Jesus Christ, Glory and Cognition. Is Eph 1:15–23 a Judaistic and/or Hellenistic Christian Text?

The paper is an interpretation of Eph 1:15-23 which is a consequence of the shorter version of Eph 1:15 (without the words: τὴν ἀγάπην). It is an attempt to answer the question of who the “saints” are in this verse and the entire pericope, what background (Hellenistic or Judaic) this concept has, and what was the character of the church community in this city in the post-Pauline period. The method used in this paper consists of historical and contextual analysis of lexicographical end ideological material used in the pericope. The first step is a study of the rhetorical structure of Eph as the instrument for interpretation of the role of the pericope in the meaning of the text. The second part of the paper is presented the binary way of exposition: in the language of Judaism and in the Hellenistic terms. From this perspective the category of “saints” is described. From this analysis it is concluded: “saints” are the group belonging to the Judeo-Christian component of the Church, the political substructure of the Church but not in terms of the separation, but of the pluralistic unity.

THE UNPREDICTABLE EXPLOSIVE DISPERSAL MECHANISM OF A PRICKLY NEOTROPICAL Solanum (SOLANACEAE)

The mechanism of explosive dehiscence is rare in fruits in Solanum (Solanaceae), being reported for Solanum sect. Gonatotricum, a small non-aculeate group belonging to the Brevantherum clade. We tested empirically the presence of this strategy in populations of the closely related S. mellobarretoi and S. leptostachys, species belonging to the Leptostemonum clade, a group that comprises most aculeate species of the genus. Our results showed the occurrence of the explosive dehiscence in berries of S. mellobarretoi, but not in S. leptostachys, besides their phylogenetic and morphological similarities. We confirmed the homoplasic nature of the mechanism within the genus and highlight the importance of conducting empirical studies, contributing to reduce knowledge gaps on seed dispersal in the Neotropics.

Legacies of war: Syrian narratives of conflict and visions of peace

This article is interested in the formation of war legacies and how they interact with social identities. It suggests a bottom-up approach towards examining the societal processes in which individuals create a legacy of war. It posits that through their narratives of conflict, by remembering what happened to them as a group, they mould the meaning and boundaries of how the group will be membered post-conflict. The validity of the theorised link between war memory and group membership is then tested in the case of Syria. In 200 interviews, Syrians provided their narratives of the conflict and their vision of a future Syrian state and society. The findings show that most respondents’ narratives follow a civic rationale, forming a society around civil rights and political ideas rather than around ethnic/sectarian divides. With this, the article contributes a new route for international relations scholars to understand the formation of war legacies through individuals’ narratives of conflict and explains their effects on ties of group belonging while also offering a glimpse into the Syrian ‘we’ amid the ongoing war in Syria.

Shopping to belong: Testing and advancement of a framework on consumer behaviour aimed to promote belonging

Much research has been conducted on how consumption is related to human relations, for example, consumer communities organized around specific brands or the way people use products to define their own identity and transmit a desired image. However, only a scarcity of research has examined the consumption process when the fundamental intention is to leverage group belonging. The literature comprises a single theoretical framework that describes this behaviour, a nascent proposition that has not been tested. This study reviews the transferability of the model and its descriptive extent of the phenomenon in a different context than the one originally used for its proposal. A qualitative deductive case study and a pattern matching analysis technique were employed. The findings revealed that the model is transferable, thus revealing its suitability for future research on consumer behaviour intentionally aimed to promote belonging. The study also expands the framework with precisions on its conceptualization.

How Variations in Behavior and Phenotype Affect In-Group Stereotyping and Belonging Among African American Adolescents and Emerging Adults

The present study based on social identity theory and phenotypic bias models examined how variations in phenotype and behavior related to in-group belonging and stereotyping for African American adolescents and emerging adults. Although ethnic-racial typicality is often considered as either phenotypic or behavioral, little research has investigated the interaction of these two dimensions. Forty African American high school students ( Mage = 15.38, SD = 0.81) and 42 college students ( Mage = 19.55, SD = 1.35) watched animated clips of African American male characters varying in typicality. Participants rated the character’s stereotypical traits, academic potential, and likelihood of intraracial group belonging. Results showed that characters who were stereotypical in behavior were rated with higher averages of stereotypical traits, lower averages of counterstereotypical traits, and more likely to belong than were characters with less-typical behaviors. There was also an interaction between a character’s behavior and phenotype for judgments of academic potential among high school students, but not college students. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for African American youth are discussed.

A review of the tiger moth genus Amerila Walker, 1855 from Flores Island, Indonesia, with a description of a new species (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

The Flores Island is a part of the East Nusa Tenggara Group belonging to the Lesser Sunda Archipelago. The Lepidoptera fauna of this remote island comprises two species of the genus Amerila Walker, 1855, i.e. Amerila astreus (Drury, 1773) and Amerila rosenfeldae sp. nov. The first species is widespread from India and Southeast Asia to New Guinea, while the latter taxon appears to represent a lineage endemic to Flores.