Deaf people in Peru face enormous barriers to accessing the written Bible, mainly because a large majority are not literate in Spanish. When the Peruvian Bible Society began the translation of the Bible into Peruvian Sign Language, it was realized that the task involved more than simply interpreting the Spanish Bible. It is necessary to translate from the perspective of the Deaf community, respecting their natural language, which is not just signs, but also includes culture, identities, and soul. This translation has to come from them, from their hearts, not from a hearing perspective. The role of a sign language interpreter on the translation team is not just as an interpreter or exegete, but as a facilitator and guide in a process led by Deaf people. The work consists of supporting without imposing, strengthening the skills of the Deaf team, encouraging them to trust themselves and make linguistic decisions that ensure the biblical message is clear, faithful, and meaningful for their community. It has involved learning to relinquish the spotlight, to listen with the eyes, and to deeply value their leadership.
Shattered pellet injection (SPI) as primary mitigation method for major disruptions in ITER has a large parameter space available for optimization including the total amount of injected material, the size of the individual pellet fragments, the material composition, and the timing of multiple injections. This flexibility needs to be exploited to simultaneously minimize thermal heat loads, electromagnetic vessel forces, and formation of relativistic electrons and their impacts on plasma facing components. In this article, we apply 3D non-linear magnetohydrodynamic modelling to SPI experiments in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak, going beyond our previous work [Tang et al Nucl. Fusion 65 116003 (2025)] by resolving some discrepancies between simulations and experiment and thus opening the path to quantitative model validation and experiment interpretation. The key element that enables the transition from merely qualitative comparisons to quantitatively reliable predictions of the thermal quench duration and the radiation fraction is the incorporation of a simplified treatment of parallel heat-flux limiting. The work increases the confidence of matching the key processes of disruption mitigation with this high fidelity modelling in view of predictive studies for ITER.
The production cross-section of high-mass $τ$-lepton pairs is measured as a function of the dilepton visible invariant mass, using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement agrees with the predictions of the Standard Model. A fit to the invariant mass distribution is performed as a function of $b$-jet multiplicity, to constrain the non-resonant production of new particles described by an effective field theory or in models containing leptoquarks or $Z'$ bosons that couple preferentially to third-generation fermions. The constraints on new particles improve on previous results, and the constraints on effective operators include those affecting the anomalous magnetic moment of the $τ$-lepton.
Shepherd leadership is often understood as a form of leadership that takes place within the Church. However, it can also be effectively implemented in other settings, such as schools. In fact, schools may be one of the most ideal environments for shepherd leadership, as they require significant daily interaction among principals, teachers, and students. Shepherd leadership is especially important in schools because a principal cannot achieve the ultimate goals of education alone. It is therefore critical to have teachers who share the school's vision and mission. The purpose of this study is to explore in greater depth how shepherd leadership can transform teachers' understanding of a Christian worldview in their teaching, and how this transformation relates to discipleship in Christ. This research collects data to reveal how shepherd leadership is implemented in the school, how teachers respond to the principal’s leadership, and how their worldviews are transformed as a result.
Christianity, Practical religion. The Christian life
Evangelicals living in a democracy are faced with the pressures of constitutionalism and the influence of secularism. These two forces unsettle God from the public spaces and enhance decadent culture. This article addresses the current challenges Evangelicals face in the decadent culture of democracy in South Africa. The essence of the proposal is how South African Evangelicals should maintain their confession, while surrounded by unethical practices of corruption and greed. An interdisciplinary approach is followed, so literature from the disciplines of Church History, Systematic Theology, Ethics, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Studies are reviewed to address the problem. The history of the Evangelical faith and the rationale behind Evangelical awakenings open the discussion into the presentation. The Evangelical dogma is highlighted, followed by the definition of democracy with its entrenched decadent culture. Church, government, and the family are identified as places of contestation, where Evangelicals sense the threat to their doctrinal tenets. The challenge faced by Evangelicals can be addressed by remaining evangelically rooted and by holding unswervingly to three major doctrinal tenets, which are the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of human depravity, and in the belief that the Bible is the measure of faith and conduct.
Poverty remains a critical socio-economic challenge in South Africa, deeply rooted in the country’s history of colonialism and apartheid. This article examines the multifaceted role of churches in poverty alleviation efforts in South Africa, spanning both historical and contemporary contexts. Through analysis of historical records and contemporary literature, it argues that while churches have significantly addressed poverty, a more comprehensive and transformative approach is needed. The study proposes adopting a missional ecclesiology framework to enhance the effectiveness of church-led poverty alleviation initiatives, offering insights into how churches can engage more deeply and sustainably in the fight against poverty.
Contribution: This research contributes to existing scholarship by: (1) Providing a comprehensive historical analysis of church involvement in poverty alleviation in South Africa. (2) Critically examining challenges and opportunities in contemporary church-led poverty alleviation efforts. (3) Proposing missional ecclesiology as a framework for enhancing church-based poverty alleviation initiatives. (4) Offering practical recommendations for churches to address poverty within South Africa’s unique socio-economic context.
József Balogh, The Nguyen, Patric R. J. Ostergard
et al.
We present a general method to modify existing uniquely decodable codes in the $T$-user binary adder channel. If at least one of the original constituent codes does not have average weight exactly half of the dimension, then our method produces a new set of constituent codes in a higher dimension, with a strictly higher rate. Using our method we improve the highest known rate for the $T$-user binary adder channel for all $T \geq 2$. This information theory problem is equivalent to co-Sidon problems initiated by Lindstr{ö}m in the 1960s, and also the multi-set union-free problem. Our results improve the known lower bounds in these settings as well.
The article deals with Spanish set expressions that include a foreign proper name. The study overviews phraseological units, as well as proverbs and sayings included in the most important Spanish lexicographical works. Dealing with an onomastic (onymic) component requires the description of idioms, their origin, meaning and the degree of linguistic actuality. The study of the selected number of set expressions and proverbs has revealed that some proper names may be considered as international precedent onyms (anthroponyms, mythonyms, poetonyms, etc.) This type of proper names may be interpreted as part of the world cultural legacy, since they are present in the onomastic fund of many languages and are considered a sort of linguistic constant formed throughout human history. Spanish national and cultural identity may be illustrated by idioms with a foreign toponym or anthroponym. Generally, those are set expressions and idioms that allude to some historical events and reflect Spanish military and political activities in the world arena, Spanish cultural and linguistic contacts in different periods. The study of idiomatic phrases, their origin and motivation has revealed the key sources to replenish the Spanish phraseological fund, which are world literature, cinema, classical mythology, the Bible, military and political activities. Chronologically, the majority of the analyzed idioms was created in the Middle Ages and the Modern period, however, foreign proper names continue to replenish the Spanish lexis, since there are many expressions and proverbs with a foreign onym that have been created in the recent centuries.
In 2011 and 2012 two important anniversaries were commemorated by church services, sermons, round tables, conferences and documentaries, during which hyperbolic acclamation (aka AVolatry) was showered on the so-called King James Bible (KJB), also known as the Authorized Version (AV), on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of its publication (1611) and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of its last official edition (1662), which is still in use (if so desired). Tributes were paid to the translators of the Bible and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who is considered to be the main author of the 1549 and 1552 editions, upon the latter of which subsequent editions published after his execution are based. These cornerstones of the liturgy of the Church of England, which, until the early nineteenth century, was the predominant church in the land, were claimed to have made an enormous contribution to the development and embellishment of the English language. However, one of the main aims of this article is to argue that this contribution deserves more critical scrutiny. When these two texts first appeared, the BCP in 1549, imposed on an unwilling people in place of the traditional Latin liturgy, was challenged by a serious rebellion, which was crushed with extreme violence by government forces. The KJB was considered to be nothing more than a new edition of the last (1602) printing of the Bishops’ Bible; in the words of the translators themselves: ‘… we never thought from the beginning, that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one … but to make a good one better’. The consecration of these two texts as ‘timeless classics’ was largely the work of the nineteenth century. In the second half of the twentieth century they were mostly replaced by contemporary versions. The ‘thou God’ has become the ‘you God’
This article reviews various works in progress relating to the Journal of Biblical Text Research ( JBTR), which is published biannually by the Institute for Biblical Text Research (IBTR) of the Korean Bible Society (KBS), and proposes possible future roles and functions of JBTR in Bible translation projects. Since 1997, fifty volumes including three supplementary volumes have been published by JBTR, comprising a total of 611 articles. In reviewing these publications, this article specifically focuses on: (1) the initial roles and functions of JBTR; (2) the Korean Translation Workshops (KTW) 2003–2009 and the publications of JBTR; (3) JBTR for Korean Bible translation projects; (4) the influence of The Bible Translator ( TBT) on JBTR; and (5) the future roles and functions of JBTR in Bible translation projects. The article demonstrates how journals have contributed and can continue to contribute to Bible translation projects in Bible societies in cooperation with the United Bible Societies fellowship. In addition, further possible projects that the journal can meaningfully undertake in order to broaden its ministry and contribution will be discussed.
In this paper, the influence of panbabylonism theories on the historical research in Russia during the pre-revolutionary and early Soviet eras was studied. The criticism of panbabylonism was discussed; the theories of its supporters were considered. The critics of panbabylonism were theologians (V.P. Rybinsky, N.S. Arsenyev) and historians (B.A. Turaev, N.M. Nikolsky). The strategies of their criticism were different. Theologians, who criticized the Assyriological narrative, used outdated theological theories based on the thesis of consistency of the Bible and God’s intervention in its creation, which, against the background of criticism from scholars, looked conservative, inappropriate, and unproven. The supporters of panbabylonism especially vividly proved themselves in the 1920s. In this period, when the Marxist approach to assessing historical events was not formed in the Soviet historiography, panbabylonism was used mainly to build a narrative that discredited religion and corresponded to the atheistic discourse of the Soviet government of that time.
It was concluded that panbabylonism was not initially accepted by Russian historians, but was revived in the 1920s, when it could match the goals of the Soviet government. Subsequently, the scholars accepted and developed many of the concepts of panbabylonism, such as initial polytheism of all Semitic tribes, borrowing of Babylonian cultural concepts by Israel and their indirect influence on Christianity; assyriologists began to research the development of babylonian mathematics and astronomy.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
Hernando Barrios Taos, Luis Carlos Jaime Murillo, Miguel Camelo Velásquez
A partir de un acercamiento al desarrollo histórico de la Teología Bíblica el estudio resalta los principales enfoques y métodos para su elaboración y presenta algunas reflexiones e interrogantes en relación la problemática en la elaboración de las teologías bíblicas. Al finalizar, en el marco de un cambio de paradigmas se presenta una propuesta de trabajo en dos direcciones: la consideración de las teologías de la Biblia y la apuesta por el pluralismo y la complementariedad en las metodologías exegéticas para el estudio de las teologías contenidas en la Biblia.
The time and opportunity have finally arrived for the next phase of Septuagint research. Even though not all the books of the LXX have been completed by the Septuaginta-Unternehmen in Göttingen, by far the largest number of books have been assigned and are being prepared. Thus, text-critical work has largely been completed, or is in the process of being prepared. The next phase, hermeneutical research, is at hand. This phase naturally requires correct methodology. This applies to an acceptable textual theory as well as to the reconstruction of the textual history of the LXX. This article takes the Septuagint of Proverbs as its point of comparison and discusses the following issues: novel research (monographs) and new research projects in conjunction with existing projects (exegetical commentaries, a theology of the Septuagint).
This article argues the following thesis: The distinctive characteristics of Philipp Melanchthon’s Explicatio Proverbiorum Salomonis (1525 and following years) and the differences between the several editions or versions of it can only partly be explained by the origins of the book in Melanchthon’s teaching activities during the ferment at German universities in the course of the sixteenth century Reformation. Both the peculiarities of the commentary itself and the way several differing versions of it were tolerated alongside one another only become explicable when a theological consideration is brought into the equation. On the one hand this resides in the view of Holy Scripture shared by Melanchthon and Martin Luther, and on the other hand in the humanist notion of context that Melanchthon’s exegetical work had in common with that of John Calvin.
This article discusses the meaning of ecclesiology and church polity as such, in relation to each other, but also in connection to church order which lies in the elongation of both. From a reformed perspective, it is indicated that the ecclesiology of the Netherdutch Reformed Church over the last fifty to hundred years, centred round the viewpoint of the Church as a volkskerk, in conjunction with the church orderly, of the Kerkwet till 1997. The author is of the opinion that the above-mentioned viewpoint limited the church to be a true church of the Word.
The Matthean redaction of Mark 7:30 in Matthew 15:28 often receives scant attention in scholarship in terms of its narrative quality. At most, it is regarded as a truncation of the full Marcan version, while all attention is given to Matthew’s introduction of the notion of ‘faith’ in this verse. This article argues, by contrast, and on the basis of a synoptic comparison and narratological analysis of both texts, that more justice is done to both versions of the conclusion of this healing miracle when understanding them as achieving different narrative effects, with Matthew focusing on the immediacy of the healing, while Mark creates suspense, thus focusing on the veracity of Jesus’ statement that the girl in question is healed.
The polarizations of prompt J/psi and psi(2S) mesons are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using a dimuon data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The prompt J/psi and psi(2S) polarization parameters lambda[theta], lambda[phi], and lambda[theta,phi], as well as the frame-invariant quantity lambda(tilde), are measured from the dimuon decay angular distributions in three different polarization frames. The J/psi results are obtained in the transverse momentum range 14 < pt < 70 GeV, in the rapidity intervals abs(y) < 0.6 and 0.6 < abs(y) < 1.2. The corresponding psi(2S) results cover 14 < pt < 50 GeV and include a third rapidity bin, 1.2 < abs(y) < 1.5. No evidence of large transverse or longitudinal polarizations is seen in these kinematic regions, which extend much beyond those previously explored.
The performance of all subsystems of the CMS muon detector has been studied by using a sample of proton--proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected at the LHC in 2010 that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 40 inverse picobarns. The measured distributions of the major operational parameters of the drift tube (DT), cathode strip chamber (CSC), and resistive plate chamber (RPC) systems met the design specifications. The spatial resolution per chamber was 80-120 micrometers in the DTs, 40-150 micrometers in the CSCs, and 0.8-1.2 centimeters in the RPCs. The time resolution achievable was 3 ns or better per chamber for all 3 systems. The efficiency for reconstructing hits and track segments originating from muons traversing the muon chambers was in the range 95-98%. The CSC and DT systems provided muon track segments for the CMS trigger with over 96% efficiency, and identified the correct triggering bunch crossing in over 99.5% of such events. The measured performance is well reproduced by Monte Carlo simulation of the muon system down to the level of individual channel response. The results confirm the high efficiency of the muon system, the robustness of the design against hardware failures, and its effectiveness in the discrimination of backgrounds.