bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hijab in an Age of Fear
Authors: Abraham Ibrahim
Published: March 2015

In recent years, Islamic dress has emerged as one of the abiding sites of contention in the relationship between Muslim communities and the State. Specifically, the wearing of Islamic headscarves by women in public spaces has raised questions about secularism, women’s rights, and national identity. This article explores the debates about banning hijab in educational institutions across four jurisdictions: France, the United States, Turkey, and Australia. Through the analysis of various case studies, this article argues that an analysis focussed on human rights reveals common themes in the debate in each country: the fear of terrorism and fundamentalism, insecurity about national identity, and how to reconcile secularism with religious freedom, gender equality, and other human rights
The Construction of Women’s Gender Identity through Religious Activity in Classical Greece
Authors: Dillon Matthew P.J.
Published: March 2015

While the emphasis of that branch of feminist studies which is concerned with religious structures, hermeneutics and religious literature has been on the core faiths of the modern world (and until relatively recently, in fact, on the Western religious tradition), the roles which women played in the two most important precursors to Christianity, ancient Greek and Roman religion, have been neglected. In ancient Greece, patriarchy prevailed. Yet while women were restricted in the social, political and legal spheres, they were active participants in religious activities. Many of the rites in which they engaged were connected with marriage and childbirth and could be said to reflect their societal roles. In addition, however, women participated in a variety of women-only rites which were not connected with their domestic status and in which they had a great deal of freedom from patriarchal restriction. Women’s freedom of religious expression owed much to the lack of androcentric sacred texts which could have been used to justify women’s lack of participation and/or the subordination of women’s roles in Greek religion, as well as men’s willingness for women to engage in meaningful religious activities.
Ron Greaves, Theodore Gabriel, Yvonne Haddard, and Jane Idleman Smith (eds.), Islam and the West Post 9/11.
Authors: Shepard William
Published: March 2015

Ron Greaves, Theodore Gabriel, Yvonne Haddard, and Jane Idleman Smith (eds.), Islam and the West Post 9/11. Aldershot, Ashgate, 2004, pp. 219, ISBN 0745650057.
Mark Edwards, John. and Judith Kovacs and Christopher Rowland. Revelation.
Authors: Tovey Derek
Published: March 2015

Mark Edwards, John. Blackwell Bible Commentaries, Oxford, Blackwell, 2004, pp. xiv + 242, ISBN 0631229078.
 
Judith Kovacs and Christopher Rowland. Revelation. Blackwell Bible Commentaries, Oxford, Blackwell, 2004, pp. xvi + 315, ISBN 063123215X.
Gareth Jones (ed.),The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology.
Authors: Rees Frank
Published: March 2015

Gareth Jones (ed.),The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology. Blackwell, Oxford, 2004, 608pp., ISBN 063120685X (pbk).
Alister E. McGrath and Darren C. Marks (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism.
Authors: Maddox Marion
Published: March 2015

Alister E. McGrath and Darren C. Marks (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism. Blackwell, Malden, MA, 2004, 512 pp., ISBN 0631232788.
Alister E. McGrath, Christianity: An Introduction.
Authors: Crotty Robert
Published: March 2015

Alister E. McGrath, Christianity: An Introduction. 2nd ed., Blackwell Publishing, Oxford and Melbourne, 2006, pp. xvi + 379, ISBN 1405109017 (hbk).
Manfred Oeming, Contemporary Biblical Hermeneutics: An Introduction.
Authors: Boer Roland
Published: March 2015

Manfred Oeming, Contemporary Biblical Hermeneutics: An Introduction. Translated by Joachim Vette. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2006, pp. x + 172, ISBN 0754656608 (pbk); 0754656594 (hbk).
Eric Csapo, Theories of Mythology.
Authors: Cusack Carole M
Published: March 2015

Eric Csapo, Theories of Mythology. Blackwell, Oxford, 2005, pp. xiii + 338, ISBN 0631232486 (pbk).
David F. Ford with Rachel Muers (eds.), The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918.
Authors: Johnson Mark
Published: March 2015

David F. Ford with Rachel Muers (eds.), The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918. Blackwell, Oxford, 2005, pp. v + 818, ISBN 13:9781405102773; 10:1405102772 (pbk).
God in the Saddle
Authors: Lindvall Terry
Published: March 2015

In this paper, I argue that the Protestant middle-class was brought into the cult of silent moving pictures in large measure by the inclusion of religious themes and symbols in a genre of Western films. A remarkable series of films by Gilbert M. Anderson and William S. Hart followed a late nineteenth century literary trend of evangelical novels and, borrowing their moral and religious sensibilities, incorporated Protestant doctrines of sin, repentance, and grace into their engaging scenarios. As moving pictures had already invaded the church, moving picture theatres were now primed to persuade various Protestant congregations into converting into movie audiences. The sermons that compelled them to come in were these Western films of the 1910s, films that the French complained were too religious.
Zhibin Xie, Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China.
Authors: Hartney Christopher
Published: March 2015

Zhibin Xie, Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2006, pp. 160, ISBN 0754656489 (hbk).
Fields of Study and their Professional Associations
Authors: Tidswell Toni
Published: March 2015

This address takes up the key question of the identity of the national association, by focusing on collegiality as one of its core strengths. Collegiality finds expression in the association in a number of ways, including through the member’s directory, the journal, the annual conference, and the Women’s Caucus meeting at the conference. I use a series of reflections from my personal experience as a postgraduate member and later an academic member to provide examples of where collegiality works to best effect in the association.
New Religious Leadership among Muslims in Europe
Authors: Sunier Thijl
Published: March 2015

This article addresses the recent emergence of new forms of religious leadership among Muslims in Europe, by elaborating the nexus between mass-mediated forms of religion, the contemporary ‘unsettling of religious authority’ among Muslims in Europe, and the shifts in the position of Islam in European societies. The changes in forms of religious leadership, and the rise of new religious constituencies facilitated and conditioned by the spread of modern mass media have been addressed extensively. However, with respect to Islam in Europe there is a remarkable lack of insight into shifts that have taken place in the last decade. Until roughly the first half of the 1990s ‘traditional’ religious leaders and spokespersons were firmly embedded in the organizational landscape set up by Muslim immigrants in Europe. New types of Islamic leadership that have emerged since are hardly tied anymore to these ‘traditional’ constituencies and structures. A shift has taken place from representative religious leadership to a more performative style of leadership. An increasing number of leaders operate at the inter-section of mediatized stardom, public opinion, (political) leadership, and religious innovator. They address a public rather than a ‘natural’ rank-and-file. Following insights from studies on media and religion, I argue that new media technologies and mass-mediated consumerism are not only instrumental in the emergence of these new religious expressions; these new leaders are themselves part of a process of religious renewal. At the same time I argue against the idea that mass media, globalization and in general modernity have caused an irreversible process of religious individualization (so-called ‘copy-paste’ religion). A thorough analysis of shifts in styles and sources of religious leadership among Muslims shows that there is a process of the ‘redressing’ of religious authority taking place. This is especially relevant in an era where there is an increasing obsession with radicalism.
Vibrant Sacralities and Nonhuman Animacies: The Matter of New Materialism and Material Religion
Authors: Ioannides George
Published: March 2015

This article addresses the complex and contentious associations between the study of religion, materialism, and nonhuman materialities. Acknowledging the revaluation of religious material culture, and the recon?guration of the relations between religion and materialism, it is argued that the utility of such theoretical and methodological manoeuvres would be better served by thinking through the work of the ‘new materialisms’, which engage the question of matter and the material through posthumanist and anti-anthro-pocentric positionalities that are at times absent from the study of material religion. In so doing, this article analyses the potentialities and limitations of the religious materialism of Manuel Vásquez, placing it alongside the theory of new materialism and the representative work of Jane Bennett. Such interventions are then thought with and through a recon?gured sense of ‘animism,’ both as a means with which to differently ontologise nonhuman material agency, and to posit an approach to these topics that might be labelled a ‘new materialist religious animacy’. Ultimately, it is averred that such a theoretically entangled exploration of the above ?elds and concepts is important for the examination of religious phenomena alongside the self-generativity and recalcitrance of (religious) materiality, both human and nonhuman in kind.
Ex Anthropos: Implications of the Creation of the ‘Posthuman’ for the (Created) ‘Human’
Authors: Midson Scott
Published: March 2015

The creation of the ‘posthuman’ impels us to (re)discover what is essentially human; thus our very species, or at least the narratives that comprise it, is at stake. Here, I will develop a theological response to the challenge of the posthuman, ultimately contending that the scientists designing the posthuman overstep creaturely boundaries. This uncouples the link between humanness and creatureliness, and although some try to absorb such statements into the nature of humanness, positing that to be human is to progress and enhance, I shall demonstrate that where the posthuman is concerned, unlike with transhumanism, these tenets are self-defeating. The posthuman surpasses us, yet simultaneously it is projected out of our humanocentric world, ex anthropos. It is deployed as the ‘other’ that allows us to reaf?rm our creatureliness, which the posthuman, as not created ex nihilo, does not share in.
Where Skin Meets Fin: The Mermaid as Myth, Monster and Other-Than-Human Identity
Authors: Robertson Venetia Laura Delano
Published: March 2015

Mermaids have persisted as a feature of popular culture for centuries as one of the most multivalent of all mythical creatures. The mermaid blurs the boundary between woman and fish, femininity and carnality, land and sea, human and other. She is also held to be an astral entity in various metaphysical circles, in the mermaiding industry she is often marketed as an ambassador for marine preservation, and in the general pervasiveness of this character, competing with inhuman beings such as vampires, werewolves, and angels in the heavily mediated realm of contemporary culture, the mermaid represents an additional opportunity to invest in an other-than-human identity. This paper explores the development of the mermaid and how she has been conceived of as ‘other’. It then questions how ‘otherness’, traditionally understood to be something different or deviant with regard to gender, sexuality, race, species, or divinity, may be of value in the explicitly human project of personal meaning-making. By looking to the ‘mermaider’ community, a fandom for mermaid mythology, it can be seen that mermaid identity offers a sense of re-enchantment, a path to reifying an authentic subjectivity, and a mode by which the other-than-human self is seen as a sacred self.
Religious Violence in the Suburbs: The Case of Sri Mandir in Auburn
Authors: Hubble Cale Leslie
Published: March 2015

The Sri Mandir Hindu Temple in Auburn, Sydney was fired upon in March 2011. Local community and religious leaders presented the incident as devoid of ethnic or religious motivation. However, a documentary analysis of publicly available secondary sources suggests that the incident sits within a context of conflict between the local Indian and Middle Eastern Australian communities. There have been overt tensions in the area over planning and infrastructure issues, and interethnic prejudices may be held by some community members. Ethnicities are social constructions, and multiculturalist policies allow for and even demand the creation of these public ethnicities, which can then come into conflict. Competition over scarce resources is a widely theorised motivator for this kind of violent behaviour. Competition over public space, socioeconomic status, and religious zoning are suggested as reasons why violent tensions may exist between Indian and Middle Eastern Australians in southwest Sydney.
Teaching Spiritual Care in an Interfaith Context
Authors: Ganzevoort Reinder Ruard , Ajouaou Mohamed , Van der Braak André , De Jongh Erik , Minnema Lourens
Published: March 2015

This article discusses the possibilities of teaching spiritual care in an interfaith context, notably in the Netherlands. It first explores the background processes of deinstitutionalization and pluralization, resulting in a fragmented religious landscape. The change in nomenclature from pastoral care to spiritual care in part reflects these changes. The middle part of the article describes key features of spiritual care from different traditions. It starts with Christian views of spiritual care (historically the oldest in this context) and then discusses how secular/Humanist, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu perspectives not only add to the picture of spiritual care, but challenge its key notions. The final part discusses options of intrafaith and interfaith approaches of spiritual care and ends with a description of the curriculum the authors developed to accommodate students from a variety of denominational backgrounds in a rich interfaith learning environment.
The Value of E. J. Gold: Unearthing the Real Mr. G.
Authors: Petsche Johanna
Published: March 2015

In the 1960s, Eugene Jeffrey Gold (b. 1941) fashioned himself as a spiritual teacher and established a number of spiritual schools, most notably his Institute for the Development of the Harmonious Human Being (IDHHB), echoing Armenian-Greek spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff’s (c. 1866–1949) Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. Little is known of Gold’s background and career due to his penchant for role playing, practical jokes, fabricating facts, and mythologising details of his life. What is clear, however, is that Gold’s core teaching and eccentric pedagogic approach are largely modelled on those of Gurdjieff. In fact, in his Autobiography of a Sufi (1977) and Secret Talks with Mr. G (1978), Gold goes so far as to blatantly mimic Gurdjieff: his teaching, mode of expression, idiosyncratic terminology, and the very format of his publications. In Autobiography of a Sufi Gold even describes specific events in Gurdjieff’s life, passing them off as his own autobiographical accounts, while on the cover of Secret Talks with Mr. G. (a book deliberately meant to confuse readers into believing that ‘Mr. G.’ is Gurdjieff) there is a photograph of Gold impersonating Gurdjieff in a false wig and beard. This article aims to shed some much needed light on the fascinating figure of E.J. Gold, and interrogate the bizarre ways in which he employs, copies, and unashamedly steals core aspects of Gurdjieff’s persona and teaching.
Situating G. I. Gurdjieff’s Meetings With Remarkable Men
Authors: Karalis Vrasidas
Published: March 2015

G.I. Gurdjieff’s masterwork, Meetings with Remarkable Men (published posthumously in 1963), the second part of his All and Everything series, is probably one of the least studied books in the field of spiritual literature and has never been approached in regards to its literary structure. While the personality of its writer has monopolised the interest of most scholars, and the veracity of what is described in its pages has become the permanent obsession of many readers, the book itself as narrative structure, dialogic form and autobiographical self-revealing has remained a mystery and a veritable cryptogram. This article is focused around the dialogic form of the book and excavates its literary texture in order to frame the semantic centres of its discourse. Gurdjieff’s serpentine prose aspires in recapturing implied rituals and modes of wordless interaction. It is constructed around forms of ritualistic unfolding of words circumscribing the core of an argument without ever articulating it, reinventing the literary tropes of the travel-writing genre. The absent yet ubiquitous enunciation of the semiotic centre is the most significant aspect of this narrative. This article briefly analyses the generic keys of Gurdjieff’s prose and delineates his attempt to create space for pre-verbal, and occasionally post-verbal, self-presentation.
John Coltrane and the integration of Indian concepts in jazz improvisation
Authors: Clements Carl
Published: March 2015

John Coltrane was at the forefront of many important directions in jazz in the 1950s and 1960s, including “hard bop,” “modal jazz,” “avant garde jazz,” and “world music.” One interest that became an increasingly dominant focus for him in his later years was the study of Indian music and spirituality. While Coltrane’s music remained firmly rooted in jazz, this exploration was an important part of the development of Coltrane’s personal style from the early 1960s to the end of his life in 1967. A number of factors inspired Coltrane to explore Indian music and thought, and an investigation of specific applications of these ideas in his music will present some insight into his stylistic motivation. His incorporation of Indian ideas also inspired many other musicians, such as John McLaughlin, Dave Liebman, and Jan Garbarek, to pursue this direction, and it remains an important part of his legacy.
Performing Freemasonry
Authors: Hasselmann Kristiane
Published: March 2015

From the eighteenth century onwards the fraternity of freemasons in England has aimed to spiritually and morally refine its members and modify their behaviour patterns. In other words, it has striven to create a performative habitus that is consolidated beyond the routine of the lodge to achieve practical application in everyday life. The struggle for approbation of a private space for civil self-realisation gave rise to the modern ethics of conscience. Its tendency to internalise morals led away from outward modes of behaviour and, thus, away from the body. Yet, the constitutive process of modernity also required a reformation of manners that established the modern “performative ethics of habitus” and remained inextricably linked to physical actions. In this sense the fraternity of freemasons pursues the formation of enduring moral dispositions that initially find expression in, and are acquired through, physical action. In its effort for recognition, this programmatic practice and formation of a masonic habitus is always directed towards performance. My study analyses the masonic claim to self-invention as a case study of an ethics of habitus rooted in the Aristotelian tradition and renewed in the eighteenth century.
SMITH, Douglas, The Pearl (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 328 pp., £25.00, Hbk, ISBN: 9780300120417; £16.99, Pbk, ISBN: 9780300158588
Authors: Collis Robert
Published: March 2015

Reviewed by: Robert Collis, Leverhulme Research Fellow, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. Email: r.collis@sheffield.ac.uk
NEWMAN, Aubrey, Don Peacock and David Hughes, A History of the Masonic Province of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Anchorprint, 2010), x +139 pp., £15.00, Illustrated, Hbk, ISBN 978­1907­540­ 028
Authors: Weinbren Daniel
Published: March 2015

Reviewed by: Daniel Weinbren, Fellow of The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
SAUNDERS, Nicholas J., and Paul Cornish (eds), Contested Objects: Material Memories of the Great War (London: Routledge, 2009), xx+ 311 pp., $120.00, Illustrated, Hbk, 978­0­415­45070­6
Authors: Newell Aimee E.
Published: March 2015

Reviewed by: Aimee E. Newell, Phd, Director of Collections, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Lexington, MA, USA. Email: anewell@monh.org
WEBSTER, Charles, Paracelsus: Medicine, Magic, and Mission at the End of Time (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2008). 326 pp., €29.00, Illustrated, Hbk, ISBN 978­0­300­13911­2
Authors: Szőnyi György E.
Published: March 2015

Reviewed by: György E. Sz?nyi, University of Szeged/Central European University, Budapest, Egyetem u. 2./nádor u. 9. H­6722/H­1051 Hungary. Email: geszonyi@freemail.hu
ADOGAME, Afe; GERLOFF, Roswith; HOCK, Klaus (eds), Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora: The Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. 354pp. Hbk. ISBN: 9781847063175. £75. Pbk, ISBN: 9781441
Authors: Quaas Anna
Published: March 2015

Reviewed by: Anna D. Quaas, University of Heidelberg, Kisselgasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail: anna.quaas@wts.uni-heidelberg.de
From Stigma to Intervention
Authors: Mfundisi Naar
Published: March 2015

Pentecostals and Charismatics in Zambia continue to contribute greatly on matters that are at the heart of Zambia’s Socio-economic problems. More importantly, their engagement with HIV/AIDS and related issues in the last decade has been profound. The scale of their engagement varies based on the capacity of individual churches. Whether on a congregational or national level, they are actively developing means by which they can help sufferers and their families have a sense of hope. What is clear is that from an initial detached attitude towards civic engagement, privileging evangelism in the preparation of the imminent return of Christ, there is now a balanced message that is accompanied by an engagement with physical problems that the Zambian population continue to face, in this case HIV/AIDS, among other things.
Spirit Baptism, Socialization and Godly Love in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN)
Authors: Cartledge Mark , Alexander Kimberley , Bowers James
Published: March 2015

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship of specific socialization of Godly Love measures and the Pentecostal spirituality measure of the experience of Spirit Baptism on benevolent action, while controlling for the background variables of gender, age and education. The socialization factors are reference group, significant other, Christian media, personal agency and perception of direct encounter with God. Benevolent action is measures in the giving of time and money (intensity) and the extent to which it is distributed to friends and family and to the community and beyond (extensity). Data was provided from a congregational questionnaire survey among Sunday morning attendees in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) denomination in the USA. The results show that socialization factors (reference group, significant other, Christian media) do predict the extensity measures of benevolence and that personal agency is a predictor of the intensity (giving money) as well as the extensity measures (family and friend, community and beyond). Spirit Baptism is a predictor for one extensity measure (friends and family) but otherwise is insignificant. Age is a predictor of both intensity (giving of money) and extensity (family and friends, community and beyond), while education is a predictor of intensity (giving of money). Gender is insignificant.
Studying Divine Healing Practices
Authors: Gunther Brown Candy
Published: March 2015

This article explores how empirical and theological lenses can be brought into focus to study pentecostal divine healing practices. The project takes as a case study the healing prayer practices of globally influential pentecostal networks that developed out of the Toronto Blessing of the 1990s: the United States-based Apostolic Network of Global Awakening and the Mozambique-based Iris Ministries. Although science cannot prove or disprove that prayer really results in divine healing, empirical investigations can corroborate or challenge specific claims. Both social scientific and clinical research methods are valuable in assessing perceptions and measurable effects of healing prayer practices. Theological analysis of how prayer is understood and practiced provides an important tool for designing appropriate empirical studies. This project considers the complementary information provided by before-after medical records, survey responses, clinical measurements, and ethnographic follow-up observations and interviews. Because healing prayer is often transacted in the context of social networks, the sociological theory of Godly Love offers a useful model for interpreting study results. This article argues that the widespread perception that prayer results in divine healing has demonstrably real social effects, and in some cases the social interactions involved in healing rituals produce measurable health outcomes.
The Dream Center
Authors: Flory Richard , Miller Donald
Published: March 2015

In this article we investigate the Dream Center, a large-scale Pentecostal social outreach ministry and church, located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. We ask three questions related to the development and forms of “Godly love” at the Dream Center. First, as a formal organization, how does the Dream Center facilitate and model the development of different forms of Godly love? Second, what forms of Godly love are found at the Dream Center? Third, what is the impetus to these forms and how are they activated into the practical action of helping others? We argue that the Dream Center represents a twenty-first-century expression of Pentecostalism that is both Spirit-animated and socially engaged with the world, rather than being other-worldly and inwardly focused on spiritual perfection. We argue further the Dream Center successfully embodies, animates, and motivates its members to pursue lives of love and service to others, through their experiences at the Dream Center. We conclude by suggesting that the Dream Center represents an emerging cultural desire by Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians for a faith that is both personally meaningful and engaged with today’s economic and social crises.
Where the Wind Blows
Authors: Kay William
Published: March 2015

Pentecostal churches have grown during the last century. They have achieved this growth under almost all cultural conditions. The world population has also grown and rebalanced itself away from the West. Asian cities may be thought to represent the future of Christianity. Hong Kong and Singapore are credible representatives of these cities. Academic engagement with Pentecostalism has led to several hypotheses to explain the growth of Pentecostalism and five of these are tested empirically here. Using freshly collected data, this paper presents the results of these findings and concludes, among other things, that charismatic empowerment is one of the keys to growth.
“No Me Olvides”/”Forget Me Not”
Authors: Ramírez Daniel
Published: March 2015

This article proposes an interdisciplinary conversation about paradigm shifts within the context of migration and xenophobia along the US–Mexico border. Data in church documents, periodical reports, testimonials, life histories, congregational records, and hymnody compel a rethinking of received notions of early Pentecostals as socially or politically disengaged, and provide a historical corrective to contemporary social scientific studies of Latino/Latin American Pentecostalism.
To Live the Biblical Narratives
Authors: Andersson Greger
Published: March 2015

When early Pentecostal leaders tried to understand certain religious experiences they referred to the narratives of Acts. Yet the narratives of these leaders came also to function as interpretations of the biblical narratives. In this process narrative patterns were shaped that have been important, yet also problematic, to Pentecostalism. In this essay two such features are discussed: Spirit baptism as a moment of crisis that leads to a passage from one level in the life of a Christian to a new and higher level, and the traits that should characterize the experience and confirm that it really is a baptism in the Spirit.
A Megachurch in a Megacity
Authors: Cartledge Mark , Davies Andrew
Published: March 2015

This study brings together three fields of enquiry for the first time, namely megachurch studies, cyber-religion and Pentecostal and Charismatic studies. It is a study of the online self-representation of the largest Pentecostal church in Europe, Kingsway International Christian Centre, which attracts approximately 15,000 different regular attendees for worship over the course of each month. The focus of the study is how the church represents itself through the medium of the internet, its theology and culture as expressed in cyberspace. Analysis of the website material indicates that the church advocates a narrative of self betterment, based on the Christian message, which differs somewhat from so-called “prosperity” preaching in that it prioritizes personal divine empowerment as the key to unlocking spiritual and material blessings. Indeed, the church advocates empowerment for life in general not just a form of spiritual fulfilment. This is a narrative that clearly appeals to young professional West Africans living in London and southeast England, who are most prominently modelled via the website as those experiencing the blessings. The website presents the church’s senior pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo, through both graphical and textual representation as an anointed leader who encourages the faithful members of the church to “live bigger” and receive the blessings that come from such divine empowerment.
Continuity and Discontinuity
Authors: Ecke Jonas Paul
Published: March 2015

This article explores the cultural change generated by Pentecostalism among Liberian refugees in Ghana, who fled from their nation’s civil wars to a refugee camp in Ghana’s Central Region. Anthropologists of religion have argued that Pentecostal conversions have in large parts become popular because they enable a “break with the past.” Liberian converts, as well, seek to distance themselves from a past that is mired in conflict. To this end, they connect to global Pentecostal networks in an attempt to overcome their marginal status. In so doing, many of them reject aspects of their past, which they associate with the Liberian civil wars, for example traditional belief systems, ethnic identity, and the Liberian gerontocracy. Yet, as the ethnographic examples illustrate, this “break with the past” is rarely complete. This study’s findings are related to debates on whether anthropology of religion should focus on “continuity” or “discontinuity” in exploring religious conversions. The author argues that the religious experiences of Liberians in exile can only be understood by paying attention to the interplay and tensions between continuity and discontinuity.
“On Becoming a Christian”
Authors: Robeck, Jr. Cecil
Published: March 2015

This paper reviews the fifth round of discussions in the International Roman Catholic – Pentecostal Dialogue by closely following and analyzing the final report “On Becoming a Christian: Insights from Scripture and the Patristic Writings”. Beginning with an introduction about the dialogue as a whole and some remarks regarding the selection of the subject for the fifth round, the analysis focuses on the five main sections on the report. After laying out the difficulties and differences as well as the agreements and similarities that were discovered in the fifth round, the hope is expressed that the International Roman Catholic – Pentecostal Dialogue has laid a strong foundation on which another generation of ecumenists will be able to build.
De la caja del diablo a la caja de Dios
Authors: Mansilla Miguel
Published: March 2015

Neopentecostalism can be understood as a form of religious enchantment, informed by eschatology and embodied in song, dance and positive confession. The messages and songs emphasise intimate and touching individualism, the search for the material and the present. Divine blessing is a material blessing: health and wealth. It is an electronic from of religion that is mediated via television, radio and cyberspace.
The Past in Angolan Migrants' Conversion Narratives
Authors: Smit Regien
Published: March 2015

This article aims to explore how space and time are involved in Angolan migrants’ conversion narratives in two different Pentecostal migrant churches in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. A comparison between two strategies of pastoral care and the decisive role they play in the church adherents’ way of dealing with their past is analyzed through a theoretical framework of memory and trauma, memory and conversion and implicit social knowledge.
Geographies of Conversion
Authors: Knibbe Kim
Published: March 2015

This article describes transnational Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal churches based on multisited fieldwork. Religion is often described as deterritorialized, due to processes of globalization. In this article, the author argues that territories, localities and places are in fact very important to transnational Nigerian Pentecostalism, and that African Pentecostal churches in general constitute territories and places as well as add new dynamics to cities. Attention to spatial practices of Pentecostals as well as the ways in which these interact with the spatial practices of other social actors can bring into view the ways in which Pentecostalism is, or tries to be, a social force on the local level, transnationally and globally.
Risk and Protective Factors at Age 10: Psychological Adjustment in Children with a Cleft Lip and/or Palate
Authors: Feragen Kristin Billaud , Stock Nicola Marie
Published: March 2015

Objective

To explore psychological functioning in children with a cleft at age 10 from a broad perspective, including cognitive, emotional, behavioral, appearance-related, and social adjustment. High-risk groups were identified within each area of adjustment to investigate whether vulnerable children were found across domains or whether risk was limited to specific areas of adjustment.

Methods

Retrospective chart review from psychological assessments at age 10 (N – 845). The effects of gender, cleft visibility, and the presence of an additional condition were investigated. Results were compared with large national samples.

Measures

Personality Inventory for Children, Child Experience Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Satisfaction With Appearance scale.

Result

The factor affecting psychological adjustment on most domains was the presence of an associated condition in addition to the cleft. As expected, no support was found for cleft visibility as a risk factor, while there were some gender differences related to emotional difficulties and attention. Correlation analyses of risk groups pointed to an association between social experiences and emotional adjustment and between social and behavioral adjustment; whereas, dissatisfaction with appearance was not related to any other domains of risk at age 10.

Conclusions

The results point to the importance of early screening and assessment of children born with a cleft to identify possible associated conditions and offer adapted and appropriate treatment and care. Future research should investigate how protective factors could counteract potential risk in children with a cleft.
Viability of cross-laminated timber from UK resources
Authors: Crawford David , Hairstans Robert , Smith Simon , Papastavrou Panayiotis
Published: March 2015

Cross-laminated timber is an innovative engineered timber product that can be used for almost all superstructure elements. It is typically produced from kiln-dried, fast-growing softwood timber. Currently there is no commercial production in the UK and hence the majority of cross-laminated timber used within the UK construction industry is manufactured in central mainland Europe and imported. This paper presents the key factors required for implementing a cross-laminated timber production and construction capability using available UK timber resource, thus offering a sustainable alternative to multi-storey steel and concrete construction. Further to this the structural performance of a cross-laminated timber product manufactured using a home-grown resource is compared with the current product imported from Europe. A series of standard design scenarios for multi-storey residential and education buildings in the UK have been considered and the structural design criteria reviewed for both products.
THE PROBLEM OF UNCERTAINTY AS A SCIENTIFIC CATEGORY
Authors: Kuzmin E. A.
Published: March 2015

Multifaceted manifestations of uncertainty in the economy sometimes impossible task of putting her nomination universal definitions, concepts that could be generalized together all the cha-racteristics of ambiguity, inaccuracy and unpredictability. This problem is largely dictated by the requirements of the methodology of economic theory, where the construction of scientific concepts is in line with the conventionally known and established notions. The article focuses on the problem of categorization uncertainty. Disclosure of communications of uncertainty associated phenomena, i.e. manifestations of risk, economic security and stability. The basic determinants of un-certainty condition are summarized and supplemented. The article specifies the main function of uncertainty and systematizes its typical error.
IMPROVING THE REGULATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ARBITRATION MANAGER
Authors: Dachkina A. A.
Published: March 2015

Today, the scope of anti-crisis management is growing rapidly, due to the instability of the economic and political situation in the country. This article discusses the current situation with the institution of bankruptcy in the Russian Federation. The beginning of the article highlights the history of the institution of bankruptcy in Russia and studies the stages of changes in the legal framework in this area. As a result of the analysis of existing legislation, a number of deficiencies are identified and they do not allow self-regulatory organizations of arbitration managers and its members (arbitration managers) to carry out their work effectively. After identifying weaknesses in this area, the article offers the ways to address these problems and shortcomings, including amendments to the Russian legislation on (insolvency) bankruptcy, by which largely the effectiveness of self-regulatory organizations of arbitration managers can be enhanced. Adoption of these changes in the article will help to improve the activities of the institution of bankruptcy.
THE MECHANISM OF EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE OF PRODUCTION
Authors: Egorov V. N. , Chernova M. V.
Published: March 2015

The ecological factor always has a negative impact on the profit of enterprises and creates a threat of crisis situations. The article presents the evaluation mechanism of permanent and emergency environmental damage caused by industrial activity. Measures of reduction of environmental risks and of prevention of crisis phenomena in the environmental subsystem are proposed.
Response and Recovery Characteristics of Kentucky Bluegrass Cultivars to Extended Drought
Authors: Goldsby Anthony L. , Bremer Dale J. , Fry Jack D. , Keeley Steven J.
Published: March 2015

During drought, authorities may impose water restrictions for irrigation with little regard for damage to turfgrass. Our objectives were to evaluate the performance of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (KBG) cultivars during a prolonged dry down and subsequent recovery in the transition zone near Manhattan, KS, USA. Irrigation was withheld from 30 bluegrasses for 82 days in 2010 and 62 days in 2011. Rainfall was excluded from the study area with an automated rainout shelter. Digital images were collected every one to two weeks during dry down and recovery to obtain percent green turfgrass coverage. All cultivars were predominantly brown (0 to 3% green cover) by the end of the 82‐day dry down in 2010, and less brown (7 to 27% green cover) by the end of the 62‐day dry down in 2011, probably because all plots inadvertently received 1.54 inches of precipitation during the 2011 dry down. All 30 bluegrasses recovered after lengthy dry downs in both years, but recovery was slower in 2010 because of greater drought stress during the longer dry down. Differences in performance were observed among cultivars during the dry downs and recoveries, but were inconsistent between years. Exceptions during the dry down were Apollo and Bedazzled, which lost green cover more slowly than other cultivars; Apollo also recovered more quickly after drought than other cultivars. Bluegrasses have excellent recuperative ability even after severe drought, and are good choices for areas where extended bans on turfgrass irrigation are possible.
Effects of Soil Organic Matter on Sorption of Metal Ions on Soil Clay Particles
Authors: Fan Ting-Ting , Wang Yu-Jun , Li Cheng-Bao , Zhou Dong-Mei , Friedman Shmulik P.
Published: March 2015

Wien effect measurements were used to study the effect of organic matter on the interactions between divalent cations and soil clay particles of two black soil samples containing organic matter (OM) at 54.4 and 12.3 g kg−1 in the top (0–20‐cm) and bottom (100–120‐cm) horizons, respectively, and a sample of OM‐free black soil, all saturated with Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, and with Ca2+ as a reference cation. The weak‐field electrical conductivities of suspensions of the top and bottom horizons and OM‐free black soil samples were 0.021 to 0.033, 0.011 to 0.021, and 0.0065 to 0.0082 mS cm−1, respectively. The mean free binding energies of the cations in the same soil sample suspensions were 5.5 to 7.3, 7.3 to 9.3, and 9.6 to 10 kJ mol−1, respectively. The mean free adsorption energies of all cations increased with field strength and were in the order OM‐free > bottom horizon > top horizon. At field strengths >100 kV cm−1, in the top‐horizon soil, the adsorption energies of Ca were 0.21 to 0.72 kJ mol−1, those of Cd and Cu were similar to one another at 0.01 to 0.25 kJ mol−1, and those of Pb were close to zero, while in the bottom horizon soil, the adsorption energies of the various cations were in descending order: Ca > Cd > Pb > Cu, and in the OM‐free soil the order of the adsorption energies of the various cations were Cd ≈ Cu ≈ Ca > Pb. The humus basically increased the negative electrokinetic potentials of the clay‐size‐fraction particles of the three black soil samples saturated with Ca, Cd, Cu, or Pb.
Characterization of Water Retention Curves for a Series of Cultivated Histosols
Authors: Hallema Dennis W. , Périard Yann , Lafond Jonathan A. , Gumiere Silvio J. , Caron Jean
Published: March 2015

Water retention curves are essential for the parameterization of soil water models such as HYDRUS. Although hydraulic parameters are known for a large number of mineral and natural organic soils, our knowledge on the hydraulic behavior of cultivated Histosols is rather limited. The objective of this study was to derive characteristic water retention curves for a large cultivated peatland with lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and vegetable farming in southern Quebec, Canada. A comparison showed that the van Genuchten model fits better to the water retention data obtained with a Tempe pressure cell experiment than the Groenevelt–Grant model in terms of residual sum of squares; however, the difference in performance was quite small due to the high number of iterations used for fitting. Finally, an agglomerative cluster analysis of 85 peat samples allowed us to define two distinct water retention curves, where the first water retention curve described samples of relatively shallow (<150 cm) Histosols with an organic content <0.89 and a bulk density >0.3 g cm−3, and the second curve characterized samples of the deepest (depth 150–230 cm) Histosols with an organic content of up to 0.97 and a bulk density >0.3 g cm−3, which are the soils that suffered a more dramatic transformation as a result of agriculture. This characterization allows for a multitude of applications, including parameterization of the HYDRUS model for soil water movement, and presents an essential tool for the optimization of water management in cultivated peatlands.
General solution and fundamental solution for two-dimensional problem in orthotropic thermoelastic media with voids
Authors: Kumar Rajneesh , Chawla Vijay
Published: March 2015

The aim of the present paper is to study the fundamental solution in
orthotropic thermoelastic media with voids. With this objective, firstly the
two-dimensional general solution in orthotropic thermoelastic media with
voids is derived. On the basis of general solution, the fundamental solution
for a steady point heat source on the surface of a semiinfinite orthotropic
thermoelastic material with voids is constructed by six newly introduced
harmonic functions. The temperature and voids distribution and components of
displacement and stress are expressed in terms of elementary functions. From
the present investigation, a special case of interest is also deduced and
compared with the previous results obtained. Since all the components are
expressed in terms of elementary functions, it is convenient to use them.
Comparison of 2- and 3-category histologic grading systems for predicting the presence of metastasis at the time of initial evaluation in dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors: 386 cases (2009–2014)
Authors: Stefanello Damiano , Buracco Paolo , Sabattini Silvia , Finotello Riccardo , Giudice Chiara , Grieco Valeria , Iussich Selina , Tursi Massimiliano , Scase Timothy , Di Palma Stefano , Bettini Giuliano , Ferrari Roberta , Martano Marina , Gattino Francesca , Marrington Mary , Mazzola Monica , Elisabetta Vasconi Maria , Annoni Maurizio , Marconato Laura
Published: March 2015

Objective—To compare the Kiupel (2 categories) and Patnaik (3 categories) histologic grading systems for predicting the presence of metastasis at the time of initial examination in dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors (MCTs).

Design—Retrospective case series.

Animals—386 client-owned dogs with cutaneous MCTs.

Procedures—Medical records of dogs with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed cutaneous MCTs that had undergone complete clinical staging were reviewed for clinical and histopathologic data.

Results—All Patnaik grade 1 MCTs (n = 52) were classified as Kiupel low-grade MCTs, and all Patnaik grade 3 MCTs (43) were classified as Kiupel high-grade MCTs. Of the 291 Patnaik grade 2 MCTs, 243 (83.5%) were classified as Kiupel low-grade tumors, and 48 (16.5%) were classified as Kiupel high-grade MCTs. Dogs with Patnaik grade 3 MCTs were significantly more likely to have metastases at the time of initial examination than were dogs with grade 1 or 2 MCTs (OR, 5.46), and dogs with Kiupel high-grade MCTs were significantly more likely to have metastases than were dogs with Kiupel low-grade MCTs (OR, 2.54). However, 3 of 52 (5.8%) dogs with Patnaik grade 1 tumors, 48 of 291 (16.5%) dogs with Patnaik grade 2 tumors, and 44 of 295 (14.9%) dogs with Kiupel low-grade tumors had metastatic disease.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Findings indicated that in dogs with cutaneous MCTs, prognostication should not rely on histologic grade alone, regardless of grading system used, but should take into account results of clinical staging.