches of historic Protestantism should use the anniversary celebrations as an occasion to reappropriate the Protestant principle as a dynamic force, to search for a transformed embodiment of grace in the contemporary situation of cultural conflict, and to contribute to the shaping of a new culture of life.     

A Review of “The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible”

The life and works of Muslim Kurdish intellectuals have long interested scholars and have been the subject of many studies. These studies have generally been based on the Kurds’ own works and on other sources, primarily in Kurdish, written in the contemporary period. Only rarely has there been recourse to another group of sources that might shed additional light on these neglected personalities. This article discusses one of these other sources, the Arabic biographical dictionaries known as . Arab biographers in these compendia present Kurdish writers in a somewhat different light, not necessarily negative, from that found in other Arabic and Persian sources.     

Historical Kinds and the “Special Sciences”

Philosophical Studies -     

A Review of “Divorce: Causes and Consequences”

Substance abuse affects millions of adults each year, of whom one in five are older adults. Given pervasive stereotypes about later life and the ways in which older persons internalize such messages, dealing with and using previous work on substance abuse, the social breakdown syndrome, and narrative therapy, we describe the importance of and ways for marriage and family therapists to work with older persons facing the compounding experiences of ageism and substance abuse. The purpose of this study was to: 1) identify the prevalence of substance abuse among those 65 and older; 2) document and emphasize the unique challenges of addressing this issue among those 65 and older; and 3) provide an application of the narrative approach to working with older persons presenting with substance abuse.     

A Review of: “A Guide to the Books of James Hollis”

This article provides a small, personal glimpse of what occurs in a barroom subculture, both negative and positive (e.g., the camaraderie of my Friday night “family members”). I look at life in a barroom from different angles and perspectives, ultimately discovering a great deal of sadness as I try to connect barroom life to my own personal background.     

A Review of “The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion”

Online and distance learning are delivery modes in theological education that prompt questions about a library's ability to serve non-resident or occasionally resident students. This bibliometric study of 23 Doctor of Ministry theses completed at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary between 2006 and 2010 includes data about the kind of resources that are being used by distance students. The data is analyzed longitudinally and also by overall sample. Percentages of items cited that are in the library holdings either in hard or e-versions are also provided. Preliminary recommendations are made about how the library might adapt to serve the research needs of distance students.     

A Review of: “Making Sense of Ourselves and Others”

Midpoint ratings of elements on personal constructs have been given various interpretations, and the placement of the ideal self at the midpoint of a construct has been viewed as violating Kelly's (1955) Kelly, G. A. 1955. The psychology of personal constructs, Vol. 2, New York: Norton. Reprinted by Routledge, 1991) [Google Scholar] dichotomy and choice corollaries. This article reports analyses, using a mixed models approach, of repertory grids completed by 80 clients referred to a clinical psychology service at up to five assessment points both pre- and posttherapy. A larger than expected number of ideal self ratings at the midpoint was found, and consideration of the content of several of the constructs concerned elucidated why it might have been that neither pole was preferred. Midpoint ratings of the ideal self increased over the course of therapy and were not associated with depression or anxiety. Midpoint ratings of the ideal self and self now were also related to various structural measures of construing. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.