The Theoretical Approach of Indigenization of Chinese Protestant Theology in the First Half of the 20th Century

From the early 20th century, Chinese “Indigenous Theology” served as the main line in the development of Chinese Protestant theology. It represents an important orientation in the communications between Chinese and Western culture as well as the development of modern Chinese thought. Chinese Indigenous Theology was the theoretical result of the combination of Chinese and Western religious spirit and thought, with a strong background of traditional Chinese culture. Its main purpose was to interpret and develop modern Chinese Protestant thought within the frame of Chinese traditional culture, mainly Confucianism, and to construct a native Christian theology with Chinese characteristics. As will become obvious, the theoretical construction of Indigenous Theology caused Western Protestant theology, with its fundamental spirit of "Dichotomy between God and Man" and its thought pattern of “External Transcendence”, to Chinese Indigenous Theology, grounded on a "Unity of God and Man" and a “Internal Transcendence”. However, due to excessive adherence to the historical experience of Indigenization, modern Chinese Protestant theology came to lack a sufficient response to and discussion of the issues of modernization and universalization. In this paper, both the theoretical achievements and the shortcomings of Chinese Indigenous Theology will be summarized and reviewed carefully.

The impact of social isolation and changes in work patterns on ongoing thought during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns in countries across the world, changing the lives of billions of people. The United Kingdom’s first national lockdown, for example, restricted people’s ability to socialize and work. The current study examined how changes to socializing and working during this lockdown impacted ongoing thought patterns in daily life. We compared the prevalence of thought patterns between two independent real-world, experience-sampling cohorts, collected before and during lockdown. In both samples, young (18 to 35 y) and older (55+ y) participants completed experience-sampling measures five times daily for 7 d. Dimension reduction was applied to these data to identify common “patterns of thought.” Linear mixed modeling compared the prevalence of each thought pattern 1) before and during lockdown, 2) in different age groups, and 3) across different social and activity contexts. During lockdown, when people were alone, social thinking was reduced, but on the rare occasions when social interactions were possible, we observed a greater increase in social thinking than prelockdown. Furthermore, lockdown was associated with a reduction in future-directed problem solving, but this thought pattern was reinstated when individuals engaged in work. Therefore, our study suggests that the lockdown led to significant changes in ongoing thought patterns in daily life and that these changes were associated with changes to our daily routine that occurred during lockdown.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE IGBO COSMOLOGIC-ONTOLOGICAL CONCEPTION AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD: A PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION

Practically speaking, the way people understand reality (ontology) cuts across the nexus of their thought pattern, belief system and consequently their general attitude to life. Hence, ontology and cosmology are at the basis of Igbo conception of reality and also the spiritual and physical operations of the human world. It is an established fact that a traditional Igbo would like to hold tenaciously to the already established concepts by the Igbo forebears. Hence, any attempt at a critical analysis of these accepted concepts are quickly waved off with such statements as: it has been so and has to remain so. For the Igbo, it is morally wrong to question the wisdom of the ancestors. The wisdom of the ancestors is to be cherished, preserved and propagated to the future generations and not to be questioned or criticized. But materiality is part of reality. As such, neither the created beings nor the universe in general are static but rather dynamic. Dynamism is the natural condition of existence in the world of the moving and sensible reality. Hence, peoples concepts of reality should be necessarily subjected to constant evaluation and re-evaluation in order to ascertain their validity. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to challenge and encourage Igbo-African scholars to delve into many traditional concepts as to critically evaluate them either to discover the truth hidden in them or to make possible the attainment of certainty. However, the research adopts primarily the method of philosophical appraisal to reach to the goal of the research.

How Associative Thinking Influences Scene Perception

Perception of our external environment is not isolated from the influence of our internal thoughts. Here, we investigate the nature of their interaction. We argue that a common associative mechanism underlies both the perception of scenes and our internal thoughts, and in three experiments hypothesize that there is a functional advantage to an associative thought pattern in the perception of scenes. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that associative thinking indeed facilitates scene perception, an effect that evolved over the course of the experiments. Experiment 3 showed that associative thinking hinders the perception of individual, isolated objects, in which associative information is minimized, but that object perception is facilitated when associative thinking is reduced. This double dissociation reveals that a match between the orientation of internal and external processing is key for perception, suggesting that an associative mind is more receptive of externally perceived associative information.

Students' thought pattern concerning the greenhouse effect

This study aims at investigating the Physics students' thought patterns concern-ing the greenhouse effect. Descriptive analysis was used, including the set of qualitative data. These data were then interpreted for their idea and content inductively to recognize students' thoughts and models concerning the greenhouse effect. The result confirmed three patterns of the students' thoughts concerning the greenhouse effect (patterns A, B, and C). The model covered different concepts, mechanisms, and processes of the greenhouse effect. The students' knowledge from science teacher explanations and books is not the only learning source concerning the educational environment. The issue and broadcast media frequently carry out confusing the concepts. This research is expected to provide physics teachers critical information to develop appropriate teaching methods and strategies concerning these topics.

Message of Biblical Apocalyptic Literature and its Relevance for Contemporary Christianity in Ghana

Undoubtedly, apocalyptic literature is among the difficult literature to understand and to interpret due to its literary genre and mode of communication which is often in the form of visions. Though weird symbols and images shrouded in secrets and coded language are the content of these visions, the literature [those in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures] has been both an inspiration and a mystery to Christians in particular and Ghanaian Christians in general. Apart from serving as a motivational tool for Christians to know that true authority and power belongs to God, and among others, the literature also offers hope to Ghanaian Christians of the impending judgment at the end of this age. Though the literature has not been rightly handled by some Ghanaian pastors and Christians, the unending effect has made people hope in the Lord. This paper, therefore, contributes to the general knowledge of apocalyptic literature and accentuates how its message in the Judeo-Christian scriptures have greatly influenced the beliefs, lifestyle, and thought pattern of Ghanaians in general, and contemporary Christianity in Ghana, in particular; making them live in consonance with the message of the biblical apocalyptic literature which encourage them to develop a certain kind of belief, thought pattern, and lifestyles different from an ordinary individual, and not otherwise. Keywords: Apocalyptic literature, apocalypse, apocalypticism, apocalyptic eschatology, Ghanaian Christianity

Negotiating Quality in Curriculum Development – A Process of Finding a Compromise for Different Stakeholder Agendas

The research article reports on curriculum quality for an ODL setting in the context of a digital era, from a perspective of a broader educational stakeholder environment. The literature research paper ask the question with regards to divergent, dynamic and sometimes conflicting perspectives and agendas of different stakeholders in the broader education spectrum in an ODL setting. The research paper establishes a thought pattern in searching for the best answer or a compromise with regard to stakeholder agendas by illustrating and engaging in an applicable thought pattern on how evaluation and adjustment operate in an ODL curriculum model. The article asks and addresses specific issues about what is so special about ODL and therefore the value of stakeholder agenda and perspectives in curriculum development. The article assumes that there is a natural sequence in which to work in curriculum development and therefore identifies the research questions that has not been addressed sufficiently in literature with regard to the inter-connectedness and alignment of the components of curriculum development. Going through this analysis, the research will allude to the stakeholder agendas and therefore address the specific areas of compromise in curriculum development. The research adopts a qualitative case study research method.