Boys and girls in religious school, handwriting of Reverend Gershom Seixas

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Subscription to K. K. S. I. religious school

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Report of Gershom Seixas regarding religious school

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Variation in the Understanding of Lutheranism and Its Implications for Religious Education : Meaning Discernment of Students and Teachers in Finnish Upper Secondary Schools

The study investigated variation in the ways in which a group of students and teachers of Evangelical Lutheran religious education in Finnish upper secondary schools understand Lutheranism and searched for educational implications for learning in religious education. The aim of understanding the qualitative variation in understanding Lutheranism was explored through the relationship between the following questions, which correspond to the results reported in the following original refereed publications: 1) How do Finnish students understand Lutheranism? 2) How do Finnish teachers of religious education constitute the meaning of Lutheranism? 3) How could phenomenography and the Variation Theory of Learning contribute to learning about and from religion in the context of Finnish Lutheran Religious Education as compared to religious education in the UK? Two empirical studies (Hella, 2007; Hella, 2008) were undertaken from a phenomenographic research perspective (e.g., Marton, 1981) and the Variation Theory of Learning (e.g., Marton & Tsui et al. 2004) that developed from it. Data was collected from 63 upper secondary students and 40 teachers of religious education through written tasks with open questions and complementary interviews with 11 students and 20 teachers for clarification of meanings. The two studies focused on the content and structure of meaning discernment in students and teachers expressed understandings of Lutheranism. Differences in understandings are due to differences in the meanings that are discerned and focused on. The key differences between the ways students understand varied from understanding Lutheranism as a religion to personal faith with its core in mercy. The logical relationships between the categories that describe variation in understanding express a hierarchy of ascending complexity, according to which more developed understandings are inclusive of less developed ones. The ways the teachers understand relate to student s understandings in a sequential manner. Phenomenography and Variation Theory were discussed in the context of religious education in Finland and the UK in relation to the theoretical notion of learning about and from religion (Hella & Wright, 2008). The thesis suggests that variation theory enables religious educators to recognise the unity of learning about and from religion, as learning is always learning about something and involves simultaneous engagement with the object of learning and development as a person. The study also suggests that phenomenography and variation theory offer a means by which it is possible for academics, policy makers, curriculum designers, teachers and students to learn to discern different ways of understanding the contested nature of religions. Keywords: Lutheranism, understanding, variation, teaching, learning, phenomenography, religious education

Lecture by Jacques Judah Lyons on the history of the Jews, given before the Hebrew Religious and Literary Library Association

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Spirituality in Indian University students and its associations with socioeconomic status, religious background, social support, and mental health

The present study aimed to understand spirituality and its relationships with socioeconomic status (SES), religious background, social support, and mental health among Indian university students. It was hypothesized that: - (1) female university students will be more spiritual than male university students, - (2) four domains of spirituality will differ significantly across socioeconomic and religious background of the university students in addition to social support, and; - (3) there will be a positive relationship between spirituality and mental health of university students, irrespective of gender. A group of 475 postgraduate students aged 20–27 years, 241 males and 234 females, from various disciplines of Pondicherry University, India, participated in the study. Students’ background was collected using a structured questionnaire. Overall spirituality and its four dimensions were measured using the Spirituality Attitude Inventory, while mental health status was estimated based on scores of the psychological subscale of the WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire. Female students were significantly more spiritual than male students, particularly in spiritual practice and sense of purpose/connection. Hindu religion and lower family income were associated with lower spirituality. Higher spirituality was associated with congenial family environment and more support from teachers and classmates. There was a strong association between overall spirituality and two spirituality domains (spiritual belief and sense of purpose/connection) with better mental health. Findings suggest an opportunity for open dialogue on spirituality for university students as part of their mental health and support services that fosters a positive mind set and enhancement of resilience.

Representations of the Natural World in Old English Poetry

Review of Representations of the Natural World in Old English Poetry, by Jennifer Neville (Cambridge UP, 1999).

Growing up in Affiliation with a Religious Community : A Case Study of Seventh-day Adventist Youth in Finland

This study investigates how the religious community as a socialization context affects the development of young people's religious identity and values, using Finnish Seventh-day Adventism as a context for the case study. The research problem is investigated through the following questions: (1) What aspects support the intergenerational transmission of values and tradition in religious home education? (2) What is the role of social capital and the social networks of the religious community in the religious socialization process? (3) How does the religious composition of the peer group at school (e.g., a denominational school in comparison to a mainstream school) affect these young people s social relations and choices and their religious identity (as challenged versus as reinforced by values at school)? And (4) How do the young people studied negotiate their religious values and religious membership in the diverse social contexts of the society at large? The mixed method study includes both quantitative and qualitative data sets (3 surveys: n=106 young adults, n=100 teenagers, n=55 parents; 2 sets of interviews: n=10 young adults and n=10 teenagers; and fieldwork data from youth summer camps). The results indicate that, in religious home education, the relationship between parents and children, the parental example of a personally meaningful way of life, and encouraging critical thinking in order for young people to make personalized value choices were important factors in socialization. Overall, positive experiences of the religion and the religious community were crucial in providing direction for later choices of values and affiliations. Education that was experienced as either too severe or too permissive was not regarded as a positive influence for accepting similar values and lifestyle choices to those of the parents. Furthermore, the religious community had an important influence on these young people s religious socialization in terms of the commitment to denominational values and lifestyle and in providing them with religious identity and rooting them in the social network of the denomination. The network of the religious community generated important social resources, or social capital, for both the youth and their families, involving both tangible and intangible benefits, and bridging and bonding effects. However, the study also illustrates the sometimes difficult negotiations the youth face in navigating between differentiation and belonging when there is a tension between the values of a minority group and the larger society, and one wants to and does belong to both. It also demonstrates the variety within both the majority and the minority communities in society, as well as the many different ways one can find a personally meaningful way of being an Adventist. In the light of the previous literature about socialization-in-context in an increasingly pluralistic society, the findings were examined at four levels: individual, family, community and societal. These were seen as both a nested structure and as constructing a funnel in which each broader level directs the influences that reach the narrower ones. The societal setting directs the position and operation of religious communities, families and individuals, and the influences that reach the developing children and young people are in many ways directed by societal, communal and family characteristics. These levels are by nature constantly changing, as well as being constructed of different parts, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, each of which alters in significance: for some negotiations on values and memberships the parental influence may be greater, whereas for others the peer group influences are. Although agency does remain somewhat connected to others, the growing youth are gradually able to take more responsibility for their own choices and their agency plays a crucial role in the process of choosing values and group memberships. Keywords: youth, community, Adventism, socialization, values, identity negotiations

La poesía española bajo el franquismo: compromiso y denuncia

Ejemplar monográfico titulado: "De poesía y crítica"

Charles I : unhero of royalist poetry

During the English Civil War, Charles I appeared as a character in Royalist poetry, both directly and allegorically. These depictions drew on ancient Roman epic poems, particularly Lucan’s De Bello Civili, in their treatment of the subject matter of civil war and Charles as an epic hero. Though the authors of these poems supported Charles, their depictions of him and his reign reveal anxiety about his weakness as a ruler. In comparison to the cults of personality surrounding his predecessors and the heroes of De Bello Civili, his cult appears bland and forced. The lack of enthusiasm surrounding Charles I may help to explain his downfall at the hands of his Parliamentarian opponents.  

A Poética de Adélia Prado: espaço de articulação entre língua portuguesa e língua literária

A tese estuda a obra poética de Adélia Prado sob o ponto de vista da Estilística. Mostra que a metáfora é o recurso mais afeito a construir a língua literária e, no caso da poetisa, modelá-la em português. O estudo atesta que a linguagem conotativa da poetisa alcança os três níveis da língua e promove o inesperado e o distante da expressão comum. Afirma a importância da polifonia e da intertextualidade , além da excelência do discurso indireto livre na criação literária, não só da poetisa, mas de todo uso da língua portuguesa como ferramenta de expressão poética, principalmente se a intenção do autor é criar o discurso surrealista. A pesquisa mostra que há, na obra, um grande número de poemas em que predomina a linguagem religiosa católica. Ocorre a expressão da alma feminina , marcada com orgulho pela poetisa. A autora cria prosodemas, inaugura neologismos ,aproveitando todos os processos de criação vocabular. Assim, a obra se notabiliza pelo aproveitamento da sonoridade das palavras, pela escolha lexical inédita, por uma estrutura frasal apositiva, evocativa, sucinta e nominal, não escravizada às regras do registro culto como padrão literário. A tese reconhece que a autora lida eficientemente com as classes de palavras, com a construção nominal e com uma estruturação sintática peculiar, em que sobressai a oração adjetiva com função de sujeito, apesar de conter verbo: a oração adjetiva subjetivada. A essência da pesquisa são os conjuntos metafóricos, verdadeiros modelos universais, que permitem reconhecer a possível existência de uma língua literária em português. No mesmo contexto, focaliza um grupo de poemas chamados de telegráficos, curtos e de teor filosófico. Tal qualidade metafórica mostra a importância da poetisa Adélia Prado para a articulação da língua literária em língua portuguesa

Religious Coping, Social Support and Subjective Severity as Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth in People Affected by the Earthquake in Chile on 27/2/2010

The aim of this research is to study the impact of religious coping, social support and subjective severity on Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) in people who lost their homes after the earthquake in Chile in 2010 and who now live in transitional shelters. One hundred sixteen adult men and women were evaluated using a subjective severity scale, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) scale of social support and the Brief RCOPE scale of religious coping. The multiple linear regression analysis shows that social support and positive religious coping have an impact on PTG. On using a bootstrap estimate, it was found that positive religious coping fully mediates the relationship between subjective severity and PTG.

Algumas considerações sobre a poesia de BOCAGE

Este trabalho visa à análise das poesias eróticas e satíricas de Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage e de sua repercussão na sociedade portuguesa do século XVIII. A ironia, por definição, propõe a inversão de enunciados, negando o contrário daquilo que se afirma ou vice-versa. Mas, tal recurso, largamente empregado pelo Poeta, extrapola a mera função de figura de pensamento, uma vez que, potencializando um poderoso arsenal crítico, propicia a construção de um discurso desestabilizador, cuja intenção é colocar em xeque a ideologia oficial. A lírica bocagiana, em sua vertente erótica e satírica, vale-se do deboche, do escracho ou da sátira desbocada para colocar às claras a distinção entre essência e aparência, em uma sociedade cuja moral se constrói a partir das crenças religiosas nem sempre professadas, quer pelo corpo social como um todo, quer pelo clero, guardião desta moral. Examinaremos, neste trabalho, os modos de representação discursiva inscritos nesta poesia. Bocage ultrapassou as fronteiras de seu tempo em poemas cuja licenciosidade, muitas vezes, não esconde uma ponta de amargura e sofrimento. Dividido entre dois mundos: o árcade, sob o signo da razão, constituído de regras rígidas; e o romântico, regido pela paixão, Elmano não esconde o desconcerto, que procura na clandestinidade a via possível para a expansão de um espírito revoltado