当代部分青年伦理认同、取向及其成因的解读

近十年来一些全国性的大型调查所获得的数据表明:在一定的社会文化环境的影响下,在传统文化心理的积淀中,当代部分青年的伦理认同陷入了实用功利的陷阱,其伦理取向则尚未走出传统的樊篱。     

Is Europe, Along with its Bioethics, Still Christian? Or Already Post-Christian? Reflections on Traditional and Post-Enlightenment Christianities and Their Bioethics

This introduction explores the relationship between Europe andits Christianities. It analyses different diagnostic and evaluativeapproaches to Europe's Christian or post-Christian identity.These are grouped around the concepts of diverse traditional,and, on the other hand, post-Enlightenment Christianities. Whilethe first revolves around a liturgical and mystical accountof the church, a Christ-centred humanism, an emphasis on man'sfuture life, noetic theology and a foundationalist claim touniversal truth, the second endorses a moralization of the "Christianmessage," political implementation of "Christian goals," rationalism,a this-worldly humanism, and tolerance for religious diversity.Since even the concepts of "traditional" and "post-Enlightenment"Christianity turn out to be deeply ambiguous, the essay concludeswith exploring the different ways in which the Christianityof the Apostolic Church, the Enlightenment (along with the "Western"Christianities it shaped), and contemporary liberalism eachconceive of their respective endorsements of human freedom aseither normative, that is obligatory, value-laden, or contingent,and arbitrary. In each case, a different notion of "tradition"(as well as familial and church authority) is placed eitherin harmony or in opposition to such freedom. As a result ofthis conceptual analysis, the deeply fractured identity of Europe,as exemplified by the diverse bioethical positions adopted bythe authors in this issue, becomes visible.     

Jihad and Just War Theory: Dissonance and Truth

Abstract :  The Christian tradition of just war does not have a New Testament foundation but is a tradition that developed after the conversion of Constantine and Christianity's emergence as the state religion of the empire. In Islam, however, just war has been an issue since its foundational period, because while Christianity did not get involved in statecraft until Constantine, Islam dates its calendar literally from the establishment of the first statecraft in Medina. However, distortion of this tradition has occurred in both religions: we have a distorted justification of just war tradition in Christianity, and a distorted understanding of jihad as simply a holy war in Islam. This paper tries to deconstruct both these traditions and create a new hermeneutics for contemporary times.     

Phenomenology in Lithuania

The article deals with phenomenology in Lithuania. The main thesis of the article is this: phenomenology is a living tradition in need of both development and interpretation. The minor thesis follows from the main one: the Western phenomenological tradition and Lithuanian philosophy interact and develop in tandem with one another. According to the authors, the contact between poetics and philosophy is the dominant form of phenomenology in Lithuania. The phenomenological tradition is treated as creative and living philosophical thought.

道德是朴素的

本文结合历史伦理文化资源的分析对道德话语的平实质朴、道德以社会公利为目标的朴素原理等问题进行了探讨,并分析了其借鉴启示意义。     

Truthfulness and the permissibility of Falsehood in the Jewish tradition

Abstract

In this article, I deal with the concept of truth and lie in Jewish traditional literature, examining its development in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature. An essential aspect in understanding this concept is the dualism of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ impulses and the free will of human beings, who were created in the image of God and have the choice to decide between right and wrong.     

Belonging without commitment: the Christocentric view and the traditionist perspective on modern religion

This essentially theoretical article suggests a novel way to conceptualise the middle spaces of people whose link to religion is perceived as partial and fragmentary – the vast majority of the population in the world of the twenty-first century, who belong to a religious tradition but are quite selective in their observances. We first argue that current conceptualisation of the middle spaces suffers from a predisposition we view as ‘Christocentric’. As the key to an alternative and non-Christocentric approach, we suggest the concept of ‘traditionism’, which permits a new theoretical discussion of the meanings of religion for contemporary individuals who belong to a religious tradition but are not fully committed to its current authorities or affiliated with recognised denominations. As a case study to clarify the new, non-Christocentric conceptualisation, we suggest the religious identity of contemporary ‘Arab Jews’ – Jews whose families originated in the Muslim Middle East – to highlight the potential contribution of a certain Jewish perspective to an understanding of modern religion as tradition and of modern practitioners of religion who belong to no denomination as ‘traditionists’.     

The Changing Complexion of American Congregations

The only constant in life is change, or so goes the familiar refrain. But when it comes to research on multiracial congregations, studying change has largely been overlooked. Questions loom about the changing prevalence, leadership, and composition of racially diverse congregations. Using three waves of data from the National Congregations Study (1998, 2006, and 2012), we offer an overarching examination of racial composition in U.S. congregations across approximately 15 years. Both the percentage of multiracial congregations and the amount of racial/ethnic diversity in congregations have increased. The increase has been most dramatic in Protestant churches. In addition, blacks are more common in the pulpit and the pews of America's multiracial congregations than they were in the past. Blacks now surpass Latinos as the group most likely to worship with whites in multiracial congregations. Location and religious tradition continue to be influential factors in a congregation's racial diversity, but the significance of several congregational characteristics have changed over time. We discuss the implications of these findings.     

ROBERT JOHN RUSSELL VERSUS THE NEW ATHEISTS

This essay compares Robert John Russell's work in his recent book Cosmology from Alpha to Omega: The Creative Mutual Interaction of Theology and Science (2008) to that of the authors known collectively as "the new atheists." I treat the latter as recent contributors to the modern tradition of scientific naturalism. This tradition makes claims to legitimacy on the basis of its close relations to the natural sciences. The purpose of this essay is to show up the poverty of the naturalist tradition's scientific credentials by contrasting it with Russell's careful account of positive relations between science and Christian theology.