Collective Resistance as Prophetic Witness

Authentic Christian witness today, marked by the mission from the margins, must engage communities of the marginalized at the structural level through collective solidarity resistance. This article first examines social structures themselves and their capacity to enhance or denigrate human dignity. Inherited structures of oppression can be identified and addressed. Christian witness has a particular exigence for and role in identifying and resisting oppressive structures for the sake of justice. Prophetic witness to kingdom values–saying no to unjust systems–involves joining with victims in active resistance through local and global mobilization for social change and celebration of life.     

Prophetic Revelations in Near-Death Experiences

Prophetic revelations in near-death experiences (NDEs) are a fourth type of flashforwards. Prophetic revelations are similar to another type of flashforward called the prophetic vision, which was identified in 1982 by Kenneth Ring. Like prophetic visions, prophetic revelations are a phenomenon in which NDErs are given a knowledge of the earth's future; they have a global or world focus. Prophetic revelations differ from prophetic visions in that events in the earth's future are told or revealed to the NDEr by a deceased relative or some otherworld person during their NDE, rather than in a visual display, and they are less detailed. Four categories of flashforwards have now been identified. In addition to the prophetic revelation and the prophetic vision are the other flashforwards, the personal flashforward and the otherworld personal future revelation (OPFR). The major features that distinguish these different flashforwards are their focus (global or personal), method of delivery, and detail. All flashforward types occur in a small number of cases and during deep NDEs.     

Orthodoxy and Science

The Orthodox Church is uneasy about contemporary science. What causes its uneasiness is not exclusively its slow reception of modern culture. An important cause is the fact that contemporary research sidelines ethical and spiritual criteria. The practical application of scientific discoveries in the area of biotechnologies provides abundant evidence for this. That said, progress is being made in regard to the Orthodox appraisal of modern culture and contemporary science and toward self-assessment against current cultural trends. This progress cannot make an impact, however, without an authenticating framework. Fortunately, three documents of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church provide an implicit framework for addressing matters such as the Orthodox attitude toward science, especially biology and its related branches, in light of theological anthropology and traditional ethical and spiritual criteria. A shared particularity of these documents is that they consider modern culture and scientific research in a missional perspective.     

Teaching the Prophetic Marriage Metaphor Texts

This article considers those passages in the prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible that present the relationship between God and the people by means of a metaphor of a man and his promiscuous female partner. It reflects upon how these texts may fruitfully be taught in a seminary or college introductory Bible course, arguing that they should be included in the curriculum and not ignored. Practical recommendations of methods for presenting such biblical passages in the classroom are suggested.     

什么是东正教

一、东正教的起源和传播 　　东正教是基督教的三大派之一.由于基督教会内部争夺普世教会的最高领导权、势力范围和世俗利益以及教义上的某些分歧,于公元1054年公开分裂为西方天主教和东方正教.……     

Eastern Orthodoxy and Ecumenism

This article reviews a set of papers in a special issue of The Ecumenical Review on “Theological Exchanges: The Ecumenical Reception of Orthodoxy,” which examines the reception of Orthodoxy by other theological traditions through the mediation of ecumenical dialogue. The papers display a wide variety of approaches, many introducing, although in different ways, the nature of engagement with the Orthodox by the different Christian bodies represented. Others looked more directly at theological conversations between the Orthodox and other Christian bodies, and especially the doctrine of theosis (deification). The remaining papers offer an insight into specific moments of Orthodoxy’s involvement with other Christian traditions.     

Prophetic ministry in the nuclear world

This essay opens with a summary of a modern psychoanalytic theory of large groups. This theory is used to analyze the character, first, of the American church; second, prophetic ministry; and finally, what the nuclear threat means to the American church. The essay concludes with a discussion of what this analysis says about how to do effective prophetic ministry in the American church in the nuclear age.He is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and an experienced psychotherapist. He is active in the anti-nuclear movement, most recently serving on the committee which successfully organized to make Chicago a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.     

Catholic Orthodoxy Strikes Back

Book reviewed:
Women in Christ: Towards a New Feminism , Michele M. Schumacher (ed.), Eerdmans 2004 (0-8028-1294-5), pp. xvi, 342, Pb £27.99