Factors shaping biblical literalism: a study among Anglican laity

Biblical literalism was assessed among 404 adult Anglicans from a variety of church traditions using a summated rating scale based on 10 items referring to events in the Bible. The literalism scale showed high internal reliability (α?=?.92) and scores were highest (i.e. most literal) in Evangelical churches, intermediate in Broad churches and lowest in Anglo‐Catholic churches. Decisions about whether or not an event happened appeared to be based on a combination of general doctrinal belief about the Bible, the plausibility of the event and the doctrinal weight associated with it. A number of different factors predicted the degree of literalism, including general educational experience, experience of theological education at certificate level or higher, charismatic experience and the frequency of reading the Bible. Both general and specifically theological higher education seemed to reduce literalism in Anglo‐Catholic and Broad churches, but this was not so among Evangelicals, who maintained high levels of literalism whatever their educational experience.     

The outlook for policy-making: An epistemological perspective

Improving the quality of public policy-making is a matter of great importance for nearly everyone. Significant improvements, however, require major (and unlikely?) changes in the epistemological foundations accepted by social inquirers—changes that make possible a conception of “policy” that can be used to achieve real world purposes reliably. A theory of knowledge adequate for that purpose is outlined, and some of its major implications for inquiry (and for policy-making) are explored very briefly.     

论宗教伦理的世俗性与超越性

宗教伦理有世俗性和超越性两方面。宗教伦理的世俗性,是宗教处理人与人之间的现实联系,使人有序安定地生活在人世间,能够信仰宗教和实践宗教的基础;宗教伦理的超越性,是宗教倡导信仰者要超越自我而与神的规范、教诲相联系,超越人的现实性而与神的永恒性相联系,超越现实世界而与神的彼岸世界相联系。世俗性和超越性是宗教伦理作用于信众的重要特征。     

Coleridge and the 'master-key' of biblical interpretation

Claude Welch, the distinguished historian of nineteenth‐century religious thought, once declared that Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) ‘may be seen as the real turning point into the theology of the nineteenth century’ and that he ‘was as important for British and American thought as were Schleiermacher and Hegel’.² Still, Coleridge remains largely marginalized in the annals of church history and theology despite his unwavering prominence throughout much of the nineteenth century. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that Coleridge's posthumously published Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit (1840), with its rejection of the verbal infallibility of Scripture and elevation of the importance of the individual in rightly discerning the truths of the Christian faith, has often been misread as an attestation of the primacy of the individual subject over the biblical text. It has been treated alternately as a document that signals the emergence of German higher criticism in England,³ a Romantic appeal to the fundamental importance of the subjective in religion,⁴ and an early form of reader‐oriented literary criticism.⁵ In this article I suggest that the attention devoted to Coleridge's denial of the verbal inspiration of Scripture, epitomized by the phrase that biblical inspiration is constituted by ‘whatever finds me’, has overshadowed his equally significant attention to the authority of church tradition in that same document. More specifically, rather than arguing for subjectivism in biblical interpretation, Coleridge equally emphasizes the objective sources of revelation expressed in Scripture and the church traditions handed over from the apostles. Rather than proposing a model of biblical inspiration that is wholly individualistic, Coleridge maintains a vision of Christianity that affirms the vitality of both the authority of the church and that of the believer. Thus, Coleridge's theological contribution to religious history is not that of an aberrant, absent‐minded poet, but rather that of a central participant engaged in an ongoing and pivotal debate in the history of England: the relationship between Scripture and church traditions. In order to draw out this important, though neglected, strand of thought in those ‘Letters on the Scriptures’, the name by which the Confessions is sometimes identified,⁶ I begin by briefly clarifying the nature of the idea of tradition both in relation to Coleridge and English theology in the nineteenth century. I then summarize the argument of the Confessions as a whole and turn more particularly to those sections of the Confessions that suggest the role Coleridge assigns to church tradition in relation to Scripture. Finally, after assessing the authority of the church in relationship to the divine Word, I turn to Coleridge's earlier works and his notes on the Works of William Chillingworth (1602–1644) in order to demonstrate that his views on the respective authority of both the individual and the church were consistently held since near the time of his conversion to Trinitarian Christianity. I conclude that Coleridge's conception of the relationship between Scripture and church traditions calls for a reevaluation of his place in the history of religious thought in England.     

Ontological and epistemological reflexivity: A core skill for therapists

This paper argues that a core skill needed to be an effective therapist is to have developed an awareness of one's own ontological and epistemological positions in relation to one's work as a therapist. In the same way that researchers need to develop reflexive awareness of their assumptions about what there is to know (ontology) and how they can come to know about it (epistemology), therapists need to be aware of their fundamental assumptions about human beings and the world they live in (ontology), as well as their beliefs about how best to develop an understanding of their clients and the meaning(s) of their experiences (epistemology). Regardless of which therapeutic model is adopted, the language used to talk about (and in) therapy, the kinds of questions asked of clients and the comments/interpretations offered, all presuppose and reinforce particular versions of human being and experiencing, which are themselves not usually questioned or challenged during the course of therapy. It is essential that therapists are aware of their own fundamental assumptions about what it means to be human and that they recognise their ontological and epistemological positions as positions that they are taking (rather than perceiving them to be self‐evident truths). This is important for two reasons: (a) if clients do not share the therapist's assumptions, the therapeutic work cannot proceed and be effective; and (b) without such an awareness, therapists are at risk of unwittingly imposing their own model of the person upon the client which raises ethical issues.     

Evolution and learning: An epistemological perspective

The deep formal and conceptual link existing between artificial life and artificial intelligence can be highlighted using conceptual tools derived by Karl Popper's evolutionary epistemology. Starting from the observation that the structure itself of an organism embodies knowledge about the environment which it is adapted to, it is possible to regard evolution as a learning process. This process is subject to the same rules indicated by Popper for the growth of scientific knowledge: causal conjectures (mutations) and successive refutations (extinction). In the field of machine learning such a paradigm is represented by genetic algorithms that, simulating biological processes, emulate cognitive processes. From a practical viewpoint, that perspective allows to identify the two different kinds of learning considered by artificial intelligence, knowledge acquisition and skill improvement, and to get a different view of the problem of heuristic knowledge in learning systems. From a theoretical point of view, these considerations can shade a new light on an old epistemological problem: why do we live in a learnable world?     

Mapping Religion's Other: A Review of the Study of Nonreligion and Secularity

In this article, we review the research literature on nonreligion, secularity, the nones, and other forms of “religion's other.” As a relatively new area of sustained and still growing research activity, with its attendant theoretical and methodological implications continuing to take shape, our focus is on the social science research from the mid‐2000s to the present. We consider the challenges of definition and perspective in this line of inquiry, highlight key arguments, and summarize the main findings from empirical studies of nonreligion and its relationship to topics including identity, health, family, and prejudice. After discussing the organizational and social movement aspects of nonreligious communities, as well as related developments in how scholars are studying these communities, we conclude our assessment of the state of this field by proffering questions relevant to both current efforts and whatever future directions are in store for research on religion's other.     

The earth is the Lord's: the biblical view of the environment

The Church needs a characteristically Christian voice in environment discourse. The Bible offers this in the form of symbols and stories. Familiar terms such as righteousness, covenant and atonement originated in the biblical teaching about creation, and the liturgy of the Temple was to maintain the creation. Angels and their music described the powers of creation and cosmic harmony, and Adam lost all this when he chose secular knowledge rather than Wisdom from the Tree of Life.     

Economics and technological change: An evolutionary epistemological inquiry

The failure of neoclassical economic theories to explain the nature and significance of the phenomenon of technological change is critically looked at in this article. Although there are numerous excellent works in the literature on technological change that criticize the inadequacy of neoclassical economists’ approach to this phenomenon, my objective, however, is to open a new discourse on technological change by emphasizing the epistemological significance of technology. It is argued that the concept of technology as essentially a process of knowledge created for doing things and solving problems, and technological change as essentially a process of knowledge change occurring within the contexts of the political economic and social constructivist frameworks that inform the dynamics of this essentially qualitative process can address this failure. Empirically based analytical methodologies may be able to measure the impact of technological change, an evolutionary epistemology of technological change may be better equipped to understand and explain this phenomenon. He has previously taught at Illinois Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech. An earlier version of this paper was presented in a seminar to the Industrial Policy Management Group at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on November 2, 1992. Thanks are due to Steve Fuller for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Economics and technological change: An evolutionary epistemological inquiry

The failure of neoclassical economic theories to explain the nature and significance of the phenomenon of technological change is critically looked at in this article. Although there are numerous excellent works in the literature on technologicial change that criticize the inadequacy of neoclassical economists’ approach to this phenomenon, my objective, however, is to open a new discourse on technological change by emphasizing the epistemological significance of technology. It is argued that the concept of technology as essentially a process of knowledge created for doing things and solving problems, and technological change as essentially a process of knowledge change occurring within the contexts of the political economic and social constructivist frameworks that inform the dynamics of this essentially qualitative process can address this failure. Empirically based analytical methodologies may be able to measure the impact of technological change, an evolutionary epistemology of technological change may be better equipped to understand and explain this phenomenon. Reprinted from Knowledge and Policy: The International Journal of Knowledge Transfer and Utilization, Spring 1994, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 79–91. He has previously taught at Illinois Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.     

Destructiveness, atrocities and healing: epistemological and clinical reflections

In this paper, destructiveness is approached as a multi-dimensional phenomenon where the mental health perspective addresses only one of these dimensions. An attempt is made to locate this phenomenon in the context of epistemological and societal considerations. Critical of mono-dimensional explanations based on causal-reductive epistemology, the paper instead proposes the idea of an 'ecology of destructiveness', according to which mental health professionals cannot possibly continue to assume the role of detached observers. The ordinariness and archetypal fascination of destructiveness are discussed as preventing the psychologizing and pathologizing of it. In addition, it is suggested that 'destructiveness may be a tragic facet of the human condition', without this implying any justification of it. Based on my work with a group of Bosnian ex-camp prisoners, some basic principles of how one can work with survivors of atrocities are derived and discussed. A central feature of this work is the attempt to create an appropriate therapeutic context within which a 'therapeutic presence' and 'therapeutic witnessing' can be developed. Finally, the relevance of Jungian insights to this kind of work is reviewed and the emergence of new types of defences of the self is identified.