Emerging Migrant Churches in the Netherlands: Missiological challenges and mission frontiers

Abstract Emerging migrant churches in the Netherlands are a visible sign of a changed society. These changes demand rethinking of missiological challenges and “mission frontiers”. In this process sentiments of the Dutch population towards immigrants need to be addressed. Since the murders of right‐wing politician Pim Fortuyn and film producer Theo van Gogh, existing tensions in society and feelings of fear can neither be neglected nor downplayed. Referring to three examples of newly emerged multicultural churches, the author comments on how these communities shape their church and mission. He argues that migrant churches are missional by definition in their focus on internal, external or common mission. In discussing the response to migrant's theologies, he argues that true dialogue is often precluded by reductionist tendencies. More opportunities for theological training of the leadership of migrant churches, on their own terms, are mentioned as an important challenge. Defining one's own Christian identity anew in the changed context is seen as vital for true dialogue and connectedness.     

Pentecostal Movements,Islam and the Contest for Public Space in Northern Nigeria

The article considers the changing relationship between independent Pentecostal and charismatic groups and radical Islamic movements in Northern Nigeria between the 1970s and the early years of the twenty-first century. All these groups, be they Christian or Muslim, represent a new dimension in religious fundamentalism in contemporary Nigeria. In spite of being internal revivalist groups within their respective religious traditions, they reflect negative attitudes toward each other. Their relationship has been marked by continuous competition for public space. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the demonization of Islamic groups was a feature of Pentecostal discourse. Through their involvement in political activities under the umbrella of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), evangelicals and Pentecostals developed a common front in the face of Muslim fundamentalism.     

The Pentecostal Church in Slovakia and the Common Witness of Evangelical Churches in the Spirit of Partnership and Cooperation

This study aims to describe the Pentecostal Church in Slovakia in the scope of current ecumenical cooperation and dialogue. The Apostolic Church is a member of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Slovakia, which established the Department of Theology and Christian Education (DETM) at the University of Matej Bel. Since 1994, individual churches have continued together in ecumenical cooperation in the education of their young spiritual workers. The curriculum includes academic interpretation and missiological reflection on selected parts of mission. It offers the practical efforts of the teachers and students, especially from the viewpoint of the churches' common witness in diversity. The curriculum of the study programme for theologians interprets the two mission documents Together towards Life (TTL) and The Cape Town Commitment (CTC) from a Slovakian evangelical theological view and applies it practically in context. This paper introduces DETM's educational programme in mission and ecumenism and examines how it embodies the values and concepts of those two mission documents through its activities. Special interest is focused on the topic of the practice of common witness in a spirit of partnership and cooperation.     

More than belief,but not more than belief and desire

Manuel A. Vásquez’ More Than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion paints a rich picture of what a ‘non-reductive materialist framework for the study of religion’ would look like. Although it receives strong motivation from the inability of the predominant meta-approaches of theorizing religion to take seriously a range of materially grounded religious phenomena, it suffers somewhat from a lack of independent and autonomous argumentation. This article explores a convergence between Vásquez’ main points and the basic elements of one of the most influential positions within philosophical semantics – namely the semantic holism of Donald Davidson. Because Davidson's holism (assuming its correctness) provides constraints on all forms of theorizing, the fact that Vásquez’ position, unlike the ones he critiques, conforms to those constraints lends it a degree of rational presumption.     

Histories and Landscapes: Two Categories of Artwork Suitable for Reformed Churches

Abstract

There are few examples of paintings or sculptures in churches of the Reformed tradition today. I argue that, despite this, it is in fact consonant with the writings of early Reformed thinkers, such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer, and Huldrych Zwingli, to allow for the use of certain types of artwork in these churches. I make a start by arguing that each of these thinkers affirmed works of art that may be described as histories. I then go on to look at how we can use ideas central to the theology of John Calvin to argue for the use of landscapes in Reformed churches. Finally, I consider how we might use such works of art in churches in order to address concerns about their use that members of the Reformed community may have.     

More than,less than,or minimum,maximum: how upper and lower bounds determine subjective interval estimates

Uncertain quantities can be described by single‐point estimates of lower interval bounds (X₁), upper interval bounds (X₂), two‐bound estimates (separate estimates of X₁ and X₂), and by ranges (X₁?X₂). A price estimation task showed that single‐bound estimates phrased as “T costs more than X₁” and “T costs less than X₂,” yielded much larger intervals than “minimum X₁” and “maximum X₂.” This difference can be attributed to exclusive interpretations of X₁ and X₂ in the first case (X₁ and X₂ are unlikely values), and inclusive interpretations in the second (X₁ and X₂ are likely values). This pattern of results was replicated in other domains where participants estimated single targets. When they estimated a distribution of targets, the pattern was reversed. “Minimum” and “maximum” values of variable quantities (e.g., flight prices) were found to delimit larger intervals than “more than” and “less than” estimates. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

More than off-task: Increased freely-moving thought in ADHD

Off-task thought has been found to occur at high rates and is related to impairment in ADHD. However, off-task thought is heterogenous and it remains unclear which specific dimensions of off-task thought are more prevalent in this disorder. It is therefore important to dissociate different aspects of off-task thought in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying impairment. The current study focused on the dimension of constrained (focused) to freely moving off-task thought. Self-report and neurophysiological measures during a computerized attention tasks provided convergent evidence that individuals with ADHD not only have more off-task thought than those without, but also engaged in a greater proportion of freely moving off-task thought than non-ADHD controls. Overall, this work demonstrated differences in both the quantity and type of off-task thought in adults with ADHD. It provides novel insight into both the phenomenology of off-task thought, as well as potential mechanisms underlying impairment in ADHD.     

More than Men: Latino Feminist Masculinities and Intersectionality

This qualitative study analyzes the definitions of manhood provided by a US sample of 36 adult, working class Latinos who identify as feminist, and have attended institutions of higher education. Using an intersectional framework, we analyze in-depth interviews and address the research questions “To what extent did participants identify with their gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class background? How did participants subjectively define what it means to be a man?”. Results indicate that participants identified with their significant social groups to varying degrees. Manhood was defined in relational, ethical, and counter-hegemonic ways. Our discussion examines the way participants wove in and out of discourses related to hegemonic notions of manhood deemed as positive, while simultaneously rejecting aspects of hegemonic masculinity.     

空间、权力与知识:福柯的地理学转向

福柯是将空间议题置于社会理论架构之中的关键人物之一,本文评述福柯关于知识、权力与空间之间的互动关系的论述,从而展现福柯地理学转向的基本理论脉络。     

“Theology of Presence” in African Christianity: A Transforming Missiological Factor for Women in Contemporary Pentecostal Churches in Africa

Following the independence of many African countries, Christianity has been gaining freedom through indigenizing the church. Christian churches in Africa are self‐indigenizing, self‐innovating, and self‐criticizing their practices and theologies. However, women in African churches remain in an uncomfortable zone. African, biblical, and missionary cultures have been named as sources of discrimination of women in the church. This paper deploys a “theology of presence” to claim that contemporary Pentecostal Christianity (CPC) in Africa, with some continuity in African worldview and biblical cultures, has touched upon and answered women's complex and challenging questions that for a long time have been denied by Christian missionaries. The paper shows how theology of presence, in the “witnessing” and “healing” practised by CPC, has been transforming the missiological factor for women. The paper suggests learning from other models for transformation than policies and gender mainstreaming tools, since these have had little impact. The paper recommends research on hermeneutical reading of the Bible and providing more innovative skills to help women break the silence of being violated.     

Space, Time and Documents in a Refrigerated Warehouse

In a refrigerated warehouse, workers organize distribution and exchange of frozen seafood by the spatial and temporal arrangement of loads. Using videotapes of workers' activities and interviews, this paper investigates how workers organize space, time and artifacts in the activity of frozen seafood distribution and exchange, and how organized space, time and artifacts systematize workers' multiple courses of actions and give direction to them. Particular attention is paid to how the workers use artifacts such as various documents and computers as part of their practices, because the activity of distribution and exchange in this workplace is regarded as the activity of organizing space and time with various artifacts in multiple contexts. Through the analysis of situated literacy of using artifacts, it was shown that the activity of using artifacts is always embedded in multiple contexts. At the same time, diverse artifacts organize multiple contexts of work. Thus, there is the reflexive interaction between the artifacts and the contexts.