Homo Hierarchicus and ecclesial order

Abstract

To argue that the concept of hierarchy is a profoundly theological concept is peculiarly difficult at the present time in which there is a general assumption that all hierarchies are hierarchies of power, intrinsically oppressive, and incompatible with human freedom. Consequently there is a deep-seated suspicion of the notion whenever it is invoked – not least in the context of church ‘order’. Such a suspicion would have been inexplicable to those writers from whom we gain our earliest knowledge of the Christian Church. Though we cannot, nor should we try to, recreate the conditions of earlier ages in which the concept was understood with a richness and depth that are lacking in our own age, it is vital to expose the contemporary misuse and degradation of the concept and see that, in the life of the Church, the concept of hierarchy is not intended to be an articulation of power, but an eschatological expression of order. The recognition of the inhuman abuse of the concept down the ages should not blind us to the truth that its purpose is to act sacramentally as a sign of the heavenly kingdom.     

The Orthodoxy of the Anglo-Saxons: conversion and loyalty in the pre-conquest English Church

Though Eastern Christians generally regard the Western part of the Church to have split from Orthodoxy permanently in 1054, there have been calls by some to modify the date of this as regards the Anglo-Saxon Church. These Orthodox lay scholars and bishops argue that the Anglo-Saxon Church was more closely aligned with the Orthodox East rather than the Roman Catholic West, as evidenced by the canonisation of St Edward the Confessor and advocacy for the canonisation of King Harold II. This article questions these assertions by looking at the evidence provided by Anglo-Saxon connection to the Western Church, as well as the migration of Anglo-Saxons to Byzantium following the Battle of Hastings, as described in the Játvarðar Saga. It concludes by discussing what implications these findings have for the Orthodox Church in its canonisation of a technically non-Orthodox saint.     

Joint attention with the mother and the father at 10 months of age

Joint attention capabilities were assessed in 52 10-month-olds observed independently with their mothers and fathers in a semi-structured toy-play condition. Mothers and fathers were indistinguishable in terms of total number of behaviours aimed at engaging their infant in joint attention. However, infants responded more to mothers' bids for attention than to fathers' bids. Contrastingly, infants tended to display more initiating joint attention behaviours while interacting with their fathers. Although parents did not differ in terms of sensitivity, fathers were less intrusive than mothers. Results are discussed in terms of the specificities of mother-infant and father-infant interaction and how the paternal role should be highlighted in the case of infant's joint attention development.     

Beyond Strategy,Towards the Kingdom of God: The Post‐Critical Reconstructionist Mission of the Emerging Church

Abstract : The Emerging Church is a diverse global phenomenon which envisions a radical reforming of the theology and praxis of the broader Christian church in light of the philosophical and cultural shift from modernism to post‐modernism. Differing from the evangelical New Paradigm seeker‐sensitive Church's generational focus, and the organizational unity and routines of Mainline Protestant denominations the Emerging Church conversation endeavors to create committed, authentic, day‐to‐day communities that embrace ecumenical and ancient Christian theology and practices in order to live out the reality of the in‐breaking kingdom of God. Though precise systemic theological unity within the Emerging movement is recognized as an elusive goal that is generally not even sought, the movement as a whole finds much in common with post‐conservative and post‐liberal theology, and shares a joint mission with those who have been called to the task of post‐critical reconstruction.     

Fathers’ and Mothers’ Involvement with Their Adolescents

We explored mothers’ and fathers’ time spent with their adolescents and found that mothers reported spending more time with their adolescents than did fathers. Developmental patterns were found for some aspects of time involvement, with both mothers and fathers reporting higher involvement with younger adolescents. Ratings of time-spent were not associated with adolescents’ self-reported emotional/behavioral problems. Both mothers and fathers agreed that mothers had more responsibility for adolescents’ discipline, daily care, and recreational activities. Mothers and fathers reported comparable levels of satisfaction with this arrangement. Mothers, and to a lesser extent fathers, reported greater satisfaction with the division of labor when fathers showed higher levels of responsibility for adolescents’ activities. Satisfaction with the division of labor was inversely related to interparental conflict. Few differences were found based on adolescent gender for any of these variables. Results are discussed within the context of mother–child and father–child relationships and family functioning.     

Intergenerational and Partner Influences on Fathers’ Negative Discipline

Recent studies have found significant but relatively modest associations in parenting across generations, suggesting additional influences on parenting beyond experiences in the family of origin. The present prospective, cross-generational study of at-risk men (Oregon Youth Study) focuses on fathers' negative discipline practices with their 2- to 3-year-old children. The theoretical model is based on a dynamic developmental systems approach to problematic family functioning, which points to the importance of developmental systems, including family risk context and key influential social interactional systems, and emphasizes influence that is directly pertinent to the outcome of interest. Path modeling indicated that the men's poor and harsh discipline practices were predicted by partners' problem behavior (substance use and antisocial behavior) and negative discipline practices, as well as by poor discipline experienced in the family of origin; men's own problem behavior, ages at which they became fathers, and family socioeconomic status were controlled. Findings indicate the importance of focusing on influence dynamics across parents.     

基督教传统对美国政治、社会的认知及影响

基督教传统从北美大陆殖民地时期开始就一直主导着这一地区的政治倾向和社会发展,在确立了政教分离的建国原则后,这一传统在影响美国政治与社会发展的进程中,也在不断适应着变化的时代。本文以美国历史为主线,分析了不同历史时期基督教传统对政治体制、社会变迁等问题作出的认知与判断,并简述其对美国政治领域和社会领域的影响。     

Fathers’ personality and its interaction with children’s personality as predictors of perceived parenting behavior six years later

We investigated fathers’ personality and its interaction with children’s personality as predictors of adolescent perceived parenting behavior. Data were used from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality and Development including 353 children. At Time 1 fathers rated their personality whereas teachers rated the child’s personality. Six years later, adolescents rated their fathers’ parenting. Higher levels of paternal Emotional Stability were associated with less perceived overreactive and more positive parenting behaviors only when children were high on Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Imagination. This study is of theoretical interest because the results demonstrate that different forms of parenting are associated with goodness-of-fit relations between parent and child personality and that these relations are different for negative and positive parenting.     

The development of relational competence among young high-risk fathers across the transition to parenthood

This study examined relationship factors associated with paternal functioning among young, high-risk fathers, with an emphasis on the role of a young mother's relational competence on her partner's paternal functioning. Participants included 60 young fathers and their coparenting partners, who were identified before childbirth and followed over 2 years. Fathers were identified as being at high risk for paternal failure based on a history of school dropout, psychopathology, and/or serial fatherhood. It was hypothesized that young men who were more relationally competent before childbirth would function more adequately as fathers, despite their high-risk status. Based on principles of family systems theory, it was also predicted that young men with more relationally competent partners would become more relationally competent, and therefore learn to function more positively as fathers. Relational competence was assessed using interview data collected before and 2 years post child birth, and coded with the Relational Competence Index. Paternal functioning was based on a composite score consisting of self-reported and observed parenting. Path analysis indicated that (1) high-risk fathers with relationally competent partners had higher relational competence scores over time, and (2) higher relational competence scores were associated with more positive paternal functioning scores.     

The Christian Reformed Church Periodical Index

Abstract

This article describes the creation of a web-based database that indexes less well-known periodical titles of importance to scholars in the Christian Reformed Church, and generally not covered by other indexing services. The author explains how the data from the index, originally stored in a card catalog, was moved online to a text-based system, and eventually into its present form in a web-based system. Highlighting some of the challenges that were overcome in creating this resource, brief details are provided on how the data are stored and retrieved in the web environment, on how the data are searched and presented to the researcher, and on the methods used to keep the database current.