Emigration,Nationalism and Church Identity in Europe: The Legacy of the German St Raphael Society in International Catholic Migration Assistance

At the very time that historians have pin-pointed a turn to hyper-nationalism in Germany, a nationalist German Catholic association for emigrant care (St Raphael Society) started its gradual transformation into an international support network. Migration as concept and reality reminded the German Catholic nationalists that a) the nation resides outside its political borders and b) one must show empathy for all strangers in strange lands. The article situates the Society within the context of the German Caritas Association and International Catholic Migration Commission.     

The Baltic Churches and the Challenges of the Post-Communist World

This article analyses and describes the recent history of the Baltic churches, their theological reorientation and the challenges they have encountered in the post-Communist Baltic society. The focus is on the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Lutheran churches whereas the Catholic and Orthodox churches receive less attention. It is first demonstrated that much has changed since the Second World War regarding the churches' membership numbers and their societal position. The article then pays attention to two phenomena that have caused much discussion not only within the churches but also among foreign observers: the fear that the Lutheran Church will surrender to the Catholic Church, and the quite opposite anxiety that the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod will grow too influential within Baltic Lutheranism. Finally, the author examines the way the Baltic churches have been involved in politics during the last two decades.     

An exploration of the therapeutic process while using computerised cognitive behaviour therapy

Background: Modern technologies that offer an alternative to face‐to‐face therapy have gained ground in the NHS. Critics have argued that some of the important elements of the therapeutic change process necessarily require a human therapist. Yet, the traditional understanding of the change process in psychotherapy is challenged by evidence that some computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (cCBT) programs may be as effective as face‐to‐face therapy, suggesting that in certain cases the interaction between user and a cCBT product satisfies sufficient criteria for personal change without the need for actual human contact. Aim: This study used the cCBT package Blues Begone as a means of investigating the process by which a computer‐mediated program helped adults with mild depression help themselves. Method: Seven qualitative interviews were conducted with mildly depressed users who had completed Blues Begone in their own homes without any additional human help or support. Findings: Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was performed with four main themes emerging. These were: the meaningful relationship; shape from confusion; stimulation and empowerment. This study illustrates some of the ways that some depressed users make use of cCBT self help.     

Christianity in Iran: A Brief Survey

This article reviews the long and varied history of Christianity in the country now known as Iran. The historical emphasis is on the Assyrian Church of the East, although other churches are also mentioned. The relationship, successively, with Zoroastrianism and with Islam, as the dominant religious traditions, is discussed, as are its implications for the wider Islamic world. Western contacts with Iran, and, in particular, those of western churches, are also examined. In the light of this historical analysis, and from discussion of the situation since the Islamic Revolution, some conclusions are advanced about the prospects for Christianity in the new contemporary context.     

The Vatican and Europe: Political Theology and Ecclesiology in Papal Statements from Pius XII to Benedict XVI

The article examines the origins and evolution of the Vatican's political theology and ecclesiology for Europe from Pius XII (especially after the Second World War) and including the pontificates of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It seeks to examine the continuities of the ‘Idea of Europe’ in papal thought against a background of changing political context – the end of the Second World War, the Cold War, the fall of the communist state system, the emergence of a united but diverse Europe after 1989. The political structures of the continent now include within its geographic sweep Western and Eastern Christian churches which, divided by tradition and modern history, find their relationship a key marker in the contemporary religious identity of Europe. This reality is a significant framework for Vatican thinking on Europe especially for John Paul II and Benedict XVI.     

Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary

Starting from the context in which there is an increasing emphasis on ecclesial revitalisation and churchplanting, the analytical model of the Australian National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research is introduced and described in its background and characteristics. The model shows particular interest in a specific church profile which is created based on local church surveys. The article describes the profile, examines the theological concepts and argues for in-depth empirical research in a Dutch context concerning the use of the profile.     

The Second Vatican Council 50th anniversary: visions and re-visions

On 21 November 2014, the 50th anniversary of the solemn promulgation of Lumen Gentium and Unitatis Redintegratio was celebrated. Between ‘aggiornamento’ and ‘ressourcement’ the Catholic Church had been striving to understand itself and its Tradition more precisely, in order to be newly relevant, lastingly true and authoritative in the future ? an indispensible task, if the gospel were to be proclaimed to the contemporary world, but not an easy one. It is little wonder that this completion of the Council's endeavours was preceded by its so-called ‘black week’. Questions remain as to the outcome of it all, and the articles assembled in this issue assess the reception of these two conciliar texts after 50 years. Where do the achievements lie? Where are the shortcomings? Where do questions need to be asked today that reach beyond the horizon of Vatican II?     

Gender: Genetics,Genitality, Generosity (Grace), Gentility

After acknowledging that gender is defined at many levels and that definitions may not be concordant across all of these layers of human development, this essay illuminates how these threads intertwine with one another to produce a final product that we call a person. Gene expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, and anatomic structures are not always coterminus. Arbitrarily assigning an infant child with maldefined genitalia to a socially defined gender role on the basis of surgical convenience may (should) be perceived as an act of violence, and an untruth. A further intent of this article is to help in pastoral settings to respond to events which raise points of anxiety and concern, among persons of faith, which are sometimes associated with instances of discrepancy.     

The Behavioral Genetics of Religiousness

Behavioral geneticists have sought to characterize the genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in religiousness. Behavioral genetic methodology is described and twin and adoption studies of religiousness are reviewed. It is concluded that familial resemblance for religiousness is due largely to shared environmental factors in childhood and adolescence, but to genetic factors in adulthood. Additional evidence shows that there is a genetic correlation between religiousness and antisocial and altruistic behavior. Claims for the discovery of a “God gene” are premature and unlikely, as any genetic influence is likely to represent the aggregate effect of many genetic factors.     

Christian Mysticism and Science: The Phenomenological Dimension

Abstract

In this second of three papers, I identify three fundamental phenomenological themes that have informed Christian mystical theology and then explore how these themes might be given further understanding via natural science. The first theme, detachment, minimizes any association with the secular world in favor of humility and openness to God. Detachment is chosen in consciousness using a resonant global workspace linked through the hippocampus to reconstructions of both declarative and emotional memory. The second theme, infused contemplation, is concerned with God's top-down revelation to the recollected mind of the mystic. The resulting top-down resonance creates an appropriate theory of mind for infused contemplation, as the human mind is now more perfectly linked with the mind of God. The third theme is mystical union, which both theology and science claim occurs within consciousness. Starting in intentional consciousness, the mystic undergoes an unmediated surrender beyond cognition to non-intentional consciousness. Because God fills the center of our being, a resonating luminosity can thus occur arising from the union of God and self within pure consciousness.