Universalising and Spiritualising Christ\u27s Gospel: How Early Quakers Interpreted the Epistle to the Colossians

This article examines seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Quaker methods of biblical interpretation, comparing them to Puritan and Spiritualist methods. The focus is on verses from the Pauline epistle to the Colossians frequently cited by early Quakers. In contrast to John Calvin and four seventeenth-century Puritan Biblical commentators, but similar to seventeenth-century Spiritualists such as William Erbery, Quakers argued strongly for a form of mystical universalism closely akin to Arminianism in their interpretation of this epistle. Quakers (especially John Woolman) resembled medieval Catholics in their willingness to interpret Col. 1.24 to assert that Christ\u27s \u27mystical\u27 body, which could include contempora1y Christians, was somehow involved in the redemption of humanity. Early Quakers tended to reserve the eschatological promise of the \u27hope of glory\u27 in Col. 1.27 for those who had fully experienced redemption, or \u27convincement\u27. Quakers and Puritans resembled each other in their arguments for a spiritualist interpretation of Col. 2.14-17, and both, somewhat inconsistently, tempered spiritualist principles with pragmatic acceptance of certain outward ecclesiastical practices in their attempts to preserve church order

Geophysical characterisation of the ocean–continent transition at magma-poor rifted margins

Geophysical characterisation of the ocean-continent transition (OCT) at magma-poor riftedmargins has focused primarily on the determination of P wave velocities using wide-angleseismic techniques. Such experiments have shown that the OCT is heterogeneous, but thattypically velocities increase gradually with depth from ~5.0 km/s at top basement to ~8.0km/s at ~5 km deeper, without a large and abrupt Moho transition. The velocity variationwith depth is similar to that of old fracture zone crust, and appears to differ from that ofoceanic crust formed at ultra-slow spreading rates, though sampling of the latter is limited.Typically, the OCT is characterised by weakly lineated, low amplitude magnetic anomalies;the interpretation of these anomalies remains controversial. The oceanward limit of the OCTremains poorly defined on many margins

An integrative approach to discovering cryptic species within the Bemisia tabaci whitefly species complex

Bemisia tabaci is a cryptic whitefly-species complex that includes some of the most damaging pests and plant-virus vectors of a diverse range of food and fibre crops worldwide. We combine experimental evidence of: (i) differences in reproductive compatibility, (ii) hybrid verification using a specific nuclear DNA marker and hybrid fertility confirmation and (iii) high-throughput sequencing-derived mitogenomes, to show that the “Mediterranean” (MED) B. tabaci comprises at least two distinct biological species; the globally invasive MED from the Mediterranean Basin and the “African silver-leafing” (ASL) from sub-Saharan Africa, which has no associated invasion records. We demonstrate that, contrary to its common name, the “ASL” does not induce squash silver-leafing symptoms and show that species delimitation based on the widely applied 3.5% partial mtCOI gene sequence divergence threshold produces discordant results, depending on the mtCOI region selected. Of the 292 published mtCOI sequences from MED/ASL groups, 158 (54%) are low quality and/or potential pseudogenes. We demonstrate fundamental deficiencies in delimiting cryptic B. tabaci species, based solely on partial sequences of a mitochondrial barcoding gene. We advocate an integrative approach to reveal the true species richness within cryptic species complexes, which is integral to the deployment of effective pest and disease management strategies

The relationship between knowledge and efficacy of Sheng-Hwa-Tang

Purpose: It is believe among Chinese women that there are three chances in timing, menarche, post-partum, and menopause, to modulate their body constitution. To grab the second chance of modulation, Chinese women will take very seriously in post-partum care, especially in food and traditional Chinese medication such as Sheng-Hwa-Tang, for uterus reconstruction, blood cultivation, circulation activation, and extravagated blood cleaning. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between knowledge and efficacy of Sheng-Hwa-Tang and resource of prescription among post-partum women. Methods: A cross-sectional study design with questionnaires, based on a large study, was used to collect what levels of understanding toward Sheng-Hwa-Tang post-partum women used and where Sheng-Hwa-Tang prescription they obtained. A total of 1219 participants from northern, midland, and southern Taiwan was recruited with inform consents approved by IRB of Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital. Results: This study found that majority of participants used Sheng-Hwa-Tang (63.2%). The Sheng-Hwa-Tang knowledge of post-partum women showed insufficiency(5.4 +/- 2.4 compare with 14 of total score). Noteworthy that whether experience of using Sheng-Hwa-Tang or not, there were no significant difference of knowledge levels between primipara or multipara. Yet, the knowledge of Sheng-Hwa-Tang likelihood influence decision-making of whether use Sheng-Hwa-Tang or not(\u3c 0.001, used 5.75 +/- 2.3 vs. not to use 4.52 +/- 2.2). Conclusion: The results of this study showed the insufficiency knowledge of Sheng-Hwa-Tang which is valued and frequent use in post-partum care in Chinese society. It is very urgent to educate in post-partum nursing care to avoid adverse effects and abuse episodes of Sheng-Hwa-Tang, such as bleeding and even life threatened