An inquiry into the origin, literary character, historical and religious significance, of the pastoral epistles

With scores of volumes having been written on various aspects of the Pastoral Epistles, it may appear somewhat presumptuous to present this study with the claim that there is anything new to contribute. This work is presented, however, in the belief that there is a need to evaluate extensively the decisions of scholarship regarding the origin, literary character, historical and religious significance of the Pastoral Epistles. The present work is not a commentary nor an introduction. It does not seek to prove or disprove the authenticity of the Epistles. The investigation is limited to the reappraisal of once settled issues and attempts to cast new light upon persistent problems surrounding the Epistles. This writer is aware of certain considerations which have been handled far too briefly; while still others were regrettably omitted altogether (e.g. a discussion of worship). Because of the limitations of space an attempt has been made to confine the discussion to those issues which have been most under dispute.The following general conclusions have been made:1. Literary Relationships. Because of their acknowledged use by Polycarp, universal acceptance by A.D. 180, and Version status by mid-second century, any date within the second century for their composition would appear to be out of question. The extensive use of these Epistles by the early Church writers seemingly carries the authorship back into the first century, a time when any mistake as to authorship is unlikely. The author, moreover, was found to be steeped in the canonical and non-canonical writings of Judaism; while any Hellenistic affinities may be explained through other associations. 2. Literary Character. A re-examination of the vocabulary and style of the Epistles reveals that it is extremely hazardous to attempt to determine mathematically what the Apostle could or could not have said and how he would have said it in every year of his life. Arithmetic cannot allow for the component influences exerting their own proportion of impact upon an author's literary habits. If the Epistles were written late, under unknown conditions which prohibit exposition along the traditional lines, peculiarities would naturally arise which would provide critical problems. 3. Origin. Each theory of origin is seen to have its own particular set of problems. It would appear to be far more difficult to frame a rational historical picture of the Pastorals' origin in terms of the unparalleled literary procedure demanded by the pseudepigraphical and fragmentary theories, than it is to grant the plausibility of a release and second imprisonment of the Apostle. 4. Ecclesiastical Organization. The frequently alleged advanced ecclesiastical organization actually requires no ministry of women, and only the distinct possibility of a threefold differentiation of an undifferentiated ministry of men as paralleled in the NT. The revealed Church-order fails to conform to that which is known to exist in the second century. If it can be granted that the withholding of the parousia and the impending death of the Apostles would have hastened the transition from a relative spontaneity of action to the consolidation disclosed within the Pastorals, then these Epistles must be placed within the framework of the Apostolic Church-order. 5. Religious Significance. Both the formalized and the false religious expression disclosed in the Pastorals are found to be in keeping with an early rather than a late date. Formalizations are found to be prevalent within the primitive Church, and are evidenced within the writings of the Apostle. The error involved is probably a form of the Jewish-Gnostic-Christian syncretism revealed in the first century. It is freely admitted that there are some remarkable peculiarities in these Epistles; yet the main objective arguments against their authenticity can "be fairly met. Whether it is possible to take the further step and assert unqualifiedly that they are the work of Paul will inevitably depend not upon objective criticism but subjective acumen. If the situation has been shown to be conceivable, and if the Apostle may have spoken as indicated in the Letters, then it is the 'ring' of the Epistles alone which will be the determining factor. Although there are difficulties regarding the Pastorals' apostolic authorship, their apostolic authority is vindicated by the potent dynamics of the content. The Epistles' true significance is to be determined not by the erection of tests - but by their use. Down through the centuries they have exercised a more practical influence on Church-life than have the genuine Letters of Paul. The religious realities contained provided a spiritual treasure for men; a vade mecum for the 'good soldier' of every age; the missionary's manual. It is urged, therefore, that the contents be practised - not proved. They are, and will remain, within the authentic canon of the Church. To this author, in spite of all that can be said to the contrary, the more deeply he delves into the spirit of their contents, the more the Epistles' own account of authorship appears to be vindicated

Metabolomic Evaluation of Neutrophilic Airway Inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis

Metabolomic evaluation of cystic fibrosis (CF) airway secretions could identify metabolites and metabolic pathways involved in neutrophilic airway inflammation that could serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets

OGLE-2018-BLG-0022: First Prediction of an Astrometric Microlensing Signal from a Photometric Microlensing Event

In this work, we present the analysis of the binary microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-0022 that is detected toward the Galactic bulge field. The dense and continuous coverage with the high-quality photometry data from ground-based observations combined with the space-based {\it Spitzer} observations of this long time-scale event enables us to uniquely determine the masses $M_1=0.40 \pm 0.05~M_\odot$ and $M_2=0.13\pm 0.01~M_\odot$ of the individual lens components. Because the lens-source relative parallax and the vector lens-source relative proper motion are unambiguously determined, we can likewise unambiguously predict the astrometric offset between the light centroid of the magnified images (as observed by the {\it Gaia} satellite) and the true position of the source. This prediction can be tested when the individual-epoch {\it Gaia} astrometric measurements are released.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

SpitzerSpitzer Parallax of OGLE-2018-BLG-0596: A Low-mass-ratio Planet around an M-dwarf

We report the discovery of a $Spitzer$ microlensing planet OGLE-2018-BLG-0596Lb, with preferred planet-host mass ratio $q \sim 2\times10^{-4}$. The planetary signal, which is characterized by a short $(\sim 1~{\rm day})$ "bump" on the rising side of the lensing light curve, was densely covered by ground-based surveys. We find that the signal can be explained by a bright source that fully envelops the planetary caustic, i.e., a "Hollywood" geometry. Combined with the source proper motion measured from $Gaia$, the $Spitzer$ satellite parallax measurement makes it possible to precisely constrain the lens physical parameters. The preferred solution, in which the planet perturbs the minor image due to lensing by the host, yields a Uranus-mass planet with a mass of $M_{\rm p} = 13.9\pm1.6~M_{\oplus}$ orbiting a mid M-dwarf with a mass of $M_{\rm h} = 0.23\pm0.03~M_{\odot}$. There is also a second possible solution that is substantially disfavored but cannot be ruled out, for which the planet perturbs the major image. The latter solution yields $M_{\rm p} = 1.2\pm0.2~M_{\oplus}$ and $M_{\rm h} = 0.15\pm0.02~M_{\odot}$. By combining the microlensing and $Gaia$ data together with a Galactic model, we find in either case that the lens lies on the near side of the Galactic bulge at a distance $D_{\rm L} \sim 6\pm1~{\rm kpc}$. Future adaptive optics observations may decisively resolve the major image/minor image degeneracy.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to AAS journa

John Latham’s cosmos and mid-century representation

The conceptual artist John Latham (1921 – 2006) is sometimes cast as disconnected to the currents of British visual culture. Latham’s idiosyncratic cosmology based upon time and events and incorporating human creativity rather than matter and energy is used to distinguish this disconnection. However, this paper argues that his work can be seen as closely related to that of other mid-century cultural producers who were engaged with alternative cosmic speculations, and part of a broader shift in the register of representation. Papers from the Latham digital archive help make this case

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Spectra and Parameters

We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra measured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol). We analyze night-time data collected during 2013-14 using two detector arrays at 149 GHz, from 548 deg$^2$ of sky on the celestial equator. We use these spectra, and the spectra measured with the MBAC camera on ACT from 2008-10, in combination with Planck and WMAP data to estimate cosmological parameters from the temperature, polarization, and temperature-polarization cross-correlations. We find the new ACTPol data to be consistent with the LCDM model. The ACTPol temperature-polarization cross-spectrum now provides stronger constraints on multiple parameters than the ACTPol temperature spectrum, including the baryon density, the acoustic peak angular scale, and the derived Hubble constant. Adding the new data to planck temperature data tightens the limits on damping tail parameters, for example reducing the joint uncertainty on the number of neutrino species and the primordial helium fraction by 20%.Comment: 23 pages, 25 figure

KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb: A Very Low Mass-Ratio Spitzer Microlens Planet

At q = 1.81 ± 0.20 × 10⁻⁵, KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb has the lowest planet-host mass ratio q of any microlensing planet to date by more than a factor of two. Hence, it is the first planet that probes below the apparent “pile-up” at q = 5–10 ×10⁻⁵. The event was observed by Spitzer, yielding a microlens-parallax π_E measurement. Combined with a measurement of the Einstein radius θ_E from finite-source effects during the caustic crossings, these measurements imply masses of the host M_(host) = 1.14^(+0.10)_(−0.12)M⊙ and planet M_(planet) = 7.59^(+0.75)_(−0.69)M⊕, system distance D_L = 3.38^(+0.22)_(−0.26) 3.38^(+0.22)_(−0.26) kpc and projected separation a⊥ = 4.27^(+0.21)_(−0.23) 4.27^(+0.21)_(−0.23) AU. The blended light, which is substantially brighter than the microlensed source, is plausibly due to the lens and could be observed at high resolution immediately

Genome-wide association study of colorectal cancer identifies six new susceptibility loci

El document inclou una pàgina final amb una correcció (corrigendum). Aquesta, per si sola, té el següent DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9739 i es va publicar al mateix vol. 6.Genetic susceptibility to colorectal cancer is caused by rare pathogenic mutations and common genetic variants that contribute to familial risk. Here we report the results of a two-stage association study with 18,299 cases of colorectal cancer and 19,656 controls, with follow-up of the most statistically significant genetic loci in 4,725 cases and 9,969 controls from two Asian consortia. We describe six new susceptibility loci reaching a genome-wide threshold of P<5.0E-08. These findings provide additional insight into the underlying biological mechanisms of colorectal cancer and demonstrate the scientific value of large consortia-based genetic epidemiology studies