[Chapter in The Art of Forgiveness, 2018] This paper considers the story of Jacob and Esau’s reconciliation (Gen 32-33) through the lens of my own experience in pastoral ministry and of Family Systems Theory. In one sense it is a psychological reading of the narrative of Gen 32-33. In another it is an attempt to explore the practical and…[Read more]

This paper outlines and details historical L2 curriculum development for segments of China’s State education system over a ten-year period beginning with the start of the Sino – Foreign joint programs classes in 2011. A two-year post assessment from 2015~2017. Tracking students continuing test results for both the CET (College English Test) ser…[Read more]

Entry on Hekhalot literature

Handbook entry on Medieval Jewish Prophecy as a form of prognostication

An entry for the Centre for the Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements’ (CenSAMM) Dictionary: https://www.cdamm.org/

This article will look at the ideology of veganism in the AHIJ. Since the early 1970s their diet has been a core part of their ideology and of their message to the world. Acknowledging that a black/Jewish meat-free diet is far from the exclusive property of the group, let alone a new development on their part, I will argue that it is an expression…[Read more]

An entry for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception on the topic of Name Theology, how this has evolved in different Abrahamic religions from the scriptural origins.

This essay is a précis (for which I take full responsibility) of Chapters One and Two of Leslie
Dewart’s seminal book consisting of Nine Chapters. The perspective he presented here, to my
mind, sets a fresh intellectual trajectory for philosophical contemplation. Written towards the
end of the 20th century the book is not an easy read, bu…[Read more]

In this short book, only an introductory and partial discussion can be undertaken respecting the issues distinguish between religious (philosophical) and secular (political) cultural values from a phenomenological point of view. Further, the ideas I consider here are not original. By and large they derive from a new interpretation of human…[Read more]

This is a book review of Stefanie Knauss, “Religion and Film: Representation, Experience, Meaning” (Brill, 2020).

This chapter attempts to analyze the historiographical debate around agency/structure, especially focused on two current historians, Mary Fulbrook and Peter Burke. Likewise, the conception and relationship of the State within the historiography of the Cold War, seen from the perspective of structure/agent, is presented as a case study. In sum,…[Read more]

This study used a quantitative research design employing a descriptive survey research method. It sought to determine the needs of Grade 6 Completers in Mathematics competencies. The respondents of this study were the 384 Grade 6 completers who are officially enrolled in Nieves Villarica National High School. The statistical tools used in this…[Read more]

This article concludes with the following observations. First, there is a demonstrable shift from monarchical government to democratic governance in the Church as a product of the evolution of ecclesial polity. But it must be acknowledged the secular polity is incompatible with divinely inspired government as is most evident from a…[Read more]

My intention in this brief monograph is to stimulate a re-assessment of laïcité by philosophers and theologians, particularly within the Anglophone academic world. Often the term is understood by Anglophones not quite as accurately as its French advocates intend. The translated texts are copied from the official French Government website, as i…[Read more]

Laïcité: Some Catholic readers may be familiar with Giuseppe Alberigo’s understanding of the term as outlined in “Facteurs de laïcité au Concile Vatican II” in Revue des Sciences Religieuses, tome 74, fas. 2, 2000, in which he writes in a footnote: “Ce mot est utilisé dans le sens du processus de ‘déclericalisation’ à l’interieur de l’É…[Read more]

This conference paper presents a new analysis of Martin Luther’s treatise “The Judgment of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows”. This treatise has long been interpreted as Luther’s utter rejection of monasticism. However, upon closer inspection we find that Luther’s treatise is not simply a reactionary writing dealing solely with his utter conte…[Read more]

Book review:
Pilar Cagiao Vila (Coord.). Diplomacia y acción cultural americana en la España de Primo de Rivera. Madrid: Marcial Pons – Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 2020.

The dual curriculum model ubiquitous to Orthodox Jewish day schools in North America typically bifurcates into religious (Judaic) studies and general studies. While most classes generally fit into one of those two halves of the curriculum, some classes are not intuitively categorized as wholly belonging to one part over the other. One of those…[Read more]

This essay explores Maimonides’ explanation of the Bible’s rationale behind the ritual sacrifices, namely to help wean the Jews away from idolatrous rites. After clearly elucidating Maimonides’ stance on the topic, this essay examines his view from different angles with various possible precedents in earlier rabbinic literature for such an under…[Read more]

This article reflects on the pedagogical legacy of bell hooks.