Short-term youth mission practice and the visualization of global christianity

ABSTRACT

This article examines the visual mediation of evangelical short-term mission and the theologically inflected global imaginary that these forms engender. Recent decades have seen the resurgence of long-term mission and the emergence of short-term mission among US Christians. The latter, combining evangelization, service, and tourism, is a staple within evangelical youth culture. I argue that it is used by Christians to constitute themselves as global formations, while also offering theological frames for global Christianity. Central to this global theological imaginary are visual representations of mission encounters with ethnic, sectarian, and racial Others, which illustrate the global scope of mission and missionaries’ understandings of their own efforts to engage and overcome those differences. Through an analysis of the visual content of four short-term mission agencies’ websites, I examine the mediation of global Christianity in contemporary mission and its recruitment of global Christian subjects.     

Technology and religion: A metaphysical challenge

This paper describes how technology threatens conventional religions, but it also proposes that technology itself may become a religion. Although technology does not challenge religion with deliberate intent, nevertheless it is a challenge because it contains several inherent characteristics that collectively strengthen technology as a likely candidate for a religion. The importance of religion in past and present societies is discussed as well as its role in future societies. In addition to technology's inherent characteristics, technology is also aided by historical events that concern the weakening of Christianity and the Christian conception of the universe since the 16th century. This weakening or dissolution of Christianity has secularized the modern age, which conflicts with the religious premise of Western civilization. In addition to secularization, the modern age is characterized by nihilism, which has filled the void caused by this dissolution and which concerns the negation of traditional values (religious and non-religious), or at least the sublimation of higher values to lower ones. Technology has become religiously important because of the development of all these factors.     

莎士比亚与《圣经》

《圣经》是西方文学创作的重要源泉,对西方文学的影响非常大,莎士比亚的作品也不例外。现从三个方面（数据、内容、思想）论述《圣经》对莎翁作品的影响。     

眼睛是心灵的一部分(上)——里奥·斯坦伯格与他的《文艺复兴艺术中基督的性征与“现代遗忘”》

本文研究的对象是20世纪的杰出艺术史学者、当代艺术批评家之一的里奥·斯坦伯格(1920~2011)及其著作。斯坦伯格因其渊博的学识、广阔的视野与特立独行的原创精神而受到后人的敬仰;与此同时,在斯坦伯格的整个职业生涯中,"争议"始终不离其左右。不论是作为批评家还是艺术史学家,斯坦伯格都是以悖逆主流的"反派"面目登上舞台的:在当代艺术批评领域,斯坦伯格是打破形式主义垄断的先驱之一;在艺术史学领域,斯坦伯格向传统图像学方法中拘泥于文本,对一般化的"陈词滥调"过分依赖的僵化态度持续地发起挑战。本文将以斯坦伯格在艺术史学领域最负盛名的集大成之作—《文艺复兴艺术中基督的性器官与"现代遗忘"》一书为中心,去了解该书所讨论的主题是什么,他是如何发现问题及解决问题的,后来引起了那些争议,斯坦伯格怎样回应—以及为什么它对20世纪的西方艺术史发展如此重要。分上下两期刊登。     

Kiowa Calendars and the Search for Sacred Power

This article explores Kiowa sai-gut, or calendars produced in the 1880s and 1890s to show how makers used material culture to represent new ritual practices as both broadly indigenous and particularly Kiowa. Using calendars as one form of Kiowa cultural expression, the article considers how Kiowas navigated their reservation’s changing religious landscape. Building on literature in American Indian studies that emphasizes native agency and activity in this period, the article suggests that scholars of American religions can look to forms of material culture as ways to track American Indian religious life in this period.     

The materiality of hell: the christian hell in a world religion context

ABSTRACT

Hell is traditionally understood as a theological and eschatological matter concerned with the destiny of the dead in an otherworld even until eternity. Although the beliefs and characteristics of the various hells in the world religions share many similarities, there are nevertheless some striking differences. In a comparative perspective the Christian hell is the worst, but the belief that hell is solely an eternal abyss of fire torturing the damned is a late construct. Apart from theological explanations, in order to understand how these beliefs have developed a perspective emphasizing historical processes and the role of materiality in religion may add new knowledge to why the different hells have various characteristics. With regards to the Christian hell, it became physically manifest on earth in several ways. The burning of witches alive on pyres illuminated the gruesome pains the sinners faced and thus visualized the suffering in hell. Various places were also ascribed the characteristics of hell and purgatory creating a “topography of hell” in this world. Hence, as will be argued, these visualizations and materializations of hell on earth had an important role in the process of developing ideas of hell as an eternal and torturing abyss of fire.     

Influences of Religion upon Culture .Differences Between Christianity and Buddhism

宗教对各国文化的影响之大毋庸置疑。本文通过1）神与佛的不同含义;2）两种宗教对“人”的不同观点;3）两种宗教对人所经历的困苦的不同看法来分析基督教与佛教对文化的影响。     

Perceptions of religiously based discrimination among Christian students in secular and Christian university settings.

The authors utilized a modified version of Herek’s (1986, 1993) Sexual Orientation Survey to assess experiences of religiously based prejudice and discrimination reported by conservative Christian students at public (N = 96) and private religious (N = 96) university settings. Apart from hearing more prejudicial verbal comments, participants attending a secular university did not report experiencing higher levels of actual discrimination and prejudice than respondents attending a Christian university, with one exception: being discriminated against by university faculty. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were not related to perceptions of religiously based prejudice among participants. These findings neither support claims of widespread prejudice against conservative Christian students at secular universities nor permit the complete dismissal of such concerns, particularly among university faculty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

公元11～17世纪欧洲基督教教堂空间嬗变研究

公元11～17世纪,欧洲的基督教从中世纪的极盛时期逐渐走向世俗化,整个社会文化亦渐渐退去了中世纪经验主义与神秘主义,走向对理性精神的推崇.教堂建筑随之经历了相应的变化：从哥特式教堂走向推崇理性主义的文艺复兴时期的教堂和追求感官猎奇的巴洛克教堂,同时也出现了体现新教理念的教堂建筑.这一时期是欧洲传统基督教教堂建筑发展的重要时期,这一时期建造的大量教堂都成为人类文明史上的宝贵财富.     

Professional psychology and the doctrines of sin and grace: Christian leaders' perspectives.

What is a professional psychologist to do when a client brings up the concept of sin? To some, sin may seem like a stifling religious relic that has no place in contemporary psychology. But viewing sin from within the Christian faith, and in tandem with the doctrine of grace, can help psychologists understand why sin is such an important concept for many of their Christian clients. Psychologists' misunderstanding of sin and grace may contribute to relatively low rates of referral from Christian leaders to clinical psychologists, and may sometimes hinder therapeutic progress. Two methods of data collection, involving a total of 171 respondents, were used to discern what Christian leaders wish psychologists understood regarding the doctrine of sin. Respondents emphasized the nature and consequences of sin, grace, and the importance of psychologists understanding sin and grace. Implications for professional psychologists are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)