The 'Plain' and the 'Positive': Ritual,Experience and Aesthetics in Quakerism and Charismatic Christianity

This paper argues that sharp distinctions between formal ritual action and everyday practice cannot always be sustained. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among British Quakers and Swedish charismatic Protestants, we seek to show that both groups manifest an experiential aesthetic that constructs and is constructed by engagement in daily life. The Quaker aesthetic we call 'the plain', and the charismatic aesthetic we term 'the positive'. In presenting our argument, we adopt Bourdieu's concept of habitus and extend its meaning to take account of material culture in the establishment of religious commitment.     

从"郊社之礼"看儒耶分歧

西方天主教初传中国,利玛窦奉行“补儒易佛”的策略。所谓“补儒”,就是要把儒学基督教化(本文所谓“基督教”包括天主教以及后来分化出的“新教”);所谓“易佛”,就是要排斥中国本土的佛、道等宗教。这一过程因天主教内部的“礼仪之争”而中断,遂给中西文化交流铸成历史的遗憾。“礼仪之争”不仅发生在天主教的不同传教会(耶稣会与多明我会、方济各会)之间,而且发生在利玛窦所在的耶稣会内部(利玛窦与龙华民之间);更可注意者,它在利玛窦本人的传教著作中也潜存着。“礼仪之争”实质上反映了中国儒家文化与西方基督教文化之间的分歧,这种分…     

现代东亚基督教的“礼仪之争”——以韩国祭祖问题为个案

本文提供了一个基督教传播于东亚社会的文化冲突个案,并通过该个案分析了基督教进入韩国社会早期所面临的各种问题,特别是围绕着祭祖问题而展开的激烈冲突。进而讨论了现代韩国社会在近代历史曲折展开的视野下面临的伦理建设诸问题。     

The Contemplative Bow in Teaching and Learning Pastoral Care

This article elucidates theoretical underpinnings for the use of one's self in the pastoral theological classroom. The contemplative bow is developed as a capacious metaphor to describe appropriate self use and its necessary importance in the teaching and learning of pastoral arts in a theological curriculum. Central to the argument is the assumption that effective teaching and learning in pastoral care emerges from awareness and knowledge of self as well as letting go of self in beneficial service with others. Analytical engagement of educational, theological, and psychological theory informs practice for the professional school classroom.     

Finding God in the Silence: Contemplative Prayer and Therapy

In this paper the author shares some of his experiences of using silence in therapy. He presents one of the modes of practicing silence, namely the meditation technique known as Contemplative Prayer, and shows advantages of using this technique in the process of self-purification and self-balancing of the therapist. The author stipulates that silence is a royal way to discovering God. Finding this divine particle within oneself and client changes the whole outlook of therapy. The therapist is no longer alone with the client, but God becomes an active participant in the therapeutic process through His love for both therapist and client.     

论当代美国基督教中的反进化论思潮

达尔文的进化论从诞生以来就一直遭到基督教保守派的攻击。只是这股潮流时起时伏。自20世纪80年代以来这股潮流不是在减弱,而是在增强。这其中有深刻的社会历史原因,本文对这些原因进行探究,并指出长达一个多世纪的创世论与进化论的斗争至今仍未停息,这充分说明这场斗争的长期性、复杂性。由此可见,想通过纯科学的方法来解决这个问题是十分幼稚的。这场论争决不仅仅是个科学问题,更是个社会和信仰问题。因为对创世论而言。科学上的未知数或者科学的新发展都能为宗教信仰提供依据。     

The Founding of Christianity Today Magazine and the Construction of An American Evangelical Identity

The emergence of modern American evangelicalism parallels the rise and development of Christianity Today magazine, a publication that has moved from a position of advocacy for a group of marginalized neo-fundamentalists to a well-established media system with a large evangelical constituency. This paper considers Christianity Today as both an ideological tool and a journalistic enterprise and examines the magazine's role during its founding era, under the editorial leadership of Carl F. H. Henry, in the ascendancy of evangelicalism as a social movement.     

Contemplative Meditation and Neuroscience: Prospects for Mental Health

Numerous studies show that personal spirituality developed through prayer positively influences mental health. Phenomenological and neuroscientific studies of mindfulness, an Eastern meditative prayer form, reveal significant health benefits now yielding important insights useful for guiding treatment of psychological disorders. By contrast, and despite its practice for millennia, Christian meditation is largely unrepresented in studies of clinical efficacy. Resemblances between mindfulness and disciplinary acts in Christian meditation taken from the ancient Greek practice of askesis suggest that Christian meditation will prove similarly beneficial; furthermore, psychological and neuroscientific studies suggest that its retention of a dialogical and transcendent praxis will additionally benefit social and existential psychotherapy. This paper thus argues that study of contemplative meditation for its therapeutic potential is warranted.     

The Self-Effacing Buddhist: No(t)-Self in Early Buddhism and Contemplative Neuroscience

One of the core teachings of Buddhism is the doctrine of anattā. I argue that there is good evidence that anattā as understood in early Buddhism should be viewed less as a doctrine and a metaphysical pronouncement (‘no-Self’) than as a soteriological claim (‘not-self’) – an appeal and a method to achieve, or move progressively closer to, liberation. This view opens up anattā to empirical scrutiny – does un-selfing, as an act, lead to liberation? Neuroimaging data collected on Buddhist or Buddhism-inspired meditators show interesting correspondences with this view of not-self as a possibly soteriological strategy. First, meditation leads to a quieting of the narrative self. Second, this quieting of the narrative self seems to lead to at least momentary increases in well-being. Third, this process can be learned, and seems to be already underway after a mere 40 hours of experience. Finally, very highly accomplished meditators seem to be able to tune down even the core self and truly experience anattā, including an apparent subduing of reflexive awareness.