This article primarily examines the question if the Acts of the Apostles portrays Paul as being fullyTorah observant. This question secondarily coheres with the question if it can be derived fromActs whether it was expected of all Christ-believers from the loudaioi to fully adhere to the Torah,or that such a belief was universal in the early church. The conclusions on all of these questions arenegative. These conclusions are reached by way of analysing these claims against the text of Acts(mainly 15:1–35; (...) 16:3; 18:18; 21:17–26; 21:39; 22:3, 23:6 and 26:5) in comparison with the principlePaul laid out in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 to be everything to everyone. The latter principle is foundto be compatible with the narrative in Acts, although the difference in the approaches of Luke andPaul is acknowledged, especially in terms of their portrayal of the Mosaic Law. (shrink)

Various approaches to Paul's relationship with the Roman Empire have come to the fore, including those who see Paul's discourse as anti-imperial, pro-imperial, ambiguous towards empire and those who argue that Paul's discourse transcends that of empire. The nature and influence of the Roman Empire are examined, and the various scholarly approaches to Paul's relationship to empire are considered. Romans 13:1-7 is used as a test case to better understand Paul's stance towards the Roman Empire or government authorities in general. (...) Although it has been argued that Paul's stance towards empire was influenced by 'Jewish apocalyptic', in this contribution, it is argued that Paul's eschatology as laid out in his letters rather than 'Jewish apocalyptic' as such is key to understanding the seemingly ambiguous statements about the Roman Empire in his letters. CONTRIBUTION: This article's contribution mainly lies in its approach to understand Paul's relationship to the Roman Empire from the perspective of his own eschatology. Here, traditional understandings of Paul's relationship to empire is put in a larger perspective, which contributes in solving Paul's seemingly ambiguous stance towards Roman authority. (shrink)

In social identity theory, the in-Christ identity is understood as primarily a socially directed process in which people categorise themselves relative to other groups. Intergroup behaviour would cause them to discriminate against the so-called ‘outgroup’, favouring the so-called ‘ingroup’. Although social identity complexity theory has moved beyond single ingroup-outgroup categorisation, it is a question if social identity theories can fully account for the in-Christ identity, especially within an African context. In African religious identity, identity is linked to both the community (...) and the ruling deities, which are perceived to be real entities that intervene in human affairs and identity, presupposing a supernaturalistic epistemology. Contribution: In this contribution, the naturalistic epistemological underpinnings of social identity theories are reconsidered in light of a supernatural aspect that is argued to be constitutive of the 1st century in-Christ identity as well as the African Christian identity. Amid current approaches to the in-Christ identity, which is mainly a Pauline concept, some of the main Pauline texts that have bearing on the in-Christ identity are revisited in light of current theories and epistemologies on identity. (shrink)

The Radical New Perspective on Paul distinguishes between two subgroups of believers in Christ in Paul’s time: gentile believers and Jewish or Judaean believers. The same distinction is utilised in supporting contemporary Messianic Judaism, which presupposes an ongoing covenantal relationship between God and contemporary Jews that exists over and above Christianity. Many proponents of Christian Zionism, a Christian movement that envisions the Jews’ return to the land of Israel, utilise aspects of both the Radical New Perspective on Paul and Messianic (...) Judaism in support of their beliefs. Ironically, while the Radical New Perspective on Paul is a certain product of post-holocaust theology, Christian Zionism can be perceived as a perpetuation of a kind of imperial theology that brings injustice to Palestinian people, especially in view of a post-imperial South African context. While none of these connections are inevitable, to point out the relationship between these approaches to identity serves to rethink some of the preconceived notions behind them, as well as some of the (unintended) consequences that arise from them. (shrink)

Within the ethnic-reasoning position, which has gained momentum in recent years, it is argued that in the in-Christ identity there exists no dichotomy between natural, physical relationships and constructed, made-up relationships. Ethnicity is viewed as fluid and changeable and as including the category of religion, which is understood as involving a nation's culture and their cultic and ritualistic practices. Yet, it is a question whether these notions are compatible with the way in which the in-Christ identity is portrayed, especially by (...) Paul. In terms of the theological way in which ethnicity and even religious practices are portrayed, they rather belong to the domain of humanness or human conduct, and thus to the anthropological domain. In contrast, believers' relation to Abraham and their new mode of identity in the S/spirit is portrayed as being in contrast with the anthropological domain or the domain of 'flesh', which includes things such as ethnicity, human conduct and even religious practices. This tension between divine identity and human or natural identity in the New Testament is accounted for and applied to the ethnic-reasoning position, which also influences the way in which the in-Christ identity finds cultural expression in the lives of present-day readers. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Zur Zahlenlehre im Platonismus (Neuplatonismus) und " lm Yezzra PHILIP MERLAN VOR MEHRERENJahrzehnten hat Baeck die These aufgestellt, dass die Philosophie yon Proclus die Quelle yon Sefer Yezira ist. 1 Diese These ist yon Hebr~iisten abgelehnt worden~(eigentlich ohne Angabe yon Grfinden), yon Griizisten unbeachtet geblieben. Der vorliegende Aufsatz unternimmt es, dieselbe yon gr~zistischer Seite zu stfitzen. Doch geschieht dies in strikter Beschr~nkung auf die Zahlenlehre des 1. Kapitels (...) yon Sefer Yezira, d.h. des :Kapitels, worin die Lehre yon der allumgreifenden Wirkung der ersten zehn Ziffern8 vorgetragen wird. Von den Themen von Plotins Enn. VI 6 sind einige yon besonderem Interesse fiir unser Problem. Vor allem beweist Plotin, dass Zahlen nicht etwa das Produkt unseres Abstrahierens yon gez~ihlten Dingen oder das des z~ihlenden Subjekts sind, dass sie vielmehr vor den geziihlten Dingen und unabhiingig yon ihrem Gedachtwerden existieren~--genau so wie die iibrigen Intelligibilien, gleich Ideen. ~ Auch diese existieren ~a~,, nicht ~,vol~. Zweitens beweist Plotin, dass der 'Ort' an dem diese Zahlen existieren, im Bereich des Intelligiblen liegt. Dabei spaltet aber Plotin diesen Bereich dreifach. Sonst ist ibm der Bereich des Intelligiblen einfach gleichbedeutend mit dem der Intelligenz; in anderen Worten, sonst ist ihm der Bereieh des Intelligiblen einfach gleiehbedeutend mit der zweiten Hypostase. Und sonst bleibt ihm diese zweite Hypostase ungespalten. Hier unterscheidet aber Plotin drei Unterbereiche des Intelligiblen. Der oberste ist das Seiende; der mittlere ist Intelligenz; der unterste ist Lebewesen. 6 1Leo Baeck, "Zum Sepher Jezira," Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 70 ~TN. F. 34 (1926),S. 371-376;78 = N. F. 42 (1934), S. 448-455. So von G. ~ajda, Introduction a la pens$ejuive du Moyen Age (Paris, 1947), S. 17, Anm. 1; G. Scholem, Ursprung und Anfdnge der Kabbala (Berlin, 1962),S. 24, Anm. 42. Immerhin gibt Scholem zu, dass Sefer Yezira yon grieehischen Quellen beeinflusst ist. So iibersetze ich sephiroth, um an die MSgliehkeit zu erinnern, dasses sich um dasselbe Wort handeln mag, dessen arabische Form (sift, sefr) in so viele Sprachen als Ziffer eingegangen ist. 4Zun~chst wehrt Plotin eine Plato-Interpretation ab, die aus ihm (offenbar aus Epinomis 978C-D) herauslesen wfirde, dass er die Zahl nur als Produkt des Z~ihlensyon ala~r& angesehen hat (4, 11-20). Er rut es, indem er Plato unterschiebt, er habe vom aX,10Lvb~~m0~6~gesprochen, der realiter existiert und an den die Seele sich erinnert, wean sie a'LaO~r&wahrnimmt (20-24). 5 6, 5-19. Cf. 9, 5-6. e el ~ rSO~V7rp~rov ~e~ ~afle~v ~rp~vov 5v, civetvo~z~, e~ra v5 ~ov... (8, 17-18; of. 1-2; 15, 2-3). Diese Triade ist offenbar aus Platos Sophistes 248 E-249 B und Timaeus 39 E abgeleitet. [167] 168 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Was wir vor uns haben ist natiirlich die Triade Sein-Intelligieren-Leben, die im sp~iteren Neuplatonismus immer wieder, bei Plotin aber, wenn auch unmissverst ~indlich, doch nur gelegentlich auftaucht. Und die Zahl hat ikren Oft im obersten dieser drei Bereiche, dem des Seienden/ Die Zahl schw~ngert nun sozusagen das Seiende und ist so Ursache yon dessen Geburtswehen, unter denen das Seiende die Vielheit der seienden 'Dinge' zur Welt bringt, d.h. sich in seiende 'Dinge' vervielf~ltigt.8 So geht also die Zahl der 'Ents~ehung '9 der seienden 'Dinge' voran. Und die seienden 'Dinge' (gleich Ideen; siehe unten) habe Plato deswegen als Henaden und Zahlen bezeichnet.1~ Daher bezeichnet Plotin die Zahlen als Fundament, Quelle, Wurzel, Prinzip der seienden Dinge. n Dutch die Zahlen oder durch das zur Zahl gewordene Seiende sind die seienden 'Dinge' mit dem Seienden verknfipft.~2 Die Zahlen, yon denen bisher gesprochen wurde, sind natfirlich nicht Zahlen im gewShnlichen Wortsinn. Vielmehr unterscheidet sie Plotin als erste, wahrhafte, wesentliche Zahlen yon monadischen Zahlen?3 In diesem Zusammenhang aber bezeichnet 'monadisch' Zahlen, die aus Einheiten zusammengesetzt sind. Im Unterschied yon ihnen sind die wesentlichen (ersten, wahrhaften) Zahlen nicht aus Einheiten zusammengesetzt. Es scheint demnach, dass Plotin den ZaMen weder Priorit~tt noch Posterioritiit dem Seienden gegenfiber zuschreibt (er bezeichnet gelegentlieh das Seiende einfach Ms ZaM).14Sowie das Seiende aus dem Ureinen (so wird hier Plotins oberstes Prinzip bezeichnet werden) entspringt und zu sich kommt... (shrink)

Cet article discute l’analyse en termes de DP qui domine actuellement dans la grammaire générative chomskienne, à savoir, l’idée que la tête du groupe nominal est le déterminant, plutôt que le nom. Nous commençons par une discussion des notions de tête et de dépendance et passons en revue différents critères classiques permettant de décider quel élément est la tête dans une construction donnée. Sur base de ceux-ci, nous proposons une série d’arguments suggérant que la position classique est en réalité la (...) bonne et que c’est bien le nom qui est la tête du groupe nominal. Nous étudions ensuite une série d’arguments et d’analyses spécifiques qui ont été avancés en faveur de l’analyse en termes de DP et montrons pourquoi nous ne les considérons pas comme convaincants. En conclusion, nous notons que le choix entre les analyses NP et DP n’est peut-être pas une question empiriquement décidable si l’on s’autorise les représentations syntaxiques très abstraites qui sont actuellement en vogue dans le cadre de la linguistique générative chomskienne. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: This article attempts to define the status of the political order in Pascal's thought by examining the coherence of the fragments on custom, imagination, force and justice in the Pensées. Situating this order between divine Justice and unjust human justice, Pascal offers a contribution to the Augustinian account of the relationship between moral and political existence by his description of the experience of temporal authority and of the spiritual skill which that experience requires.

Monetary intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the dark side of monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics—dishonesty. Dishonesty, a risky prospect, involves cost–benefit analysis of self-interest. We frame good or bad barrels in the environmental context as a proxy of high or low probability of getting caught for dishonesty, respectively. We theorize: The magnitude and intensity of (...) the relationship between love of money and dishonest prospect may reveal how individuals frame dishonesty in the context of two levels of subjective norm—perceived corporate ethical values at the micro-level and Corruption Perceptions Index at the macro-level, collected from multiple sources. Based on 6382 managers in 31 geopolitical entities across six continents, our cross-level three-way interaction effect illustrates: As expected, managers in good barrels, mixed barrels, and bad barrels display low, medium, and high magnitude of dishonesty, respectively. With high CEV, the intensity is the same across cultures. With low CEV, the intensity of dishonesty is the highest in high CPI entities —the Enron Effect, but the lowest in low CPI entities. CPI has a strong impact on the magnitude of dishonesty, whereas CEV has a strong impact on the intensity of dishonesty. We demonstrate dishonesty in light of monetary values and two frames of social norm, revealing critical implications to the field of behavioral economics and business ethics. (shrink)

Monetary Intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the bright side of Monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics, frames money attitude in the context of pay and life satisfaction, and controls money at the macro-level and micro-level. We theorize: Managers with low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior will have high subjective well-being: pay satisfaction and (...) quality of life. Data collected from 6586 managers in 32 cultures across six continents support our theory. Interestingly, GDP per capita is related to life satisfaction, but not to pay satisfaction. Individual income is related to both life and pay satisfaction. Neither GDP nor income is related to Happiness. Our theoretical model across three GDP groups offers new discoveries: In high GDP entities, “high income” not only reduces aspirations—“Rich, Motivator, and Power,” but also promotes stewardship behavior—“Budget, Give/Donate, and Contribute” and appreciation of “Achievement.” After controlling income, we demonstrate the bright side of Monetary Intelligence: Low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior define Monetary Intelligence. “Good apples enjoy good quality of life in good barrels.” This notion adds another explanation to managers’ low magnitude of dishonesty in entities with high Corruption Perceptions Index. In low GDP entities, high income is related to poor Budgeting skills and escalated Happiness. These managers experience equal satisfaction with pay and life. We add a new vocabulary to the conversation of monetary intelligence, income, GDP, happiness, subjective well-being, good and bad apples and barrels, corruption, and behavioral ethics. (shrink)

Au cours des années 1770, ayant trouvé sa vocation de réformateur du droit et guidé par le principe du plus grand bonheur du plus grand nombre, Jeremy Bentham rassemble ses idées dans de volumineux manuscrits qu’il classe sous le titre de « principes préparatoires ». La publication récente de ces feuillets par Douglas Long et Philip Schofield entr’ouvre la porte de l’atelier du philosophe au tout début de sa carrière. Car la décennie 1770 est particulièrement féconde pour Bentham. C’est (...) pend... (shrink)

Corruption involves greed, money, and risky decision-making. We explore the love of money, pay satisfaction, probability of risk, and dishonesty across cultures. Avaricious monetary aspiration breeds unethicality. Prospect theory frames decisions in the gains-losses domain and high-low probability. Pay dissatisfaction (in the losses domain) incites dishonesty in the name of justice at the individual level. The Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI, signals a high-low probability of getting caught for dishonesty at the country level. We theorize that decision-makers adopt avaricious love-of-money aspiration (...) as a lens and frame dishonesty in the gains-losses domain (pay satisfaction-dissatisfaction, Level 1) and high-low probability (CPI, Level 2) to maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity. We challenge the myth: Pay satisfaction mitigates dishonesty across nations consistently. Based on 6500 managers in 32 countries, our cross-level three-dimensional visualization offers the following discoveries. Under high aspiration conditions, pay dissatisfaction excites the highest- (third-highest) avaricious justice-seeking dishonesty in high (medium) CPI nations, supporting the certainty effect. However, pay satisfaction provokes the second-highest avaricious opportunity-seizing dishonesty in low CPI entities, sustaining the possibility effect—maximizing expected utility. Under low aspiration conditions, high pay satisfaction consistently leads to low dishonesty, demonstrating risk aversion—achieving ultimate serenity. We expand prospect theory from a micro and individual-level theory to a cross-level theory of monetary wisdom across 32 nations. We enhance the S-shaped Curve to three 3-D corruption surfaces across three levels of the global economic pyramid, providing novel insights into behavioral economics, business ethics, the environment, and responsibility. (shrink)

Si l'on a pu dire que la philosophie analytique, sous l'influence du positivisme logique, a longtemps accordé un statut privilégié à la logique et aux sciences de la nature - parfois au point d'y réduire tout ce à quoi la philosophie peut légitimement prétendre -, il semble désormais que cette conception trop étroite doive laisser place à une étude globale des différentes institutions de la culture, étude dont Morton White entreprend ici la justification philosophique. A la lumière du holisme scientifique (...) de Duhem et de Quine, l'auteur renouvelle les approches de James, de Dewey et des autres représentants de cette grande tradition de la pensée américaine qu'est le pragmatisme. Il nous propose ainsi une véritable reconception de la philosophie dans ses rapports aux sciences et à la culture. (shrink)

Cet article aborde trois piliers essentiels de la culture maya : l’idée du monde comme un tout harmonieux au sein duquel tous les êtres vivants possèdent une âme ; l’idée de l’homme comme créature responsable de la planète et l’idée du temps envisagé de manière cyclique plutôt que linéaire, comme un devenir infini qui régit le monde et les hommes. L’idée de l’homme chez les Mayas de l’époque préhispanique a été recueillie principalement dans le Popol Vuh, un livre sacré de (...) l’ethnie quiché, écrit par les Mayas eux-mêmes une décennie après la conquête espagnole et dont les conceptions demeurent en partie valides pour les Mayas d’aujourd’hui, notamment la fraternité humain-animal et le devoir qu’ont les hommes de protéger le monde et de veiller à sa préservation. Ces diverses idées sont fondamentales pour ces peuples qui ont réussi à transcender le monde matériel afin d’y déceler des significations plus profondes dans la recherche d’une véritable harmonie cosmique. (shrink)

Cet article aborde trois piliers essentiels de la culture maya : l’idée du monde comme un tout harmonieux au sein duquel tous les êtres vivants possèdent une âme ; l’idée de l’homme comme créature responsable de la planète et l’idée du temps envisagé de manière cyclique plutôt que linéaire, comme un devenir infini qui régit le monde et les hommes. L’idée de l’homme chez les Mayas de l’époque préhispanique a été recueillie principalement dans le Popol Vuh, un livre sacré de (...) l’ethnie quiché, écrit par les Mayas eux-mêmes une décennie après la conquête espagnole et dont les conceptions demeurent en partie valides pour les Mayas d’aujourd’hui, notamment la fraternité humain-animal et le devoir qu’ont les hommes de protéger le monde et de veiller à sa préservation. Ces diverses idées sont fondamentales pour ces peuples qui ont réussi à transcender le monde matériel afin d’y déceler des significations plus profondes dans la recherche d’une véritable harmonie cosmique. (shrink)

La question de fond traitée dans cet article est celle des rapports entre la science et la philosophie. Cette question est abordée par le biais d'une considération de la critique de la science élaborée par la phénoménologie. La philosophie de Merleau-Ponty sert d'exemple de la position phénoménologique. Le but de l'article est de démontrer l'insuffisance de la position de Merleau-Ponty — et, par extension, de la phénoménologie en général — en ce qui concerne son appréciation de la nature véritable du (...) projet scientifique. A cette fin, on essaie de saisir le sens véritable des développements récents dans la science en examinant quatre cas particuliers : la physique nucléaire, la psychologie, la biologie moléculaire, la cybernétique. Le résultat de cette analyse est de montrer que la lecture que faisait Merleau-Ponty des visées et des tendances de la science était erronée et que la position classique de la phénoménologie est indéfendable. Comme, cependant, l'auteur se trouve en accord avec la motivation profonde de Merleau-Ponty et de la phénoménologie en ce qui concerne l'irréductibilité du sujet ou de la conscience à l'objectivisme scientifique, il est alors amené à se demander ce que pourrait être une position phénoménologique satisfaisante vis-à-vis de la science. C'est ainsi que l'article se termine par une critique de toute position positiviste en philosophie et par une tentative d'indiquer ce que devrait être la véritable nature du discours philosophique, une fois que celui-ci est purifié de tout empirisme, c'est-à-dire de toute prétention à des connaissances positives.The basic question delt with in this article is that of the relation between science and philosophy. This question is approached through a consideration of the phenomenological critique of science. The philosophy of Merleau-Ponty is taken as an example of the phenomenological position. The aim of the article is to show the insufficiency of Merleau-Ponty's position — and, by implication, of phenomenology in general — as regards his estimation of the true nature of the scientific project. To this end an attempt is made to seize hold of the true meaning of recent developments in science by examining four special instances : nuclear physics, psychology, molecular biology, cybernetics. The result of this analysis is to show that Merleau-Ponty's interpretation of aims and tendencies of science was mistaken and that the position normally taken by phenomenology cannot be defended. As, however, the author is in agreement with the basic motivation of Merleau-Ponty and of phenomenology as regard the irreducibility of the subject or consciousness to scientific objectivism, he is thus led to ask what might be a satisfactory phenomenological position vis-a-is science. The article thus ends a critique of all positivist positions in philosophy and with an attempt to indicate what must be the true nature of philosophical discourse, once this has been purified of all empirical elements, i.e., of all claims to positive knowledge. (shrink)