Doctrinal Differences Research Articles

A National Arms Control Policy for the 1980s

The SALT decade saw two balances—strategic and European—tilt against the West. Arms control policy requires better integration with U.S./Allied defense planning needs. It must address differences in superpower deterrence doctrines and negotiating requirements and NATO dependence on non-NATO areas. Policy in each arms control forum should be judged according to criteria of Western security interests and international strategic stability.

Differences in the Doctrines of the Various Commentaries of the Ninnokyo (2)

Differences in the Doctrines of the Various Commentaries of the Ninnokyo (2)

Differences in the Doctrines of the Various Commentaries of the Ninnokyo (1)

Differences in the Doctrines of the Various Commentaries of the Ninnokyo (1)

Unity and Difference in Christianity

The difference between Catholics that comes out very plainly in recent writing on the Resurrection (New Blackfriars, October and November 1977, pp 453-461 and 506-515) prompts questions and reflections about the nature and extent of the diversity of belief that exists within the Catholic communion. This is particularly urgent and apposite at the present time, in England, as Catholics seem to be moving, slowly but inexorably, towards some degree of communion with the Anglican Church—long mocked as the home of incompatible beliefs. As Cardinal Hume said, in his address at Church House, Westminster, on 1st February 1978:“We do not yet know what diversity of doctrinal emphasis or differences of practice will not only be permissible but also desirable”. ‘That avowal of ignorance—which is also clearly a word of hope— must seem to many Catholics even now very like an admission of defeat. Surely, they will say, the one thing that Roman Catholics can be clear about is what diversity of doctrinal emphasis and difference of practice are permissible. How is it possible that, on any but trivial and peripheral matters, there can be a serious question about this? Do we not already know, have we not always known, what doctrinal differences we cannot permit—far less desire—within the communion of the catholica? How can a cardinal archbishop ask such a question?

Trends in Nonionizing Electromagnetic Radiation Bioeffects Research and Related Occupational Health Aspects

The international literature (circa 1970-1977) on biological and clinical phenomena associated with exposure to microwave or radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic (EM) fields was selectively reviewed. It was concluded that the mechanisms by which EM fields exert their biological effects are becoming better understood as investigative technology and methodology improve. Concurrent with this trend, there is some recent eivdence in the West which supports traditional Soviet and some European claims that EM fields can affect nervous system function and morphology in small mammals, birds and invertebrates at power levels below those defined as thermogenic in the West. These experimental findings coupled with the pressure of public opition may eventually have a significant effect on the establishment of revised occupational exposure limits and on unique positions regarding maximum permissible exposure (MPE). At present, the exposure level established in the Soviet Union is 0.01 m W/cm2 for a work day, while the United States adheres to a level of 10 m W/cm2 averaged over 0.1 h. At the same time, however, findings from clinical studies conducted in the West do not corroborate findings from extensive clinical surveys of occupational workers collected in Russia and in some East European countries. The latter continue to report a plethora of psychophysiological dysfunctions and impairments of a reversible nature as a result of chronic exposure to EM fields of relatively low power density (e.g., less than 10 m W/cm2, and occasionally below the 1 m W/cm2 level). Neither is there any recent compelling evidence to support certain speculations that modulated EM fields can be used to remotely control human behavior. Interaction between the concerned research and development communities in the East and West has increased substantially in the 1970s. Such interaction promises to provide a medium in which differences in doctrine, experimental methodology and protocol, and the interpretation of biological and clinical phenomena may be resolved.

“The Demiurge and his Archons”—A Gnostic View of the Bishop and Presbyters?

Much scholarly research has been devoted to the question: What issues divide gnostic Christians from the “ecclesiastical” Christians who are their contemporaries? Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (c. 160 A.D.), whose writings constitute a major source for the investigation of gnosticism, defines the issues in terms of differences in doctrine. Irenaeus admits that the question is a difficult one, since the gnostic doctrines he intends to “expose and refute” are so similar to orthodox teaching that, he says, most Christians cannot differentiate between the two. Irenaeus insists, nevertheless, that the differences are crucial, since gnostic doctrines are false, spurious forms of genuine Christian teaching. Therefore he writes five volumes—The Exposure and Overthrow of Falsely-So-Called Gnosis—to help his fellow churchmen make this discrimination.

Radicalism in the Argentine Catholic Church

ON 11 MAY 1974 FATHER MUGICA, A LEADING SPOKESMAN OF THE Movement of Priests for the Third World (MPTW) and a pro- Peronist, was machine-gunned to death as he left his church in a working-class neighbourhood after celebrating mass. Once again the Catholic Church in Argentina called for peace and understanding as the proper path for Argentines, and the MPTW issued a long statement condemning the use of violence. Nevertheless, the common pleas by the two factions of the Church in Argentina have had little visible effect in stopping the violence through which Argentina is now suffering. In order to understand how the political and doctrinal differences from within the Church in Argentina have influenced in the past and will continue to influence the political developments in Argentina it is first necessary to look at the background of the problem.

A Reference to Maga in the Tibetan Translation of the Tarkajvala

For a study of theories and practices of the Brahmanical, as well as the nonBrahmanical, religious schools in India around the fifth century, the Mad hyamaka-hrdaya-karika (hereinafter referred to as MHK) of Bhavya or Bhavaviveka (490-570ca.) and his auto-commentary Tarkajvala (TJ) provide much valuable information. In the ninth chapter: Mimamsa-tattva-ni rnaya-avatara, of these two works, which discusses the doctrinal differences between the Mimamsakas and the Buddhists, we come across a noteworthy reference to the book of Maga (maga-sastra). And this Veda is conjectured to be a work of a wicked person. Because it

North Vietnam in the Year 1972

-Military pressure resulting from the failure of the so-called Easter offensive to deliver decisive victory in the South. And, military pressure in the North from resumed U.S. air strikes and new mining and interdiction moves against shipping routes leading into North Vietnam. -Leadership system pressure, developing from doctrinal differences of long standing and now involving a particularly stubborn divisiveness deep into the ranks of Party members in the North (the Lao Dong) and the South (the People's Revolutionary Party). -Economic pressure, especially in the agricultural sector, the result of the now chronic manpower shortages, past resource allocation errors, and from the reduction of imports, by at least 50%, due to the waterway closures. -External or diplomatic pressure, the result of the ever-widening gulf between the DRV and the socialist world (particularly its major allies, the USSR and Communist China) which turns on divergent assessment of the Indochina scene but, at a deeper level, involves conflicting national interests.

Presuppositions of Religious Dialogue

I would like to explain the point of view from which this paper is written. And this in itself will be a difficult task. In a religious dialogue we could be concerned in some way with questions which arise as a result of serious differences in doctrines between adherents of different religions or religious faiths. The ensuing debate or dialogue could take the form of an argument conducted from points of view that are distinctly partisan. If two doctrines are or are taken to be in head-on collision with each other by those who accept these doctrines, the holder of one doctrine would argue with the holder of the other doctrine with the object of showing that he is partly or wholly in error. If two statements both claiming to have truth-value are, or are taken to be, inconsistent with each other, then it is clear that one or both of them are or must be taken to be partly or wholly false. To attempt to show by marshalling reasons that the proposition inconsistent with that which one holds is wholly or partly false is what I mean by the partisan approach. The approach in a dialogue is partisan even if truth is claimed and the opposing ‘error’ exposed by reference to authority; for so long as there is to be a dialogue the setting up of a particular authority or of an authority specified in a particular way has to be justified by reasoning or at least a show of reasoning. If reasoning flows from and terminates in an authority without flowing beyond it and around it, so to speak, the fact that that ‘authority’ is not accepted by the other party is sufficient to bring the dialogue to an immediate end, leaving room only for a futile talking at cross purposes.

Faith and Revolution

A good deal has been written, in the pages of New Blackfriars and elsewhere, about the points of theoretical convergence between Christianity and Marxism: their shared practical-materialist humanism and historicity, their common goal of an eschatological liberation from alienation through powers embodied in the dispossessed and so on. The question I want briefly to raise in this article is where, given all this, the two perspectives diverge.To enumerate a series of doctrines held by the Christian and rejected by the Marxist is clearly no answer in itself to this problem. Marxists manifestly differ from Christians in rejecting God, the Virgin Mary, the eucharist, hell and any number of other such beliefs, but this can’t in itself constitute the decisive point of divergence, for the simple reason that a Christian is not a humanist who subscribes simultaneously to a set of transcendental propositions. No doctrinal difference can in itself supply the point of divergence, since Christian faith isn’t an intellectualist affair; if faith is to mean more than a subscription to certain categories which can be tacked on to the Marxist perspective as a kind of surplus value, it must manifest itself in a praxis peculiar, in some sense, to Christians.Most current attempts to distinguish Christianity from Marxism by virtue of the Church’s commitment to a transcendental perspective which cuts below and beyond the Marxist’s perspective seem to run this risk of emptying faith to an intellectual extra. Unless that transcendental perspective can be realistically ‘cashed’ in a qualitative difference of life-style and historical practice, it remains a redundant category, a merely theoretical divergence which can be contemplated but not appropriated.

Religious Communality and Party Preference

A tradition of religious voting in the U.S. has been maintained to the present day. Since it is highly improbable that religious voting is an extension of doctrinal differences among the laity, and since major class differences among religious groups have been reduced or eliminated, other possible sources of the relationship between religion and party preference must be probed. It is hypothesized that a person's degree of involvement in his religious community is positively related to the chance that he will prefer the traditional majority party within his religious group regardless of social class position. The effect of religious communality on party preference must also be independent of political socialization proper, another important determinant of political values. Analysis of data collected on samples of white Protestants and Mormons supported the hypothesis, but the major hypothesis was not sustained in the case of Catholics.

The Changing United Nations Constitutionalism. New Arenas and New Techniques for International Law-Making

The Advisory Opinion handed down by the World Court on July 20, 1962, concerning Certain Expenses of the United Nations has become a political cause célèbre in so far as the majority judicial position in it was backed up by the Western-sponsored action, in terms of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter, to deprive the Soviet Union and France of their vote in the General Assembly. The Advisory Opinion of the World Court has, however, its own intrinsic interest in terms of juristic method and of basic Soviet and Western differences in scientific approach to law. In his dissenting, judicial opinion in that case, the then President of the Court, the Polish jurist, Judge Winiarski, formulated principles of interpretation which reveal, very dramatically, the basic doctrinal differences between Soviet bloc and Western jurists as to the nature and character of the Charter. As President Winiarski commented:The Charter has set forth the purposes of the United Nations in very wide, and for that reason too indefinite, terms. But… it does not follow, far from it, that the Organisation is entitled to seek to achieve those purposes by no matter what means. The fact that an organ of the United Nations is seeking to achieve one of those purposes does not suffice to render its action lawful. The Charter, a multilateral treaty which was the result of prolonged and laborious negotiations, carefully created organs and determined their competence and means of action.

The American Business Creed and Denominational Identification

Theories supporting the integrative role of religion have been questioned mainly on the ground that in complex and multi-religious societies, doctrinal differences between denominations result in differences in social behavior, thus contributing to a lack of integration. The present data indicate that, at least in reference to American businessmen and the American business creed, acceptance of the differences among denominations are not determined directly by differences in doctrines, but by social processes operating independent from these doctrines. Serving as a mechanism of boundary maintenance and integration, the particular doctrine helps the denominational social system become autonomous and responsive to other systems. Because denominational social systems have different status, size and rate of growth, interaction among them is instrumental and leads to the development of secular rationalities such as the acceptance of the business creed, which operate independent from the doctrine and help them adjust themselves to each other and to the larger society.

PROEVE VAN EEN ECUMENISCHE BESCHOUWING OVER DE SACRAMENTEN

SUMMARY This is an attempt to formulate the nature of the sacraments in relation to the Church, to the deposit of faith, and to church order, in order to try to establish a way of viewing sacramental practice in terms more positive than validity and invalidity, which now loom uncomfortably large over ecumenical relationships. Part I, dealing with three preliminary questions, first gives a survey of the pronouncements of the Church on the invalidity of Protestant sacraments; added to the defectus intentionis the Church denounces in the Protestant ministry a lack of competence to administer the sacraments after Baptism, even in the case of the Anglican Church, which claims a valid ministry. After this it is laid down that whereas the concept of (in)validity is only prominent in paradoxical situations (especially those in which mala fides plays a part), traditional theology has formulated the nature of the sacrament almost exclusively in terms of (in)validity, thus basing itself on a marginal concept of the ...

Religious Differences in Lay Attitudes and Knowledge on Alcoholism and Its Treatment

THE use and misuse of alcohol always has been a concern of organized religion. Every major religion has condemned drunkenness and alcoholism since these behaviors clearly violate the moral norms of society.' In addition, several churches have taken definite stands on the issue of moderate social drinking. The precise nature of the position taken by the churches, however, and the sanctions that have been employed have varied widely with the social and cultural setting of the church as well as with doctrinal differences.2 Not only are there differences between churches, but the positions of some of the same churches have changed over time.3 In such a heterogeneous and rapidly changing so-

Factors of Unity and Factors of Conflict

Russian and Chinese national interests tend to ward opposition. The Sino-Soviet alliance is wholly due to seizure of power by Chinese Communists and to conflict with the same enemies. Economic, military, and diplomatic dis parities have created a lopsided material dependence of Com munist China on the Soviet Union, resulting in divergent views on priorities within the alliance, and have caused them to dis agree on proper strategy in relation to the United States, anti- imperialist revolutionary movements, and independent neutral powers. Among states governed by totalitarian, ideological parties, these disagreements have naturally assumed the form of different interpretations of the common doctrine. Lacking other means of effective pressure on the Soviets, the Chinese have developed these differences into a systematic challenge to Soviet ideological authority. A Soviet attempt to evade this challenge and to preserve unity on the basis of toleration of in evitable differences and adjustment by compromise has failed; both sides have recognized the inevitability of factional schism for some time. They have built two rival Communist camps with separate policies. Underlying opposition of national in terests is increasingly appearing, and doctrinal differences are hardening. Though a serious attempt to return to policy co ordination is unlikely, the formal bond of the alliance may well continue as reinsurance against the common enemy so long as both countries are ruled by Communist party regimes.

Henry Vaughan: The Man Within

The earlier poets in the English meditative tradition, Southwell, Alabaster, Donne, Herbert, and Crashaw, were all poets of Catholic or Anglo-Catholic tendency, where the Continental art of meditation found a fertile ground in which to develop an English counterpart. It is significant that all five of these earlier poets became priests: Southwell, bred and executed as a Catholic; Alabaster, shifting from Anglican to Catholic to Anglican; Donne, born and bred a Catholic, but turning finally to the English Church; Crashaw, born and bred a Protestant, but turning finally to the Roman Church; and Herbert, happy all his life within the English communion. They had their doctrinal differences, and I do not wish to minimize those differences; but they had something more in common: a devotion to the central mysteries of the Passion, a devotion to the symbols and a liturgy that served to celebrate those mysteries. All would have agreed with George Herbert's vision of “The Agonie”: Who knows not Love, let him assay And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike Did set again abroach; then let him say If ever he did taste the like. Love is that liquour sweet and most divine, Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.

The Ecumenical Movement

The ecumenical movement is primarily the result of an internal dynamic arising from religious convictions, but it is also in part a response to social forces and historical developments. It is more inclusive than the major Protestant denominations in the American tradition and broader than the organizations which promote co-operation among the churches. The churches are not seeking to establish a monolithic church structure under centralized authority and control. The councils, in which they achieve order and at the same time maintain their freedom, may be suggestive to other institutions which desire to keep freedom and order in balance in modern mass society. Distinctions must be drawn between unity and uniformity, between agreement and mutual understanding. The community of interest among Christians rests primarily on common presuppositions derived from their faith. Intensive study of differences in doctrine and church polity improves mutual understanding and enlarges the areas of agreement. Participation in the ecumenical movement is changing the perspective of American churches with regard to national and world problems. Extensive association in international consultations and specialized agencies dealing with international affairs, in the missionary enterprise, and in interchurch aid and disaster relief corrects provincialism.

The Failure of Presbyterian Union

Two distinct methods are employed in studying the Southern Presbyterian rejection of the ecumenical movement. Content analysis of the literature opposing union indicated that doctrinal differences were basic and current social issues of minor importance. Ecological analysis of the vote by presbytery led to the conclusion that the segregation controversy is the major source of the failure of merger. Additional evidence, primarily based on interviews, indorses the finding of the ecological analysis.