Martin Luther\u27s Two Kingdoms Theory : An Analysis through the Lens of Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u27s Religionless Christianity

The following work is an analysis of Martin Luther\u27s Two Kingdoms Theory. This influential and controversial theory was introduced in his 1523 treatise, Von weltlicher Obrigkeit--Secular Authority. Although this document was written almost 500 years ago and takes its cue from the writings of St. Augustine and the Bible, it continued to have a significant effect on German society in both the political and religious realm well into the present day. Based on an analysis of the text and on the culture and literature that led Luther to write Von weltlicher Obrigkeit, this thesis evaluates various interpretations and applications of the Two Kingdoms Theory. The specific effects of Luther\u27s teaching during the Nazi era are examined politically and theologically. Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u27s Religionsloses Christentum--Religionless Christianity and Martin Luther\u27s Zwei-Reiche-Lehre--Two Kingdoms Theory will be compared to demonstrate that they illuminate the same truth from different vantage points: neither people nor their rules are viable substitutes for God. A brief introduction explains the means of analysis used in this thesis, which is based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u27s call for a new religionless language as described in letters written during his imprisonment by the Nazi regime

A Study of the Religious Attitudes and Behaviors of Seventh-day Adventist Adolescents in North America Related to their Family, Educational, and Church Backgrounds

Problem. Why are Seventh-day Adventist youth leaving the church in North America? This study, the first report of a 10-year longitudinal research project, sought to identify attitudes and behaviors of Adventist adolescents and examine possible correlations with the religious backgrounds and influences of their homes, churches, and schools. Method. One church was randomly chosen for every 1,000 members within each local conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church in North America which totaled 695 congregations. Eventually 659 of the 695 church clerks responded, producing the names of 2,429 eligible baptized 15- and 16-year old youth. A questionnaire designed to report their backgrounds and attitudes regarding religious beliefs was mailed, with two follow-up mailings, and 1,511 teenagers responded. The statistical analyses used were correlations, t-tests, and multiple regression. Results. Over half the respondents felt positive about Seventh-day Adventism. Fifty-nine percent were positive about their baptism, and 53% regarded themselves as active members. Seventy-seven percent indicated positive intentions to remain Adventists. Of the 41% who wished they hadn\u27t been baptized, 19% already identified themselves as inactive Adventists. Twenty-one percent expressed feelings of rebellion, with aperceived amount of restraint contributing to their rebellion. The 12 strongest influences or experiences, accounting for 47% of the variance of teenagers\u27 intentions to remain Adventists, were agreement with standards (27% of the variance), frequency of personal prayer, love expressed by members, frequency of church attendance, the church meeting their spiritual needs, undesirable aspects of competition, aid felt toward independence, both parents as members of the church, frequency of Bible reading, perceived spiritual commitment of parents, closeness of relationships, and perception that members live what they believe. The regression was significant at the .001 level. Conclusions. Teenagers seek a religion based on relationships with and the spiritual perceptions of others. The home is the most important religious influence, with its perceived spiritual benefits influencing how much spiritual benefit is perceived from the school. Longer attendance at Adventist schools is the greatest influence on degree of agreement with the church\u27s standards, but it is not associated with the respondents\u27 present happiness with religion. Attendance also predicts spiritual intentions for thefuture. Frequency of church attendance and the extent to which the church meets youth\u27s needs are strong predictors of teenagers intentions to remain Adventists. Teenagers prefer to learn religion through involvement and discussion, not traditional methods

Who Decides? A Study of the Effects on Decision Unit Dynamics in Crisis and Crisis Transition

Foreign policy decision-making is often an obscured process, particularly when it involves threats to national security or national interests. Despite the lack of transparency, though sometimes necessary, foreign policy decisions can have far-reaching consequences. Policymakers establish and affect relationships with other governments, and can commit state resources for cooperation or for conflict. The purpose of this study is to determine what types of decision units make foreign policy decisions and what factors influence the dynamics of the unit. I employ the decision units (DU) framework developed by Margaret Hermann to decisions made by the United States and Israel during the 1973Yom Kippur War until the signing of the Sinai II Agreement. I identify and classify the units, which constitute both a crisis and crisis transition period. In addition, this study tests the effects of shocks or feedback on decision unit dynamics. The results of the study reveal that more decisions were made more often by one individual during the crisis than during the crisis transition period. External shocks did not appear to have a significant effect on the type of decision unit, except for the initial shock of the war. Internal political shocks occurred in both the United States and Israel during the transition period, affecting regime change and thus a change in key actors involved in the decision-making process. Pertaining to the effects of feedback, negative feedback influenced decision unit dynamics in the U.S. during the crisis. For Israel, negative feedback as a result of a crisis decision affected the nature of the decision unit, but in the transition period. In other words, there was no change in decision unit dynamics until after the conclusion of hostilities. Positive feedback did not appear to influence the nature of the decision unit. Overall, the study demonstrates that as the crisis subsided and transitioned to a less stressful, non-crisis situation, single group decision-making became more prevalent. The study also shows that decision unit dynamics helped determine policy outcomes

Social Support and the Prevalence of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in Low -Income Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses.

The present study used a cross-sectional design to answer the following questions: (a) what is the prevalence of DSM-IV depressive and anxiety disorders in a population of low-income primary care patients with type 2 DM, and does a diagnosis of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) contribute to an increased prevalence of affective disorders above the rate identified in other chronic illness groups and those suffering from no medical diagnoses, (b) does perceived social support, as measured by the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL) have a direct and/or buffering effect on the association between chronic disease and affective disorder diagnoses, and (c) which aspects of social support (appraisal, tangible, belonging and self-esteem) serve as the best predictors of a diagnosis of an affective disorder in patients with chronic illness. The sample included 326 randomly selected adult female patients recruited from primary care clinics at a public hospital. The sample consisted predominantly of uninsured, African American, low-income, middle-aged females. Logistic regression analyses identified a significant main effect for illness group when age and education were statistically controlled (X 2 = 22.66, df 4, p = .000). When posthoc comparisons were examined, significant contrast effects occurred when type 2 DM were compared with other chronic illnesses. Specifically, the odds of having an affective disorder Logistic regression also identified a significant interaction between social support and illness (X2 = 35.42, df 5, p = .000). Results indicated that social support was more beneficial for patients with chronic illness. Each SD decrease in social support increased the odds of having an affective disorder by 67% for the total sample. Although tangible support was identified as an important buffer for affective disorders, emotional sources of support appear to be equally important. Given the high prevalence of affective disorders identified in this sample and the beneficial effect of social support, intervention implications are suggested for those working in primary care settings

Financial decision making in stepfamilies (2000)

"Information from Human Environmental Sciences Extension.""This guide has been revised and updated from GH 3507, originally written by Marilyn Coleman and Larry Ganong, Human Development and Family Studies.""Human development."Revised 12/00/5M

Activities for helping children deal with divorce (2000)

"Information from Human Environmental Sciences Extension.""Family relations."New 10/00/5M

A hybrid giant cell granuloma and fibro-osseous lesion of the mandible

AbstractWe present a case of a 39-year-old African-American female who presents with a swelling of the left side of the face and jaw. A panoramic radiograph revealed a well-defined multilocular mixed lesion, which was predominantly radiolucent with scattered radiopacities within the left mandibular region along with thinning of the inferior cortex The histologic, radiographic, and clinical presentation are suggestive of a hybrid lesion with features of both central giant cell granuloma and cemento-osseous dysplasia. The patient was treated with complete surgical excision, curettage, and peripheral ostectomy. The post-operative course was uneventful. Hybrid lesions of the craniofacial bones comprised of both giant-cell and fibro-osseous components are uncommon, with only three such cases having been previously reported

Foundations for a successful stepfamily (2007)

"This guide was originally written by Sharon Leigh, Maridith Jackson and Janet A. Clark, Human Development and Family Studies Extension, University of Missouri-Columbia. Kim Leon, state specialist in Human Development and Family Studies, reviewed and revised this edition.""Information from Human Environmental Sciences Extension.""Human relations.""This guide has been adapted from a packet entitled 'Premarital Expectations: A Guide for Living in Stepfamilies,' by Marilyn Coleman and Jill Hastings.""Human Development and Family Studies Extension."New 6/00; Revised 4/07/Web

Natriuretic peptides and their receptors in the brain of the amphibian, Bufo marinus

The natriuretic peptides, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) are members of a family of hormones that play an important role in mammalian fluid and electrolyte balance. In the periphery, natriuretic peptides reduce blood volume and subsequently blood pressure by increasing renal natriuresis and diuresis and relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. The actions of natriuretic peptides are mediated via two membrane-linked guanylate cyclase receptors (NPR-GC); natriuretic peptide receptor-A (NPR-A) which has a high affinity for ANP and BNP; and natriuretic peptide receptor-B (NPR-B)which has the greatest affinity for CNP. A third receptor not linked to guanylate cyclase, natriuretic peptide receptor-C (NPR-C) also exists, which binds to ANP, BNP and CNP with a relatively equal affinity, and is involved with clearance of the peptides from the circulation and tissues. The natriuretic peptides are present in the brain and are particularly predominant in cardiovascular and fluid and electrolyte regulating areas such as the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V) region. This distribution has led to the suggestion natriuretic peptides play a neuromodulatory role in the central control of fluid homeostasis. Natriuretic peptides in the brain have been observed to inhibit the release of other fluid and electrolyte regulating hormones such as arginine vasopressin (AVP) and angiotensin II (AII). Natriuretic peptides have also been identified in the non-mammalian vertebrates although information regarding the distribution of the peptides and their receptors in the non-mammalian brain is limited. In amphibians, immunohistochemical studies have shown that natriuretic peptides are highly concentrated in the preoptic region of the brain, an area believed to be analogous to the A\T3\ region in mammals, which suggests that natriuretic peptides may also be involved in central fluid and electrolyte regulation in amphibians. To date, CNP is the only natriuretic peptide that has been isolated and cloned from the lower vertebrate brain, although studies on the distribution of CNP binding sites in the brain have only been performed in one fish species. Studies on the distribution of ANP binding sites in the lower vertebrate brain are similarly limited and have only been performed in one fish and two amphibian species. Moreover, the nature and distribution of the natriuretic peptide receptors has not been characterised. The current study therefore, used several approaches to investigate the distribution of natriuretic peptides and their receptors in the brain of the amphibian Bufo marinus. The topographical relationship of natriuretic peptides and the fluid and electrolyte regulating hormone arginine vasotocin was also investigated, in order to gain a greater understanding of the role of the natriuretic peptide system in the lower vertebrate brain. Immunohistochemical studies showed natriuretic peptides were distributed throughout the brain and were highly concentrated in the preoptic region and interpeduncular nucleus. No natriuretic peptide-like immunoreactivity (NP-IR) was observed in the pituitary gland. Arginine vasotocin-like immunoreactivity (AvT-IR) was confined to distinct regions, particularly in the preoptic/hypothalamic region and pituitary gland. Double labelling studies of NP-JR and AvT-IR showed the peptides are not colocalised in the same neural pathways. The distribution of natriuretic peptide binding sites using the ligands 125I-rat ANP (125I-rANP) and 125I-porcine CNP (125I-pCNP) showed different distributions in the brain of B. marinus. The specificity of binding was determined by displacement with unlabelled rat ANP, porcine CNP and C-ANF, an NPR-C specific ligand. 125I-rANP binding sites were broadly distributed throughout the brain with the highest concentration in pituitary gland, habenular, medial pallium and olfactory region. Minimal 125I-rANP binding was observed in the preoptic region. Residual 125I-rANP binding in the presence of C-ANF was observed in the olfactory region, habenular and pituitary gland indicating the presence of both NPR-GC and NPR-C in these regions. 125I-pCNP binding was limited to the olfactory region, pallium and posterior pituitary gland. All 125I-pCNP binding was displaced by C-ANF which suggests that CNP in the brain of B. marinus binds only to NPR-C. Affinity cross-linking and SDS-PAGB demonstrated two binding sites at 136 kDa and 65 kDa under reducing conditions. Guanylate cyclase assays showed 0.1 µM ANP increased cGMP levels 50% above basal whilst a 10-fold higher concentration of CNP was required to produce the same result. Molecular cloning studies revealed a 669 base pair fragment showing 91% homology with human and rat NPR-A and 89% homology with human, rat and eel NPR-B. A 432 base pair fragment showing 67% homology to the mammalian NPR-C and 58% homology with eel NPR-D was also obtained. The results show natriuretic peptides and their receptors are distributed throughout the brain of B. marinus which indicates that natriuretic peptides may participate in a range of regulatory functions throughout the brain. The potential for natriuretic peptides to regulate the release of the fluid and electrolyte regulating hormone AVT also exists due to the high number of natriuretic peptide binding sites in the posterior pituitary gland. At least two populations of natriuretic peptide receptors are present in the brain of B. marinus, one linked to guanylate cyclase and one resembling the mammalian clearance receptor. Furthermore, autoradiography and guanylate cyclase studies suggest ANP may be the major ligand in the brain of B. marinus, even though CNP is the only natriuretic peptide that has been isolated from the lower vertebrate brain to date