The Relationship Between the Worship of Other Gods and the Worship of Idols within the Old Testament

This thesis explores the relationship between the worship of other gods and the worship of idols within the Old Testament. The ambiguity of the relationship is evident in the differing enumerations of the Ten Commandments in Jewish and Christian tradition. While Protestant Reformed and Eastern Orthodox traditions distinguish the prohibition of other gods from the prohibition of idols as the first and the second commandments, Jewish, Catholic and Lutheran traditions view them as one. Similarly, while some interpreters find reason to distinguish between the issues, others view them as more or less synonymous. This thesis questions why the relationship between the worship of other gods and the worship of idols within the Old Testament is difficult to define. With the intention of developing the ideas presented in John Barton’s brief article “‘The Work of Human Hands’ (Ps. 115:4): Idolatry in the Old Testament,” it begins with an exegetical examination of the ambiguities involved in the relationship between the prohibitions and then moves onto an examination of the Old Testament depiction of the war against idols before and after the fall of the Northern Kingdom. Themes that receive particular attention are the historic interpretations of the relationship between the prohibitions, the worship of YHWH via divine images, the fall of Israel, the prophetic idol polemics, the existence of other gods and monotheism. The thesis presents four factors that make the relationship difficult to define. The first three are introduced through an examination of the relationship between the prohibition of other gods and the prohibition of idols in Part One of the thesis and the fourth through the comparison of the biblical depiction of the war against idols before and after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in Part Two. I argue that the differing depictions of the eras provide alternative literary contexts for understanding the relationship between the issues

The role of community and groupware in geocache creation and maintenance

Applications that provide location-based experiences are an increasingly viable design space given the proliferation of GPS-enabled mobile devices. However, these applications are in their infancy, and we do not yet know what design factors will contribute to their success. For this reason, we have studied the well-established location-based experience of geocaching. We report on the results of a survey of geocachers along with observations from our own in-depth geocaching activities. Our findings illustrate that geocaching permits users to create a range of experiences for others within a permeable yet restricted culture of norms. Once created, geocaches are maintained by the community of geocachers through a well-designed groupware system. Here maintenance acts can be performed “in the small, ” given their lightweight and well-defined nature, and become less about maintenance and more about personal participation. These findings provide insight into how community and groupware can be leveraged to support applications for location-based experiences

Quantitative assessment of barriers to the clinical development and adoption of cellular therapies:A pilot study

There has been a large increase in basic science activity in cell therapy and a growing portfolio of cell therapy trials. However, the number of industry products available for widespread clinical use does not match this magnitude of activity. We hypothesize that the paucity of engagement with the clinical community is a key contributor to the lack of commercially successful cell therapy products. To investigate this, we launched a pilot study to survey clinicians from five specialities and to determine what they believe to be the most significant barriers to cellular therapy clinical development and adoption. Our study shows that the main concerns among this group are cost-effectiveness, efficacy, reimbursement, and regulation. Addressing these concerns can best be achieved by ensuring that future clinical trials are conducted to adequately answer the questions of both regulators and the broader clinical community

Correction to: The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Case Registry-The 2017 Annual Report.

Please note the Collaborators for this article listed in the Acknowledgements