The Problems of Preaching through History

Messiah College faculty scholarship papers : submitted by faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for promotion to the rank of professo

Usefulness of C-reactive protein as a marker of early post-infarct left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Objective To assess the usefulness of in-hospital measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration in comparison to well-established risk factors as a marker of post-infarct left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) at discharge. Materials and methods Two hundred and four consecutive patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were prospectively enrolled into the study. CRP plasma concentrations were measured before reperfusion, 24 h after admission and at discharge with an ultra-sensitive latex immunoassay. Results CRP concentration increased significantly during the first 24 h of hospitalization (2.4 ± 1.9 vs. 15.7 ± 17.0 mg/L; p\0.001) and persisted elevated at discharge (14.7 ± 14.7 mg/L), mainly in 57 patients with LVSD (2.4 ± 1.8 vs. 25.0 ± 23.4 mg/L; p\0.001; CRP at discharge 21.9 ± 18.6 mg/L). The prevalence of LVSD was significantly increased across increasing tertiles of CRP concentration both at 24 h after admission (13.2 vs. 19.1 vs. 51.5 %; p\0.0001) and at discharge (14.7 vs. 23.5 vs. 45.6 %; p\0.0001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated CRP concentration at discharge to be an independent marker of early LVSD (odds ratio of 1.38 for a 10 mg/L increase, 95 % confidence interval 1.01–1.87; p\0.04). Conclusion Measurement of CRP plasma concentration at discharge may be useful as a marker of early LVSD in patients after a first STEMI

Whose Voices Count? Oral Sources and Twentieth-Century American Indian History

INTRODUCTION From the beginning, observers have remarked about the special relationship American Indian people seemed to have with the spoken word. All the powerful and fantastic tribal stories-that spoke of the origins of the earth, culture heroes, and crafty tricksters-were transmitted exclusively by oral communication in America’s native cultures, making the spoken word appear to carry even greater power. And ever since anthropologists at the turn of the century brought cultural pluralism to their profession, they and others have seen tribal myths, folktales, and legends as worthy of scholarly attention, as well as personal interest. Over the past decade and a half, a new generation of scholars has again begun to give prominence to the words of American Indians. Perhaps even more than their predecessors, this new group-composed primarily of literature scholars-has emphasized the importance of native oral texts of different types, and has suggested their value for modern America. This group’s work has even caught the attention of the public in some cases, in arguing for the “strength,” “richness,” ”wisdom,” and ”cosmic balance’’ of American Indian oral literature. Brian Swam, one member of this group, has argued that in contrast to those influenced by western culture, American Indians have a ”truly sacramental sense of language” in which object and word are fused together in a uniquely creative process

Understanding urban progressivism and the city beautiful movement

Copyright © 2020 The Pennsylvania Historical Association This article places the City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg within the history of urban progressive reform in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, a time of industrial growth and the various problems stemming from it. In order to better understand the City Beautiful movement, it is helpful to engage the scholarly literature on Progressivism, which notes its complexity, with many different goals, strategies, and historical actors. Of benefit to those seeking to further our understanding of the City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg are new tools, methodologies, and approaches that include digital history, public history, and public humanities

The problems of preaching through history

Those who have taught hi story for a while have experienced both the good and the bad regarding how the public views their discipline. Positively, many people state that they enjoy at least certain topics or fields in history, which is regularly borne out by lists of best-selling books. And even those who don\u27t view themselves as historians often have a hobby-whether music, art, science, cars, or sports- that itself has a history. Some fields of study are only truly appreciated and enjoyed by professionals, but not history. There\u27s no human thought, word, or deed it does not touch. Yet there\u27s another side of the public\u27s relationship to the discipline of history, as well. At times, people become cool to history because it seems too academic and abstract. What they want, they sometimes say, is a history that\u27s relevant, that teaches us lessons, that has an agenda, a history that in a sense preaches. Historians have long wrestled with this issue as they\u27ve considered both the benefits and the costs to being more deliberately and selfconsciously relevant. Recent years have seen greater numbers of both Christian historians and other Christian scholars whose work touches on history advocating scholarship that in various ways has a dominant moral agenda. Consider, for example, Charles Marsh. Marsh\u27s experience growing up in the South within the white segregated church has led to him to reflect on race relations, social ethics, and the civil rights movement in a number of works that combine autobiography, history, and lived theology. In God\u27s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights, he examines a group of people active during Mississippi\u27s Freedom Summer of 1964. All were shaped by their Christian faith, but in wildly divergent ways, he argues. Responding to their Christian faith, some were led to fight racial oppression, others to join the Klan that was terrorizing African Americans, and still others to sit on the sidelines during this pivotal time. Marsh notes that those in the last group knew their Bible and sometimes said the right things, but they didn\u27t act out their Christian faith. They failed to commit themselves to the goal of reconciliation between the races and so were hypocrites. This group, like the more virulent racists, came to frustrate Marsh as he did his research. His hope, he says, is that his book will help readers make sense of Christianity\u27s complicity in racism and violence and eventually help bring about true reconciliation, a time when whites and black together will reckon with their common humanity. 1 Marsh\u27s subsequent book, The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the Civil Rights Movement to Today, also uses accounts of the movement to critique those he accuses of having trivialized Christianity both then and now. Believing that white Christians have grown complacent, he tells them they shouldn\u27t feel too proud about the successes of the civil rights movement in ending legalized segregation. Beyond this, there\u27s a greater, profound goal rooted in the movement that still remains unrealized. The nation has experienced precious little of repentance, reconciliation, and costly discipleship, he writes. Marsh\u27s message, which combines history and calls for transformation, has inspired many readers and listeners both in the general public and in the Christian community. Marsh is a popular speaker at Christian college campuses, seminaries, and divinity schools, and Christianity Today recently included his The Beloved Community as one of its top five books on the civil rights era.2 Richard Hughes also would like to have his scholarship help us learn lessons, in this case, within the nation. His book Myths America Lives By argues that the American people have been misled by five powerful myths about their identity and history. The problem with these myths, Hughes suggests, is twofold. He argues that they have led to both moral blindness as well as a misunderstanding of America\u27s past. He particularly hopes that readers would hear the voices of the oppressed in American history and, in response, bring about a revolution of American values. Like Marsh\u27s work, Hughes\u27s book is in part a call to repentance for sins of the past, including Americans\u27 assumptions about the goodness and fairness of their country\u27s political economy. Picking up on this theme, one reviewer called Myths America Lives By a wake-up call that can help Christians rethink their role and mission in American life. 3 Marsh and Hughes work in the field of religious studies, in which history is combined with other disciplinary emphases, although their books are often listed under history. Moreover, some Christians whose central vocation is as historians-teachers, scholars, and writers-have also been asking recently whether history needs an agenda to make it a faithful and authentic vocation.4 And to the degree that traditional norms of history might interfere with this goal, they\u27ve advocated a distancing from the profession. Michael Kugler, influenced by theologians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas, has advocated a Christian history whose agenda would be to preach against idols prevalent today, what St. Paul in Ephesians refers to as the powers of this dark world. Christopher Shannon has suggested that Christian historians should refuse to adopt some of the standards of the mainstream academy, which he sees as capricious and restrictive, and rather try to make use of traditions and discourses distinct to Christianity. William Katerberg also calls Christian historians to reject disciplinary norms and habits, to be more forthrightly interdisciplinary, and to be resolutely activist in their work focused on critiquing the status quo.5. Copyright © 2010 by University of Notre Dame. All Rights Reserved