The author presents a promising tool to increase the coverage rate of community-based health insurance schemes (CBHI) and access to medical care for poor population groups in developing countries. He addresses a key problem of CBHI: Authorities cannot sanction non-members and membership cannot be enforced. Therefore, it is proposed to award membership by offering incentives such as raffle participation for joining a CBHI. This approach attracts new members and can be a motivation to continue membership payments of healthy insurance members. The results of an ex-ante demand analysis conducted...

This study applies discourse analysis to the book of Revelation and offers thus a novel approach to an important biblical text. The object of examination is the last of John s visions in his Apocalypse, Rev. 21:1-22:5, a text famous for its biblical-theological density and for the great problems of literary and exegetical quality revealed by the history of exegesis. The author accurately defines his text concept, explains what he means by discourse analysis of the text and states its phases of application. He evaluates recognized exegetes of the Apocalypse and then moves on to his analysis of...

Not many cardinals get to be declared saints, and even rarer is one who is known for his controversial ideas and interpretation of doctrinal faith both within and outside the church. John Henry Newman (1801-1890), however, beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010, was no ordinary churchman. Raised an Anglican and a leading member of the Oxford Movement in his younger days, he converted to Catholicism and, through prolific writing and polemics, established an intellectual and spiritual influence far beyond the placid, pastoral domain of the papacy. This book seeks to settle the...

This book investigates the coming-to-be, principal features and theological outcomes of interreligious dialogue as an activity of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican). The embrace of dialogical engagement represents a dramatic departure from almost two millennia of hostile Christian regard toward other faiths. The development of this phenomenon is outlined and explored, with research focussed on the work of relevant offices of the WCC and the Vatican during the final four decades of the 20th century.
A principal task has been to construct a...

This book is a collection of engaging, entertaining, and often confronting dialogues with nine thinkers of faith in postmodernity, some of them more prominent than others, all of them possessing the rare quality or gift of thinking rigorously-tentatively-passionately: John D. Caputo, Kevin Hart, Robyn Horner, Richard Kearney, Catherine Keller, Kate Rigby, Mark C. Taylor, Mark I. Wallace, and Merold Westphal. The project was driven by two ambitions: to seek out their thoughts on the question of the gift, which has become a hot topic since the early 1990s in philosophy, theology, and a whole...

The Second Vatican Council aims to make the Christian life to command greater appeal and to deepen the faith in the Paschal Mystery among Christians everywhere through very lively celebrations. It therefore gives special attention to the renewal of the liturgy in consideration of the plurality of cultures, languages and customs of particular Churches within Christendom. This study belongs to the area of possible liturgical adaptations and renewals of the Roman rite to accommodate the multicultural reality in the Church. Directives in this regard are given in the Council s constitution on the...

-It is better one man dies than the whole nation perishes- (Jn 11: 50). Caiaphas sentence goes beyond ethical principles and religious expectations. It appears as the saying of a cynic politician. Besides, it is seen as the perfidious advice of a corrupted high priest to the members of the Sanhedrin. Who is this man on whose saying a school is formed? Who is this man who played the most important role in the death of Jesus? Indeed Caiaphas sentence gives rise to the following relevant question: is the prohibition of killing (Dt. 5: 17), even the killing of a single individual in order to save...

Development aid has recently become an important part of international politics in general and Norwegian foreign policy in particular. This study explores the moral discourse of contemporary Norwegian development aid organisations and professional development workers.
Adopting a discourse-analytical and multi-disciplinary approach, key concepts such as human rights, charity, justice and compassion are discussed. Furthermore, the notions of professionalism and partnerships in development are addressed, as well as the role and life-style of the individual development worker.
The...

This book analyses T. F. Torrance s theology of incarnation. His theology is built upon several crucial presuppositions. This book examines these presuppositions and their role within the framework of Torrance s theology. It explores its unitary structure by analyzing his fundamental methods in hermeneutics, dialectics, natural theology, and natural science. In particular, the study addresses the internal incoherence, inconsistency and seemingly paradoxical nature of his writings (such as the integration of dualistic ideas into a unitary theological structure), and highlights the impact of...

This book is based on the thought of Gabriel Marcel and offers an introduction to the central categories of Marcel s thought, focusing on his idea of existential humanism. This study deals with the ambivalence of human existence and the concepts of being, ego and bodiliness. The author draws on examples from everyday life with a particular focus on African values and the recovery of the black self."