4,190 research outputs found

    Harvey, Peter R., David R. Nellist & Mark G. Telfer (eds.): Provisional Atlas of British Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), Volumes 1 & 2

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    book review: Harvey, Peter R., David R. Nellist & Mark G. Telfer (eds.): Provisional Atlas of British Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), Volumes 1 & 2

    The sense of a beginning : Bakhtinian dialogic criticism on 'the gospel' in Mark.

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    Contemporary literary approaches have caused paradigm shifts in Biblical Studies in the last two decades as it appears in a great deal of Markan studies using narrative, reader-response, deconstructive, feminist, and new historicist approaches. However, literary studies on the Gospel of Mark have not taken into account theoretical questions underlying those approaches. As a result biblical critics are driven by new trends without ever having a chance to examine the critical baggage of the approaches. Consequently, there is a gap of communication between the old and the new one. Therefore this thesis is an attempt to meet the need of enhancing the quality of critical endeavour in biblical studies. In the light of most recent competing critical theories of literature, the first contribution of this thesis is the methodological finding that Bakhtinian dialogic criticism contains the most profound philosophical and practical foundations for solving some crucial theoretical problems in contemporary literary theories. It is a critique to a Saussurian linguistic system of language which becomes the very foundation of modern and postmodern literary criticism. Bakhtinian literary theory shifts the foundation of literary criticism on linguistic signs into the creative activity of the socio-cultural production of human communication. The shift into socio-cultural reality of language communication makes the notion of 'genre' very important to unlock the problem of text and context in literary studies. Since the Gospel of Mark has fascinated most literary critics in Biblical Studies, the problem of 'genre' of this gospel is chosen as the focus of this study. Secondly, as no agreement is reached as to what 'genre' the Gospel of Mark belongs, this thesis makes its contribution to the discussion by locating the problem of 'genre' of Mark in the context of genre theories and argues that the Bakhtinian suggestion to find genre in the socio-cultural sphere by analysing artistic intercourse between narrative agents in Mark has freed the competing analysis from the unresolved problem between the kerygmatic (content oriented) approach and the analogical (form oriented) approach. To achieve finding 'genre' in the socio-cultural sphere, this thesis focuses on Bakhtinian analysis of the process of artistic intercourse between narrative agents. The narrative communicative interrelationships between narrative agents is constructed in this thesis as a 'stereophonic' Bakhtinian model of dialogic communication. This model is an original contribution of this thesis for revising the traditional two dimensional model of narrative communication. Based on this dialogical model of communication, a special role is given to the Bakhtinian 'author-creator' in the realization process of genre through the interaction of polyphonic voices. Through the interaction of voices of the author-artist and the hero we are led to discover a relatively stable type of portraying and controlling reality in Mark, known as the genre of Roman 'satire'. The closest literary affinity is Satyrica by Petronius. This narrative strategy of 'satire' in Mark has its root in the prophetic discourse of the Old Testament which is saturating the speech of the narrator, John the Immerser, the centurion, the people, and even Jesus. Finally, the whole search for Markan 'genre' culminates in the analysis of the realization of genre through the analysis of Bakhtinian chronotope. The reality of the genre of Mark is its social reality that is in its role as dpxrj/ 'beginning'. As the Gospel of Mark proclaims itself as 'a beginning', it defines its claim of socio-cultural 'authority' in early Christianity. It is this 'sense of beginning' which enables the narrating and the narrated world of Mark to interact dialogically

    Well-known trade mark protection: confusion in EU and Japan

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    In this thesis concerning the protection of well-known trade marks against confusion in the European Community Trade Mark (CTM) and Japanese trademark systems, the author critically considers the difficulties in comprehensively defining ‘well-known trade mark’ in the relevant international trade mark instruments. After critical analysis of various definitions of both ‘trade mark’ and ‘well-known trade mark’, she undertakes a comparison of the definitions of the parallel concepts of ‘trade mark of repute’ and ‘syuchi-syohyo’, and also undertakes an assessment as to the extent to which these trade marks are protected against confusion and kondo in the CTM and Japanese systems, respectively. It is concluded that the protection of well- known trade marks against confusion in the CTM and Japan cannot be said to be completely clear, and the author identifies some areas for legal refor

    The Gospel on the Margins: The Ideological Function of the Patristic Tradition on the Evangelist Mark

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    In spite of the virtually unanimous patristic opinion that the evangelist Mark was the interpreter of Peter, one of the most prestigious apostolic founding figures in Christian memory, the Gospel of Mark was mostly neglected in the patristic period. Not only is the text of Mark the least well represented of the canonical Gospels in terms of the number of patristic citations, commentaries and manuscripts, the explicit comments about the evangelist Mark reveal some ambivalence about its literary or theological value. In my survey of the reception of Mark from Papias of Hierapolis until Clement of Alexandria, I will argue that the reason why the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace the Gospel of Mark was that they perceived the text to be amenable to the Christological beliefs and social praxis of rival Christian factions. The patristic tradition about Mark may have little historical basis, but it had an important ideological function in appropriating the text in the name of an apostolic authority from the margins or periphery

    Monacha ocellata (Roth, 1839) (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae) established in essex, an addition to the fauna of Britain and Ireland

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    A single adult of an unidentified hygromiid was discovered at a brownfield site on the margins of a carpark near Tilbury, south Essex, on 3rd May 2017. This was tentatively identified from photographs as a species of Monacha, possibly M. ocellata (Roth, 1839). Later in 2017, with the more widespread appearance of adults at the locality, a more detailed study was undertaken. This established, from the dissection of genitalia in sexually mature adults, that the species was indeed Monacha ocellata, native to the south-east Mediterranean and unknown in northern Europe. Molecular analysis (nucleotide sequencing of mitochondrial COI and 16SrDNA as well as nuclear ITS2 gene fragments) showed a close relationship to GenBank sequences for Monacha ocellata originating from the Citadel of Constantinople, Istanbul

    Cowpox virus infection in natural field vole Microtus agrestispopulations: significant negative impacts on survival

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    1. Cowpox virus is an endemic virus circulating in populations of wild rodents. It has been implicated as a potential cause of population cycles in field voles Microtus agrestis L., in Britain, owing to a delayed density-dependent pattern in prevalence, but its impact on field vole demographic parameters is unknown. This study tests the hypothesis that wild field voles infected with cowpox virus have a lower probability of survival than uninfected individuals. 2. The effect of cowpox virus infection on the probability of an individual surviving to the next month was investigated using longitudinal data collected over 2 years from four grassland sites in Kielder Forest, UK. This effect was also investigated at the population level, by examining whether infection prevalence explained temporal variation in survival rates, once other factors influencing survival had been controlled for. 3. Individuals with a probability of infection, P(I), of 1 at a time when base survival rate was at median levels had a 22.4% lower estimated probability of survival than uninfected individuals, whereas those with a P(I) of 0.5 had a 10.4% lower survival. 4. At the population level, survival rates also decreased with increasing cowpox prevalence, with lower survival rates in months of higher cowpox prevalence. 5. Simple matrix projection models with 28 day time steps and two stages, with 71% of voles experiencing cowpox infection in their second month of life (the average observed seroprevalence at the end of the breeding season) predict a reduction in 28-day population growth rate during the breeding season from λ = 1.62 to 1.53 for populations with no cowpox infection compared with infected populations. 6. This negative correlation between cowpox virus infection and field vole survival, with its potentially significant effect on population growth rate, is the first for an endemic pathogen in a cyclic population of wild rodents

    Nocturnal Emissions piece on the author\u27s visit to Mark\u27s Showplace to see a g

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    Nocturnal Emissions piece on the author\u27s visit to Mark\u27s Showplace to see a group of male strippers

    Reconsidering Arminius: Beyond the Reformed and Wesleyan Divide

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    The theology of Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius has been misinterpreted and caricatured in both Reformed and Wesleyan circles. By revisiting Arminius's theology, the book hopes to be a constructive voice in the discourse between so-called Calvinists and Arminians. Traditionally, Arminius has been treated as a divisive figure in evangelical theology. Indeed, one might be able to describe classic evangelical theology up into the twentieth century in relation to his work: one was either an Arminian and accepted his theology or one was a Calvinist and rejected his theology. Although various other movements within evangelicalism have provided additional contour to the movement (fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, etc.), the Calvinist-Arminian 'divide' remains a significant one. What this book seeks to correct is the misinterpretation of Arminius as one whose theology provides a stark contrast to the Reformed tradition as a whole. Indeed, this book will demonstrate instead that Arminius is far more in line with Reformed orthodoxy than popularly believed and show that what emerges as Arminianism in the theology of the Remonstrants and Wesleyan movements was in fact not the theology of Arminius but a development of and sometimes departure from it. This book also brings Arminius into conversation with modern theology. To this end, it includes essays on the relationship between Arminius's theology and open theism and Neo-Reformed theology. In this way, this book fulfills the promise of the title by showing ways in which Arminius's theology—once properly understood—can serve as a resource of evangelical Wesleyans and Calvinists doing theology together today. Abbreviations -- ix Introduction. Reconsidering Arminius: Recasting the Legacy / Mark H. Mann and Mark G. Bilby -- xi-xix Chapter 1. Consecrated through Suffering : the Office of Christ in the Theology of Jacob Arminius / Richard A. Muller -- 1-21 Chapter 2. Was Arminius an Unwitting Determinist? : Another Look at Arminius's Modal Logic / Thomas H. McCall -- 23-37 Chapter 3. Beyond Luther, beyond Calvin, beyond Arminius : the Pilgrims and the Remonstrants in Leiden, 1609-1620 / Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs -- 39-69 Chapter 4. The Loss of Arminius in Wesleyan-Arminian Theology / W. Stephen Gunter -- 71-90 Chapter 5. Jacob Arminius and Jonathan Edwards on the doctrine of creation / Oliver D. Crisp -- 91-112 Chapter 6. Convergence in the "Reformed" theologies of T.F. Torrance and Jacob Arminius / E. Jerome Van Kuiken -- 113-135 Chapter 7. Was Arminius an open theist? : meticulous providence in the theology of Jacob Arminius / John Mark Hicks -- 137-160 Conclusion. Arminius Reconsidered : Thoughts on Arminius and Contemporary Theological Discourse for the Church Today / Keith D. Stanglin -- 161-167 Contributors -- 169Published@book{stanglin2014reconsidering, title= {Reconsidering Arminius: Beyond the Reformed and Wesleyan Divide}, author= {Stanglin, Keith D and Bilby, Mark G and Mann, Mark H}, year= {2014}, publisher= {Kingswood Books}}978142679654

    Was it worthwhile?: An historical analysis of five women missionaries and their encounters with the Nyungar people of south-west Australia

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    Was it worthwhile? The thesis asks this question of the life and work of female faith missionaries who served in Western Australia with the Australian Aborigines' Mission and/or the United Aborigines' Mission, during the twentieth century. In 1902, the New South Wales Aborigines' Mission adopted faith mission principles based on those of the China Inland Mission founded in 1865. The mission expanded into Western Australia in 1908 and changed its name to the Australian Aborigines' Mission. From 1929, it was known as the United Aborigines' Mission. The research began with a historiography of the China Inland Mission and the United Aborigines' Mission and its antecedents. The analysis of the principles of these two missions identified that some characteristics of a faith mission were present in the New South Wales Aborigines' Mission from the beginning and others were never adopted. It established that from 1902, the New South Wales Aborigines' Mission upheld the faith principles of trusting God to provide physical needs, not soliciting for funds and not entering into debt. Because most faith missionaries were female, the historiography proceeded to examine texts on women missionaries, including recent work by Australian writers. This recognised that issues of gender, race and class were present within both mission cultures. Five case studies were chosen to cover a period from 1912 when Bertha Telfer arrived in Western Australia until the retirement of Mary Jones in 1971. Using written and oral source material from Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives, the research studied the work of five female faith missionaries in south-west Australia: Bertha Telfer/Alcorn, Ethel Hamer/Fryer, Hope Malcolm/Wright, Mary Jones and Melvina Langley/Rowley, with a focus on issues of Evangelicalism, race, gender and class. Preliminary investigation of the women recognized that while only one had professional training and two received missionary training, membership of the interdenominational Christian Endeavour youth movement was a formative influence on all these female missionaries. An investigation into the principles of that organisation, founded in North America in 1881, established it was influenced by the 1858-59 Revival within Evangelicalism in England and North America and it placed a strong emphasis on personal conversion and a commitment to mission. Christian Endeavour spread to Australia by 1883 and was found to have provided limited leadership opportunities to women. The research tracked the experience of the female faith missionaries over six decades of living by faith among the Nyungar people and discovered a lack of identification with Indigenous culture that had its roots in a widely held belief in the superiority of western culture. Associated with this was the Evangelical belief in personal conversion that did not address cross-cultural issues. The UAM identification with the rise of fundamentalism from the 1920s coincided with diminished leadership opportunities for women at a time when women were gaining more choices in the wider Australian community. The thesis concludes that the role of faith missionary was costly to women in terms of their health and wellbeing. In the context of oppressive government policies towards Indigenous Australians, the poverty and marginalisation experienced by the women, when combined with compassion, created solidarity with Nyungar people. In some cases, this reduced the barriers of race and gender and resulted in the conversion of some Nyungar people, contributing to the formation of an Indigenous and Evangelical church. These findings are significant because they point to new understanding of mission, conversion and Aboriginal-missionary relations and cultures and of the role played by female faith missionaries in the shared mission history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Western Australians

    Incomprehension or resistance? : the Markan disciples and the narrative logic of Mark ‎‎4:1—8:30‎

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    The characterization of the Markan disciples has been and continues to be the object of ‎much scholarly reflection and speculation. For many, the Markan author’s presentation of ‎Jesus’ disciples holds a key, if not the key, to unlocking the purpose and function of the ‎gospel as a whole. Commentators differ as to whether the Markan disciples ultimately ‎serve a pedagogical or polemical function, yet they are generally agreed that the disciples ‎in Mark come off rather badly, especially when compared to their literary counterparts in ‎Matthew, Luke, and John. This narrative-critical study considers the characterization of the Markan disciples ‎within the Sea Crossing movement (Mark 4:1–8:30). While commentators have, on the ‎whole, interpreted the disciples’ negative characterization in this movement in terms of ‎lack of faith and/or incomprehension, neither of these, nor a combination of the two, fully ‎accounts for the severity of language leveled against the disciples by the narrator (6:52) ‎and Jesus (8:17–18). Taking as its starting point an argument by Jeffrey B. Gibson (1986) ‎that the harshness of Jesus’ rebuke in Mark 8:14–21 is occasioned not by the disciples’ ‎lack of faith or incomprehension but by their active resistance to his Gentile mission, this ‎investigation uncovers additional examples of the disciples’ resistance to Gentile mission, ‎offering a better account of their negative portrayal within the Sea Crossing movement ‎and helping explain many of their other failures. In short, this study argues that in Mark 4:1–8:26, the disciples are characterized as ‎resistant to Jesus’ Gentile mission and to their participation in that mission, the chief ‎consequence being that they are rendered incapable of recognizing Jesus’ vocational ‎identity as Israel’s Messiah (Thesis A). This leads to a secondary thesis, namely, that in ‎Mark 8:27–30, Peter’s recognition of Jesus’ messianic identity indicates that the disciples ‎have finally come to accept Jesus’ Gentile mission and their participation in it (Thesis B).‎ ‎“Chapter One: Introduction” offers a selective review of scholarly treatments of ‎the Markan disciples, which shows that few scholars attribute resistance, let alone ‎purposeful resistance, to the disciples. ‎“Chapter Two: The Rhetoric of Repetition” introduces the methodological tools, ‎concepts, and perspectives employed in the study. It includes a section on narrative ‎criticism, which focuses upon the story-as-discoursed and the implied author and reader, ‎and a section on Construction Grammar, a branch of cognitive linguistics founded by ‎Charles Fillmore and further developed by Paul Danove, which focuses upon semantic ‎and narrative frames and case frame analysis. ‎“Chapter Three: The Sea Crossing Movement, Mark 4:1–8:30” addresses the ‎question of Markan structure and argues that Mark 4:1–8:30 comprises a single, unified, ‎narrative movement, whose action and plot is oriented to the Sea of Galilee and whose ‎most distinctive feature is the network of sea crossings that transport Jesus and his ‎disciples back and forth between Jewish and Gentile geopolitical spaces. Following William Freedman, “Chapter Four: The Literary Motif” introduces two ‎criteria (frequency and avoidability) for determining objectively what constitutes a ‎literary motif and provides the methodological basis and starting point for the analyses ‎performed in chapters five and six. ‎“Chapter Five: The Sea Crossing Motif” establishes and then carries out a lengthy ‎narrative analysis of the Sea Crossing motif, which is oriented around Mark’s use of ‎θάλασσα (thalassa) and πλοῖον (ploion), and “Chapter Six: The Loaves Motif” does the same for The ‎Loaves motif, oriented around Mark’s use of ἄρτος (artos). Finally, “Chapter Seven: The Narrative Logic of the Disciples ‎‎(In)comprehension” draws together all narrative, linguistic, and exegetical insights of the ‎previous chapters and offers a single coherent reading of the Sea Crossing movement that ‎establishes Theses A and B.
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