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This article examines the devotional practices presented by The Book of Margery Kempe in connection to late-medieval English image debates. While scholarly consensus holds that Kempe displays an uncritical approach to the popular devotional practices of her time and a strong attachment to effigies, I argue that she espoused a much more nuanced view, deeply influenced by the anxieties raised in the clash between the Church and the iconoclastic Lollards. This article offers a case study of Kempe's approach by analysing a scene in which her desire to experience a miracle of image animation is denied. This is a highly unusual outcome within The Book's literary genre, which can be explained as an active engagement with the issues raised in the image debates. I conclude that the scene should be read as offering guidance on the idolatrous potential of devotional images and how to properly engage with such artefacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biblical healing stories, especially when subjected to ableist interpretations, can fuel discriminatory attitudes toward people with disabilities. The Chosen series has opted to address issues of disability directly, not only by adapting healing stories from the Gospels, but also by creating storylines to depict other people with disabilities, including two of the twelve disciples. This article uses film criticism and disability studies to examine depictions of disability in The Chosen over the course of its first three seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liturgy was the perfect and unparalleled medium for public relations in the Middle Ages, and when it came to relics, it could transform any stone, bone, or a piece of wood into an object worthy of devotion. This article revolves around the activating force of the relics of Mary Magdalene in medieval France. It examines two liturgies—from Vézelay and from Saint-Maximin in Provence—honouring the saint, representing two distinct responses whose character reflects the priorities of the communities that produced them and the agendas that set them in motion. Liturgy was accorded a special role in bolstering the claims of Provence over the corporeal presence of Mary Magdalene in its midst, with liturgists adopting a more audacious and unreserved vocabulary to validate these claims over those of Vézelay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexpected and large spring precipitation events in the Colorado River Basin (CRB) that significantly alleviated an otherwise severe water shortage have been observed for over a century, such as the "Miracle May" of 2015. Although these events are often termed as "drought‐busting" or "miracle events" by water managers and the media, they have not been extensively researched or characterized. In this collaborative study with water managers across the CRB, we propose a definition for these hard‐to‐predict, ultra‐high precipitation events occurring during the late‐snow or snowmelt season. This characterization provides a framework for quantifying the frequency and intensity of extreme dry‐to‐wet springtime transitions. Despite limitations of climate model simulations due to uncertainties and the inhomogeneous qualities, our findings suggest that such transitions may become less frequent and less intense in a warming climate. In view of the potentially wetter but less‐snowy climate in the basin, the need for future research to more quantitatively assess these "miracle events" is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period of Catholic reform witnessed the proliferation of printed works that narrated historical and contemporary miracles for the edification of a vernacular readership. This article examines the role of printed miracle narratives in stimulating interior Catholic devotional life through close examination of three Italian vernacular collections printed in Italy between 1587 and 1597. Previous studies have focused on miracle stories where the resolution or prevention of earthly suffering in the forms of illness, miscarriages of justice, or accidents was the main event. Such narratives were designed to shape their readers' understanding of the culture of the miraculous and its relevance for their lives. This article takes a different approach to the role of the miraculous in early modern Catholicism by bringing narratives that had spiritual rather than physical outcomes to the centre of study. By bringing into focus the diversity of narratives compiled in miracle collections, it argues that stories also provided readers with opportunities to examine and tend to the state of their interior religious lives. This article offers a fresh perspective on the messages that early modern Catholics received about the value of the miraculous for their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study, focused on pilgrimages as part of religious tourism, aimed to achieve the following objectives: Identify the motivations of the demand for religious tourism focused on pilgrimages; analyze the segmentation of the demand; identify the relationship between demand segments with satisfaction and loyalty; and establish the sociodemographic aspects that characterize demand segments. The study was conducted during the Pilgrimage of the Christ of Miracles in Lima, Peru. The sample was taken on-site from 384 tourists. The statistical techniques used were factor analysis and the k-means clustering method. The results reveal five motivational dimensions: Religious Experience, Belief Experience, Escape, Touristic Experience, and Shopping. Three attendee segments were also identified: Believers, related to belief experience; Religious, related to religious experience; and Passive, tourists with low motivations. The Religious segment had the highest satisfaction and loyalty levels among these groups. Sociodemographic differences were also found in the demand segments. The findings will contribute to management guidelines for destination administrators with religious events and provide insights into academic literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abū Bakr Muḥammad bin Zakariyyā' al-Rāzī (865–925) is generally known as a freethinker who argued against prophecy and revealed religion based on arguments from fairness of God and rationality. Recently, scholars have argued that Razi was not as radical as the general interpretation takes him to be. Both the freethinker and conservative interpretations seem well-supported based on difference bodies of evidence. However, the evidence is based on secondhand reports. In this paper I argue there is an interpretation of prophecy which is supported by primary sources and can reconcile these putatively contradictory positions. Under my interpretation Razi allows for prophecy based on the rationality of moral deference in certain circumstances. In this picture one function of prophets is to act as moral experts for deference. This interpretation provides a synthesis of the freethinker and conservative views. Razi is conservative in having room for prophecy because of his dualist nature of humanity, and Razi is still a freethinker who values reason above all, because moral expertise requires excellent command of reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of children in late medieval society in the Low Countries, specifically focusing on their safety, behavior, and upbringing. The study examines administrative sources and miracle accounts from urban shrine cults to understand the interests of inhabitants and urban institutions in intervening in children's lives. The research reveals that caring for children was a central concern for communal well-being during this time period, and both lay and religious authorities played a role in what the authors refer to as the "biopolitics of childhood." This approach offers new insights into public health and medieval childhood, emphasizing the complex nature of caring for children and the social-political interests involved. [Extracted from the article]

Roman ruling ideology stressed imperial control of knowledge, as well as of material and people. A range of evidence from across the empire suggests that these knowledge claims were commonly accepted, and often mobilised, by ruled communities. In his First Apology, written in Rome in the 150s and addressed to the Roman emperor, Justin Martyr leverages these ideals for his own knowledge claims concerning the life of Jesus and his fulfilment of Hebrew Bible prophecies. It has already been recognised that Justin engages with the machinery of empire through packaging his Apology as a petition presented to the emperor. On the other hand, his citation of Roman documents at several points in the text has been neglected. A close examination reveals the importance of these citations to Justin's project, in which he utilises the supposed fidelity of Roman documents, and the idea of the emperor as a guarantor of collected knowledge, to authenticate his Christian claims. Finally, proceeding from suggestions about an internal audience for Christian apologetics, it is argued that these references should be seen as alleviating the concerns of an internal Christian readership, and not as overtures to non-Christian Graeco-Romans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay begins with a brief account of the French linguistic structuralism and very briefly some aspects of the post-structuralist critique of it, here represented by Lacan and, Deleuze, and Guattari as a response to it. Against this backdrop, the purpose of the essay is to show a critique of structuralism that came earlier than the post-structuralist one, namely that of the Russian philosopher of the dialogic speech and literary scholar Mikhail Bakhtin in the 1920s. The concept of the dialogical word has had a major influence in cultural semiotics, literary – and film studies and existential psychotherapy. A second purpose of this essay is to briefly show in what way the ethics of the dialogical word is important in the latter, in existential psychotherapeutic work. Translations from Swedish and French are mine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper describes the protocols for a randomized controlled trial using a parallel-group trial design that includes an intervention designed to address social isolation and loneliness among people experiencing homelessness known as Miracle Friends and an intervention that combines Miracles Friends with an economic poverty-reduction intervention known as Miracle Money. Miracle Friends pairs an unhoused person with a volunteer "phone buddy." Miracle Money provides guaranteed basic income of $750 per month for 1 year to Miracle Friends participants. The study will examine whether either intervention reduces social isolation or homelessness compared to a waitlist control group. Methods: Unhoused individuals who expressed interest in the Miracle Friends program were randomized to either receive the intervention or be placed on a waitlist for Miracle Friends. Among those randomized to receive the Miracle Friends intervention, randomization also determined whether they would be offered Miracle Money. The possibility of receiving basic income was only disclosed to study participants if they were randomly selected and participated in the Miracle Friends program. All study participants, regardless of assignment, were surveyed every 3 months for 15 months. Results: Of 760 unhoused individuals enrolled in the study, 256 were randomized to receive Miracle Friends, 267 were randomized to receive Miracle Money, and 237 were randomized to the waitlist control group. In the two intervention groups, 360 of 523 unhoused individuals were initially matched to a phone buddy. Of the 191 study participants in the Miracle Money group who had been initially matched to a volunteer phone buddy, 103 were deemed to be participating in the program and began receiving monthly income. Discussion: This randomized controlled trial will determine whether innovative interventions involving volunteer phone support and basic income reduce social isolation and improve housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. Although we enrolled unhoused individuals who initially expressed interest in the Miracle Friends program, the study team could not reach approximately 30% of individuals referred to the study. This may reflect the general lack of stability in the lives of people who are unhoused or limitations in the appeal of such a program to some portion of the unhoused population. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05408884 (first submitted on May 26, 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miraculin is a glycoprotein present in miracle fruit berries (Richadella dulcifica or Synsepalum dulcificum) known to have taste modifying properties: conversion of sour into sweet taste. So far, research has shown that the effects occur when consuming miracle fruit powder or miracle fruit berries prior to consumption of a sour drink or food product. However, limited research has examined the effects of miraculin consumed within a food or drink product and if there might be any taste‐modifying effects on other food and drinks consumed subsequently. This research looks at miraculin, from freeze‐dried miracle fruit powder, served within model soft drink formulations at concentrations ethically approved for consumption in soft drink beverages (50 and 80 ppm miracle fruit powder). Three experiments were carried out. The first investigated how long any taste‐modifying effects would last following consumption and whether the effects were dose‐dependent. Experiment 2 looked at the effect of repeated exposure on perception of sweet, sour, and bitter tastes, whilst experiment 3 explored whether the receptor binding of miraculin in miracle fruit powder would affect sweetness perception of other sweeteners. All results showed minimal effects of using freeze‐dried miracle fruit powder within a model beverage at the 50 and 80 ppm levels suggesting that future water‐based beverages produced containing low levels of miraculin protein will have little or no taste‐modifying effects on foods and beverages subsequently consumed. Practical Applications: Miraculin, derived from miracle fruit berries, acts as a taste modifier and can change food or drink from tasting sour to tasting sweet. This property is known to occur if either a fresh or freeze‐dried powder of miraculin is ingested before food or drink. Miraculin has potential as an ingredient in water‐based beverages to enhance sweetness, reduce the undesirable aftertaste associated with some high‐potency sweeteners, and to add mouthfeel. However, until now, it was unknown whether, by adding miraculin to a beverage at levels considered safe for human consumption, the taste of other foods consumed with or after the beverage would be affected. Here, we show that a low level of miraculin protein within a water‐based beverage has little to no taste‐modifying effects on products that are subsequently consumed. Our study therefore opens new avenues for using miraculin as a taste modifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Holy Qur'an is a permanent miracle and a complete plan for the worldly and afterlife life of mankind. Scientists of various sciences have discovered the Qur'anic references so that they can open the gates of science in this way. One of the sciences mentioned in the Holy Quran is the science of politics, politics means the method of managing society; In such a way that the material and spiritual interests of the individual people are realized, and in other words, politics is the religion of statecraft, therefore, in this definition, holiness lies in politics and, contrary to popular belief, it is not associated with trickery and deceiving others. From the perspective of the Holy Quran, there is no separation between religion and politics and both are the same. The Holy Qur'an knows all the issues related to the world, politics, society, economy, all the issues related to the side of the issue that the people of the world are not aware of. All its rulings are mixed rulings with politics. Examples of political issues in the Holy Quran are: legislation, the existence of criminal laws, preparing military equipment and forces, the quality of defense and war, and dealing with prisoners of war, preserving independence, hiding secrets, lack of friendship with enemies, social justice, the importance of council, lack of political deception, keeping promises, respecting economic principles, international relations, etc. are political issues. Some of the prophecies of the Holy Quran in politics are: The victory of divine prophets, the victory of truth over falsehood, the establishment of the true religion, and the inheritance of the righteous on earth, etc., are historical issues predicted by the Holy Quran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historian Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406) is most often treated by historians of philosophy as part of the story of political philosophy in the Islamic world. While this is perfectly legitimate, it may be misleading when it comes to the question of the method he proposes for the historian. This paper argues that that method is in fact based on a different branch of (Aristotelian) science: natural philosophy. After rendering this proposition initially plausible by noting frequent references to "nature" in the Muqaddima , the paper discusses a number of parallels between natural philosophy and history as Ibn Khaldūn conceives it. Ultimately it is suggested that this method is legitimated insofar as history is for Ibn Khaldūn a study of human nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in studying prayer has significantly increased because of the belief that it helps humanity to cope, particularly in times of crisis. Prayer is not just a communication with God, it is also an instrument of bond and embodied ritual among prayer litigants or people who belong to the same religious community. This article argues that divine violence, a sovereign act of God, was crucially needed by the litigants in order to guarantee human flourishing in the face of existential threat. The article studied how violent prayer—a genre of prayer that is targeted at the spirits underlying physical manifestation of suffering, pain, or crisis—was utilised by the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFMM) in Nigeria to cope with the fear and uncertainties occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article is part of an ongoing ethnographic research on "The Politics and Poetics of Violent Prayer in the Nigerian Pentecostal Churches", which began in 2021. I utilised ethnographic engagement, particularly interviews and participant observation, to attempt to understand what these prayer litigants are doing when they pray violently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, popular Catholicism in Latin America and the Caribbean was perceived with suspicion by liberation theologians and official Roman Catholicism for its eccentricities, lack of doctrinal coherence, and fears of syncretism with folk religions. Nowadays, popular Catholicism in Latin America and the Caribbean has been a source of theological reflection, ecumenism, and religious revitalization. The apparition of the Holy Mother in 1953 at barrio Rincón in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, is a case study in global Catholicism that exemplifies this turn to see popular Catholicism as a source of liberation, perseverance, and deep spiritual devotion by the faithful. Using cultural, social, and reception historiography, the article argues that the Puerto Rican faithful were not passive recipients of the literary narratives of journalists covering the events as narrated by the main protagonists, the children/seers, but rather themselves formulators of history through their reception and participation. This is demonstrated by the allegiances of the faithful to popular Catholicism and their rejection of the official mandates of the clergy to ignore the events taking place at barrio Rincón regarding the apparition of the Virgin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how Thomas Aquinas and some Neo-Thomists scholars (Juan José Urráburu, Joseph Hontheim, Édouard Hugon, and Joseph Gredt) analysed the metaphysical possibility of miracles. My main goal is to unpack the metaphysical toolbox that Aquinas uses to solve the basic question about the possibility of miracles and to compare how his late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century followers solved the issue themselves. The key feature to differentiate the two approaches will reside in their use of different notions to account for the possibility of miracles, namely obediential potency for Aquinas and the laws of nature for the Neo-Thomists. To show why neo-Thomist scholars source to this notion, I also briefly discuss how the notion of the laws of nature emerged in the seventeenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moringa [Moringa oleifera (Lam.) Moringaceae] is a fast growing, deciduous, drought tolerant and tropical perennial tree. Moringa oleifera is called as a "Miracle Tree" due to not only its nutritional and pharmacological properties but also utilized as biofuel, water purifier and cosmetic industry. Every part of Moringa oleifera is a storehouse of essential nutrients. Edible parts of the plant includes the whole leaves, immature green fruits or seed pods, flowers and roots. Mature seeds yield 38-40 per cent edible oil called ben oil. Cosmetics such as anti-ageing creams, hair care products, face creams, aromatherapy oils and massage oils use Moringa oil. Fresh Moringa leaves was collected from Department of Vegetable Science, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. The KAU Moringa variety Anupama was selected for the study during the period of 2018-2020. Moringa is indeed a miracle tree with enormous potential which is yet to be explored for therapeutic and commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Economic miracles, such as the Asian miracles, are not statistical accident to be ignored, and they are not as rare as commonly assumed i.e., the distribution of cross-country long-term growth follows a Power law. • Disentangling the role of policies from luck implies that economic miracles are alike, and every failure is a failure in its own way. High and sustained growth depends on maintaining the best possible policies while not being too unlucky. • The relatively few successes in achieving high and sustained growth such as the Asian miracles should constitute a focal point for the study of development policies. • In contrast, results derived from a large pool of development failures should be taken with skepticism, especially if it is based on the study of growth in the short to medium run. We show evidence that development "miracles," such as the Asian Miracles, may not be that rare as the distribution of cross-country long-term growth follows a Power Law. We propose a growth theory, disantangling the role of policies from luck, which is consistent with this stylized fact and predicts that high growth depends on maintaining the best possible policies while not being too unlucky. We argue that miracles are all alike and every failure is a failure in its own way, suggesting that the few growth miracles hold more clues about good policies than the vast number of growth failures. We infer important implications for the study of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. Baghdad, 463/1071) adhered to the Shāfiʿi school of law and suffered for his adherence to the Ashʿari school of theology. As a littérateur, he collected amusing stories of misers and spongers. However, his principal importance lies in the fields of hadith and biography. As for hadith, he was a major systematizer; in biography, he left what is usually referred to as Tārīkh Baghdād , a hugely useful dictionary of over 7,000 persons who lived or at least passed through Baghdad. I propose to review those identified as renunciants (zuhhād, nussāk), worshippers (ʿubbād), and Sufis, or at least are associated with famous renunciants, worshippers, and Sufis. A useful list of them was abstracted by Balsam Baṣrī ʿIzzat (2004) from the new edition of Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf (also 2004), his supervisor, although I would add or subtract some names. It is useful to have them profiled by someone outside the Sufi tradition himself; e.g., so that we read of al-Qushayrī as an Ashʿarī, not a Sufi. Al-Khaṭīb also to some extent documents the continuation of the old renunciant tradition into the Sufi period. However, classical Sufism originated in and spread from Baghdad, and al-Khaṭīb's heavy dependence on earlier biographers testifies partly to how thoroughly that tradition took over the literature of otherworldly piety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian apologists argue that the testimony of the miracles of Jesus provide evidence for Christianity. Hume tries to undermine this argument by pointing out that miracles are said to occur in other religious traditions and so miracles do not give us reason to believe in Christianity over the alternatives. Thus, competing miracles act as an undercutting defeater for the argument from miracles for Christianity. Yet, before Hume, Locke responds to this kind of objection, and in this article I explain and defend his response. In short, Locke argues that God will ensure that there is more evidence for Christianity (if true) and this greater evidence is an undercutting defeater for Hume's competing miracles defeater (i.e. it is a defeater-defeater). If so, then, as Locke argues, competing miracles do not weaken the evidence from miracles for Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we discuss C. S. Lewis's description, and critique, of metaphysical naturalism, and apply this to our reading of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. We argue that Nolan's Joker is the most ethically consistent type of naturalist, and that this makes his ethical position at once more praiseworthy than that of numerous naturalistic moral thinkers, such as Sam Harris, insofar as it is consistent, and yet blameworthy in that other naturalistic ethicists, inconsistent though they may be, at least, reasonably, assume a kind of objective morality via implicit supernaturalist assumptions about "right" and "wrong". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"A Miracle Creed: The Principle of Optimality in Leibniz's Physics and Philosophy" by Jeffrey K. McDonough explores the connection between Leibniz's physics and philosophy, focusing on the Principle of Optimality. The book discusses Leibniz's application of this principle to various aspects of nature, such as the laws of reflection and refraction, rigid body mechanics, and the conservation of vis viva. McDonough argues that Leibniz's teleological explanations challenge the prevailing view that early modern physics rejected final causes. While the book raises important questions about Leibniz's metaphysical writings and the role of God in his philosophy, it provides a stimulating and innovative account of Leibniz's conceptions of nature and science. [Extracted from the article]

The book being reviewed, "Bede the Scholar," edited by Peter Darby and Máirín MacCarron, focuses on the research questions posed by Paul Meyvaert in 1976 regarding the sharpness, creativity, and originality of Bede's mind. The collection of essays in this volume covers a wide range of topics, including Bede's relationship with patristic writings, his scholarship methods, and specific elements of his work. The book challenges the assumption that originality is the most important characteristic of scholarly strength and highlights Bede's place within the wider early medieval tradition. The reviewer found the chapter on Bede's knowledge of Hebrew to be particularly thought-provoking and emphasizes the need to see Bede as both a participant in the patristic age and an early medieval figure. Overall, the book offers valuable insights into Bede's scholarship and encourages new questions to be asked about his work. [Extracted from the article]

This letter, published in the journal Anesthesiology & Perioperative Science, discusses the similarities and potential benefits of two different blocks used for pain management during surgery: the Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) and the Quadratus Lumborum Block (QLB). The authors suggest that further research is needed to compare the efficacy and indications of these blocks, as well as to standardize the timing and execution methods. They also highlight the need for studies on the distribution of local anesthetic, the extent of cutaneous coverage, and the incidence of side effects. Overall, the authors believe that exploring the similarities between these blocks could help improve our understanding of their mechanisms of action. [Extracted from the article]

The research stopped on the art of contrast in Surat Al-Layle according to the rhetorical criteria of the rhetoric of the Noble Qur’an and Arabic rhetoric and treated the difference between contrast and counterpoint and that the match is only by combining two opposites and the interview is often between combining four opposites, and the research stopped on the complex interview in Surat Al-Layle and the name of the surah corresponds to its subject and opening The surah for its conclusion and also stopped on the systems of the surah according to the theory of systems by Abdul Maher Al-Jurjani. The research dealt with the effect of convergence in the holy text, and what is the benefit of convergence in the surah? Why is symmetry in Surat al-Layle, and symmetry is considered one of the sciences of the Qur’an, in addition to being a rhetorical science by which the miracles of the Qur’an are understood . The research focused on the discovered secrets of contrast and the merit of this art in the holy text, and the research dealt with the contrastive sentence and its structural structure in Surat Al-Layle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at discussing an interesting variant of scientific realism recently proposed and defended by Sandra Mitchell (forthcoming), namely an affordances-based and pragmatist variant of scientific realism. We firstly place Mitchell's proposal in the context of the current state of the debate over scientific realism. Secondly, we summarize the salient features of Mitchell's proposal. Thirdly, we point out some aspects of that proposal that might require some further refinement and clarification in order to make it less prone to criticisms by both realists and antirealists. More precisely, in this paper we address the following issues: 1) whether Mitchell's proposal can be classified as a genuine form of scientific realism; 2) whether the fact that in Mitchell's proposal figure some variants of the no miracle argument is in tension with some other of its features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have assumed that the purpose of Yingyanji was to produce texts that are proselytistic or evangelical. Through the analysis of Guangshiyin Yingyanji, we find that lay people have created Yingyanji for a long time. Its main purpose was not to spread religion, but to record regional memories and family beliefs, which were mainly circulated among friends and relatives. Moreover, the miracle stories contained in Guangshiyin Yingyanji often have different versions within the three systems of Zhiguai, Yingyan, and Gantong. Through an analysis of these different versions, we can better grasp the purpose of rewriting texts under different systems, and the struggle for ideas which they embody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper maintains that at the heart of the post-Reformation debates over the extra Calvinisticum lies the question of what it means to name God's presence in the world – that is, to say where God is. Because the Lutheran position insists that there can be no proper identification of God's presence in the world that does not take its bearings from talk about Jesus' presence, it serves as a means of preventing Christian God-talk from becoming detached from the flesh-and-blood realities of human existence. In this way, the denial of the extra Calvinisticum is a corollary of a theology of the cross – that is, the principle that talk about God is normed by the concrete reality of Jesus. At the same time, the Lutheran genus maiestaticum is rejected as making just the sort of move to which Luther himself objected in the doctrine of transubstantiation: a metaphysical explanation of Jesus' presence in the world rather than a simple appeal to miracle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Katherine Olivetti's interview with Pamela Eakins, they explore her path from Stanford academic to Tarot and visionary cosmologist. Eakins describes the creation of the Tarot of the Spirit deck, which she modeled on the Tree of Life that contains the ten powers or points of the Tarot. They discuss the collaboration with Eakins's mother, Joyce Eakins, an artist who painted the Tarot deck, and the synchronicity that led to its publication along with development of Visionary Cosmology, which incorporates contemporary science as a way to redefine the paradigms of how we see and walk in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global explosion of synthetic fibers in the mid-twentieth century challenged Australia's wool industry, demanding new ways of marketing the natural fiber to compete with these so-called modern miracles. The menswear market changed profoundly with the convenience of synthetic fabrics and the excitement that surrounded the power of science embodied in these clothes. Some Australian men turned to the "Your Clothes" feature in Man: The Australian Magazine for Men to understand what being "well-dressed" meant across these years of rapid change. A suit was a key component. Though pure wool had long been the cloth of choice, those made from new synthetics or a blend of wool and artificial fibers proliferated at the time. This article explores the efforts of Man's fashion columnists to help their readers navigate the changes taking place to textiles across 1950–1965 by developing their material literacy. It further captures how the mid-century fiber wars played out across the pages of the magazine, contributing a distinctly Australian perspective to the global competition for consumers that was shaped by the nation's pride in its fine wool and its intensifying efforts to combine the fiber's natural advantages with those of "modern science." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locke's definition of miracles in "A Discourse of Miracles" is widely cited by scholars as evidence of his subjectivism on the matter. According to this interpretation, Locke held it to be sufficient that an event seems to be a violation of the laws of nature for it to count as a miracle. Nothing supernatural need actually occur. The principal aim of this article is to argue that Locke can and ought to be read as an objectivist about miracles. A subjectivist reading falls short in two crucial respects: It undermines the function of miracles as evidence for divine revelation, so central to his account, and is at odds with his consistent and explicitly objective use of the term, as an event that necessarily involves a violation of the laws of nature. Indeed, it is from their objective nature that Locke thinks miracles derive their evidential force. A key part of my argument lies in distinguishing between ontological and epistemological issues concerning miracles and demonstrating how this distinction is present throughout his work on the matter. Ultimately, I conclude that what is often interpreted as Locke's subjectivism about miracles is his privileging of these epistemic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many concepts of stylistics in the Arabic critical and rhetorical heritage, and they are more diverse and different in modern stylistic studies. Knowledge related to the analysis of texts, especially those specific to the Qur’anic text, to form the stylistic tool that combines the privacy of the text, the values of heritage, and the spirit of contemporary. This required familiarity with the efforts of writers and critics in their stylistic approaches, their textual analyzes, and the opinions of the rhetoricians who were more concerned with the Qur’anic text, as well as the men of miracles who referred to precise stylistic features while searching for the secrets of miracles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces Frank D. Macchia's book, "Introduction to Theology: Declaring the Wonders of God," and highlights its significance as a defining benchmark for a college-level or seminary introductory textbook in systematic theology from Pentecostal perspectives.Topic include The book covers various theological topics through the lens of a trinitarian narrative, emphasizing the relevance of patristic sources and their connection to contemporary Pentecostal challenges.

This paper considers the experience of miracle through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Although he is often considered an anti-religious thinker, I argue that Nietzsche actually puts forth a positive conception of miracle because of its indispensable role in the creation of myth. I walk through Nietzsche's texts to describe his account of miracle (Wunder) and to demonstrate how it reveals a phenomenological perspective on miracle by placing it and rooting it in human life. Despite his rejection of traditional religion, Nietzsche reminds us that miracles are not an anomaly to human experience, but rather they are the way in which humans are able to embrace and affirm life through participation in myth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 11th–12th centuries, extreme ascetic practices reappeared in Western Europe, in particular, the wearing of hauberks and heavy iron chains, associated with penitence and eremitism. This article discusses the charisma of three ascetic saints of the 12th century: Bernard the Penitent (d. 1182), Wulfric of Haselbury (d. 1154/55), and Godric of Finchale (d. 1170). Their hagiographies were written shortly after their death. The authors emphasize that they were revered as holy men already in their lifetime. Their charismatic power was revealed by miracles of healing and prophecy, sometimes in visions. The manifestations of their charisma continued and even increased after their death and were transmitted and spread through their relics. Their mortifications and the signs of their holiness are comparable to those of the stylites and other hermits of Syria of late Antiquity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ezekiel 9 and 10 feature a supernatural figure described as a man “clothed in linen ... (Ezek . 9:2) . This article identifies this and related expressions (including those in Daniel) as calques of Akkadian labiš kitê, used to describe certain classes of priests or perhaps as a term for a class of priests itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species of the genus Kalanchoe have a long history of therapeutic use in ethnomedicine linked to their remarkable healing properties. Several species have chemical and anatomical similarities, often leading to confusion when they are used in folk medicine. This review aims to provide an overview and discussion of the reported traditional uses, botanical aspects, chemical constituents, and pharmacological potential of the Kalanchoe species. Published scientific materials were collected from the PubMed and SciFinder databases without restriction regarding the year of publication through April 2023. Ethnopharmacological knowledge suggests that these species have been used to treat infections, inflammation, injuries, and other disorders. Typically, all parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes either as crude extract or juice. Botanical evaluation can clarify species differentiation and can enable correct identification and validation of the scientific data. Flavonoids are the most common classes of secondary metabolites identified from Kalanchoe species and can be correlated with some biological studies (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial potential). This review summarizes several topics related to the Kalanchoe genus, supporting future studies regarding other unexplored research areas. The need to conduct further studies to confirm the popular uses and biological activities of bioactive compounds is also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of reception is suffering from a fundamental misunderstanding. Since the publication of Truth and Method , everyone has had the impression that reception history is just another exegetical technique. However, the heart of Gadamer's argument is not the history of the effects of the text, but the historicity of understanding: a text is seized only within the limits of the historical situation of its interpreter. To demonstrate this point, this paper takes the example of the Markan ending. Surprisingly, a 16th-century Thomistic theologian, Cajetan, and a contemporary commentary are so close that one might think they are defending the same view of the text. Both intend to maintain the canonicity of verses 9–20, but both point out that it may be adventurous to build any doctrine or practice on these verses alone. But the context is different, obviously. The first one tries to justify a conception of faith that does not depend directly on miracles; the second one affirms a hermeneutic centred on the interpreter's response, being wary of its ecclesiological drifts. This confirms that theological considerations rather than philological ones have prevailed in challenging Mark's ending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether they are theologians, lay people, or non-believers, most have at least anecdotally heard of the miracle of Jesus walking on water. Many important lessons and insights can be gleaned from this important passage, including testimony to the identity of Jesus that bolsters belief in Him and His deity and a non-trivial display of Jesus' power over His creation. However, was God trying to convey more than just His ability to elude physics, and displaying His authority over the dimension of time and its creation? The dimension of time is an elusive and much debated dimension that is difficult to understand, and in the context of God and heaven, it is in many respects beyond human comprehension. However, as expressed by Albert Einstein, "the distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." This illusion can only be unlocked by God, and thus it was created by God. In this article, the miracle of Jesus walking on water is explored in relation to the phenomenon of gravitational time dilation; it is considered as an instance that reveals God's relation to time, as well as the complexity and awesomeness of creation in general. We show that the equations for time dilation around a massive body may serve as a model to show the independence of God from His creation of spacetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the historicity of Luke 13:10-17 and 14:1-6, both of which contain healing miracles of Jesus attested only in Luke. The article proceeds by first considering the coherence of these pericopes with material widely accepted as reflecting activity of the historical Jesus. Details within these pericopes are then examined for their potential historical significance. Finally, common objections to historicity are considered. Although the evidence for these singly attested healings is incapable of 'proving' their historicity, it suggests that Luke's source for these healings contains historical information that he handled no more or less responsibly than he handled Mark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Quran is a holy book containing various theological and social teachings and guides humans to the straight path. It's just that when the Quran is present and consumed by the community, it experiences various responses which are implemented in many living Quran practices – positioning the Quran beyond its capacity as a text in their lives. These phenomena seem to be a concrete indicator of the expression often labeled to the Quran as a ṣāliḥ li-kulli zamān wa-makān or relevant to various situations and conditions. This article examines the practice of living the Quran in the Gentasari Village community, Kroya, Cilacap. Researchers used various instruments to explore data sources, such as interviews, observations, and documentation or studies of related documents. In clarifying the validity of the data, the researchers carried out an extension of participation and triangulation of sources and methods. From the research conducted, it can be seen that: 1) some of the Gentasari Village Community position the Quran as objects that have magical powers, 2) The implications of this view are implemented in their various receptions of the Quran, including: as a medium of treatment, as a medium of protection from spirits, repel reinforcements, as a medium to facilitate life's problems – such as ease in death, ease of delivery, and requests for the birth of an ideal baby, who inherit the characteristics of figures in the Quran, such as Prophet Yunus, Prophet Muḥammād PBUH, Maryām, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]