The humanity of God: Karl Barth and contemporary radical theology

The research of the thesis is directed toward the Christology of Karl Barth as being that area of his thought which must nearly relates to the contemporary concerns of theology. It is focused on what Barth considers a new direction for his theology. Barth's christological position can be regarded as a recent one, but, because Christology is central to his theology, it touches everything he has written. It is given a complete discussion in the Church Dogmatics. The thesis evaluates this discussion in the light of contemporary theology. The terminology used by Barth for his recent interest is die mensch-lichkeit Gottes. "the humanity of God," and indicates that his emphasis in the Incarnation is upon the God-ward side. Even so, because it concerns itself with the relating of God to man, it has an Important affinity with contemporary theological interest in the doctrines of man and society and the pointing towards a now theology of the Holy Spirit. The position taken by the thesis is that Barth's contribution in the area of Christology provides the natural foundation and heritage upon which the new theological quest will be based. It is possible to say that the present trends in theology would not be possible without the work of Karl Barth. Chapter one is a summary of Barth's criticism of the theology of the nineteenth century. It includes an examination of his theological anthropology in contrast to the image of the absolute am in nineteenth-century theology; his postulation of the Word of God as the source of authority as opposed to religious immanentism; his tension with the historical emphasis in nineteenth-century theology and the consequent problem for Barth of a proper relationship between faith and history; and the question of theology's legitimate concern with philosophy and man's prevailing world-view. Chapter two is a critical analysis of Barth's early theological emphasis upon the transcendence and otherness of God. It seeks to understand while criticising his rejection of natural theology and man's ability to known God apart from the revealed Word. It examines Barth's hermeneutical principal as it is reflected in his thorough and consistent regard for the sovereignty of God. The position of Hans Urs von Balthaser is examined with regard to his doctrine of man and natural theology as a critical contrast to Barth's limitation of man's role in the revelatory process. Chapter three examines the heart of Barth's Christology as it inquires critically into his doctrine of Reconciliation and the comprehensive scope given by Barth to Christology and the Incarnation. It is this emphasis which marks Barth's greatest contribution to theology and takes the sting out of an otherwise too narrow view of revelation. The total sweep of Barth's Christology gives it a triumphant note but leaves him with the problems of sin and evil and an unsatisfactory answer to the question of apokatastasis and universal salvation. Chapter four inquires into the problem of the humanity of Jesus. Barth's concept of the royal roan is examined as an interpretation which identifies man's humanity with that of Jesus but which introduces a new dimension to human nature as seen in the God-man. Many of the key problems of Barth's theology come to light in this critical area of his interpretation, Barth's concept of the humanity of Jesus as viewed through the royal man is evaluated in contrast to that of contemporary radical theology. Chapter five summarizes the key points of emphasis in Barth's theology as they relate to contemporary radical theology, including culture, the churchy and the Holy Spirit, The thesis endeavors to appreciate the strength of radical theology as a corrective to Barthian weaknesses and at the same time recognize a fundamental theological superiority in Barth. Attention is given to the unfinished theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as providing a possible synthesis between Barth and contemporary radical theology. The research of the thesis indicates the probable direction for contemporary theology in arriving at the possibility and the need for a new theology of the Holy Spirit

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 52, No. 03

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1154/thumbnail.jp

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 58, No. 02

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1169/thumbnail.jp

Performances of Different Global Positioning System Devices for Time-Location Tracking in Air Pollution Epidemiological Studies

Background People's time-location patterns are important in air pollution exposure assessment because pollution levels may vary considerably by location. A growing number of studies are using global positioning systems (GPS) to track people's time-location patterns. Many portable GPS units that archive location are commercially available at a cost that makes their use feasible for epidemiological studies. Methods We evaluated the performance of five portable GPS data loggers and two GPS cell phones by examining positional accuracy in typical locations (indoor, outdoor, in-vehicle) and factors that influence satellite reception (building material, building type), acquisition time (cold and warm start), battery life, and adequacy of memory for data storage. We examined stationary locations (eg, indoor, outdoor) and mobile environments (eg, walking, traveling by vehicle or bus) and compared GPS locations to highly-resolved US Geological Survey (USGS) and Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangle (DOQQ) maps. Results The battery life of our tested instruments ranged from <9 hours to 48 hours. The acquisition of location time after startup ranged from a few seconds to >20 minutes and varied significantly by building structure type and by cold or warm start. No GPS device was found to have consistently superior performance with regard to spatial accuracy and signal loss. At fixed outdoor locations, 65%-95% of GPS points fell within 20-m of the corresponding DOQQ locations for all the devices. At fixed indoor locations, 50%-80% of GPS points fell within 20-m of the corresponding DOQQ locations for all the devices except one. Most of the GPS devices performed well during commuting on a freeway, with >80% of points within 10-m of the DOQQ route, but the performance was significantly impacted by surrounding structures on surface streets in highly urbanized areas. Conclusions All the tested GPS devices had limitations, but we identified several devices which showed promising performance for tracking subjects’ time location patterns in epidemiological studies

Management practices and the quality of care in cardiac units

Importance:- To improve the quality of health care, many researchers have suggested that health care institutions adopt management approaches that have been successful in the manufacturing and technology sectors. However, relatively little information exists about how these practices are disseminated in hospitals and whether they are associated with better performance. Objectives:- To describe the variation in management practices among a large sample of hospital cardiac care units; assess association of these practices with processes of care, readmissions, and mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI); and suggest specific directions for the testing and dissemination of health care management approaches. Design:- We adapted an approach used to measure management and organizational practices in manufacturing to collect management data on cardiac units. We scored performance in 18 practices using the following 4 dimensions: standardizing care, tracking of key performance indicators, setting targets, and incentivizing employees. We used multivariate analyses to assess the relationship of management practices with process-of-care measures, 30-day risk-adjusted mortality, and 30-day readmissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Setting:- Cardiac units in US hospitals. Participants_ Five hundred ninety-seven cardiac units, representing 51.5% of hospitals with interventional cardiac catheterization laboratories and at least 25 annual AMI discharges. Main Outcome Measures:- Process-of-care measures, 30-day risk-adjusted mortality, and 30-day readmissions for AMI. Results:- We found a wide distribution in management practices, with fewer than 20% of hospitals scoring a 4 or a 5 (best practice) on more than 9 measures. In multivariate analyses, management practices were significantly correlated with mortality (P = .01) and 6 of 6 process measures (P < .05). No statistically significant association was found between management and 30-day readmissions. Conclusions and Relevance:- The use of management practices adopted from manufacturing sectors is associated with higher process-of-care measures and lower 30-day AMI mortality. Given the wide differences in management practices across hospitals, dissemination of these practices may be beneficial in achieving high-quality outcomes. Interest in quality improvement in health care during the past 10 years has been associated with a handful of important successes.1- 3 However, improvements in the quality of care have been slower than many would have hoped for,4- 8 and quality is still highly variable across organizations.9 Although significant effort has been focused on the use of evidence-based medicine—clinical practices that lead to better care—an interest in organizational strategies and management practices that enable and incentivize high-quality health care is emerging.10- 15 One of the most active areas of interest is in the use of management practices with origins in manufacturing, including, for example, “Lean” methodologies developed at Toyota16 or the use of balanced scorecard approaches that originated in the technology sector.17 These management approaches can be characterized as a set of formalized tools, the use of which is intended to improve quality through multiple pathways, such as eliminating inefficient and variable practices; engaging providers in a collaborative, team-based approach; and structuring mechanisms for setting targets and tracking progress. However, the evidence on the potential effectiveness of these approaches in health care is relatively weak13,18 and consists primarily of single-site studies.19- 21 To address this gap in knowledge, we present a new framework and instrument for defining key management dimensions and for measuring them on a large scale in health care organizations. We describe the variation in management practices among a large sample of hospitals; assess its association with processes of care, readmissions, and mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI); and suggest specific directions for the testing and dissemination of health care management approaches