bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Horizons on Fundamental Moral Theology
Authors: Curran Charles E.
Published: August 2016

This article will evaluate five comparatively recent books dealing with fundamental moral theology. Anthologies or books treating specific topics in special moral theology will not be discussed. The purpose is to consider various contemporary approaches to fundamental moral theology and to evaluate these works both in themselves and in their utility as textbooks. The authors to be considered are: O'Connell, Maguire, McDonagh, Häring, and Böckle.

As might be expected there are strengths and weaknesses in all these works. The primary interpretive key to be employed in this article is the Sitz im Leben of the book. The particular Sitz im Leben of each author helps to understand better what the book is trying to accomplish and at the same time serves to indicate some of the strengths and weaknesses of the particular volume.
The Pharisees in Recent Catholic Writing
Authors: Swidler Leonard
Published: August 2016

The negative image of the Pharisees in the Christian tradition since the time of the Gospels is stark, to say the least. Ninety percent of the references to them in elementary Catholic textbooks and seventy-eight percent in secondary Catholic school texts are negative. Because this image is historically unwarranted and because the Pharisees are the forefathers of present-day rabbinic Judaism, correcting that distorted image both in Christian scholarship and popular education is essential to further Jewish-Christian dialogue. With Vatican II there was “turning around” in the official Catholic Church on the image of the Pharisees, and since that time numerous official Catholic documents have called for a balancing of the distorted image of the Pharisees. Some Catholic scholars, mostly in the United States, and to some extent in Germany, have begun that scholarly and popular education process. John Pawlikowski, Eugene Fisher, Clemens Thoma, and Franz Mussner stand out in this work. But much remains to be done to bring that new scholarship into the classroom, books, and liturgy.
Women in American Catholic History
Authors: Swidler Arlene
Published: August 2016

Considering that History and Religious Studies are two of the areas in which feminist scholars have been most active, it is surprising how very little information is compiled in the area of American Catholic Women's History. Catholic Church historians, of course, have never found the laity of great interest, and the contemporary feminist movement has been strongly secular. Protestant and Jewish materials are more easily available, and even those books which purport to address women in American religion in general give only brief attention to Catholicisim, often by dealing solely with women in religious orders. So work on American Catholic women remains to be done.

The one exception is books dealing with individual religious orders, partly because of the accessibility of the materials, though I have been gently admonished not to overestimate the order in convent archives. Studies moving wider to focus on sisters in general are still very few, and attempts to integrate these materials with lay women's history have barely begun. People interested in this field will find help in Elizabeth Kolmer, A.S.C., “Catholic Women Religious and Women's History: A Survey of the Literature,” American Quarterly 30 (1978), 639-51, and in the forthcoming book by Evangeline Thomas, C.S.J., Women Religious History Sources: A Guide to Archives (New York: Bowker).
Israel and Zion—Two Gendered Images: Biblical Speech Traditions and Their Contemporary Neglect
Authors: Schmitt John J.
Published: August 2016

The Bible has two different ways of speaking about two objects of God's love: Israel and Zion. Israel is masculine, and Zion/Jerusalem is feminine. The difference between the two is more visible in Hebrew which distinguishes masculine and feminine in the verbs as well as in the adjectives. Neglect of this gender distinction by calling Israel “she” leads to distortion of biblical speech and thought, and to misunderstanding the Bible's image for the relation between God and Israel. Recognition of biblical usage and its gendered expression ought to precede theological reflection.
A Future for Peru? Gustavo Gutiérrez and the Reasons for His Hope
Authors: Nickoloff James B.
Published: August 2016

The growing national crisis of Peru in which death seems to triumph over life, especially for the poor, has not dimmed the hope of Gustavo Gutiérrez and others for the ultimate success of the poor to achieve liberation from poverty and injustice. Hope, for Gutiérrez, is far from wishful thinking. The case for hope results from the application of a complex epistemology which includes social scientific analysis, the “utopian imagination,” and faith in the God of Jesus Christ to the present socio-ecclesial reality of Peru. Among the reasons for hope are the fact of the church's evangelization of the poor, the new spirituality coming to birth among the poor, the rejection of fear in the face of the mounting persecution and martyrdom of Christian believers, and the universal church's adoption of a preferential option for the poor.
Israel's God, the Psalms, and the City of Jerusalem: Life Experience and the Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer
Authors: Renckens Han , van Beeck Frans Jozef
Published: August 2016

Wedged in between interpretations of brief passages from Aquinas' introduction to his commentary on the Psalms and Johann Georg Hamann'sEntkleidung und Verklärung, this essay argues that Israel's conception of God (which North American culture is poorly equipped to appreciate) must determine the fundamental form of prayer. This basic form is: the offering up to God, in praise and entreaty, of the whole world as well as of ourselves, along with all of our historic experience.
Undergraduates Discover Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Authors: Ballweg John M.
Published: August 2016

One does not read far or engage in a discussion about the complexity of the modern world without sensing an evolutionary vision which reflects the thought of Teilhard de Chardin. College students who are introduced to the Teilhardian vision respond in positive and creative ways. Teaching such a course reveals insights into young people's reaction to the present and future implications of a high-tech society. In an age of increasing control over the forces of nature by human-kind, crucial questions emerge. Two concerns attract students to Teilhard: fear of the future in terms of the direction and quality of human life; and an interest in the relationship between religion and science, which indicates substantive attitudes of a younger generation toward faith in God. Whether there is agreement with Teilhard is not the question, but the fact that he has pressed us to face the issues.
The Infallibility of the Papal Magisterium as Presented in the Pastoral Letters of the Bishops of the United States after Vatican I
Authors: Hennessy Paul K.
Published: August 2016

Much of the confusion about the proper interpretation of the carefully formulated definition of Pastor Aeternus on the infallibility of the papal magisterium stems from improper presentations, even immediately after the Council. Only Archbishop Spalding of Baltimore took the time to nuance his presentation. The sympathy evoked worldwide among Catholics for the loss of the Papal States and the freedom of the Roman Pontiff also added to the confusion. The texts of the letters and statements of the bishops are important objects of study for anyone wishing to trace the course of “papal infallibility.”
Lion as Slain Lamb: On Reading Revelation Recursively
Authors: McDonald Patricia M.
Published: August 2016

Because of their communities' experiences and tendencies, New Testament writers such as Paul and Mark stress the death and resurrection of Jesus as the source and model of the Christian life. In the Book of Revelation, John's version of this is that the lion of the tribe of Judah indeed “conquers” but does so as the Lamb who was slain; the Christian witnessing that leads to the victory of Christ's followers may also entail their death. Yet the seer associates the Lamb imagery with that of ancient near eastern and classical versions of the conquest myth. Does John risk subverting his own purposes? The paper examines his presentation of the Lamb and suggests that he does indeed run such a risk, at least for the inattentive reader, but this does not justify neglect of such a creative and imaginative soteriology in which evil is overcome by the word of God.
The Mutual Transformation of Self and Symbol: Bede Griffiths and the Jesus Prayer
Authors: Trapnell Judson B.
Published: August 2016

At the height of modern questioning of the relevance of traditional symbols, Paul Ricoeur envisioned a reawakening to the plenitude of meaning available in symbols that would occur not through rejecting criticism but by moving through it. While many have found this vision of a “second naiveté” compelling, exemplars of it have remained few. This article proposes that insight into a contemporary reappropriation of symbols may be gained from an examination of Bede Griffiths' lifelong experience with one, Jesus Christ. Griffiths' contemplative and interreligious experience illustrate and advance the analyses of religious symbols offered by Ricoeur, Mircea Eliade, and David Tracy.
New Apologists in America's Conservative Catholic Subculture
Authors: Huff Peter A.
Published: August 2016

Traditional Catholic apologetics is currently experiencing a revival in U.S. Catholic thought. Modeled in part on the apologetics of the preconciliar Catholic Literary Revival, the new Catholic apologetics draws strategically from the intellectual world of the pre-Vatican II church. Responsive to the conditions of postconciliar Catholicism and later-twentieth-century U.S. culture, the new apologists also exploit the resources of contemporary popular culture to advance a critique of secular society and the status quo in American Catholic life. While defending traditional Catholic doctrine, the new generation of apologists has contributed to the creation of a novel form of American Catholicism—technologically sophisticated, uniquely ecumenical, and aggressively separatist. Utilizing the lecture circuit, the print media, audio and video recordings, cable television, and the internet, the new apologists have made apologetics a vibrant industry of the conservative Catholic subculture in America.
A Very Explicit Te Deum: A Spiritual Exercise, to Help Overcome Trinitarian Timidity
Authors: van Beeck Frans Jozef
Published: August 2016

There is a tendency in the Catholic theological tradition to attribute to apophaticism a status superior to the via affirmationis. There are good reasons to offer a critique of this tendency, if only to raise once again the issue of theological rhetoric, especially as it makes use of metaphor and paradox. To make the point, the present essay then proceeds to exemplify the affirmation-negation dynamic of the Profession of Faith in an expansive, poetical version of the Creed of the Great Tradition. Ambrose's classical hymn Te Deum has functioned as a model for the piece. And who knows if this attempt might help restore the theology of the Blessed Trinity to the classrooms of Catholic colleges, from which it has virtually disappeared, often under cover of apophaticism or (worse) ethics?
Human Rights and the Poor in the World Religions
Authors: Soko Keith
Published: August 2016

The experience of the many poor and of the many religions in today's world are two issues which this study addresses, from the perspective of human rights. Its thesis is that concern for the poor is not unique to Judaism and Christianity, but that all religions examined here contain an affirmation of the value of the individual person, as well as a compassion for the poor, which can lead to a universal concern for the rights of the poor and marginalized. Viewing human rights as a concept which expresses the aspirations of many religions, it examines their perceptions of human rights language and their concerns for the poor. In doing so, it rejects the postmodernist claim that all religions are incommensurable and cannot be compared on issues such as justice, human rights and concern for the poor, and argues for continuing efforts toward a global ethic.
Camus' Meditation on the Christian Faith
Authors: Monasterio Xavier O.
Published: August 2016

Albert Camus' initial visceral hostility to the Christian faith was submitted to the test by his personal acquaintance with Christians in the underground Resistance to the Nazis. As a result, though never tempted to become a Christian himself, Camus' appraisal of Christianity underwent a profound transformation. As the re-evaluation of his Christian faith, though exceptionally detailed and perceptive, found only novelistic form, it has not been the object of the careful critical analysis it richly deserves. The present article explores what may justly be called Camus' meditation on the Christian faith in The Plague.
Revelation as Liberation from Oppression: Black Theology's Challenge for American Catholic Theology
Authors: Connolly John R.
Published: August 2016

Based on a reading of James Cone's and Avery Dulles' analyses of revelation, this article raises questions about the adequacy of the American Catholic theology of revelation. In A Black Theology of Liberation, Cone criticizes contemporary American theology's understanding of revelation for not including the category of liberation from oppression in its definition of revelation. Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives defines revelation as symbolic communication, but does not include the category of liberation from oppression. Dulles' omission, in light of Cone's criticism, suggests the possibility of and the need for revising the American Catholic theology of revelation. In pursuing this question, the article begins with an examination of Cone's notion of revelation and the challenge which it presents to American Catholic theology. This is followed by an investigation of some of Dulles' other writings to consider if such a revision would be compatible with his thought. In the final section, drawing upon the works of Dulles, Mark Kline Taylor, Cone, and other black theologians, suggestions for a revision are made.
Women in Modern Judaism
Authors: Carmody Denise Lardner
Published: August 2016

This article attempts a brief sketch of the modern Jewish views of women. To explain modernity, however, it must first survey the major biblical and talmudic themes. Although both the Bible and talmudic materials are densely layered, one quickly sees that the dominant, official texts gave modern Jewish women an ambitious heritage. Only with the Breslav Conference of Reform Judaism in 1846 did a clear call for Jewish women's equality with men in institutional religion sound forth. Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati became an American rallying point among the Reformed, but the Conservative and Orthodox hung back. In recent times sympathetic religious lawyers have attempted halakahic reforms, but Jewish feminists feel that much remains to be done in such realms as divorce, religious ritual, and Israeli civil law.
Simul Justus et Peccator: Ecclesiological and Ecumenical Perspectives
Authors: Kress Robert
Published: August 2016

The Lutheran formula “simul Justus et peccator” originally applied to the individual Christian believer. However, it can also apply to the ecclesial community of believers and it can also have ecumenical dimensions and consequences. This article investigates these dimensions and consequences in view of the discussions which were occasioned by Vatican II.
Authentic Subjectivity and Genuine Objectivity
Authors: Bracken Joseph A.
Published: August 2016

Genuine objectivity, says Bernard Lonergan, is the fruit of authentic subjectivity. Certainly, the two are closely linked. In this essay, I propose that authentic subjectivity consists, not in overcoming the particularities of one's subjective standpoint in order to embrace a hypothetical universal viewpoint shared in common with other individuals, but in getting more deeply in touch with the unique particularity of one's own perspective in order better to appreciate both the similarities with and the differences from the standpoints of other individuals. Genuine objectivity, then, consists in recognizing that there neither is nor ever will be a universal standpoint. All standpoints by definition are particular. This is not to deny, of course, that at any given moment there is an objective state of affairs, quite apart from any one's subjective perception of it, but only to affirm that no one (not even God) has a totally objective grasp of that same state of affairs.
The Life of the Self in Christian Spirituality and Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Authors: McDargh John
Published: August 2016

This article explores modern psychoanalytic object relations theory as a potential resource for Christian spirituality in the development of an integrated theological and psychological model of the self. The necessity for such a model is first suggested by considering some potential dangers within the current revival of modes of “imageless” prayer. A suggestive effort that has already been made to construct a “spectrum” model of self development that combines psychoanalytic insight with the psychology of Theravada Buddhism is then examined. The final section assesses the interpretive power of a similar model worked out for the distinctive religious vision of Christian spirituality.
Being a Christian in the Business World: The Challenge and the Promise
Authors: Williams Oliver F.
Published: August 2016

What does it mean to be a Christian in today's business world? It is this question which provides the focus for a course I teach called “Modern Decision Making in the Christian Tradition.” The course is designed for college juniors and seniors who are interested in exploring the implications of Christian faith for a professional life. Students are exposed to the flaws in Adam Smith's famous apology for the capitalist economy and offered an approach to working in the system and reforming it from a Christian standpoint.

It has been my experience that most students in the course are serious about their Christian faith, that is, they go to church on Sunday and they strive to live the sort of life that they understand to be Christian. They are largely from good homes and have learned the value of friendship and love from dedicated parents. Most of them, however, have not been challenged to think through the implications of their Christian faith for their life in the business world or in the wider social order.

While they may be models of compassion and generosity to those in their immediate circles, many students today have a blindspot for responsibilities in the socio-political order. In the traditional vocabulary, they are strong on charity but weak in justice. Justice in our time is often equated with “law and order,” the quid pro quo's that insure that we each get what we deserve. One of the objectives of the course is to widen the horizons of the students so that they come to see more adequately what is entailed in calling oneself “Christian.” To begin, I have them reflect on sections of “Justice in the World,” the document issued by the Roman Synod of Bishops in 1971.
Passing Over and Coming Back in the Classroom
Authors: Collinge William
Published: August 2016

John Dunne's books A Search for God in Time and Memory and The Way of All the Earth describe and employ a method which their author calls “passing over and coming back,” in order to attain and lead his readers into a sympathetic understanding, first of other lives and second of other religions. These and Dunne's other books are generally taken to be among the major theological works of recent years, but teachers of theology have tended to find them forbidding as texts for undergraduates. In this paper I wish to discuss some techniques which I have employed to assist undergraduates not only to read Dunne's books but to engage personally in the process of passing over and coming back. I wish to go further than that, though. It seems to me that the techniques I am presenting are applicable to other texts besides Dunne's, and I want to stress that broader application. It also seems to me that there are some real problems, especially moral problems, in engaging in “passing over and coming back” in a classroom setting, and I want to set out something of what those problems are, to discuss the extent to which I cope or fail to cope with them, and to invite readers' reflections on how better to cope with them. Because I am offering reflections on my own experience (including unsolved problems) as a teacher and not trying to put forward a general theory of any kind, I am keeping this paper in the first person singular throughout.
Paradox as Vision: Recovering Transcendence Within the World
Authors: Sabatino Charles J.
Published: August 2016

The stories which Jesus told, as well as the manner of his life and death, bear witness to his fundamental vision that the last are first in the Kingdom of God. With this paradox, Jesus offers a clue as to how the divine mystery is present in human experience. When this vision of Jesus is related to certain parallel images in Buddhist thought, it can help us understand transcendence as an ultimate meaning present within the human world itself. With this perspective, we may then be able to apply the paradox toward understanding the meaning of Jesus' resurrection.
Relativism, Objectivism, and Theology
Authors: Ommen Thomas B.
Published: August 2016

Relativism is a central issue in anthropology, philosophy of science, and a number of other disciplines. It is usually contrasted with objectivism or foundationalism, the quest for universal and absolute norms. Richard Bernstein has recently written an illuminating overview of the relativist-objectivist tension and has sketched out a notion of rationality “beyond objectivism and relativism.” This paper is an effort to follow Bernstein's lead and consider the theological implications of objectivism and relativism and the attempt to move beyond them. The first two parts of the paper take up objectivism and relativism in their philosophical and theological forms. The third section briefly explores some aspects of a non-relativist and non-objectivist model of rationality.
The Death of Everyone: Robert Lifton, Christian Theology and Apocalyptic Imagery
Authors: Bregman Lucy
Published: August 2016

This paper explores an issue raised by psychologist Robert Lifton in The Broken Connection. Lifton believes the present threat of total extinction through nuclear war has drastically affected humanity's ability to reconnect life and death, and to make individual death meaningful. The death of everyone—as an imaginable possibility—defeats all expressions of “symbolic immortality,” affirmations of continuity and hope.

How has Christian theology met this predicament? Twentieth-century history has been so menacing and overwhelming that some theologians have found in apocalyptic-eschatological imagery the most appropriate framework to encounter that history and discern its spiritual meaning. Yet this imagery, even when de-literalized, provides at best ambiguous answers. Early twentieth-century theology—Schweitzer, Case—recognized the importance of apocalyptic thought for the New Testament, but easily repudiated this for contemporary life. In contrast, later thinkers such as Cullman, Brunner, and Moltmann make extensive use of eschatological imagery. However, they face the problem raised by Lifton: how to make “hope” vivid to readers already gripped by a future of possible universal catastrophe.
Theologians and Their Catholic Authorities: Reminiscence and Reconnoiter
Authors: Shea William M.
Published: August 2016

It is difficult to speak calmly and quietly about what one loves passionately, and next to my wife and my children I love the Catholic church more than any other thing. The passion for it has perdured all the years, and grows stronger the longer I live in it even though it must be said that my years with it have been far from easy. I do not love the church because I examined it and found it lovable; I loved it long before I could have examined it, and no examination has lessened my love for it. I cannot go back far enough in time or dig deeply enough in my psychic archaeology to find the root of that love. I think the root is the grace of God, yet I do have memories of important places and persons.
Christology in the Works of Flannery O'Connor
Authors: Bowen Rose
Published: August 2016

Christology and ecclesiology, both vital to Flannery O'Connor's thought, are reflected principally in her book reviews, letters, and essays. The reviews in particular (69 of the 143 titles reviewed pertain to subject matter that is religious or theological) attest to the range, depth, and vitality of her own theological investigation. By 1961, O'Connor's theology had been substantially influenced by that of Karl Adam, Romano Guardini, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Francis Durrwell. Through the influence of these theologians, one can trace in O'Connor's nonfiction the development of her Christology and its impact on her fiction.
Moral Theology and the Magisterium
Authors: Rigali Norbert J.
Published: August 2016

The moral theologian's work is related to moral magisterial teaching as science to pastoral address. Speaking from a juridical perspective regarding faith and morals, the two Vatican Councils can be misinterpreted to mean that the relation of the magisterium to faith is the same as its relation to morals. These relations, however, are only analogically the same. The relation of the magisterium to moral theology, accordingly, is different from its relation to systematic theology. Nor can its relation to contemporary moral theology be identical with its relation to the preconciliar version. For its part, moral theology does not include “theological dissent,” since dissent is a personal and social but—apart from a single possible exception—not a scientific act. The tension between moral theology and the magisterium can be removed only on the basis of mutual understanding of their respective responsibilities and limitations.
Can Belief in God be Basic?
Authors: Matteo Anthony M.
Published: August 2016

At least since the Enlightenment, religious thinkers in the West have sought to meet the “evidentialist” challenge, that is, to demonstrate that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a rational affirmation of the existence of God. Alvin Plantinga holds that this challenge is rooted in a foundationalist approach to epistemology which is now intellectually bankrupt. He argues that the current critique of foundationalism clears the way for a fruitful reappropriation of the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition's assertion of the “basic” nature of belief in God and its concomitant relegation of the arguments of natural theology to marginal status. After critically assessing Plantinga's proposal—especially its dependence on a nonfoundationalist theory of knowledge—this essay shifts to an analysis of the transcendental Thomist understanding of the rational underpinnings of the theist's affirmation of God's existence, with particular emphasis on the thought of Joseph Maréchal. It is argued that the latter position is better equipped to fend off possible nontheistic counterarguments—even in our current nonfoundationalist atmosphere—and, in fact, can serve as a necessary complement to Calvin's claim of a natural tendency in human beings to believe in God.
Maternal Affection for a Divine Son: A Spirituality of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
Authors: Sheridan Daniel P.
Published: August 2016

Love for God as an actual concrete activity of a human being is sometimes obscured in contemporary American Christian culture. This essay studies the role of maternal affection for the divine child Kṛṣṇa, humanly embodied as a male child, in order to serve as a cross-cultural catalyst for the traditions of Christian love for Christ. The focus is the tenth-century Hindu Vaiṣṇava text, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Vaiṣṇavas promote the experience of loving God through imaginative participation in narratives of Kṛṣṇa's loves and by identification with human women who loved him, particularly his mothers. They are the exemplars of a maternal love for a divine child. This imaginative participation and identification is open to both men and women. This study illustrates the roles of gender, narrative, and imagination in the experience of loving God with one's whole heart, soul, and might.
Irreducible Pluralism: The Transcendental and Hermeneutical as Theological Options
Authors: Bonsor Jack A.
Published: August 2016

The transcendental and hermeneutical are two significant approaches to theology within contemporary Catholic thought. Peter Drilling suggests a complementary relationship between these theological perspectives in his proposed dialogue between Bernard Lonergan and Francis Schüssler Fiorenza. Fiorenza's reconstructive hermeneutic, with its emphasis on the outer dimensions of foundational theology, ought to be balanced with Lonergan's emphasis on the inner, the transcendental. In contrast, this essay argues that the transcendental and hermeneutical are alternative rather than complementary theological approaches. They are rooted in contradictory anthropological starting points and cannot be united in an inclusive hybrid. The essay concludes with some comments on the consequent pluralism of contemporary theology.
Sima Qian: A True Historian?
Authors: Nylan Michael
Published: August 2016

This essay seeks to argue the merits of one approach to reading theShiji, which casts the complex text more as a product of contemporary religious beliefs than as the product of either thetaishi's individual genius or desire for historical objectivity. By the religious reading, Sima Qian fulfilled some part of his filial obligations when he honored his father's dying wish to “continue our ancestors” by bringing together the tales they had gathered. Equally importantly, insofar as Sima Qian had restored to life an array of remarkable men and women from the Central States, he lived in the pious hope that these especially potent spirits among the civilized dead would choose in return to confer benefits on Sima Qian and his family as long as theShijicontinued to be read. When compared with the more standard readings, this proposed reading strikes the author not only as less anachronistic for the period,but also as more fully reflective of the whole text, including the eloquent appraisals appended to the end of each chapter in the Basic Annals, Hereditary Houses, and Biographical Traditions sections.
On the Identity of Shang Di and the Origin of the Concept of a
Celestial Mandate (TIAN MING)
Authors: Allan Sarah
Published: August 2016

This article reexamines the hypotheses of Guo Moruo and H.G.
Creel that Shang Di was the high god of the Shang and Tian, that
of the Zhou. It proposes that Shang Di was originally the spirit
of the pole star. As such, it was the one celestial body which
was higher than the ten suns, with whom the Shang ancestors were
identified. Tian was not a high god, but quite literally, the
sky. The sky was the location of the Shang Di and the other
ancestral spirits, so it came to serve as a euphemism for Shang
Di or, more broadly, for Shang Di and all the celestial
phenomena and spirits who were under his aegis. The primary
distinction between the Shang and Zhou was not that Shang Di was
particular to the Shang, but that the Shang rulers identified
themselves with the ten suns. Shang Di, as the pole star, was
acknowledged by both Shang and Zhou as the highest of the
spirits. Tian, as the sky, was understood primarily as the
celestial bodies that inhabit it. As in later time, the sky was
a spiritual force associated with patterns of time, which were
revealed in the movements of the celestial bodies. Thus, the
original tian
ming (“celestial
mandate” or “mandate of heaven”) was, quite literally, an
astronomical sign, a “command” seen in the sky during the reign
of Wen, whose son Wu founded the Zhou Dynasty.
Notes on a Case of Illicit Sex from Zhangjiashan: A Translation and Commentary
Authors: Nylan Michael
Published: August 2016

This essay concerns the single case of illicit sex included in theZouyan shuexcavated at Zhangjiashan. Interest in this particular case has been high, since the case offers indisputable evidence regarding the separation of legal and moral principles in relation to domestic affairs at the time the judgment was rendered. Previous theories about the interpretation of the case have focused upon the quality and timeliness of the evidence brought to the judges for their consideration, while this essay draws attention to the probable relevance to the case of contemporary laws on residency, inheritance, and the proper ways to report crimes to higher authorities.
1. A Reexamination of the Erlitou Culture
Authors: Weizhang Yin
Published: August 2016

Scholarly opinion is divided on the question of whether the cultural remains of Erlitou Periods III and IV belong to the early Shang. This paper carries the analysis of the remains from these two periods one step further, emphasizing a group of new cultural elements, including li-cauldrons, wide-mouthed zun-beakers, curled lip round-bottom pen-basins, and narrow-mouthed long-necked weng-jars and jia-tripods. These artifacts are compared to similar remains from Zhengzhou Erligang and the obvious similarities between the two are pointed out. The Erlitou III and IV group of cultural elements exhibits a tendency to replace and assimilate that group of cultural elements originally presented in Erlitou Periods I and II, thus making clear that the differences and changes between the remains of II and III have epoch-making significance. A similar phenomenon can be observed to take place in the cultural features of the Central Plains with the change in dynasties between the Shang and Zhou and between the Zhou and Qin periods. It is proposed that the changes appearing between the Period II and Period III remains reflect a contemporary social change. Since the foundations of a large palace were discovered among the Period III cultural remains from the Yanshi Erlitou site, and since this site agrees with the location of Tang's capital Xi Bo, as recorded in surviving literature, Erlitou Periods III and IV may already belong to the Shang dynasty. On the basis of this analysis we have reason to believe that during the time of Cheng Tang the development of the culture of the Shang tribe reached a major turning point. At the time of its establishment the Shang kingdom appears on the Central Plains as an early slave state possessing a certain level of civilization. The discovery and identification of the cultural remains of the early Shang will be significant in the exploration of pre-Shang or Xia culture.
13. The “Question” Question
Authors: Nivison David S.
Published: August 2016

This paper takes issue with the widely prevailing assumption that the “charge” (ming ci) in a Shang oracle inscription must always be understood as a question. I hold that we must distinguish between what the diviner is saying in the charge, and what he is doing in the whole divination rite. What he is doing is not always seeking information; and even when he is doing this, what he says is usually not a question. I present various arguments and examples to show this, e.g.:

(1) Li Hsüeh-ch'in's research proves that the oracle language possessed grammatical forms, such as final particles and final negatives, for marking a sentence as a question. Therefore, I hold, our first assumption should be that when a diviner does not use these forms, he does not intend his sentence to be understood as a question.

(2) When two sentences in the same inscription -- e.g., charge and prognostication -- are alike in form (both of them being without final negatives or particles), it is a mistake to construe one of them as a question and the other as a statement. But a prognostication must be a statement.
14. The Yi-Kua in the Shang Dynasty and Various Problems Pertaining to Divination
Authors: Tsung-Yi Jao
Published: August 2016

The method of divining by yarrow stalk in accordance with the scheme of 64 hexagrams did exist in the Yin Dynasty. Numerical strings of three and six lines on oracle bones recently unearthed provide the new evidence for the above statement and many scholars have discussed it. My paper contributes the following new points:

(1) Comparing the 64 hexagram names in the Ma-wang-tui manuscript with those appearing in the so called Kuei-tsang () recorded by later scholars, we find some similarity on both sides. This indicates that the Kuei-tsang is not a legendary matter.

(2) Some Hsin-tien period wares found in Kansu also show the numerical marks such as . This also suggests that such trigram images had been used by still earlier people.

(3) The graph for nine “” was found on one oracle bone from Ch'i-chia . It shows that the Western Chou people had advanced the way of divining and thus the emphasis on Yin of the Yin people had been developed into the emphasis on Yang .

(4) I try to interpret, with reference to the sentences of Chou-yi, the divining hexagrams which appear on the bamboo strips found in T'ien-hsing-kuan , Chiang-ling . As the symbol of was still employed by the Ch'u people, it seems that they were following the way of the Yin people in the emphasis on Yin.
16. An Interpretation of the Oracle-Bone Inscription Phrase: “The Sun and Moon Eclipsed”
Authors: Houxuan Hu
Published: August 2016

This paper assembles three oracle-bone inscriptions divined at the same time from the Wu Yi-Wen Ding period. Two are identical, being a paired divination inquiring into whether the event ri yue you shi was or was not auspicious. The third asks whether, in light of this ri yue you shi, it would be auspicious to sacrifice to Shang Jia.

Since 1925, when Wang Xiang , first proposed th at the character yue should be read as xi, his position has been accepted by Liu Chaoyang De Xiaoqian , Chen Mengijia , Zhang Peiyü , Xu Zhentao , the Zhongguo Tianwenxue jianshi bianxiezu , and the Zhongguo Tianwenxueshi zhengli yenjiu xiaozu

Yue was first interpreted as yue in 1933 by Shang Chengzuo . Those subscribing to this reading include Dong Zuobin , Chen Zungui , Yü Xingwu Liu Chaoyang, Chen Mengiia, Joseph Needham, Zhao Quemin and Chen Banghuai .

Among these scholars Liu Chaoyang holds that “there is no distinction between xi and yue,” while Chen Mengjia believes that the phrase “ri yue you shi” can also be read “ri xi you shi,” hence they accept both interpretations.
18. Graphic Identification, Semantic Interpretation and Phonological Implications in the Oracle Writing of Shang
Authors: Serruys Paul L-M.
Published: August 2016

All translations or interpretations of the Shang oracular texts are ultimately founded on the way in which one understands the system of the early Chinese writing and its underlying principles. This writing system cannot be fully understood unless the study of the graphic structure of each writing unit is combined with that of all other factors that can be observed from the point of view of semantic content and phonology. A short discussion of these three aspects or factors in the writing system is intended to show that any graphic analysis from the very beginning needs to consider the word that is represented by the graphic unit and to determine it in meaning(s) and pronunciation(s), grammatical function(s), and its relationship with other words, whether cognates, synonyms or homonyms, liable to be used as loan units ( ). The graphic analysis must not only explain the pictographic aspects of the graphs, but also determine the possible phonetic, semantic, or etymonic roles played by any of its constituent parts. In this respect, processes like polyphony, polysemy, graphic convergence and confusions, and loan graph substitutions all require vigorous scrutiny from the point of view of the phonology of the Shang language. Besides using information from later bronze texts, classics, and early dictionaries, it is important to let the Shang data speak for themselves.
21. An Epigraphic Interpretation of Historical Stages in Ancient Chinese History
Authors: Chin-Hsiung Hsü , Hsu James C. H.
Published: August 2016

Since the end of the Warring States period (221 B.C.), the traditional history of China has always been said to have begun with the “Three August Sovereigns” and the “Five Emperors.” The stages in Chinese civilization were thus personified and ancient society was conceived of as having been ruled by an uninterrupted line of emperors. This early period of Chinese history may be divided into three periods, each of which may be typified by one oracle-graph.

The first period is the era of the legendary personages. This is before the period of the Yellow Emperor and may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “sage.” The second period is the era of the emperors who created social institutions, an era which may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “jade pendant.” The final period is the era of authentic dynastic history, covering the Hsia, Shang, and Chou dynasties. This period may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “king.”

The oracle-bone character for “sage” is a pictograph of a man with extremely keen hearing. This implies exceptional physical or mental capabilities which would enable that person to bring great benefits to the community. This period of the sage saw the invention and development of a series of technological skills and tools which improved the standard of living of the community, but the stage had still not been reached when the social system necessary for political organization could come into being; that is to say, society had not yet reached the stage of true civilization.
23. Pre-Chou Chronology: History VS. Numerology in Hsia, Shang, and Chou
Authors: Nivison David S.
Published: August 2016

(Ed. Note: This paper was an adaptation of Section X of my article “The Dates of Western Chou,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 43.2[1983]:482–580. In the article, this section is titled “Numerological Postscript,” and occupies pp. 556–566.)

As now revised, this section (with related earlier sections of the article) represents my arguments that pre-Conquest dates in the present Bamboo Annals ([Chin-pen] Chu-shu chi-nien) that are relevant to the beginning of Chou are partly historical and partly numerological. I argue that most of the dates that have historical validity have been distorted in two independent revisions of the original chronicle that were later combined. The first, in the 8th century B.C., moved Chou family dates back 12 years, and indirectly generated the Conquest date 1050, The second, in the late 6th century B.C., moved Shang dates (after Wu Ting) back 6 years, so that in this revision the Conquest was redated from 1045 to 1051. Both dates appear, in different places, in the present Bamboo Annals. This analysis results from my research in October of 1982, dating the Brundage rhinoceros tsun inscription, and thereby proving that the Bamboo Annals' date 1111 for Ti Yi is exactly 6 years early.
27. The Cemetery System of the Shang Dynasty
Authors: Xizhang Yang
Published: August 2016

The Shang kingdom was a patriarchal (zongfa) slave society; political and clan authority were fused into one. The Shang king was the supreme ruler of the state; he was also the grand clan head of all the nobles, large and small, within the state. Local feudal lords (zhu hou) were the supreme rulers and clan heads of the nobles within the territory under his command. Within the clan the clan head combined political and familial authority in his one person. The commoners and slaves were ruled.

The Shang cemetery system reflected the relations of class, rank, and blood ties within the patriarchal slave society of the Shang kingdom.

The Shang king, being the supreme ruler of the state, had his separate burial site in the Xibeigang area of the Yin Ruins, as well as his own particular style of tomb and of burial rites. There was a separate burial area for the king's consorts. All others within the area of direct control of the Shang king, regardless of rank, status, or wealth, were buried in their clan cemeteries. However nobles had their own family burial area within the clan cemetery; the style of their tombs, of grave goods, and of burial rites all differed from those of commoners and of other family members. Local feudal lords also had their own separate burial areas within their own territories, while all others were buried in their clan cemeteries. Slaves were buried in ash pits or layers of ash close to residential areas.
Remonstrance in Eastern Zhou Historiography
Authors: Schaberg David
Published: August 2016

Remonstrances (jian諫) reveal a great deal about the writing of history in China during the Eastern Zhou. As represented in theZuozhuanandGuoyu,remonstrances, like other speeches, are normally delivered in court and address questions of official policy. They tend to test contemporary phenomena against the lessons of the past, especially as those lessons have been formulated in theShijing, theShangshu, aphorisms, and other forms of what I term “inherited speech.” Remonstrances also have the support of the third-person historical narrative which surrounds them; the ruler who ignores a remonstrance always suffers for his obstinacy. After briefly discussing the importance of speeches in theZuozhuanandGuoyu, I outline the structure of a remonstrance and examine four passages in which critical speech, including remonstrance, is said to have circulated freely in the courts of an idealized early period. Next I show how remonstrances match observed historical particulars with fragments of inherited speech. The famous remonstrance of Gong zhi Qi, an exemplary episode, shows how this application of inherited speech guides rhetorical choices and establishes Traditionalist or Confucian terms as the keys to historical intelligibility. Finally, I examine a set of remonstrances which are exceptional in that they do not include overt citations of inherited speech. Among these, military remonstrances can genuinely eschew explicit citation of lessons of the past, while others borrow the authority of inherited speech without seeming to do so. In one case, a brief remonstrance has apparently acquired the status of an aphorism, so that already when it is first uttered it qualifies as a sort of inherited speech. In another case, a precursor of the indirect remonstrances (fengjian諷諫) of later periods, remonstrators use a theatrical combination of actions and speech to criticize their superior's departure from correct ways. As texts in which the speakers (and behind them the authors) of theZuozhuanandGuoyustate explicitly their understanding of historical causation, remonstrances make it possible for us to understand the ideals which operate implicitly throughout the narratives of these works.
Art in a Ritual Context: Rethinking Mawangdui
Authors: Hung Wu
Published: August 2016

This paper reexamines the famous painting from Mawangdui Tomb number 1. Instead of approaching it as an independent “work” and matching its images with fragmentary textual references, I explore its relationship with other buried objects, the tomb's structure and symbolism, and the ritual process during which the tomb was constructed. Based on ancient ritual canons, I reject the popular opinion that the painting served to summon the departed soul or to guide the soul to Heaven. Rather, the painting formed part of thejiu-group (“the body in its long home”) at the center of the burial, and enclosed by theguan-coffins decorated with images of protection and immortality, and again by theguo-casket, a replica of the deceased's household (zhai). The painting's meaning and function must be comprehended within this architectural-ritual context. Moreover, neither the painting nor the whole tomb represents a coherent conception of the afterlife. This feature separates this tomb from those constructed earlier and later, and represents a transitional period in the history of early Chinese art and religion.