The definition of life has been one of the greatest philosophical questions of mankind. In recent years, this debate had intensified due to the discovery of naturally occurring biological entities, such as viruses and prions, which lie at the boundary of what we consider as living. “Are viruses alive?” has turned out to be the largest vote swinging debate in an introductory course to microbiology [1], with 79% of the students changing their opinions before and after the debate compared to (...) genetic engineering (56% opinion swing) and childhood immunization (25% opinion swing). Using boundary cases as classification criteria, also known as the decision boundary or decision surface, had been well established [2]. (shrink)

Reason: The article, Kgatle, M.S., 2017, ‘The unusual practices within some Neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa: Reflections and recommendations’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 73, a4656. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i3.4656, published on 29 September 2017 in HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies has been retracted by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Andries van Aarde, because of sections of plagiarised text. Verbatim work was cited but presented to the readers as paraphrased from the original, providing the impression that the lifted passages were the author’s own words. The verbatim (...) text directly affects the findings of the paper and could not be removed. The article is hereby retracted to correct the publication record.We apologise for any inconvenience to the authors and readers of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies. (shrink)

One of the most beautiful and enigmatic texts in the corpus of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles is beyond doubt the so-called Hymn of the Pearl, whose meaning, however, is far from getting an academic consensus in the current bibliography. As A.F.J. Klijn in his «The So-Called Hymn of the Pearl », Vigiliae Christianae, vol. 14, n. 3 156, stated a coherent analysis of the poem should bring an answer to two main questions: «What is meant with the pearl? (...) and Who is the principal person in this hymn?». The following pages will try to propose a tenable meaning to this passage by allocating it in its due conceptual context and will offer a consequent hypothesis to those questions that remain still opened. (shrink)