bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Low-Level Laser-Assisted Lipoplasty Appearance of Fat Demonstrated by MRI on Abdominal Tissue
Authors: Neira Rodrigo , Jackson Robert , Dedo Douglas , Ortiz Clara Lucia , Arroyave Jose Alejandro
Published: July 2017

Introduction:

In an effort to study the changes of subcutaneous fat after exposure to a low-level diode laser and tumescent infiltration, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings are presented. The subcutaneous abdominal fat is exposed for 4 and 6 minutes irradiation time. This has previously been studied using a scanning electron microscope. The anatomical characteristics of the superficial and deep fat previously described by other authors are correlated with the scanning electron microscope and MRI. The changes in the characteristics of the fat before and after tumescence and before and after application of the low-level diode laser are shown.

Materials and Methods:

By using MRI techniques, 3 patients were evaluated prior to infiltrating the subcutaneous tissue with tumescent fluid with T1 and T2 sequences. The same patients were evaluated again after applying or infiltrating the tumescence and again after exposure using the low-level laser beam for 4 and 6 minutes.

Conclusion:

The MRI showed no laser exposure in the T1 sequence; the adipose tissue, both superficially and deep, appears to have a bright signal and is homogenously distributed. After 4 minutes of laser exposure, the T1 sequence demonstrated that the adipose tissue is partially coalescent and has changed its signal. After 6 minutes of laser exposure, the MRI demonstrated that the adipose tissue is much more coalescent and is blurred. The fatty density and organization seems to have changed completely after exposure to the laser beam for this period of time. (The scanning electron microscope revealed that at this particular time 100% of the fat was in the interstitial space and the transitory pore was now open.) The MRI evaluation of the subcutaneous fat seems to correlate well with the findings of the scanning electron microscope, showing that there is a definite change in the consistency of the subcutaneous fat following exposure to the low-level electronic diode laser.
Flaps: Salvage for Augmentation Catastrophes
Authors: Scholze R. , Morgan W. R.
Published: July 2017

Introduction:

Massive, uncontrollable capsular fibrosis remains the main problem with silicone-gel implants used for heterologic volume substitution.

Materials and Methods:

The limitation of the standard methods for cosmetic augmentation or oncological-related subcutaneous mastectomies are represented and discussed using 2 typical, problematic cases as examples. Catastrophic results can be salvaged using de-epithelialized distant tissue flaps.

Results:

Of the 34 patients, 84% were treated with latissimus dorsal flaps, and 15% with split transverse abdominis flaps. No severe complications, like total or partial loss of the flaps, were observed in the first or second group. Persistent seroma on the donor site was an annoying but surmountable problem. The achieved cosmetic outcome was satisfying and none of the patients regretted the surgery.

Discussion:

In attempts at correction, the type and site of the implant should only be changed once following capsulectomy in order to avoid further damage to the skin or the remaining glandular tissue already subjected to pressure atrophy. Only through early conversion to autologous de-epithelialized tissue (usually the latissimus dorsi flap, and more seldom the transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap) can very serious permanent damage with the loss of female identity be avoided and, at best, complete recovery achieved. Therefore, proper application of the implant technique during cosmetic or oncological breast surgery always requires competence in and logistics for explantation and autologous conversion. Disabling breast augmentation should be history, which will help defuse the vehement public controversy regarding the silicone-gel implant problem.
Possible Nerve Injuries in the Axillary Approach to Breast Augmentation Surgery
Authors: Shiffman Melvin A. , Mirrafati Sid
Published: July 2017

The axillary approach to breast augmentation is used because of the hidden scar that is produced high in the axilla. There is, however, the possibility of neurologic injury because of the proximity of both motor and sensory nerves in the region of the dissection. Full knowledge of the anatomy of the axillary nerves is essential for the surgeon using the axillary approach. There are also techniques that can be used to prevent neurological involvement.
Electrosurgery of Glabellar Frown Muscles
Authors: Brahmatewari Just , Mishra Prabin , Cheung Rennie , Forouzanpour Fardad , Koire Bernard
Published: July 2017

Introduction:

Local infiltration of Botulinum toxin has gained popularity for cosmetic denervation of hyperfunctional facial lines, but its major drawback is that it only lasts up to several months. We propose an alternative procedure to treat glabellar frown lines that will last longer.

Materials and Methods:

Ten women aged 32–62 with hyperfunctional frown lines went through the electrical denervation procedure. Transcutaneous transection of corrugator and procerus muscles were performed electrosurgically. All patients were followed up to 6 months for evaluation of glabellar frown lines.

Results:

Six out of 10 patients still are unable to frown, and another four are noted to have a minimal ability to frown. The electrical denervation procedure appears to have longer lasting effects compared with previous studies with Botox injections. Surrounding edema and ecchymosis is one of the most notable complications, which occurred in 7 out of 10 patients.

Discussion:

The electrical denervation procedure is safe and when done properly has longer lasting effects with a very low complication rate.
Management of Cosmetic Eyelid Surgery Complications
Authors: Mack William P. , Cartwright Mont J. , Fezza John P. , Flaharty Patrick M.
Published: July 2017

Purpose:

Preoperative evaluation with detailed surgical planning is imperative to avoid potential complications in cosmetic eyelid surgery.

Materials and Methods:

Before undergoing cosmetic upper eyelid blepharoplasty, patients should be thoroughly evaluated. Patients should be examined for ptosis, dry eye syndrome, prolapsed lacrimal gland, and brow ptosis. In addition to the evaluation for dry eye syndrome, patients interested in cosmetic lower eyelid blepharoplasty should be assessed for ectropion, entropion, lid retraction, scleral show, lid laxity, and lagophthalmos. Preoperatively, risk factors for orbital hemorrhage, including hypertension, anti-platelet or anticoagulant medication, history of abnormal bruising of bleeding, or underlying diseases that may contribute to bleeding, should be assessed. Intraoperative management of cosmetic upper eyelid surgery complications should focus on decreasing the risk of postoperative ptosis, lagophthalmos, lid retraction, and lid asymmetry, with special attention to limiting the risk of visual loss secondary to orbital hemorrhage.

Discussion:

Management of cosmetic lower eyelid blepharoplasty complications should focus on methods to assess lower lid laxity, limit the risk of diplopia, and manage orbital hemorrhage.

Results:

Techniques to revise cosmetic eyelid surgery complications during the postoperative period will be described.
Noninvasive Wrinkle Reduction with the Nlite Laser: A Study of 50 Consecutive Patients
Authors: Galoob Harry
Published: July 2017

Introduction:

Selective nonablative wrinkle reduction by laser is an exciting and appealing concept. The Nlite laser is a 585-nm pulsed dye laser that works on the concept that mild laser light injury of microvessels in the skin induces production of new collagen and may cause reduction in depth and visibility of wrinkles. This study reports on the author's experience with this new technology and the 6-month evaluation of 50 consecutive patients in his practice.

Materials and Methods:

Fifty consecutive patients were treated with the Nlite laser according to the parameters suggested by the manufacturer. All patients had preoperative photographs taken and their wrinkles graded according to the Fitzpatrick and Glogau score. Three observers performed postoperative evaluation of 37 patients at 6- to 9-month intervals using photographs. Patient survey of 42 patients was completed with statistical analysis of the results.

Results:

Three observers were asked to evaluate pretreatment and posttreatment photographs and to determine if any detectable improvement had occurred after treatment. A total of 54%, 27%, and 37% of patients were found to have detectable improvement, respectively, for the periorbital, forehead, and perioral areas (marionette and lip lines). Patients surveyed on their results indicated detectable improvement in 70%, 62%, and 70% of patients, respectively, for the periorbital, forehead, and perioral areas. Most patients and observers graded the improvement as 0–25%.

Discussion:

The Nlite laser is a noninvasive treatment that improves skin wrinkles in some patients as noted by observer evaluation of pretreatment and posttreatment photographs and by patients as perceived by patient survey. The degree of improvement does not appear to be as great as that claimed by the laser manufacturer.
Development of a Microporous Compliant Small Bore Vascular Graft
Authors: Edwards Alan , Carson Robert J. , Bowald Staffan , Quist William C.
Published: July 2017

Purpose: To produce biodurable small diameter microporous vascular grafts with self-sealing properties for vascular access, for peripheral vascular and potentially for coronary artery bypass. The prosthesis should retain compliance and pulsatile flow in situ using a unique modus operandi permitting wall compression which accommodates changes in volume.

Method: We have utilised efficient low temperature coagulation technology to develop a unique range of small diameter microporous vascular grafts using ChronoFlex, a biodurable polycarbonate urethane.

Results: Grafts have been subjected to a range of in vitro and in vivo testing, demonstrating excellent physical and mechanical characteristics, self-sealing, maintenance of compliance and pulsatile flow in situ and patency up to twenty-two weeks.
Alginate Encapsulated Bioadhesive Chitosan Microspheres for Intestinal Drug Delivery
Authors: Ramdas M. , Dileep K. J. , Anitha Y. , Paul Willi , Sharma Chandra P.
Published: July 2017

Sustained intestinal delivery of drugs such as 5-fluorouracil (choice for colon carcinomas) and insulin (for diabetes mellitus) seems to be a feasible alternative to injection therapy. For successful therapy, the drug should be delivered at proper sites (here, the intestine) for long duration, for producing maximum pharmacological activity. We have attempted to develop a formulation that can bypass the acidity of the stomach and release the loaded drug for long periods into the intestine by using the bioadhesiveness of polyacrylic acid, alginate, and chitosan. Bromothymol blue was taken as a model drug. The formulation exhibited bioadhesive property and released the drug for an eight-day period in vitro.
Occupational Information: What Children Want to Know
Authors: McMahon Mary , Watson Mark
Published: July 2017

The present exploratory-descriptive cross-national study focuses on what information children believe they need to find out about jobs. In total, 511 South African and 372 Australian children participated in the study. The present paper reports on the findings related to one item of the Revised Career Awareness Survey used in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that the nature of information the children needed to find out was related to life/career implications and life/career management tasks and to a lesser extent to interests and personal characteristics and the nature of work. The implications of the findings for career guidance and counseling practice are discussed.
Family Interaction Patterns, Career Planning Attitudes, and Vocational Identity of High School Adolescents
Authors: Hargrove Byron K. , Inman Arpana G. , Crane Randy L.
Published: July 2017

The purpose of the current study was to examine how perceptions of family interaction patterns as defined along three dimensions of family environment (quality of family relationships, family goal-orientations, and degree of organization and control within the family system) predict vocational identity and career planning attitudes among male and female adolescents living at home. One hundred twenty three high school students completed measures of family environment, vocational identity, and career planning attitudes. Analyses revealed that the quality of family relationships (i.e., degree to which family members are encouraged to express feelings and problems) played a small, yet significant role in predicting career planning attitudes of adolescents.
Race-Conscious Academic Policy in Higher Education: The University of Maryland Banneker Scholars Program
Authors: Allen Walter R. , Hunt Darnell M. , Gilbert Derrick I. M.
Published: July 2017

This research was undertaken in conjunction with the efforts of the University of Maryland-College Park to respond to litigation in the case of Podberesky v. Kirwan (1993). The case challenged the constitutional right of the university to operate a scholarship program reserved exclusively for high-achieving African Americans. This study offers a broad-based assessment of the Benjamin Banneker Scholars Program. The Banneker Scholars Program is a key element in the university's plan for desegregation and increased student diversity. The research was conducted in the summer and fall of 1992 using a variety of data sources: university records, personal interviews, survey questionnaires, telephone interviews, focus group interviews, and life histories. We found that the Banneker scholarship program continues to be necessary, as a specific remedy, to eliminate the effects of past, present, and cumulative discrimination against African Americans.
Lack of Free Choice Reveals the Cost of Having to Search for More Than One Object
Authors: Ort Eduard , Fahrenfort Johannes J. , Olivers Christian N. L.
Published: July 2017

It is debated whether people can actively search for more than one object or whether this results in switch costs. Using a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm, we revealed a crucial role for cognitive control in multiple-target search. We instructed participants to simultaneously search for two target objects presented among distractors. In one condition, both targets were available, which gave the observer free choice of what to search for and allowed for proactive control. In the other condition, only one of the two targets was available, so that the choice was imposed, and a reactive mechanism would be required. No switch costs emerged when target choice was free, but switch costs emerged reliably when targets were imposed. Bridging contradictory findings, the results are consistent with models of visual selection in which only one attentional template actively drives selection and in which the efficiency of switching targets depends on the type of cognitive control allowed for by the environment.
A Question of Posture: Engaging the World with Justin Martyr, George Lindbeck and Hans Frei
Authors: Thompson Geoff
Published: July 2017

This essay explores the posture adopted towards the world by one ancient and two contemporary Christian writers: Justin Martyr, George Lindbeck and Hans Frei. They respectively represent what are designated as defensive, receptive, and reciprocal postures, postures which determine the extent to which, and the manner in which, these writers appropriate insights and knowledge from beyond the Christian tradition. The theology and, to a lesser extent, the cultural background of each approach are studied. The particular doctrinal locus in question is Christology. An assessment is made of the link made by each author between the place of Jesus Christ in their theological framework and the posture which they adopt towards the rest of the world. Using the approaches of Justin and Lindbeck as a foil, Frei's idiosyncratic work will be shown to demonstrate that a high level of reciprocity between the church and the rest of the world is compatible with an orthodox Christology.
Households of Faith (Jn 4:46–54; 11:1–44): A Metaphor for the Johannine Community
Authors: Coloe Mary
Published: July 2017

This article proposes that the image of “the household of God” provides the best metaphor of the Johannine community. Within the text itself we are able to see traces of this community in the issues confronting the households at Capernaum and Bethany. The article draws on a previous study of the Temple as the “House of God” and the transferral of this image to the community as the “Household” of God. Where the image of Temple is applied to Jesus in the Gospel narrative, the community is reflected in the different households of faith.
The Offices of Christ, Lumen Gentium and the People's Sense of the Faith
Authors: Rush Ormond
Published: July 2017

The article examines the historical origins of the notion of Christ's threefold office as priest, prophet and king as applied to the church, highlighting the seminal contribution of John Calvin. After an initial reception into Catholic theology in the nineteenth century, it is Vatican II's document Lumen gentium which first receives the trilogy into official Catholic teaching in a significant way. The author examines issues that need addressing in any reconstructed theology of, in particular, the “prophetic office” and proposes that future ecumenical dialogue with Protestants on the three offices may provide opportunities for further Catholic reception of this Protestant framework.
Thinking like an Archipelago: Beyond Tehomophobic Theology
Authors: Victorin-Vangerud Nancy M.
Published: July 2017

Feminist theologian Catherine Keller claims that embedded in Christian theology is a vast fear of the deep - or tehom - that leads to eschatologies of final endings rather than edges of open possibilities. This article draws on Keller's “green” hermeneutic, yet deepens and extends her eco-eschatological analysis by questioning the way humans live in relation to the sea. The oceans cover 71% of the world's surface and make up 97% of the world's water. Yet we treat the sea as a vast mare nullius. How can we live toward “a new heaven and new earth” (Rev 21:1) without hope for the sea as well? The Spirit of the vulnerable God “gives life” in even the deepest, darkest and most remote of places. Through an “archipelagic imagination”, we can “sea” and “fathom” our faith towards hopeful possibilities for the whole of God's creation.
How is it Right to Treat the Human Embryo? The Embryo and Stem Cell Research
Authors: Uren William J.
Published: July 2017

This submission to the Australian Health Ethics Committee considers issues of “respect” and “potential” and argues that the embryo is to be respected because it is nascent and developing human life. Destructive experimentation, even for the purposes of stem cell research, should therefore not be permitted on embryos originally intended for implantation but now surplus to IVF needs. The goals for which they are being destroyed in experimentation are distant and uncertain, and professional practice in IVF now requires that no more than one or at most two embryos should be generated.
Infinity, Insomnia, and the (im)possibility of Theology
Authors: Curkpatrick Stephen
Published: July 2017

Theology is an ineluctable challenge with its compelling yet impossible testimony to Infinity in thought and language. Levinas' metaphor insomnia, in its vigilance without intentionality in which the subject is hostage to thinking Infinity without circumscribing this thought, is useful for interpreting this theological challenge. The image of insomnia suggests the other's (transcendent) claim upon us. If we are wakened and vigilant without being the source of this wakefulness, it is the other who generates this vigilance in the self-same, yet we can never be certain who this other is — “God” or otherwise. In this insomnia, the subject is hostage to a vigilance of risk — questioning and uncertain as to the source of the other's alterity or transcendence. This is the challenge of faith and ethical responsibility to an other as a visage of this assignation to infinity.
Integral Salvation in the Risen Christ: The New “Emergent Whole”
Authors: Novello Henry L.
Published: July 2017

This essay examines current mind-body theories and argues that “emergentist monism” is preferable to “nonreductive physicalism” in the search for an adequate model of personhood. It demonstrates the compatibility of the emergentist account of evolving nature with Karl Rahner's notion of “active self-transcendence”, and the need to appreciate the “integral” character of final salvation understood as participation, through the Spirit, in the divine identity of the risen Christ who is the new definitive “emergent whole” in person. The essay concludes with the proposition that integral salvation in Christ is fully actualised in the privileged event of death as the gift of “admirable exchange” of natures in the person of the risen One.
Dorothee Soelle: “In Memoriam”
Authors: Harvey Ann-Marie
Published: July 2017

Dorothee Soelle grew up under Hitler's state terror and later lived in a climate of remilitarisation and consumerism. Through an increasing rejection of social coercion, violence and dehumanising social structures, her earlier systematic theology embraced a narrative, praxis-orientated methodology that sought to make present fragments of God's gospel of love and justice in the midst of oppression and brokenness. In the light of her theological reflection on experiences in Vietnam, Europe, the U.S.A., and Latin America she attracted a wide international audience. For theologians in Australasia Soelle's legacy continues to hold open the question, if oppression is the primary sin, of how theological endeavour can advance interdependence and wholeness in life?
The Dual Language of Sacrifice in Christian Tradition
Authors: Ormerod Neil
Published: July 2017

The notion of sacrifice as an explanation of the death of Jesus remains a contentious one in Christian theology. This article explores the notion through the work of René Girard, to see how his work may shed some light on the Christian tradition, in particular in dialogue with the writings of Origen and Aquinas. It argues that if discourse in relation to the notion of sacrifice, that these modes should not be confused, and that each sheds some light on the theological meaning of the death of Jesus.
The Rise of Orthodoxy's Encounter with Islam
Authors: Kariotoglou Alexander
Published: July 2017

The Orthodox Church was the first to come into contact with Islam. The presence of the Byzantine Empire, and therefore of the Orthodox Church in the northern regions of Arabia, created some of the presuppositions for the Church's influence upon the Islamic tradition, as also did the presence of Christian communities in the south The present article will examine echoes of the Orthodox Christian tradition that can be detected in the verses of the Koran.
For Christ's Sake: From Expletive to Confession
Authors: Pearson Clive
Published: July 2017

The common tendency in a contextual theology has been to pose the question “Who is Jesus Christ?” for a particular setting. How might a response be made in a land down under constructing a hermeneutic out of the classical and popular cartographic principle of the antipodes? How might the confessional claim of Christ is Lord be made in a cultural location where an invocation of the name of Christ is most frequently an expletive?
Awaiting Faith: Jacques Derrida and the Impossible Encounter with Death
Authors: Martis John
Published: July 2017

What implications does the fact of death have for religious faith? In his Aporias, Jacques Derrida probes Heidegger's well known analysis, from Being and Time, of human death as constituting the “ownmost possibility” of human being (in Heidegger's terminology, Dasein). Derrida deems Heidegger's account susceptible to a fatal aporia, or logical impasse. Developing Derrida's investigation, this article further invokes Maurice Blanchot and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, linking their work to that of John D. Caputo. It proposes that death, far from confirming us as selves, confirms us as selves-in-loss. Curiously, though, this implies that the religious or “faith” attitude, properly and broadly interpreted as “a saying of ‘yes' to the radically impossible”, is intrinsic to the interpretation of experience as such.
Uncertain Women: Sexual Irregularity and the Greater Righteousness in Matthew 1
Authors: Warner Megan
Published: July 2017

The identification of the concept of the “greater righteousness” as a central theme of Matthew's gospel provides a clue about the significance of the surprising inclusion of five women in the genealogy that opens the gospel. Matthew portrays Jesus' teaching about the greater righteousness as being concerned not with what the world sees and perceives, but with what God sees and wants. Accordingly, it is possible that a person may be tainted in the eyes of the world and yet demonstrate the greater righteousness. It is argued that in Matthew 1 Joseph's actions model and announce the theme of the greater righteousness for the remainder of the gospel. Further, it is argued that close consideration of the stories of the four Old Testament women mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew 1 reveals that each of the four women typifies the Matthean greater righteousness and that Mary, by analogy, is also portrayed in this way. These characters chosen to model the greater righteousness stand in antithesis to the characters chosen to model the “lesser” or “old” righteousness, the scribes and Pharisees.
Kierkegaard as a Paradoxical Therapist
Authors: Pembroke Neil
Published: July 2017

The essential problem that Søren Kierkegaard is concerned with in his authorship is that of becoming a Christian. It is argued that Kierkegaard's authorial strategy reflects the principles of paradoxical psychotherapy. These principles indicate that both the psychological problem and its solution involve an ironic process. In the Kierkegaardian frame of reference, the situation of the immature self is paradoxical, and so is the pathway to full selfhood. The philistine and the aesthete attempt to secure autonomy and personal freedom through an external orientation. But the way to the self is inwards. Consequently, these personalities get caught in an ironic process. The further they push outwards, the further they move away from the locus of genuine selfhood and freedom. This immature form of life can only lead to a loss of self and the associated experience of despair. Paradoxically, Kierkegaard advocates the choice of despair as the way to find oneself in God.
The Bishops and Baptism: Colonial Reverberations of a Tractarian Controversy
Authors: Cooper Austin
Published: July 2017

One of the great controversies arising during the later days of the Oxford (or Tractarian) Movement was the dispute concerning the nature and effects of Baptism. In England the controversy came to a head in the Gorham judgement of the Privy Council in 1850. The six Anglican bishops in Australasia (five of whom were in some sense “Tractarian”) were drawn into the issue with consequences that had little impact on the issue at home, but added fuel to acrimonious colonial debates. Colonials might import and re-play debates from the home countries, but they did so with more reference to local issues.
Back to a Way Forward: Jacques Dupuis' Trinitarian Christology and the Invisible Missions of the Word and Spirit
Authors: Hunt Anne
Published: July 2017

Jacques Dupuis' book, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, drew an enormous response from theologians, some of them very concerned by Dupuis' argument in terms of the universal presence and action of the Word and Spirit as “extending beyond” that of the risen incarnate Word, and his insistence that “a divine action of the Word as such remains, which extends beyond the human action of the risen Christ”. The aim of this essay is to examine the distinctly trinitarian elements of Dupuis' argument, in the light of the classical teachings regarding Trinity and Christology, for it is on the basis of his “trinitarian christology” that Dupuis grounds his theology of religious pluralism. The author argues that, while Dupuis' “trinitarian christology” points the way to a more positive appreciation of the salvific efficacy of non-Christian religions, he has confused rather than advanced an understanding of the operation of Word and Spirit in regard to non-Christian religions. The author argues that the classical notion of the divine missions, visible and invisible, a strange omission from Dupuis' argument, would facilitate the case he seeks to make, avoid some of the ambiguities that dog his case, and mute the key concerns which have been raised by reviewers.
Exceeding Truth: Jean-Luc Marion's Saturated Phenomena
Authors: Mackinlay Shane
Published: July 2017

Jean-Luc Marion is a contemporary French philosopher, whose theory of saturated phenomena is attracting increasing attention from theologians, because he proposes that the exemplary saturated phenomenon is divine revelation. Marion's claims about revelation have also provoked philosophical controversy, with authors such as Dominique Janicaud objecting that Marion's analysis of revelation compromises his avowal that he is engaged in phenomenology rather than theology. This article outlines the philosophical background to these debates, by describing the way Marion's theory of saturated phenomena reconceives truth. Marion objects to truth being limited to the verifiable truth of the natural sciences, and insists on an excess beyond what we can grasp and understand. It is this excess that opens new possibilities for philosophical thinking about genuinely transcendent revelation. The article begins by describing an event that is one of Marion's concrete examples of saturated phenomena, before sketching his theory for these phenomena, and setting out three corollaries that follow from this theory and concern the way we should conceive both phenomenality and subjectivity. Finally, it briefly indicates a number of reservations about the implications of some of Marion's more dramatic and strident claims.
Why Christianity is so Ingenious or, Why Zizek is (“Only”) Half Right
Authors: Manolopoulos Mark
Published: July 2017

One of philosopher Slavoj Zizek's most admirable moves is his insistence on the gift's debt-erasingness. But it seems his - and not only his - passion for the gift's gratuity - exemplified by the figure of Christ - obscures what is genuinely ingenious about the gift and the gift of the Christic that it is dual, duplicitous, double-sided; both gratuitous and circular, both debt-erasing and debt-arousing. To be sure, what is required in an age of an all-calculating capitalism is a remembering and re-affirmation of excess. And yet, in an age of unparalleled ecological squandering, what is also required is a re-commitment to reciprocity. Christianity's Geniestreich therefore appears to lie in its both/and.
What's in a Name? Book Titles in the Latter Prophets and Writings
Authors: Goswell Gregory
Published: July 2017

This article completes a survey of Old Testament book titles, making use of the four possible functions of a title as differentiated by Gerard Genette. The books of the Latter Prophets and Writings were assigned titles that indicate that those responsible for the titles had reflected upon the form and content of the biblical books. The titles are in effect a commentary on the books. As such the titles assist, or in some cases hinder, the interpretive efforts of the reader. They are to be weighed and considered but certainly not ignored.
Recent Ecclesiology: A Survey
Authors: Ormerod Neil
Published: July 2017

This article surveys recent developments in the area of ecclesiology, starting from the viewpoint of a methodological divide discernible in the field. The divide is between those who take an idealist approach, emphasising highly charged theological symbols for Church, and those who adopt a more realist approach, taking as starting point the historical data of the Church. The article critically surveys both tendencies, devoting somewhat more space to the second, and concluding with a critical review of two theologians (Edward Schillebeeckx and Roger Haight) who seek to integrate the social sciences into a theology of the Church.
What's in a Name? Book Titles in the New Testament
Authors: Goswell Gregory
Published: July 2017

This article follows up two earlier articles that surveyed Old Testament book titles. Four possible functions of a title have been differenttiated by Gérard Genette, and these categories are used to analyse and interpret the assigned titles of the books of the New Testament. The post-authorial titles of the books of the New Testament are in effect a valuable but fallible commentary on the literary texts to which they are attached, constraining interpretation, sometimes in ways that are in tension with the texts themselves. Seeing that titles may guide or misguide readers, they require the critical attention of those who read and try to make sense of biblical texts.
The Word in the World
Authors: Schneiders Sandra M.
Published: July 2017

This article addresses the topic “the Word in the World” by seeking to clarify both concepts in the light of biblical usage and the present situation of believers. While “the world” features quite prominently in the New Testament, the understanding of the motif throughout Christian history has reflected more the Church's experience with its socio-cultural and religious context rather than the New Testament usage. The largely defensive attitude to the world that was the stance of the Roman church in reaction to the Reformation and Enlightenment was radically challenged at the Second Vatican Council, offering the chance to re-orientate the Church towards an understanding of “world” in a less objectified sense as an imaginative construction of reality. From the New Testament, notably the Gospel of John, at least four understandings of “world” emerge, of which only one is negative. The Synoptic tradition, in particular the parable of the Weeds among the Wheat, addresses the issue of evil by indicating the world as one reality in which good and evil are pervasively intertwined such that believers can never isolate themselves over against or out of the world but must contest, with the power of the Gospel, the destructive dynamics at work in God's good world. The Word, which believers are commissioned to proclaim to the world, is not first and foremost a message but Jesus, the Word Incarnate, who is both with us and one us, while also the locus and instrument of God's salvific work within the world. The particularity of the Incarnation, especially as the Wisdom of God incarnate, rather than a scandal or limitation in a pluralistic world, can open us up to the infinite mystery of God mediated by all religious traditions. The Incarnation also designates our humanity as the locus of God's Presence in the world, enabling believers, as Christ's body, to be the Word of God resounding in the world.
Ambiguities of the Future: Theological Hints in the Novels of Patrick White
Authors: Fiddes Paul S.
Published: July 2017

This essay explores the presence of and relationship between different visions of the future in the novels of Patrick White. In works such as Voss, A Fringe of Leaves, Riders of the Chariot and The Vivisector we can detect traces of what Moltmann calls “calculable” and “desirable” visions of the future. White's treatment of the themes of the body and the land speak of a future that is made possible from within the framework of existing possibilities. Yet throughout his writing White also hints at a future that can only be received, often in moments of intense, and sometimes spiritual illumination. This dual vision comes to expression in the figure of the outsider, the judgement of art and, crucially, in White's repeated use of crucifixion imagery. In this way White, though in many ways a quintessentially Australian novelist, helps us to reflect theologically on aspects of the human situation and the tensions inherent within it.
Feastings in God at Midnight: Theology and the Globalised Present
Authors: McDowell John C.
Published: July 2017

This study relocates talk of “the future of God” in talk of the world's future in God, in God's creativeness expressed in hopeful performance. The context for the theological discussion is the significant pressure on possibilities for the very existence of hope generated by the detemporalised conditions for the making of selves in a “globalised” environment. Modernity's latest expression is closing the capacity for speaking adequately of the time required to become human, an erosion of selfhood in the accompanying erosion of certain ways of imagining time (Rowan Williams). This requires substantive ethical attention, conversation and interrogation simply because it renders fundamental possibilities for the shaping of human selfhood increasingly unavailable. In response, a theological vision is re-imagined to offer a constructive retemporalising interrogation and eschatological memory, with suggestions for beginning teased out broadly with reference to Eucharistie performance. Contrary to many expectations, this entails not so much a dreaming of a different world as a dreaming of this world differently, a temporality which is hope-generating, while critically attentive to the inequitable character of features of our world, and educative of ethical wisdom in a self-regulating and emancipatory witness of remembering and anticipating the transformative presence of God.
The Word in the World: Then and Now
Authors: Moloney Francis J.
Published: July 2017

The celebration of the Centenary of the Melbourne College of Divinity generated an occasion for reflection on one of the reasons for the existence of Christianity: the restless and never-ending proclamation of, and response to, the Word in the world. In the “then” of the not-too-distant past the major Christian traditions of Catholicism and Protestantism faced this challenge with a renewed enthusiasm. The Catholic Tradition entered a new era with the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), and the Protestant Tradition was urged to rediscover Luther's overwhelming concern for the Word in the World, especially in and through the lives and work of Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann. Where are we “now”? This study suggests that both of these movements from the Twentieth Century have “run out of steam”. Reflection upon our new context, if the first decades of the Third Christian Millennium, requires new strategies and ever-deeper convictions to render the Word relevant in the contemporary world
Theological Reflections on Creation in the Gospel of John
Authors: Coloe Mary L.
Published: July 2017

Scientific advances have led to an understanding that we live in an ever-expanding and evolving universe. In the light of this cosmic consciousness new soteriological models are needed. The Gospel of John can provide the basis for a new thinking about the meaning of the Jesus event. This article shows that the Fourth Gospel begins and ends with the theme of Creation, with implications for developing soteriological models more relevant to the twenty first century.
Believing That There is Hope for Love: The Promise of Christian Faith in the Resurrection of the Body
Authors: Boeve Lieven
Published: July 2017

Noting that belief in a life after death appears to be “in” once again, the present article proceeds from the conviction that belief in the Resurrection is central to Christian faith in Jesus Christ as the personal revelation of God as love. It considers the connection between faith in the Resurrection and the first disciples' witness concerning Jesus' Resurrection. It discusses the importance of bodiliness in Resurrection-faith and considers how Resurrection can best be discussed today. The conclusion is that faith in the Resurrection means believing that there is hope for love.
John Henry Cardinal Newman and Papal Infallibility
Authors: Price Peter
Published: July 2017

Cardinal Newman's understanding and interpretation of Papal Infallibility has had a lasting influence on Catholic belief in regard to the doctrine, defined at the First Vatican Council (1869–1870). The definition of the doctrine, and the Council which was its catalyst, created the context for the tension that Newman encountered in the church of his time, and indeed within himself, between doctrinal authority and the freedom to explore the boundaries of doctrine that he believed to be essential for its development. This study considers the issue, not so much from Newman's formal scholarly works, but mainly from his letters, where Newman may be the more easily discovered in his natural form.
Bonhoeffer for the Coming Generations: The New English Works
Authors: Clements Keith
Published: July 2017

The process of discovering, preserving and transmitting Bonhoeffer's works, both in German and English, is one of the most significant stories in theology after World War II, in some ways mirroring the dramas and complexities of Bonhoeffer's own life. The near completion of the Bonhoeffer Works Series in English, based on the scholarly German edition, is the culmination of over 20 years' work by scholars in the USA, Canada, Britain and South Africa, and makes available the entire known legacy of Bonhoeffer's works, both in new translations of previously published works and many that have hitherto been unknown in English. As well as involving much historical and textual research, the project has faced major questions of translation, interpretation and language style. The series enables a new generation of scholars to explore for themselves Bonhoeffer's thought as a whole, in its complexities, continuities and radical changes, and its persistent challenges for today.
Word and World: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Biblical Interpretation Today
Authors: Winter Sean
Published: July 2017

Bonhoeffer's call for the “non-religious interpretation of biblical concepts” is well known. However the question of what these ideas might have to do with the task of biblical interpretation itself is less often considered. In this article I argue that Bonhoeffer's concern was for adequate attention to be given to the matter of the reception of revelation, in contrast to Barth's “positivism of revelation”. This formulation is suggestive of a theological account of hermeneutics that affirms the “worldly” and human aspects of the interpretative task. Bonhoeffer's insistence that the Word is in the world makes possible a form of theological interpretation that embraces the insights of non- or even anti-theological forms of biblical interpretation.
Bonhoeffer: Interfaith Theologian and Practical Mystic
Authors: Lovat Terence J.
Published: July 2017

The article draws on key theological tenets of Bonhoeffer in making the case that he is rightly regarded as one of the architects of modern interfaith theology and also as a practical mystic. His prison theology will be argued to offer the grounding for the former claim and a wider Abrahamic tradition of practical mysticism will be used to analyse the validity of the latter claim. Furthermore, it will be argued that the ideas of Bonhoeffer as interfaith theologian and practical mystic are related and helpful in understanding the uniqueness of his contribution.
God's Action of Furthering Nature in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Authors: Novello Henry L.
Published: July 2017

This article critically discusses what is meant by the laws of nature and seeks to underscore the import of chaos theory and quantum theory for a philosophical interpretation of nature as ontologically indeterminate. The latter notion serves as a presupposition for the development of a non-interventionist approach to special divine action, where God is thought of as acting through and within the laws of nature, without becoming a secondary cause amongst everyday causes. The resurrection of Christ, though, poses problems for a non-interventionist perspective. While the existing laws of nature should be seen as preconditions for God's eschatological act, at the same time, as a “singularity” event, the resurrection involves new laws of nature that govern the new complex ontological whole that is the risen life. The resurrection above all else reveals that created reality is ontologically open and that God is working to turn death, decay, and the “run-down” of the universe in the opposite direction of the plenitude of life.
Forceful Stewardship and Neglectful Wealth
Authors: Byrne Brendan
Published: July 2017

Reading Luke 16 as a literary unity brings the two parables (the Rogue Steward and the Rich Man and Lazarus) together in such a way that the fixity expressed in the latter serves as a perfect foil to the decisive action, in the matter of wealth, taken in the former. The intermediate sayings (vv 14–18) serve this overall instruction about wealth, with v 16 as pivot of the whole: the Rogue Steward who takes ‘violent’ action against his own inclination is ultimately the faithful steward in an unequal world.
The Universal Catechism at Vatican I
Authors: Moran Valentine G.
Published: July 2017

It was proposed at the first Vatican Council that the bishops should ask the Pope to issue a catechism to be taught throughout the Catholic world. The bishops debated the proposal and accepted it, altering slightly the form first put to them; but war forced the Council to adjourn before it could decree this officially.
Can Religions Change? A Hierarchy of Values in Genesis
Authors: Martin John Hilary
Published: July 2017

This article examines how a religion can change, and yet remain the same religion. Religious identities persist even if challenged by major cultural and environmental changes when, and if, the values which are truly central are retained. This is the case because central themes serve to organise and to harness any novel additions in such a way that they, too, reinforce the traditional religious identity. Without denying the findings of biblical scholarship that Genesis is a composite work reflecting the efforts of many hands, it is not simply an anthology of bits and pieces indiscriminately thrown together, but a religious statement shaped by skill and planning with central themes in view. The narratives of Genesis, the Cain-Abel story and the mirror image story of Jacob-Esau give us an opportunity of observing reform without loss of religious identity. If any religion is to be understood adequately and studied properly, whether Aboriginal or Testamental, its hierarchy of values must be examined with care and sensitivity to discover what truly are its central religious themes.
In Defence of the Other: Deconstruction and the Bible
Authors: Coleridge Mark
Published: July 2017

The article sketches the context and character of deconstruction and, at a time when deconstructionist perspectives are showing themselves surprisingly persistent in the humanities, urges that biblical criticism engage the claims of deconstruction before dismissing them - and this with a view to entering into a more vigorous and enriching conversation with the humanities. The article concludes by viewing aspects of the Lukan Infancy Narrative through the lens of deconstruction, showing that even here “signification overruns nomination without return”. To that extent, God appears in Luke 1–2 as one who stands up in defence of the other.