Devotional commentary on the Gospel narrative /

Volumes four and six have the earliest publication date (1873); volume one published 1876.

On the existence of uni-instantaneous Q-processes with a given finite mu-invariant measure

Let S be a countable set and let Q = (q(ij), i, j is an element of S) be a conservative q-matrix over S with a single instantaneous state b. Suppose that we are given a real number mu >= 0 and a strictly positive probability measure m = (m(j), j is an element of S) such that Sigma(i is an element of S) m(i)q(ij) = -mu m(j), j 0 b. We prove that there exists a Q-process P(t) = (p(ij) (t), i, j E S) for which m is a mu-invariant measure, that is Sigma(i is an element of s) m(i)p(ij)(t) = e(-mu t)m(j), j is an element of S. We illustrate our results with reference to the Kolmogorov 'K 1' chain and a birth-death process with catastrophes and instantaneous resurrection.

Summer dormancy in perennial temperate grasses

Background and Aims Dormancy has been extensively studied in plants which experience severe winter conditions but much less so in perennial herbaceous plants that must survive summer drought. This paper reviews the current knowledge on summer dormancy in both native and cultivated perennial temperate grasses originating from the Mediterranean Basin, and presents a unified terminology to describe this trait. Scope Under severe drought, it is difficult to separate the responses by which plants avoid and tolerate dehydration from those associated with the expression of summer dormancy. Consequently, this type of endogenous (endo-) dormancy can be tested only in plants that are not subjected to moisture deficit. Summer dormancy can be defined by four criteria, one of which is considered optional: (1) reduction or cessation of leaf production and expansion; (2) senescence of mature foliage; (3) dehydration of surviving organs; and (4, optional) formation of resting organs. The proposed terminology recognizes two levels of summer dormancy: (a) complete dormancy, when cessation of growth is associated with full senescence of foliage and induced dehydration of leaf bases; and (b) incomplete dormancy, when leaf growth is partially inhibited and is associated with moderate levels of foliage senescence. Summer dormancy is expressed under increasing photoperiod and temperature. It is under hormonal control and usually associated with flowering and a reduction in metabolic activity in meristematic tissues. Dehydration tolerance and dormancy are independent phenomena and differ from the adaptations of resurrection plants. Conclusions Summer dormancy has been correlated with superior survival after severe and repeated summer drought in a large range of perennial grasses. In the face of increasing aridity, this trait could be used in the development of cultivars that are able to meet agronomic and environmental goals. It is therefore important to have a better understanding of the genetic and environmental control of summer dormancy.

O PERDÃO: A ABORDAGEM DE GIRARD E OS BENEFÍCIOS EXISTENCIAIS DE UMA NOVA VISÃO DE PERDOAR

Em sua teoria mimética do desejo, René Girard apresenta Cristo como modelo ideal a ser seguido, uma vez que Jesus demonstrou como é possível resolver conflitos sem associá-los à vingança ou à violência. Através de sua vitimização na Cruz, Jesus revela toda a verdade de quem somos e quem Deus é, ao manifestar sua inocência, Ele reverte para si a acusação daqueles que se mantêm no círculo da auto justificação por transferência da culpa. Assim, o Cristo decide, por sua livre vontade, perdoar. Isto é, uma nova forma de perdão, que denominamos novum. Fundamentado no amor, ele vem de fora e fura o círculo da violência. O novum revela uma nova maneira de se relacionar com as pessoas que nos prejudicaram, de tentar compreender quem somos através do Outro. Essa nova mimesis valoriza a vida, a liberdade, o cuidado com o próximo, a reconciliação mais do que ofertas e sacrifícios. Trata-se de uma superação dialética, pois, apesar de nesse processo a decisão de perdoar estar de posse do sujeito sendo esta uma via de mão única , a decisão de reconciliação depende também do ofendido/ofensor, esta outra, via de mão dupla . Através do novum é possível mudar o sentido do passado, destruir a fatalidade e não ter necessidade de continuar como refém da culpa. Esta atitude possibilita o sujeito olhar o futuro com esperança. Ao focar a Paixão e a Ressurreição, o sujeito descobre quem ele realmente é e poderá decidir seguir o modelo Cristocêntrico. Essa decisão leva-o a sair da mimesis violenta e passar a elaborar a vontade, para então decidir perdoar àquele que o ofendeu. O sujeito, por fim, reconhece o perdão novum como modelo que ao ser imitado e doado é capaz de refazer a pessoa de seu doador, bem como àquele que é perdoado.

OS SINAIS NO EVANGELHO DE JOÃO: EXEGESE DE JOÃO 6.1-15

Esta dissertação analisará a recorrência do termo sinal no Quarto Evangelho, tendo como paradigma a exegese de João 6.1-15, perícope denominada como multiplicação dos pães e peixes. O texto da multiplicação dos pães e peixes se insere no Bloco dos Sinais (capítulo 1-12), o qual é marcado por sete sinais, sendo eles: o casamento de Caná (2.1-11); a cura do filho do oficial do rei (4.43-54); a cura de um paralítico de Betesda (5.1-15), a multiplicação dos pães e peixes (6.1-15); andar sobre as águas (6.16-21); cura do cego de nascença (9.1-41) e a ressurreição de Lázaro (11.1-45). A pesquisa revelou, além das peculiaridades narrativas, semióticas e hermenêuticas, próprias do Evangelho de João, que o termo sinal enquadra a narrativa, além de estruturar e proporcionar cadência para o texto joanino. Nota-se tangência e diálogo entre os sinais, de modo que a perícope de João 6.1-15 exerce papel central no Bloco da Paixão por ser um texto identitário dos leitores, bem como da comunidade joanina.

A RESSURREIÇÃO CORPÓREA: O DISCURSO IDENTITÁRIO EM PAULO (I CORINTIOS 15: 35-49)

Este trabalho focaliza o discurso da ressurreição corpórea como elemento identitário em Paulo, a partir do texto de 1Coríntios 15:35-49 onde o apóstolo desenvolve e argumenta seu pensamento escatológico acerca desta temática. Nosso objetivo é de entendermos como se desenvolveu esse pensamento e considerar os argumentos dentro dessa nova visão teológica da temática. Metodologicamente faz-se um estudo exegético do texto de 1Corintos 15:35-49 a fim de dialogar com o conceito temático de Dn12:1-3 e com a ideologia cética presente em Corinto. Baseando-se nos principais autores Nickelsburg, Wright e Lehtipuu temos como principais considerações que a ressurreição corpórea em Dn 12:1-3 é universal, coletiva e tida como ato de justiça. Na filosofia cética a ideologia é a do relativo e vazio. E em Paulo ela é individual e atinge o individuo como um todo.

Back from the future:the second chance in the past of aller + infinitive

Typological studies (Bybee et al. 1994, Dahl 2000, Bourdin 2008 among many others) have shown a tendency for spatial elements (such as movement verbs) to grammaticalise into temporal expressions. The periphrasis made of aller + infinitive has been very productive in Romance languages. If in French, Spanish or Portuguese, it refers to future, it refers to a simple past in Catalan. fr.: je vais aller au cinéma esp.: voy a ir al cine pt. Vou ira o cine cat.: vaig anar al cine Barceló & Bres (2005:168) indicate that, In French, «vers le XVIème siècle, […] la périphrase a brièvement fonctionné comme un temps du passé (alors même que l’emploi comme temps du futur émergeait)»: (1) Sur ces propos, firent leur accord et, en regardant le lieu le plus propre pour faire cette belle œuvre, elle va dire qu’elle n’en savait point de meilleure ni plus loin de tout soupçon, qu’une petite maison qui était dedans le parc, où il y avait chambre et lit tout à propos. (Marguerite de Navarre, L’Heptaméron) The future value took over so much so that Damourette & Pichon (1911-1936 :117) claimed the past value had disappeared»: Un second tour, encore plus aberrant, n’a plus, que nous sachions, aucune position en pays d’Oui. Nous voulons parler de l’expression d’un passé au moyen de l’auxiliaire aller, suivi de l’infinitif. Ce tour a eu une grande fortune dans le provençal ancien et le catalan […] En français, on n’en trouve que des traces, notamment du XIVe au XVIe siècles . Ex.:[…] Adoncques s’arrêtèrent le conte et Raimondin soubz un grand arbre ; lors va dire le conte à Raimondin: […]. Et Raimondin va lui dire : Sire, ce qu’il vous plaira. That allegedly extinct use is nonetheless alive and kicking in Contemporary French. Larreya (2005:349)notes that it is « très courant dans les récits – en particulier dans les récits oraux» and it is also found in newspaper language as shown by this except from an obituary for Loulou Gasté (Le Monde 1995): (2) Celle-ci se déroule aux Editions Micro, où il a un bureau. Séduit par la jeune interprète, il commence à lui écrire des chansons sur mesure et leur complicité va mettre cinq ans à se transformer en amour. Au début de leur rencontre, Loulou est neurasthénique parce qu’il vient de divorcer et la future Line, exclusivement préoccupée par son métier, ne songe à rien d’autre. Line et Loulou vont rattraper le temps perdu et créer ensemble un millier de petites chansons dont la plupart sont devenues immortelles. Jusqu’à ces derniers mois, il ne va pas se passer une journée sans que Loulou s’empare de sa guitare pour créer un refrain. Would we be witnessing a linguistic resurrection? The same structure seems therefore to have grammaticalised in diverging and even diametrically opposite ways in different Romance languages. In this talk, we shall try to explain how the phrase aller + infinitive is able to function both as a future and a past. We will especially concentrate on the case of contemporary French where, while the future interpretation has obtained the status of tense as futur proche or périphrastique, a past interpretation is now commonplace. Our reflection will be supported by a personal corpus of authentic examples.

From Wovoka to Wounded Knee: deprivation of Sioux traditional life and the massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890

The purpose of this thesis is to explore deprivation experienced by the nineteenth century Sioux who suffered the loss of traditional lands, economic independence, buffalo, tribal customs, and religion. After years of reservation life, starvation, and deprivation at the hands of the U.S. government, white settlers, and reservation agents, the Sioux anxiously sought out a Paiute Indian Messiah named Wovoka whose message of a new Indian world spread rapidly throughout the Dakotas. The use of extensive historical and religious documents, as well as primary sources, will argue that the extent of desperation experienced by the Sioux drove them to accept the Ghost Dance as a substitute for the Sun Dance, the center of their traditional religious complex. With its hope of the resurrection of dead Indians, return of the buffalo, and renewal of the earth, it was immediately adopted leading ultimately to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 and the passing of Wovoka's religion into history.

Creative Destruction: Towards a Theology of Institutions

A theology of institutions is dependent upon an imagination sparked by the cross and shaped by the hope of the resurrection. Creative destruction is the institutional process of dying so that new life might flourish for the sake of others. Relying upon the institutional imagination of James K.A. Smith, the institutional particularity of David Fitch, and L. Gregory Jones’ traditioned innovation, creative destruction becomes a means of institutional discipleship. When an institution practices creative destruction, it learns to remember, imagine, and be present so that it might cultivate habits of faithful innovation. As institutions learn to take up their cross a clearer telos comes into view and collaboration across various organizations becomes possible for a greater good. Institutions that take up the practice of creative destruction can reimagine, reset, restart or resurrect themselves through a kind of dying so that new life can emerge. Creative destruction is an apologetic for an institutional way of being-in-the-world for the sake of all beings-in-the-world.

Sweat Lodges in Iron Age Iberian Peninsula: New Data, Typologies and Interpretations

Three questions on the study of NO Iberian Peninsula sweat lodges are posed. First, the new sauna of Monte Ornedo (Cantabria), the review of the one of Armea (Ourense), and the Cantabrian pedra formosa type are discussed. Second, the known types of sweat lodges are reconsidered underlining the differences between the Cantabrian and the Douro - Minho groups as these differences contribute to a better assessment of the saunas located out of those territories, such as those of Monte Ornedo or Ulaca. Third, a richer record demands a more specific terminology, a larger use of archaeometric analysis and the application of landscape archaeology or art history methodologies. In this way the range of interpretation of the sweat lodges is opened, as an example an essay is proposed that digs on some already known proposals and suggests that the saunas are material metaphors of wombs whose rationale derives from ideologies and ritual practices of Indo-European tradition.

The Plutarch’s Motive of "Descensus Animae" in "Nag Hammadi and the Corpus Hermeticum"

Al evaluar los contactos de Plutarco con otras culturas contemporáneas, los investigadores todavía no han llegado a un consenso acerca de la relación entre el queronense y la literatura cristiano-primitiva. Un buen ejemplo de esto aparece al atender al motivo de la creación del alma humana. La intención de las próximas páginas es, tras un análisis de los textos plutarqueos, atender a estos posibles contactos con NHC, los heresiólogos y el Corpus Hermeticum a fin de dilucidar sus similitudes y diferencias.

El ritual en los "Textos de las Pirámides": sintaxis, texto y significado

Este trabajo pretende explorar la dimensión ritual en los Textos de las Pirámides, el corpus de literatura religiosa extensa más antiguo de la humanidad. La naturaleza variada de sus componentes textuales ha impedido que los egiptólogos comprendan en profundidad las complejidades de la colección y los contextos originales en los que estos textos (ritos) aparecieron. La aplicación de la teoría del ritual, principalmente la aproximación de la sintaxis ritual, ofrece a los investigadores un marco excelente de análisis e interpretación del corpus, su estructura y función. Sujeto a las reglas de la sintaxis ritual es posible exponer los múltiples niveles de significado en el corpus para la resurrección y salvación del difunto.

La caractérisation du personnage Jésus dans la narration des Actes des Apôtres

Si la théologie lucanienne de la résurrection a largement été étudiée dans le livre des Actes des Apôtres, Jésus n’a jamais été considéré comme personnage principal, à l’inverse des apôtres, de l’Esprit saint ou même de Dieu. Pourtant, le premier verset des Actes laisse entendre que Jésus va continuer de faire et d’enseigner ce qu’il avait commencé dans l’évangile, même si, peu de temps après l’ouverture du récit, il quitte la scène. Pour chercher à comprendre ce paradoxe, une analyse approfondie de la mise en récit du personnage Jésus dans les Actes était nécessaire. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse introduit le sujet, l’état de la question et deux approches méthodologiques empruntées aux experts de la caractérisation narrative. Au chapitre deux, après avoir introduit la difficulté d’identification du personnage qui se trouve derrière le titre Seigneur des Actes, le cadre épistémologique d’Elizabeth Struthers Malbon permet d’observer le comment en classant toutes les péricopes qui participent à la rhétorique de la caractérisation christologique en cinq catégories : (1) la christologie représentée qui montre ce que Jésus fait, (2) la christologie détournée qui permet d’entendre ce que Jésus dit en réponse aux autres personnages, (3) la christologie projetée qui laisse entendre ce que les autres personnages ou le narrateur disent à Jésus et à son sujet, (4) la christologie réfléchie qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a dit et (5) la christologie reflétée qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a fait. Ensuite, avec le chapitre trois, l’approche de John Darr donne à comprendre le pourquoi de la caractérisation par l’observation de quatre activités cognitives du lecteur : (1) l’anticipation et la rétrospection, (2) la recherche de cohérence, (3) l’identification et/ou l’implication et (4) la défamiliarisation. Enfin, au chapitre quatre, les résultats des deux méthodes sont comparés pour proposer une solution au cas de l’ouverture paradoxale des Actes. D’abord les différentes observations de la thèse montrent que le personnage Jésus n’est pas si absent du récit; puis la rhétorique narrative de la caractérisation conduit le lecteur à comprendre que c’est essentiellement au travers des personnages du récit que Jésus est présent en actes et en paroles.

Original sin: divine and symbolic violence in the turn to the Apostle Paul

When we take a step back from the imposing figure of physical violence, it becomes possible to examine other structurally violent forces that constantly shape our cultural and political landscapes. One of the driving interests in the “turn to Paul” in recent continental philosophy stems from wrestling with questions about the real nature of contemporary violence. Paul is positioned as a thinker whose messianic experience began to cut through the violent masquerade of the existing order. The crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah (a slave and a God co-existing in one body) exposed the empty grounding upon which power resided. The Christ-event signifies a moment of violent interruption in the existing order which Paul enjoins the Gentiles to participate in through a dedication of love for the neighbour. This divine violence aims to reveal and subvert the “powers,” epitomised in the Roman Empire, in order to fulfil the labour of the Messianic now-time which had arrived. The impetus behind this research comes from a typically enigmatic and provocative section of text by the Slovene philosopher, cultural critic, and Christian atheist Slavoj Žižek. He claims that 'the notion of love should be given here all its Paulinian weight: the domain of pure violence… is the domain of love' (2008a, 173). In this move he links Paul’s idea of love to that of Walter Benjamin’s divine violence; the sublime and the cataclysmic come together in this seemingly perverse notion. At stake here is the way in which uncovering violent forces in the “zero-level” of our narrative worldviews aids the diagnosis of contemporary political and ethical issues. It is not enough to imagine Paul’s encounter with the Christ-event as non-violent. This Jewish apocalyptic movement was engaged in a violent struggle within an existing order that God’s wrath will soon dismantle. Paul’s weak violence, inspired by his fidelity to the Christ-event, places all responsibility over creation in the role of the individual within the collective body. The centre piece of this re-imagined construction of the Pauline narrative comes in Romans 13: the violent dedication to love understood in the radical nature of the now-time. 3 This research examines the role that narratives play in the creation and diagnosis of these violent forces. In order to construct a new genealogy of violence in Christianity it is crucial to understand the role of the slave of Christ (the revolutionary messianic subject). This turn in the Symbolic is examined through creating a literary structure in which we can approach a radical Nietzschean shift in Pauline thought. The claim here, a claim which is also central to Paul’s letters, is that when the symbolic violence which manipulates our worldviews is undone by a divine violence, if even for a moment, new possibilities are created in the opening for a transvaluation of values. Through this we uncover the nature of original sin: the consequences of the interconnected reality of our actions. The role of literature is vital in the construction of this narrative; starting with Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, and continuing through works such as Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, this thesis draws upon the power of literature in the shaping of our narrative worlds. Typical of the continental philosophy at the heart of this work, a diverse range of illustrations and inspirations from fiction is pulled into its narrative to reflect the symbolic universe that this work was forged through. What this work attempts to do is give this theory a greater grounding in Paul’s letters by demonstrating this radical kenotic power at the heart of the Christ-event. Romans 13 reveals, in a way that has not yet been picked up by Critchley, Žižek, and others, that Paul opposed the biopolitical power of the Roman Empire through the weak violence of love that is the labour of the slaves of Christ on the “now-time” that had arrived.

La caractérisation du personnage Jésus dans la narration des Actes des Apôtres

Si la théologie lucanienne de la résurrection a largement été étudiée dans le livre des Actes des Apôtres, Jésus n’a jamais été considéré comme personnage principal, à l’inverse des apôtres, de l’Esprit saint ou même de Dieu. Pourtant, le premier verset des Actes laisse entendre que Jésus va continuer de faire et d’enseigner ce qu’il avait commencé dans l’évangile, même si, peu de temps après l’ouverture du récit, il quitte la scène. Pour chercher à comprendre ce paradoxe, une analyse approfondie de la mise en récit du personnage Jésus dans les Actes était nécessaire. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse introduit le sujet, l’état de la question et deux approches méthodologiques empruntées aux experts de la caractérisation narrative. Au chapitre deux, après avoir introduit la difficulté d’identification du personnage qui se trouve derrière le titre Seigneur des Actes, le cadre épistémologique d’Elizabeth Struthers Malbon permet d’observer le comment en classant toutes les péricopes qui participent à la rhétorique de la caractérisation christologique en cinq catégories : (1) la christologie représentée qui montre ce que Jésus fait, (2) la christologie détournée qui permet d’entendre ce que Jésus dit en réponse aux autres personnages, (3) la christologie projetée qui laisse entendre ce que les autres personnages ou le narrateur disent à Jésus et à son sujet, (4) la christologie réfléchie qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a dit et (5) la christologie reflétée qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a fait. Ensuite, avec le chapitre trois, l’approche de John Darr donne à comprendre le pourquoi de la caractérisation par l’observation de quatre activités cognitives du lecteur : (1) l’anticipation et la rétrospection, (2) la recherche de cohérence, (3) l’identification et/ou l’implication et (4) la défamiliarisation. Enfin, au chapitre quatre, les résultats des deux méthodes sont comparés pour proposer une solution au cas de l’ouverture paradoxale des Actes. D’abord les différentes observations de la thèse montrent que le personnage Jésus n’est pas si absent du récit; puis la rhétorique narrative de la caractérisation conduit le lecteur à comprendre que c’est essentiellement au travers des personnages du récit que Jésus est présent en actes et en paroles.