当存何心庆圣诞

光阴似箭,日月如梭。一年一度的圣诞节又将来临。在这普世欢腾、普天同庆的日子里,我们该存何心来庆祝救主耶稣基督的诞降呢?我们要存怎样的态度来欢庆圣诞才是主所悦纳呢?值此佳节来临之际。藉着刚才二处的经文,以“当存何心庆圣诞”为题与大家一同思想、分享。     

默想神的爱

当我沐浴在和煦的春风中,让我闭起眼睛,默想神的爱。 圣经说:自从造天地以来。神的永能神性是明明可知的。虽是眼不能见,但借着所造之物,就可以晓得,叫人无可推诿(罗1:20)。所以,即使有一天我真的看不见了。但只要我还会思想,我心中那股对神的爱的感激之情都会像大海一样永不干涸。就如吹在身上的春风一样,虽然看不见却能感受得到;正如"润物细无声"的春雨一样,无声无息地降临在地上。当人们看到树叶上的嫩芽,江边一片绿油油的小草时,就知道春天已经来了。--神的爱与它们一样,都是默默无闻的,特别是主耶稣基督,他的降生与受死都是神爱彰显的最高峰,但身为上帝独生爱子的主耶稣基督,在地上的33年多却是谦卑的一生。     

圣经的一点一画能改吗？

圣经分为旧约与新约两大部分。旧约39卷,希伯来正典24卷,旧约也就是犹太教的希伯来正典,两者内容完全相同,只是各卷分类不同而巳。比如基督教把十二小先知书分为十二卷,而犹太教则作为一卷书。初期教会一开始就承认希伯来正典,因为耶稣讲道常常引用旧约圣经,教会当然没有理由拒绝。旧约原文大多是希伯来文,     

罪的定义：从旧约圣经到新约圣经

罪的观念和教义是天主教的核心教义之一,在跨文化和跨宗教的比较研究中,尤其是在中国传统精神与天主教精神的对话和比较,罪的观念常常被中国人误解和曲解,以致轻率地得出两者是“乐感精神”与“罪感精神”的对立,并认为中国人无法接受“人人有罪”的天主教说法。本文从圣经文本入手,对罪的观念进行疏解,以期对这一误解有所矫正。     

圣诞的“时候”

“及至时候满足,神就差遣他的儿子,为女子所生……”（加4：4—5）即将来临的圣诞节常被称为普天同庆的日子,可是有谁知道,当年基督降生的时机,是上帝特别安排的。圣经用“及至时候满足”这一句话来表达,那是为了满足什么样的时候呢？     

将最好的献上

自古以来,教会视荣耀上帝为事奉的主要目的,信徒聚会的目的是为了敬拜赞美上帝。 在旧约和新约中,"敬拜"是全人的(包括心思、意志、情感和身体),以无比敬虔的心以及行动,与神面对面相会,表达我们个人对神的尊崇、敬畏、尊荣与爱慕;同时,让神的圣洁、荣光与真理来使我们洁净,好让我们能更具有神的形象(参林后3:18)。     

美妙的圣诞音乐

依照圣经所记述的那样,18世纪的农民在每年圣诞节的早晨都要到罗马去,在那里模仿牧羊人吹笛的情景。     

“以马内利”——上帝同在的记号

“以马内利”,就是“神与我们同在”的意思。它的第一次出现、是在旧约圣经以赛亚书7章14小节那里：“主自己要给你一个兆头,必有童女怀孕生子,给他起名叫以马内利”。在该书的第8章中第8、10小节中再次出现,以后圣经中我们几乎再没有看到这样的字句。没有这样的字句,丝毫不影响     

祷告是这样的吗？

编辑老师: 在我们教会里,现在正流行着这样的一种祷告,就是主领人在领祷告时,忽然在祷告中间加入几句"我奉主耶稣的名斥责一切混乱和搅扰的灵离开我们,我奉主耶稣的名斥责一切的疾病和软弱离开我们,我奉主耶稣的名斥责一切沉睡和打盹的灵离开我们,我奉主耶稣的名捆绑魔鬼撒但和一切的邪灵,我奉主耶稣的名命令……"等等。然后又是祷告,最后是"这样的祷告不配,都是奉主耶稣的圣名祈求的,阿们"。据他(她)们自己解释:这种祷告叫"宣告的祷告"。并且每次聚会祷告时都是如此。     

提摩太前书2章9至15节的诠释与书信的释经原则

是否圣经中的每一段经文都可以直接拿来作为今天教会和个人的生活准则?我们应如何看待圣经中前后表达不一致的甚至是前后矛盾的经文?是否新约中的书信体书卷有一些属于它们本身的释经原则?提摩太前书第2章第9至15节,是我们在讨论上述问题,包括讨论妇女在教会中的作用等问题时必须面对的。教牧书信一直被视为教会的教会手册,其中的教训对教会有很深的影响。尽管许多圣经学者把教牧书信列为“后保罗学派”的作品,认为这段经文所表达的相对保守的妇女观不能完全代表保罗的观点。     

Thomson's Lamp is Dysfunctional

James Thomson envisaged a lamp which would be turned on for 1 minute, off for 1/2 minute, on for 1/4 minute, etc. ad infinitum. He asked whether the lamp would be on or off at the end of 2 minutes. Use of “internal set theory” (a version of nonstandard analysis), developed by Edward Nelson, shows Thomson's lamp is chimerical; its copy within set theory yields a contradiction. The demonstration extends to placing restrictions on other “infinite tasks” such as Zeno's paradoxes of motion and Kant's First Antinomy. Resolution of such logical-philosophical problems leads to some very general constraints which must be placed upon the syntax of physical theories. In particular, at some scale space and time would appear granular. The suitability of internal set theory for analyzing phenomena is examined, using a paper by Alper and Bridger (1997) to frame the discussion. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Burning or Building Bridges

SUMMARY

Among the population of physically abused women who present individually in therapy, there is a portion who struggle with their indecisiveness about whether or not they should work toward resolving or terminating their heterosexual relationship. This paper will examine clinical methods that are employed through individually based systemic therapy to assist women who find themselves in such confusing and perilous situations. Due to the complexity of the problem” emphasis is placed on addressing salient issues efficiently and non-judgmentally. Central to treatment is client engagement and the challenging of constraining client beliefs.     

烧香烧的人灰头土脸

五一长假,我和先生决定来一次北京——普陀山自助游。先从北京坐火车至上海,再转车到宁波,然后乘船去普陀。因为早就听说普陀山风景怡人,空气新鲜,温度适宜,所以我对普陀山一直心存向往。几番周折终于来到普陀山脚下,天气很好,我们遥望普陀山却有几分雾蒙蒙的感觉,我以为是因为山在海中,所以会有些雾气,没在     

Femi-Nazis and Bra Burning Crazies: A Qualitative Evaluation of Contemporary Beliefs about Feminism

Despite data demonstrating a substantial gender gap in the United States, many women do not self-identify as feminist. An evaluation of the literature suggests four potential reasons for the lack of identification, 1) a negative connotation associated with the term “feminist,” 2) the dichotomous presentation of feminism (e.g., the lack of grey area between feminism and non-feminism), 3) a belief that feminism may no longer be necessary, and 4) a perceived lack of cultural relevance. Previous research on feminism has not adequately addressed the dynamic and contextual factors that can influence a woman’s decision of whether to self-identify. Therefore, the goal of this project was to use qualitative methodology to allow for the identification of potential personal barriers for women associating with the feminist movement. The data suggest that feminism is viewed as an obsolete entity with largely negative connotations associated with the term. The implications of these barriers and several suggestions for change in the movement are discussed.     

Some Burning Issues in Research on Health Behavior Change

This response to five excellent commentaries is intended to clarify some issues in research on health behavior change that appear to be ambiguous or controversial, such as the debate about stage models versus continuum models or the search for moderators and mediators. The assumption of stages can be useful, but the quest for truly existing stages is considered fruitless because stage is a scientific construct, not nature. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is designed as an implicit or explicit stage model, based on the distinction between a motivational and a volitional phase. As a template for targeted interventions, it suggests grouping individuals into preintenders, intenders, and actors. Due to indistinct boundaries between stages and to unstable social‐cognitive constructs, the validity of stage assessment becomes the foremost problem. However, if stage‐tailored interventions turn out to be superior to nontailored interventions, then the choice of the corresponding stage model is justified. When analysing the mechanisms of health behavior change or when predicting behaviors, the HAPA is also in line with nonstage (continuum) models. In the latter case, it examines moderators and mediators within a path‐analytic research design. It is suggested that more research be conducted on moderated mediation. Cette réponse aux cinq excellents commentaires tente de clarifier certains des résultats des recherches sur la modification des comportements relatifs à la santé, résultats qui semblent ambigus ou sujets à controverse, ce qui est le cas de la discussion sur les modèles en stades ou en continuum ou encore de la recherche de modérateurs et de médiateurs. L’hypothèse des stades peut se révéler fructueuse, mais il est inutile de considérer que les stades existent réellement puisque le stade, concept scientifique, ne relève pas de la nature. L’Approche des Processus d’Action en faveur de la Santé (HAPA) est par construction un modèle en stades implicites ou explicites basé sur la distinction entre une étape motivationnelle et une étape volitionnelle. Comme cadre pour des interventions ciblées, il propose de regrouper les individus en trois catégories: ceux qui n’ont pas encore l’intention d’agir, ceux qui ont cette intention et enfin ceux qui agissent. En raison des frontières fluctuantes entre les stades et de l’instabilité des concepts socio‐cognitifs, la validité de l’évaluation des stades devient le problème principal. Cependant, si les interventions programmées à partir des stades se révèlent plus efficaces que les autres, le choix de ce modèle est défendable. Quand on analyse les mécanismes des modifications du comportement en faveur de la santé ou quand on prédit ces comportements, l’HAPA accepte aussi le modèle en continuum. En ce cas, elle aborde les modérateurs et les médiateurs avec un plan de recherche en pistes causales. Il faut développer les recherches sur modérateurs et médiateurs.