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<p>Upon their arrival in China, priests of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, quickly began writing their opinions and observations of the Ming Dynasty, of the Manchu invasion, and of the subsequent Qing Dynasty. These priests arrived in China with both secular and religious goals, and these goals created the context for their comments, coloring their writings. However, when the Jesuits praised the Qing Dynasty, they began to use particularly European metaphors in their descriptions of the Manchus, from appearance and mannerisms to policies. While the Jesuit descriptions serve as informative material, they are not objective, detached observations. In terms of their opinions, Jesuit writings offer historians critical information about the Jesuits themselves and about the Manchus as a distinctively non-Chinese dynasty, despite their efforts to Sinofy themselves in the eyes of the Han Chinese majority. </p>

In the last several decades, philosophers of biology have published countless books and articles on the causal mechanisms underlying evolutionary change. There has been scant effort devoted, however, to detailed analysis of what these mechanisms mean for the relationship between our best interpretations of evolutionary change and our metaphysical picture of the world. This thesis addresses some key aspects of that metaphysical picture. I argue for a metaphysically realist interpretation of dispositions as causally active in evolutionary biology. I address fitness and evolvability in particular, as they present two of the best possible case studies for a metaphysically realist interpretation of dispositions. I claim that dispositional realism is justified in part based on its empirical warrant. That is, as a metaphysics of science, it gives us all the metaphysics we need for making sense of the empirical success of science (especially biology), and no more. I present Ontic Structural Realism as an opposing view. Ontic Structural Realism argues for the dismissal of objects and dispositions on the basis of a certain interpretation of fundamental physics. I present some arguments against this view and in favor of my own.

<p> This research looks at HMI through the context of marriage and family life of Pentecostal faith communities and how a religious educative and ministerial lens can strengthen such programs in local churches. Through historical and secondary analyses, the researcher examines the history, evolution and examples of recent HMI evaluations. The study is informed by, recent sociological studies, feminist theology and religious education experts. The work proposes how Healthy Marriage Initiatives within congregational settings can be strengthened through religious educative, spiritual, and pastoral responses to marriage and family life within faith communities.</p>

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There is a tradition of interpretation, testimony to the influence of Kasemann's study of Hebrews which suggests that the finished work of Christ in the past is the guarantee of certain salvation for his faithful in the future. The relation between them is presented in terms of their following him to heaven. However, this does not allow that the emphasis on the completed aspect of Christ's work and the future element in the believers' salvation are connected with the occasional nature of Hebrews as a letter written to those tempted to abandon their Christian commitment. In fact the work of Christ is completed and yet continuing, salvation for the faithful both present and yet future. An analysis of major themes indicates that the relation between Christ and the believers is not future and indirect but rather present and direct. As <i>rest</i> for the people of God is both present and future, so <i>faith</i> has an 'invisible' aspect which is the foundation for its 'future' aspect. It is 'by faith' that the readers look to Jesus whose ministry ensures their present access to God 'in fulness of faith'. Integral to his understanding of <i>sin</i> and to his presentation of the <i>sacrifice</i> of Christ is the author's emphasis on the new covenant, under which sin is the deliberate rejection of its mediator, the Son of God who by his death has destroyed the power of death and lives for ever as High Priest, introducing his faithful into the presence of the living God. The relation of Christ to his faithful is present and direct, and indeed he is presented as one in whom they are included. A study focused particularly on 2:9; 3:14 and 10:10 reveals that integral to the epistle's central argument that Christ, who offered the only real sacrifice, is the only real priest is an estimate of him as not only absolutely alive but also as more than individual, as 'the inclusive Christ'.

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