In our time

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Stuart Peterfreund

"Turning Points in Natural Theology from Bacon to Darwin discusses important changes that took place in the argument from design, the staple rhetorical formation of natural theology, during the period from Francis Bacon (1561-1626) to Charles Darwin (1809-82). After a discussion of the circumstances under which Bacon came to be the first to use the term natural theology in English, the book shows that the object of design undergoes a shift. For Bacon, the object of design is the creature. For Robert Boyle and those following his lead, the object of design is the mechanism. For Isaac Newton and those following him, the object of design is the nested system. For William Paley and the writers of the Bridgewater Treatises, the object of design is the system more generally. And for Darwin, the object of design is interactive systems"--

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Toyin Falola

"Christianity and Social Change in Africa is the most comprehensive look at the African encounter with Christianity in recent years. The book's themes are drawn from the pioneering work of J.D.Y. Peel, building on his creative explanation of the African experience of Christianity. The volume covers a broad range of themes, including religious expansion, the rise of Pentecostalism, and the use of new media and technologies to convert people and reform believers. The various manifestations of religious impact run through all the chapters, covering aspects of culture, politics, the economy, and the landscape. The volume also explores the success of Africans in exporting Christianity to other parts of the globe, a phenomenon that has redefined both the message and meaning of this religion."--Jacket.

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Martin L. Gross

Watching the nation's tradition of fairness and individuality decline, Martin L. Gross describes how it is giving way to a reign of conformity and error, including the insidious "Political Correctness." The crisis he describes goes beyond an attack on reason - actually heralding the end of sanity in American life. Spearheaded by what he calls the "New Establishment" - a coalition of anti-intellectual academics, bureaucrats, politicians, judges, military leaders, social workers - the concepts that made America great are being thrown onto the cultural scrap heap in favor of a new "experimental" society that favors the few and ignores the many. Gross argues passionately, with fact and reason that the theories of the New Establishment, which have gained control of virtually every American institution, are a peril to society. One result is that they have replaced the ideal of a single America with separatism. In The End of Sanity, the New Establishment is unmasked as a secular theocracy, a pseudo-religion that gains its power through dogma, which it demands be enforced. But, says the author, there is a cure for America's ailment once we have diagnosed how deeply social and cultural insanity have infected the nation. Gross gets to the root of the problem, including examining the "gods" of the New Establishment, then provides remedies that can reverse the wrong-headedness.

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Baidyanath Saraswati

Contributed research papers presented at the Asian Conference on "the Culture of Peace: the Experiences and the Experiments", held on 25-29, November, 1996 in New Delhi.