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This article presents an extended meditation exercise on Christian learning through the lived experience of frailty. It was composed at various points of calendar distance from the author's experience of sudden cardiac arrest. The structure of the meditation conforms to a catechetical–doctrinal framework, appealing to didache, didaskalia, and didasko. An original poem by Dan Haase is referenced and included in the appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various article on topics including the importance of Christian higher education, the role of Christian higher education in developing global Christians and establishing a Christian presence in the world.

The author responds to an article entitled "The Evolutionary Psychology of Chinese Religion: Pre-Qin HIgh Gods as Punishers and Rewarders," by scholars Kelly James Clark and Justin T. Winslett in a previous edition of the journal. He criticizes the article's premise and states that the premise contends that a Hebrew-Bible deity is at the core of early Chinese religion. He argues that the scholars unduly criticize sinologists concerning early Chinese deities and incorrectly assume that cognitive approaches to religious studies demand the recognition of a singular deity.

There was a time when the interpretation of the Bible was a seamless integrated theological activity. Today, the separation of biblical studies from theologically interested exegesis amongst theologians encourages a sceptical arms-length relationship between Old and New Testament scholars and theologians. Theologians criticise biblical studies' so-called objective and disinterested approach to interpreting the Bible for requiring scholars of both testaments to suspend their theological convictions. Biblical scholars condemn theologians for misusing biblical texts in support of their own preconceived theological agendas. The article suggests a way to bring these divergent exegetical approaches into conversation in a charitable, yet critical fashion, by comparing Karl Barth and N. T. Wright's exegesis of Romans 3:21-4:25. It concludes that the biblical scholar's and theologian's respective sensitivity to the historical and theological sense of the biblical text can, when brought together, benefit each other's reading of the Bible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is crucially important for Christianity. Without it the Christian faith would not be able to preserve its identity and expand through the ages. This is why Christians have devoted themselves to this task, although not always in a successful and coherent way. This article seeks to point out some meaningful aspects of the church's teaching activity since early times through the twentieth century. It includes observations on Christian education in the early church, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the modern period, as well as some information about Brazil. The author stresses two aspects of Christian education -- instruction in the faith and school education based on Christian principles. He also points out the tensions and challenges faced by Christian education throughout the centuries, but especially in today's pluralistic and relativistic world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the four most widely discussed proposals for the genre of Acts in contemporary scholarship (biography as proposed by C. Talbert, novel as proposed by R. Pervo, epic as proposed by D. MacDonald, and history as reflected in the consensus of scholarship). Because the historical genre is currently the most widely accepted understanding, four historical subgenres are also considered (general history as proposed by D. Aune, political history as proposed by D. Balch, deuteronomistic history as proposed by T. Brodie, and apologetic history as proposed by G. Sterling). Currently the tendency of scholarship appears to be moving in the direction of understanding Acts as a mixture of genres, some of which are fictive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflects on the essay "A Pietist Perspective on Love and Learning in Cultural Anthropology," by Jenell Williams Paris. Views on the proposal of Paris to de-center the integrationist approach to include Christian traditions and diverse ways of understanding what Christian identity may mean for the scholarly vocation; Comments on the argument of Paris that Christian anthropologists who have used an integrationist approach have highlighted the differences between the faith and the discipline; Agreement with the belief of Paris that scholarship for Christian anthropologists focused on points of stress for Christians involved in the discipline of anthropology.

Libraries are the arena where intellectual interaction takes place through the universal conversation of scholarship. Librarians share a common commitment to learning and service. In addition Christian librarians share a calling to knowledge and service that comes from the Holy Scriptures. Aspects of integrating our Christian faith, through the professional environment we create in our workplace, are considered. Collegiality as the means to achieve a productive library ambience for scholarship is suggested. When a Library has an atmosphere conducive to promoting learning it is a place of intellectual stimulation where the culture is collegial and the values of Christianity are practiced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarly discussions on what constitutes Christian humanism in the Renaissance and Reformation periods have typically concentrated on its manifestations before 1536, when Erasmus died. In this period, the old arguments for the reading of the Classics once set out by Basil and Augustine still predominated. Calvin’s teaching on the Fall and the noetic effects of sin, however, provided another basis for the incorporation of pagan thought into Christian learning. Christians who followed Calvin benefited from his precise and comprehensive theological position on the place of worldly knowledge in God’s original creation as a means for justifying their study of the Classics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The authors attempt to refute criticism by scholar Jordan Paper of their scholarly methodology concerning an article they wore on ancient Chinese texts. The authors argue that Paper read too much into the text of the original article, particularly concerning Paper's assertion that the authors assumed a Hebrew Bible deity at the center of early Chinese religion. The authors argue that they do not cite scholars such as David Keightly and Robert Eno in their original article, and that they do not employ circular logic in reading their own concepts of Christian divinity into ancient texts. The authors state that they are not alone in utilizing the concept of the cognitive science of religion (CSR) in their research.

Presents the author's response to a criticism of her article "A Pietist Perspective on Love and Learning in Cultural Anthropology." Aim of the article to understand the disadvantages of integrating faith and anthropology; Views on the lack of Christians involved in anthropology; Position on the argument that the reformed pietist traditions must not be dualized as theory versus practice, and that individuals coming from reformed traditions should not be silenced.

In this article, the author discusses motherhood, feminist parenting, and raising of male children. She discusses the complexity of theories regarding kinship, motherhood, and gender in Western culture bsed on feminist scholars of religion. She mentions the end of the film Walt Disney Co. film "Never Cry Wolf," and relates it to human and animal experiences of loss and survival. She also talks on queer parenting in the postmodern world.

Reflection on the Holocaust is still critical today to help all educators teach their students about good and evil in the world today. In particular, reflection on the Holocaust is crucial for religious educators to help people know and name God, as well as help them deal with questions of theodicy, within their everyday life experiences. This article examines the role of religious education in this post-Holocaust context. Because of the Holocaust, Christians ought to be educated in ways that free them from biased and slanderous views of people and their religions, and open them to more inclusive and hospitable ways of coexisting with all types of people in the world today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the challenges provided by a plural condition toward doing religious education in the Philippines. The problem of Philippine religious education hinges on the fact that the growing plural condition in the educational system remains until now “un-discussed” or integrated in many schools. Not much is heard about proposing a platform of dialogue within religious education. Dialogue is more often associated with inter-faith initiatives beyond the learning environment. If religious education should be an instrument in the formation of the right Christian attitudes among the young, dialogue must be an urgent Christian agenda in Philippine religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of Christianity as a missionary religion, the practices of the Christian community, and the substance of Christian ideology. The literature on Christian understanding of Jesus' death and resurrection, the process of assimilation and accommodation in Christian learning, the norms for education in a Christian context, and mediation of religious traditions and practices is relevant to this discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The category “religion” is a tripartite, emergent from Christian theology during modernity, as Christianity increased, transcended, and diminished, and persistent in contemporary religious studies and Christian theology. With the postmodern and postcolonial “return of religion”: the tripartite category is located as a product of Eurocentric modern Christianity; Christianity is positioned as one religion among others; and religious studies engages religious traditions, including Christianity, in their particularities, rather than in terms of overarching (modernist) categories. Within Christian theology, while Christianity transcended persists in (pluralist) liberal theologies, religion is repudiated and (particularist) Christianity re-centered in its neo-orthodox strands. While the Eurocentic entwining of Christianity with western modernity unravels, Christianity re-centered looks to a Trinitarian core, differently appropriated in the diverse locations constituting World Christianity. The recent particularist focus of both religious studies and Christian theology opens a path toward greater cooperation between the two disciplines, beyond tensions arising from the Christian-infused tripartite. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article the author argues for why people should learn about monk Thomas Merton. It is surprising that in a society in need of contemplation Merton remains for many college teachers a kind of enigma, according to the author. This essay argues that Merton can be taught and appreciated in a public, secular educational environmental.

Discerning the purpose of Ephesians is a notoriously difficult task since the letter lacks the necessary specificity for identifying a particular life-setting to explain its composition. This article explores the extent to which recent scholarship has disclosed the rationale behind this letter. Various contributions are considered, evaluated and integrated as one seeks to arrive at an understanding of the purpose of Ephesians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the underlying determinative factors that lead to theological depth and ministerial influence among Christian clergy engaged in peer groups. The article uses regression model analysis to study the practices and opinions of mostly liberal Protestant clergy regarding the factors that lead to the greatest theological depth and creativity. The study finds that peer groups, liberal modes of thought, and traveling together were the highest factors leading to ministerial impact on a congregation.

Statistics, and more generally mathematics, have been neglected in Christian scholarship on faithful learning and teaching. This subject has been generally classified in the "some areas are harder than others when it comes to making connections with faith" category. If statistics is more than just a technical tool and is in fact a way of thinking, such connections need to be made. The approaches that have been typically suggested to this end have taken two forms: (a) extremely philosophical and (b) the "add a Bible verse" superficial version of faithful learning. These two directions don't seem promising to me. I propose an approach that deals with specific statistical concepts rather than broad generalizations. This approach would be more useful to a statistics instructor attempting to integrate the course content with faith. This paper suggests some ways in which this can be done in the actual teaching of statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the identification strategies used by the "Nehemiah Group," a group of pastors who have united over 100 different churches in an urban renewal effort. This rhetorical analysis surfaced four identification strategies that are discussed in light of Burke (1970; 1972; 1973b) and Cheney (1983b; 1987; 1990). Relationship building was the primary value embedded in each of the strategies. Prayer, as a rhetorical strategy, sulfated as an area meriting further study. Implications for developing communication theory and research that adequately capture inter-organizational unity efforts are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's observations on the Christian education ministry. She speaks about the gender of those serving in the ministry. She talks about the shift in Christian education focus from practitioners to scholars. She further discusses the pendulum swing of Christian educators from generalists to specialists.

The article presents the author's views on theological education. Topics discussed include theological education as formation for pastoral leadership; opinion that the central emphasis of learning the Christian message is the gospel of Jesus Christ; and argument that theological education is communal, which engage in the task of learning the Christian message, and think about and speak the Christian story.

The article focuses on the enthusiasm and use of Heidelberg Catechism in Christian training and teaching in North America and non-European countries. Topics discussed include reformed character and commitment of Dutch congregations to doctrinal standards and liturgy, German Reformed Church (RCUS), and missions and translations of catechism.

In this article the author discusses his experience of teaching about Jewish life and tradition in Christian churches across Dallas, Texas. Topics include increased interest in the emergence of Christianity from its Jewish background, the author's thoughts on the classical relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and his goal of forging understanding and respect between Christians and those of the Jewish faith.

The article relates the author's experience in teaching the foundations of Christian education in classroom settings. He discovers that his assumptions about the level and character of Christian learning on the part of students were all wrong. He decides to enroll in a doctoral program. He dissertation project became the basis of his book.

The article discusses two significant milestones in the history of the "Journal of Research on Christian Education." First, the journal has swiftly made the transition from Information Age Publishing (IAP) to a different publisher, the Taylor & Francis Group. George Johnson, president of IAP, assisted with the changeover. The second milestone is the return to a regular production and release schedule of the journal's publication. The editor thanks his mentor, Lyndon G. Furst, the journal's former editor, for coaching him through the process.