http://www.springerlink.com/content/jj6233u473835760/

Two theological forces propel the Christian church to action: compassion based on God?s mercy, and a quest for holiness that stems from an awareness of God's inscrutable character. How the church views these two ideological poles guides its response to social phenomena. This study analyzes ethnographic focus-group interviews of a set of committed Latino church leaders of various Christian denominations in the U.S.A., and the theological implications of the church's practice of medical evangelism. The findings show that the Christian church?s ideology simultaneously promotes acceptance (based upon its understanding of mercy) and rejection (based upon its understanding of holiness) of the HIV/AIDS population. The authors propose a model for helping the church commit itself to a more central sphere of action in fighting this pandemic.

Two theological forces propel the Christian church to action: compassion based on God's mercy, and a quest for holiness that stems from an awareness of God's inscrutable character. How the church views these two ideological poles guides its response to social phenomena. This study analyzes ethnographic focus-group interviews of a set of committed Latino church leaders of various Christian denominations in the U.S.A., and the theological implications of the church?s practice of medical evangelism. The findings show that the Christian church?s ideology simultaneously promotes acceptance (based upon its understanding of mercy) and rejection (based upon its understanding of holiness) of the HIV/AIDS population. The authors propose a model for helping the church commit itself to a more central sphere of action in fighting this pandemic.

This case study reflects on the variety of approaches to health care in a pluralistic immigrant urban enclave in Southern California. In-depth interviews were conducted with a Mexican immigrant woman to explore and understand her health worldview and the strategies she uses in deciding among the diverse health care options available to protect and maintain her family?s health. Kleinman?s typology of health sectors (professional, folk, and popular) is applied to the popular healing practices of the key informant and her own health-seeking behaviors. These expose the conflict between a professional community that relies on categories and binary comparisons and the existence of multiple, simultaneous health care sectors. This case study highlights the paradoxical world of health and illness in a pluralistic medical setting and how those who reside in an environment where medical syncretism exists apparently see their options very differently from their professional health care providers.

This paper argues that Christian worship, including the biblical accounts of it, is all embedded by human culture. It is further argued that there is a need for a model to determine proper worship. Because human culture is part of the worship experience there is a need for a method to determine what is appropriate and what is not. The hermeneutics of worship need to be biblically based and defined. The worship hermeneutics need to follow the principles of biblical hermeneutics for understanding the text of the Bible. The hermeneutical approaches for Bible text exegesis are designed to bring the message of the Bible from the original text to today?s words. This process of textual interpretation is part of a complex scheme of human oral and textual communication. All human communication, be it oral, musical or ritual, when crossing from one culture to another, from one time to another, needs to be interpreted.

Background: The worldwide incidence of prostate cancer is higher among American black men than any other male group. In the United States, lack of participation in screening for prostate cancer by black men is influenced by several cultural factors, including knowledge, health beliefs, barriers, and relationships with primary healthcare providers. Methods: We used the qualitative and paralleling descriptive quantitative findings of a mixed-method longitudinal study exploring prostate cancer screening behaviors among 277 black men. Results: Five themes were identified as critical elements affecting men?s screening for prostate cancer: lack of knowledge, communication, social support, quality of care, and sexuality. These themes were associated with a sense of disconnectedness by black men from the healthcare system and contributed to nonparticipation in prostate cancer early detection activities. Conclusions: Lack of discussion about the decision to screen for prostate cancer and general lack of culturally appropriate communication with healthcare providers has engendered distrust, created fear, fostered disconnect, and increased the likelihood of nonparticipation in prostate cancer screening among black men.

Education and research tools empower people in the process of social development and social development promotion. The first step in this process is access to such educational efforts. Access to graduate education in Peru, as well as most Latin American countries, is limited. For the most part lower-income students are unable to enter and complete graduate degree programs. This lack of opportunities for graduate education creates a vacuum of competent researchers. This condition directly impacts social development efforts. In Peru, as well as all of Latin America, there is a need for qualified researchers able to measure development needs and the effects of development efforts. A group of M.A. students who participated in an extension, off campus, program with Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA, as part of their degree, were given the opportunity to participate in a quantitative research study. This paper explores the impact of the guided research efforts on the empowerment of development workers. The research venture was reported to be a transforming experience and a way of re-conceptualizing social development. Although most participants reported positive feelings of empowerment, the research process also produced feelings of powerlessness, which resulted from conditions beyond the aims of the research process, and beyond the control of the researchers.

A cross-sectional survey administered to 789 persons in 20 communities in Peru found positive associations between social capital, economic development and food security. Findings also showed that communities serviced by a particular non-governmental organization possessed higher social capital, incomes and access to food than comparison communities.

To understand the meaning of religious faith within the context of theobiology, this studyreports on the findings of a study of breast cancer (BC) patients and how they defined faithwith emotion words and reported via open-ended short narratives how religious faith helpedthem in coping with their BC. When defining faith, BC patients preferred positive emotionwords (82.9%) over negative emotion words (17%). Still, the fact that negative emotionwords were used at all indicates the need to understand religious faith as a construct thatencompasses negative as well as positive emotions. BC patients confirmed the historicalviews of Thomas Aquinas on the role of emotions in religious faith.

This study examined social capital, economic development and food security among women in Peru?s mountain region. Findings indicate that women in communities receiving development services (experimental) enjoyed higher levels of social capital, greater access to food, and higher levels of economic development than women in comparison communities. In addition, the longer women participated in development programs, the greater their gains.

Loma Linda University School of Dentistry is in the process of evaluating its mission and the curricular components designed to fulfill that mission. Since the establishment of the school in 1951, the aim has been to integrate religion, spirituality and dentistry by the personal example of the teachers in classroom and clinic. The purpose of this survey was to learn how wholeness is practiced and what it means to our alumni.

Josef Pieper presented the content of this book in two separate lectures as part of the Bonn, Germany ?Week for Higher Education? during the summer of 1947. This book was first published in German by Kösel-Verlag in 1948. Following the German publication Pantheon Books published its first English translation in 1952. Josef Pieper was (1904-1997)a post WW2 West German Catholic philosopher located at the time of the original publication at the University of Westphalia. This edition has been translated a new by Gerald Malsbary. This version includes an appendix with eight review articles of the original translation of this book in 1952.

From biblical ideas of multiplication and exploitation to current emphasis on developmental interventions the Judeo-Christian philosophical views shape Christian outreach in favor of those in needs. This articles discusses various philosophical sources based on biblical record of creation as presented in Genesis chapters 1-3.

A Hispanic medical student support group in medical school and the implications for Hispanic faculty in medical schools. This case study documents the need for a Hispanic mentoring system for Hispanic students in medical school.

Examines the attributes of a Christian university and presents the findings of a study that examined how professors at Loma Linda University School of Medicine (California) viewed their roles as teachers at a Christian university. Three philosophical models representing the university's teaching are discussed; questions for future research are suggested.

This ethnographic work, presented in a post-modern style, reports on the crucial role played by Evangelical and Apocalyptic ideology in psychologically transforming the socio-economic well-being of members of a Puerto Rican Church community in Massachusetts. The study also examines the unique challenges faced by Puerto Ricans in comparison to other Latino groups.    Reviews “. . . a groundbreaking book. If there were more studies like it, future historians of Adventism could learn a lot more about the texture of the Adventist experience.” – Prof. Malcolm Bull, Oxford University “. . . a “must read” for people that want to experience a vivid epistemological account of what Puerto Ricans experience in mainland America. . .” – Prof. Ricardo Norton, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary  “. . . a crucial new chapter in the study of that religious minority within an ethnic minority called Latino Protestants.” - Prof. Juan Martínez, Fuller Theological Seminary “. . . should be required reading for those interested in knowing better the Puerto Rican journey and the powerful role Christian faith can play in the lives of marginalized communities in America.” - Prof. Eldin Villafañe, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary 

How Does a Community Program Strengthen Democracy? "I consider the findings of the research reported in this volume very exciting given that they provide empirical support for a belief many of us have had about the work of ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) around the world — namely that its front-line project teams excel at strengthening communities’ capacity to work together for their common good. I had seen this in Ghana, and now doctors Diaz, Ramirez-Johnson, Basham and Pillai have documented this same phenomenon of increased community mutual aid (social capital) in the Latin American countries of Bolivia, Peru, Honduras and Nicaragua. ... A novel contribution of this book to the current social science body of knowledge is its attempt to link social capital with economic progress and engagement in democratic behaviors in these particular countries. Research findings suggest positive associations between these three variables, with notable differences between the four targeted countries." —Dr. Oystein S. LaBianca, Professor of Anthropology, Andrews University (from the Foreword)