No description available.

Grasping the wooden handle of a dozukime saw with both hands, I make a rip-cut into a block of eastern white pine, leaving behind a 1/64-inch wide kerf. I am cutting a dovetail: a wood joint developed over five-thousand years ago by the hands of our ancestors. Even now, a well-fitted dovetail joint remains one of the strongest, most elegant ways to join wood. I knew nothing about traditional woodworking when I first picked up a hand-plane, but I was soon inspired by the richness of the craft: the quality of a hand-planed finish, the spirit of craftsmanship, and the nature of material. I was amazed by the wealth of knowledge embodied in craftwork. The tools and materials I encountered spoke to me; I learned to care for them and for my work. How would the things I make endure through time? How would the things I make affect others? In an era where materialism has come to represent a spiritless relationship to the things around us, traditions of craft can teach us how to imbue the human spirit in our work. After making a harvest table, four chairs, ninety-four earthenware pots, and a lamp, I reflect on the act of making as a means of discovery. Making affects our thinking and our approach to material and environment. Making can help us develop a craftsman???s capacity to listen, a great respect for material, and a desire to make better objects for posterity. Making is learning.

If Jesus's resurrection did not happen, the Christian faith is falsified. The question is therefore raised as to whether it is possible to prove the historicity of the resurrection, and thus verify the Christian faith. The problem is first historical (what is the nature of the evidence for the resurrection?) and secondly apologetic (how does the resurrection help in communicating the Christian faith?); this thesis aims to address the historical question, and introduce apologetics as a future concern. The work is set in context by a survey of approaches to the historical Jesus through the centuries, culminating in the "Third Quest for the Historical Jesus." The origins of the idea of resurrection are sought in an examination of ancient Hebrew ideas about death, exploring the development of hope from the survival of the community rather than the individual, through the awareness of the need for justice and the continuing relationship with God, through a range of metaphors to the first explicit hope of resurrection from the dead. The influence of Hellenism and ideas of immortality in the intertestamental period are noted, but these ideas were not adequate to explain the experience of Jesus's disciples. The New Testament is then surveyed to identify all resurrection traditions. Some traditions are theological and metaphorical, but some are narrative or apparently derived from a historical event. It is noted that some canonical books make relatively little of the resurrection, and that extracanonical books such as the Gospel of Thomas ignore it completely. A study of the extracanonical texts suggests that omission of resurrection tradition is due to later theological preference, rather than indicating early tradition implying that passion-resurrection tradition was a later innovation. Where there is extracanonical resurrection tradition, it is dependent upon canonical tradition. There follows a discussion of the various criteria which have been used to examine New Testament tradition for historicity, examining the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is concluded that no single criterion is adequate, but that it is possible to achieve a satisfactory degree of historical plausibility. The discussion returns to the New Testament traditions to identify where they purport to be historical, and then explored in the light of the historical criteria for plausibility. While there is clear theological development and interpretation, there is a persistent core tradition deriving from an original event. Alternative explanations, that the disciples invented resurrection to explain other experiences, are dismissed as resurrection is the least likely explanation for them to offer. The historical event itself is irrecoverable, but may be discerned by its effects. The most plausible explanation for the testimony underlying New Testament tradition, celebration on the first day of the week, and the explosive growth of the Jesus movement, is that the resurrection actually happened. Brief consideration is given to the implications of the resurrection for theology, eschatology, apologetics and engagement with postmodernism. / Thesis (M.A. (New Testament)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2009.

If Jesus's resurrection did not happen, the Christian faith is falsified. The question is therefore raised as to whether it is possible to prove the historicity of the resurrection, and thus verify the Christian faith. The problem is first historical (what is the nature of the evidence for the resurrection?) and secondly apologetic (how does the resurrection help in communicating the Christian faith?); this thesis aims to address the historical question, and introduce apologetics as a future concern. The work is set in context by a survey of approaches to the historical Jesus through the centuries, culminating in the "Third Quest for the Historical Jesus." The origins of the idea of resurrection are sought in an examination of ancient Hebrew ideas about death, exploring the development of hope from the survival of the community rather than the individual, through the awareness of the need for justice and the continuing relationship with God, through a range of metaphors to the first explicit hope of resurrection from the dead. The influence of Hellenism and ideas of immortality in the intertestamental period are noted, but these ideas were not adequate to explain the experience of Jesus's disciples. The New Testament is then surveyed to identify all resurrection traditions. Some traditions are theological and metaphorical, but some are narrative or apparently derived from a historical event. It is noted that some canonical books make relatively little of the resurrection, and that extracanonical books such as the Gospel of Thomas ignore it completely. A study of the extracanonical texts suggests that omission of resurrection tradition is due to later theological preference, rather than indicating early tradition implying that passion-resurrection tradition was a later innovation. Where there is extracanonical resurrection tradition, it is dependent upon canonical tradition. There follows a discussion of the various criteria which have been used to examine New Testament tradition for historicity, examining the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is concluded that no single criterion is adequate, but that it is possible to achieve a satisfactory degree of historical plausibility. The discussion returns to the New Testament traditions to identify where they purport to be historical, and then explored in the light of the historical criteria for plausibility. While there is clear theological development and interpretation, there is a persistent core tradition deriving from an original event. Alternative explanations, that the disciples invented resurrection to explain other experiences, are dismissed as resurrection is the least likely explanation for them to offer. The historical event itself is irrecoverable, but may be discerned by its effects. The most plausible explanation for the testimony underlying New Testament tradition, celebration on the first day of the week, and the explosive growth of the Jesus movement, is that the resurrection actually happened. Brief consideration is given to the implications of the resurrection for theology, eschatology, apologetics and engagement with postmodernism. / Thesis (M.A. (New Testament)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2009.

This thesis aims to compare the political discourses of immigration and integration of political parties in Canada and Germany from 2008 to 2013. As some scholars have noted a convergence of immigration and integration policies in Western liberal democracies, this thesis seeks to identify whether a convergence of discourses took place in Canada and Germany, or whether the different national traditions of immigration and integration in Canada and Germany remain stronger in influence than forces of convergence, like international organization or treaties, on immigration and integration discourses. Coming from a critical constructivist perspective and applying a discourse analysis that builds on Lene Hansen and Roxanne Lynn Doty’s work, this thesis found that no convergence of immigration and integration discourses in Canada and Germany took place. Different national traditions appear to remain more central for immigration and integration discourses in both Canada and Germany. / Graduate / 0615 / b.c.hoffmann@gmx.net

Denna studie handlar om individer som väljer att gå med i en religiös rörelse, pingstkyrkan. Huvudintresset låg i varför en individ väljer att bli medlem i en religiös rörelse, när vi lever i ett alltmer individualiserat samhälle, där religionen får mindre plats i människors vardagsliv. Studien baseras på intervjuer med fyra pingstvänner, en man och tre kvinnor, om hur vardagslivet ser ut, deras ritualer och traditioner samt om de känner någon utanförskap i samhället. Frågeställningarna berörde: Vad är det som gör att en individ väljer att ingå i en religiös rörelse? Vilken betydelse har ritualer och traditioner? Hur ser vardagslivet ut innanför samt utanför rörelsen? Den sekundära frågan som ställdes var: Hur har kyrkan berörts? Den teoretiska referensramen till forskningen var: generation, individualisering, socialisation, interaktion och vardagsverklighet, ritualer, det "äldre" samhället (gemeinschaft) och det "nya" samhället (gesellschaft). Forskningen visade att orsaken till att en del väljer att bli medlem i en religiös rörelse inte bara är religionen, utan i hög grad gemenskapen. Gemenskapen är väldig stark och innebär både trygghet och ett starkt socialt nätverk samt stöttning och vägledning. Individerna hade en kristen bakgrund från start, vilket påverkat deras val att bli medlem i just en kristen rörelse. Ritualerna samt traditionen har utvecklats efter dagens samhälle, där exempelvis det intuitva tänket bidrar. Samhällets förändring har bidragit till att kyrkan förändrat sig vilket främst visar sig i rörelsens alltmer individualiserade drag, där individen respekterar varandras olikheter. Utanförskapet finns idag inte på samma sätt, det är exempelvis inget problem att gå på bio idag eller ta ett glas vin som det kunde vara förr. En del ritualer och traditioner har utvecklats alltmer och ses med mer "moderna" ögon och är inte lika traditionsbundna.

Understandings of the Marshall Islands require attention to the interplay of multiple discourses of tradition, modernity, chiefs, development, and democracy from multiple sources that critically interact and mutually construct the Marshall Islands. This multi-sited, multi-vocal ethnography explores the reproduction and transformation of historic power relationships between Marshallese chiefs and commoners who incorporate and "indigenize" foreign discourses and resources into culturally informed models and practices of authority. In relationships of unequal power, such as that defined by the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, dominant global discourses about culture and progress enable both local and transnational hegemonies. These discourses are contextually analyzed as they are invoked and challenged in Nitijela [parliament] debates, in evaluations of the Compact of Free Association, in elites' autobiographical reflections on Marshallese-American relationships, and in foreign media representations. Historical shifts in the political and economic powers of Marshallese chiefs through three colonial administrations, and the growth of a commoner elite class since World War II further highlight the ways foreign resources are appropriated for specific local purposes that transform understandings of power and authority. With discourse as both object and method of analysis, the agency of local actors is both foregrounded and contextualized. Simplistic characterizations of chiefs, elites, commoners, and foreigners' are complicated through close attention to the ways local loyalties, colonial histories, political rivalries, and global discourses inform and frame expressions of Marshallese identities.

No description available.

Is there a specific tradition of songs within the swedish environmental movement? What kinds of music has been performed in different situations and what does it mean to the movement and its inner life? The essay deals with a town meeting and action against plans of establishing passenger flights at a former military airport in Uppsala, looking at the action as a performance and as a ritual. The second part of the essay is built on interviews of three veterans of the movement's organisations one of which is as a singer-songwriter originally active in the peace movement of the 60's. The paper is about the songs and the situations in which they were sung, concluding that there is, the limited material considered, little evidence of considerable transfer of songs within the movement, though some coherence exists. The connection to between environmental movement and the swedish radical music movement of the 70's is also slightly mentioned. Finally there is a reasoning about songs and their different functions and the songs as an important part of a movement's narrative. / Finns det en speciell sångtradition inom den svenska miljörörelsen? Vilken slags musik har framförts i olika situationer och vad betyder det för rörelsen och dess inre liv. Denna uppsats behandlar ett torgmöte och en aktion mot planer att etablera passagerarflyg vid en tidigare militär flygplats i Uppsala. Aktionen ses ur performance- och ritualperspektiv. Vidare intervjuas tre veteraner i miljörörelsen varav en är en trubadur aktiv sedan fredsrörelsen på 1960-talet. Uppsatsen handlar om sånger och framförandesituationer. Förbindelsen mellan miljörörelsen och musikrörelsen under 1970-talet tas också kortfatttat upp. Slutligen finns ett resonemang om sången och dess funktion och sång såsom rörelseberättelse.

There is little question that Hobbes's Leviathan and Behemoth are largely responding to the civil conflicts that were tearing seventeenth-century England apart, but scholars disagree in their interpretations of Hobbes's diagnosis and prescription for the civil war. Complementing previous interpretations, my MA thesis suggests that Hobbes also traces the source of the civil conflicts to Western philosophical tradition (WPT) itself both methodologically and substantially. Methodologically, ancient Western philosophers do not start their ratiocination process with definitions of the terms used, and Hobbes argues that this lack of adequate method leads to all kinds of absurdities and consequently a whole false reference world. This critique is largely based on Hobbes's materialist accounts of philosophy and mind. Substantially, Hobbes suggests that Aristotle's natural, moral and civil philosophies in particular contribute to the chaotic opinions and the civil conflicts. After detecting this source, Hobbes undertakes perhaps the most ambitious endeavor to exorcise the demon of the tradition in Western history, by radically scientizing the philosophical tradition and establishing a science of politics.