Correll, Mark R. “The reformation of suffering: pastoral theology and lay piety in late medieval and early modern Germany.” Fides Et Historia 47, no. 2 (September 2015): 184-186.
Abstract: The article reviews the book, “The reformation of suffering: pastoral theology and lay piety in late medieval and early modern Germany” by Ronald K.Rittgers.
Bilbro, Jeffrey. “Teaching Thoreau in China: Waldensian Reflections on Chinese Ecology and Agriculture.” Journal of Ecocriticism 7, no. 1 (2015): 1-20.
Abstract: It may seem quixotic to teach Walden, the archetypal American ode to self-reliance and wildness, in Wuhan, one of China’s largest industrial cities. Nevertheless, I was excited when I found out I would have the opportunity to give a series of lectures on Thoreau at Wuhan University of Technology, the third largest university in China. This would give me the chance to discuss pressing ecological and cultural issues in the context of one of the most rapidly industrializing countries in the world. China’s environmental problems are widely reported, and if China can’t find a way to develop its vast economy more sustainably, then the entire world will suffer the consequences. Through this opportunity, Thoreau provided me with a helpful perspective from which to understand China’s ecological, agricultural, and political situation.
Thoreau attempts repeatedly to reconcile the train that ran next to Walden Pond with his pastoral life, but the industrial and pastoral remained stubbornly at odds. This opposition describes modern China pretty well also, and their railroad system is a profound example of their rapid industrialization. Yet at the same time that China is building high-speed rail, erecting new high-rises, and coping with smog, much of the country continues to be farmed by peasants using traditional methods.
For Thoreau, the countryside acts as a site for political resistance; he can move out to Walden Pond, establish a life apart from an oppressive, slaveholding government, and consider how to participate in a more just economy and culture. Such a tradition of protest and civil disobedience has been largely tamped down in China. As long as the government delivers basic services, most citizens are content to mind their own affairs; those who speak out just bring trouble on themselves and their families. One Chinese poet who was inspired by Thoreau, Hai Zi, wrote poetry protesting industrialization and the destruction of the countryside, but he eventually lost hope and committed suicide by lying down on the railroad tracks, a copy of Walden tucked into his bag.
Yet at the end of Walden, Thoreau has an experience which gives him renewed hope for the railroad and his culture, a hope that may also be imaginable in China. Thoreau sees the sun melting frozen sand on the bank of the railroad grade and creating new patterns; he sees nature at work in the midst of industry. I’m never quite sure how to read this conclusion. Is Thoreau right to realize that human culture is part of nature also, or is he naive in thinking that human development can’t ultimately destroy natural life? Is he right that our imagination is what most needs to change? Teaching Thoreau in Wuhan, to people living in one of the most rapidly industrializing civilizations in the history of the world, gave me new hope that Thoreau’s conclusion, with its focus on imaginative and perceptual change, is right. Perhaps the core problem is not industrialization or the train itself, but the warped human imaginations that use these tools to damage the earth. And literature might play a role in renewing our imaginations, in helping all of us desire and work toward lives of contentment and wild harmony. As Hai Zi writes, “I hope that in this dusty world you become content / I only hope to face the ocean, as spring warms and flowers open.”
Gill, Amarjit, Léo-Paul Dana, and John Obradovich. “Independent directors and the decision of US manufacturing firms about the amount of dividends.” International Journal of Business and Globalisation 15, no. 1 (2015): 96-108. doi: 10.1504/IJBG.2015.070226
Abstract: One of the most important factors that stock investors use to make investment decision in the stock market is the amount of dividends that company has paid in the past and is expected to pay in the future. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of independent directors on the decision of US manufacturing firms about the amount of dividends. The study used a sample of 183 US manufacturing firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for a period of five years (from 2009-2013). By applying a co-relational and non-experimental research design, this study found that the presence of independent directors positively impacts the decision of US manufacturing firms about the amount of dividends. The results also show that the decision of US manufacturing firms about the amount of dividends is positively associated with audit committee, firm size, firm age and financial performance and negatively associated with operating risk. The findings may be useful for financial managers, operations managers, financial management consultants, stock market investors and other stakeholders.
Buratovich, Michael. “Where Are My Genes? Genomic Considerations on Darwin’s Doubt.” Reports of the National Center for Science Education 35, no. 4 (2015).
In his book Darwin’s Doubt (Meyer 2013), Discovery Institute philosopher of science and “intelligent design” proponent Stephen C Meyer makes some very unorthodox claims about animal origins. Evolutionary developmental biologists have shown over two decades of work that regardless of how animals look, most of them use a common “toolkit” of genes for their development. Furthermore, a respectable body of evidence shows that changes in animal body plans and body parts are driven by changes in gene regulation (Carroll 2000).
Widstrom, Laura. “The Relational Pastor: Sharing in Christ by Sharing Ourselves.” Journal Of Youth Ministry 13, no. 2 (Spring 2015): 157-158.
Abstract: The article reviews the book, “The Relational Pastor: Sharing in Christ by Sharing Ourselves” by Andrew Root.
Buratovich, Michael. “Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design.” Christian Scholar’s Review 44, no. 3 (Spring 2015): 314-317.
Abstract: The article reviews the book, “Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life & the Case for Intelligent Design” by Stephen C. Meyer.
Rinck, John S. “Some Advice Before Making That Decision.” Respiratory Care Management Bulletin for the American Association of Respiratory Care (Spring 2015).
Abstract: Some decisions never come easy; ones that do are rare. Managers face a multitude of daily decisions that demand time and attention. Information overload is the norm, yet the expectation is to make spontaneous, often high risk but sound decisions. Even the most seasoned managers experience delays or suboptimal choices under these conditions.
Fortunately, decision making is a skill that can be learned and should improve with experience. Theoretical models may be helpful and focus on willful choice, reality-based, or combinations of the two coupled with quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, or prescriptive considerations.1 Decision models address “what” and “how” without venturing to explain “why.” The more challenging task is to understand what boundaries, shortcomings, or blind spots affect the decisions we make.
Rinck, Jonathan. “City of Ladies.” Sixteenth Century Journal 46, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 205-207.
No abstract is available.
Bilbro, Jeffrey. Loving God’s Wildness: The Christian Roots of Ecological Ethics in American Literature. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2015.
When the Puritans arrived in the New World to carry out the colonization they saw as divinely mandated, they were confronted by the American wilderness. Part of their theology led them to view the natural environment as “a temple of God” in which they should glorify and serve its creator. The larger prevailing theological view, however, saw this vast continent as “the Devil’s Territories” needing to be conquered and cultivated for God’s Kingdom. These contradictory designations gave rise to an ambivalence regarding the character of this land and humanity’s proper relation to it.
Loving God’s Wildness rediscovers the environmental roots of America’s Puritan heritage. In tracing this history, Jeffrey Bilbro demonstrates how the dualistic Christianity that the Puritans brought to America led them to see the land as an empty wilderness that God would turn into a productive source of marketable commodities. Bilbro carefully explores the effect of this dichotomy in the nature writings of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Willa Cather, and Wendell Berry.
Thoreau, Muir, Cather, and Berry imaginatively developed the Puritan theological tradition to propose practical, physical means by which humans should live and worship within the natural temple of God’s creation. They reshaped Puritan dualism, each according to the particular needs of his or her own ecological and cultural contexts, into a theology that demands care for the entire created community. While differing in their approaches and respective ecological ethics, the four authors Bilbro examines all share the conviction that God remains active in creation and that humans ought to relinquish their selfish ends to participate in his wild ecology.
Loving God’s Wildness fills a critical gap in literary criticism and environmental studies by offering a sustained, detailed argument regarding how Christian theology has had a profound and enduring legacy in shaping the contours of the American ecological imagination. Literary critics, scholars of religion and environmental studies, and thoughtful Christians who are concerned about environmental issues will profit from this engaging new book.
Griffin, George, Maia Noniashvili, and Nino Enukidze. “Consumer Behavior in The Republic of Georgia regarding FMCG Products: The role of Russia in affecting Consumer Behavior after reaching DCFTA with EU countries.” Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research 2, no. 1 (2015).
Abstract: Until 2008, Russia was one of the major importers of Free Market Consumers Goods (FMCG) products from Georgia as well as a major exporter of FMCG products to Georgia. After conducting a large-scale aggression against Georgia in August, 2008; occupation of two territories in Georgia, ethnic cleansing of people in those territories; and giving recognition of independence to these two territories; Georgia terminated diplomatic relations with Russian Federation on September 2, 2008. After Russo-Georgian war in 2008 the amount of imported food products from Russia decreased. The aim of the research is to study Georgian consumer behavior; identify the factors which influence consumer behavior as a result of the Russo-Georgian War and The European Union Association Agreement; and to analyze the impact of the occupation of the Georgian territories had on trade relations with Russia.
