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Seit dem Frühmittelalter stellt sich die Firmung als Sakrament theologisch prekär dar. Der Beitrag skizziert knapp die liturgiehistorische Entwicklung, zeigt die theologisch problematischen Aspekte auf und schlägt eine Neubestimmung vor, die das Sakrament wesentlich ekklesiologisch verortet – als Ermächtigung und In-Anspruchnahme, das persönliche Charisma in der Glaubensgemeinschaft zu leben. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the study of where mobile devices and social media tools are taken into consideration in the Finnish confirmation training entity as a new opportunity to work together. The research is based on the ethnographical method. The data was collected by observation in two confirmation training camp periods and interviewing confirmation training participants. The aim was to find out ways mobile devices were exploited in confirmation training pedagogy, how adolescents reacted to such mobile device use and how adolescents described their personal mobile device use. The research material is analysed by inductive content analysis. The findings are discussed in the theoretical context of the communities of practice (CoPs), originally formed by Lave and Wenger. According to the results, mobile device use, in the confirmation training programme did not seem to be that special for adolescents. At the same time, the youth considered it important to have the possibility to use mobile devices according to their own preferences. Using mobile devices in confirmation training challenged the traditional CoP setting, as adolescents used mobile technology more in their own way, being familiar with it in their earlier virtual communities of practice (VCoPs), instead of the plans of the workers of confirmation training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Episcopal liturgists argue for the elimination of confirmation. This essay explores the reformed rite of confirmation, the doctrine of the Book of Common Prayer (1979), and considers objections to the rite involving its relationship to the sacraments of baptism and communion. I argue that it is a nuanced application of the New Testament's teaching on baptism to a context in which infant baptism is normative. The supposed redundancy and theological untidiness of confirmation prove, in fact, to be its strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents four lenses for exploring Christian conversion and applies those lenses to three key Catholic initiation practices. The four lenses are Scripture, peak experiences, autonomy and surrender, and metanoia and epistrophe, while the three initiation practices are confirmation, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), and infant baptism. The author argues that there is a wide gap between doctrine and experience in these practices, particularly in reference to the Holy Spirit, and that this gap can be bridged by examining the initial Christian experience, a term introduced by Heribert Mühlen. Moreover, the author builds on the thought of Gordon Smith by making a sharp distinction between conversion and initiation. As a whole, this article advocates for an increased awareness of the Holy Spirit in Catholicism and for new experiential reflection upon the Catholic initiation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to discuss confirmation training from the perspective of mobile technology and social media. Previous research has focused on comparing confirmation training practices implemented in different Lutheran Churches. This article contributes to this research area by providing a new viewpoint to the discussion. Results indicate that (1) workers, in particular, received new ways of working with enthusiasm, (2) but the actual use of mobile devices and social media like Facebook proved to be low and not innovative, and (3) mobile technology cannot be integrated into confirmation training until new content and methods that are meaningful to young people have been developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers an analysis on the Old English literature entitled "Genesis A." It highlights the restoration of peace in heaven after the fall of Satan and the rebel angels and offers a comparative perspective on the depiction of the confirmation of the angels in “Genesis A” and other Old English literary works such as "Quaestiones super Genesim" by Pseudo-Bede, "The Advent Lyrics" and "The Dream of the Road."

This article is about confirmation preparation in the Church of Sweden from the viewpoint of the confirmation candidates. It focuses on whether or not the confirmation candidates' expectations, experiences and beliefs support the goals of confirmation that the Church of Sweden has formulated in its general guidelines for confirmation. The results showed points of agreement (e.g. expectations to come to one's own decision about God, having fun and experiencing community in the confirmation group) and points of departure (e.g. expectations of gifts at the end of the confirmation period). The results also showed that experiences met the confirmation candidates' expectations (e.g. experiences of learning while having fun). In addition, the confirmation candidates' beliefs were changed by confirmation preparation. The article ends with a discussion on how general guidelines may function as guiding principles for confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the Coptic Orthodox Church's theory arid practice of rebaptising those (mainly Coptic Catholics) wishing to join their church; and the challenge and hope for the future presented by the Common Declaration signed by His Holiness Pope Tawadrous II and His Holiness Pope Francis in Cairo on 28 April 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the participation of blessed Idelfonso Schuster in the Italian Liturgical Movement, and particularly in the recovery and usage of the concept of Christian Initiation. The study elaborates a presentation of his vast liturgical work, with a proposal of orderly classification of ordination: historical, pastoral and legal work. The unitary exposition of the Christian Initiation was new at that moment. He gets to this concept from historical data, examines it in its relation with Paschal Mystery (the central subject of his liturgical reflection) and develops it from his spiritual view of Liturgy (initiation to the divine life here and now). Pastoral dimension --continuous throughout his work-- grants to his reflections on the Initiation some concrete implications in his episcopal guidance: he recovers the leadership of the parish in the Christian life of the faithful and spiritualizes the meaning of Initiation in order to the edification and growth of the life of grace. In this scope, he develops a spirituality based in the sacraments of Initiation starting with Baptism, which justifies the Christian vocation to holiness, leading him to relive Christ, and ending with the Eucharist, genuine «soul and center of Catholic Liturgy». Schuster highlights the continuity of the Christian Initiation with the revelation of the Old Testament, and notices the formal evolution of the initiatory ritual process as a natural expression of organic development proper to Liturgy, without causing a rupture in its dogmatic character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the difference of other sacraments of Christian initiation, which meaning is sufficiently understood, the sacrament of confirmation is still source of indecision mixt with hesitation before the attitude to adopt. The study of the sacrament of Confirmation in the francophone theological literature has the merit not only to discover the true meaning to be given to it but also and especially to insist, despite the diversity of opinions which itself raises with several interpretations in the praxis of that sacrament in the Church, that the confirmation is a sacrament which is one with the other sacraments of Christian initiation. The three sacraments keep coming to the point that each of them is better understood if it clearly reflects his relationship with others. For this reason, therefore, it would be perverse to want to seek solutions by one sacrament without considering the other sacraments of Christian initiation as a whole. This especially as Baptism and Confirmation are like two complementary poles which must be respected both in the unity of duality. To develop a good study of the sacrament of confirmation and avoid common deviations, we would do better to know that the reference to tradition provides the necessary theological arguments that understand that the current order of Christian initiation in the Latin Church (Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation) is not the result of a theological consideration. These lines also offer solutions to the current crisis caused by the displacement of the place of the sacrament of Confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the experience of Saint Ignatius of Loyola of the confirmation of God described in the book "Spiritual Exercises." It states that God communicates guidance three times that is suitable for making sound good choice. It mentions how God specifically and intimately labor in one's life through daily choice of service, faith, and love.

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The prevailing attitude to the national churches in the Nordic countries has often been described as ‘believing in belonging’. Based on a longitudinal survey data, this article argues that this notion no longer applies to the younger generation, often referred to as Generation Y. Instead, they are challenging traditional reasons for belonging to national churches. The number of church-leavers has been unusually high in Finland since the beginning of the 21st century, the vast majority of them young adults. These same young adults were confirmed in the church only a few years earlier. This study aims to understand why such a high number of young people leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church soon after confirmation. The study shows that for Generation Y, the Church-leaving process is linked to personal beliefs and values. They leave the Church because they do not find it to be in line with their own beliefs. Tradition and culture alone are not enough to keep them as members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a new rumor spreading model which quantifies a specific rumor spreading feature is proposed. The specific feature focused on is the important role the event ambiguity plays in the rumor spreading process. To study the impact of this event ambiguity on the spread of rumors, the probability p(t) that an individual becomes a rumor spreader from an initially unaware person at time t is built. p(t) reflects the extent of event ambiguity, and a parameter c of p(t) is used to measure the speed at which the event moves from ambiguity to confirmation. At the same time, a principle is given to decide on the correct value for parameter c A rumor spreading model is then developed with this function added as a parameter to the traditional model. Then, several rumor spreading model simulations are conducted with different values for c on both regular networks and ER random networks. The simulation results indicate that a rumor spreads faster and more broadly when c is smaller. This shows that if events are ambiguous over a longer time, rumor spreading appears to be more effective, and is influenced more significantly by parameter c in a random network than in a regular network. We then determine parameters of this model through data fitting of the missing Malaysian plane, and apply this model to an analysis of the missing Malaysian plane. The simulation results demonstrate that the most critical time for authorities to control rumor spreading is in the early stages of a critical event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented in which the author discusses her experiences as a student at a Christian school in New York City during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. She describes the bomb drills conducted by the nuns at her school and goes on to comment on how it impacted preparations for her Confirmation sacrament.

The article discusses several examples of confirmation practice, and mentions topics like the autobiographical account of confirmation of Richard Baxter, confirmation practice by Francis Atterbury, who was Bishop of Rochester between 1713 and 1723, and the practice by Elizabeth Damant.

The article focuses on theology of John Cosin, one of the architects of the 1662 rite, and mentions topics like relation between confirmation and salvation, and views of authors like Lancelot Andrews on confirmation.

In this article I discuss two interrelated problems found in Richard Swinburne's cumulative case argument for the existence of God. First, I argue that the probabilistic proof apparatus introduced by Swinburne in The Existence of God (1979; 2004) would require him to provide a normalized preference order of God's intentions based on a measure of the ‘relative moral goodness’ of possible-world states. However, the approach offered in the second edition of The Existence of God (2004) fails to do so for various reasons. Second, a slightly different version of the argument briefly indicated by Swinburne might avoid the problems of normalizability but falls apart when meeting the criteria of relevant confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid model based on the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), flow theory, and updated DeLone and McLean information system (IS) success model to examine whether quality factors as the antecedents to nurse beliefs affected nurses’ intention to continue using the blended electronic learning (e-learning) system. Design/methodology/approach – Sample data for this study were collected from nurses at five hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, 396 (79.2 percent) questionnaires were returned. Consequently, 378 usable questionnaires were analyzed in this study, with a usable response rate of 75.6 percent. Collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings – Information quality, system quality, support service quality, and instructor quality contribute significantly to perceived usefulness (PU), confirmation, and flow, which together explain nurses’ satisfaction with the usage of the blended e-learning system, and this in turn leads to their continued system usage intention. Originality/value – First, the application of the ECM with the view of updated DeLone and McLean IS success model reveals deep insights into quality evaluation (including information quality, system quality, and support service quality) in the field of nurses’ e-learning continuance intention. Especially, this study additionally contributes to the identification of instructor quality that may lead to nurses’ continued blended e-learning usage intention. Next, the empirical evidence on capturing both extrinsic motivator (i.e. PU) and intrinsic motivator (i.e. flow) for completely explaining quality antecedents of nurses’ blended e-learning continuance intention is well documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differing pastoral practice with regard to the rite of confirmation has surfaced as the first significant point of contention between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada since they established full communion in 2001. The emergence of "blended parishes" and the presence of clergy from one church serving in the congregations of the other have resulted in disagreement over who may serve as the minister of confirmation. This essay outlines the issue's pastoral, liturgical, sacramental, canonical, and ecclesiological dimensions. It addresses Anglican concerns about adopting presbyteral confirmation, concluding that such an innovation represents a gift that Anglicans can receive from their Lutheran full-communion partners and that such a revised practice is a natural result of such an ecclesial relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores a number of existing models of theological education for those being prepared to be confirmed. It compares the historic and developing picture in the UK, specifically in the Church of England, with some examples from comparative churches in continental Europe. The varying preparation methods used are described and then assessed in terms of a range of educational models including specifically adult education models. Finally the article recommends a possible new paradigm for the understanding of the theological education for confirmation preparation as part of a lifelong learning in discipleship rather than a short period of instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of whether following others in faith or imitation is valid in religion has been a hot debate among Muslim theologians or Mutakillimûn technically speaking. In spite of the fact that they criticized this imitation, they never labeled the people who were tarred with this brush as "heathens or infidels." Of course the lifestyle of the Prophet, who never acted this way, was a model for these scholars. Abu'l-Muîn an-Nasafî discusses the topic in his Tabsira and gave no any credit to this kind of faith; however, he did not nullify its validity, as the core of the faith is confirmation in his thought. And its opposite is denial. So every single one who declares himself as believer is considered believer irrespective of their faith being inductive/istidlâlî. Qadî Abd al-Jabbâr was much more harsh in evaluating the relation between knowledge and faith. Imitation in faith is a kind of ignorance, to him, and has no any validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What did it mean for eighteen- to twenty-year-old men and women in the nineteenth-century Netherlands to be confirmed--that is, to sit in the front row of the church, dressed in Sunday dress, and be accepted into full church membership? Previous scholarship on confirmation in the Netherlands Reformed Church has mostly focused on theological controversies surrounding the wording of the so-called confirmation questions (three questions about Christian doctrine and morals that confirmants had to answer during the service), treating these controversies as markers of growing struggles between 'wings' or 'parties' in nineteenth-century Dutch Protestantism. Important as these theological controversies were, this article nonetheless approaches confirmation from a different, less frequently explored angle, arguing that confirmation was also, and perhaps especially, a social rite of passage, which symbolically marked transition into a new stage of life, with adult responsibilities in church and society. Drawing on a rich array of published as well as unpublished sources (sermons, booklets, letters, and diaries), the article examines what kind of meanings were associated with this rite of passage, by both clergy and confirmants, and to what extent these meanings changed over the course of the century. It shows that Protestants throughout the nineteenth century tried to hold together, in one way or another, what one may call the 'inward' and the 'outward' aspects of the ritual (expressions of personal conviction and conformation to societal standards of morality). Although they insisted that professions of faith must be made "from the bottom of the heart," they simultaneously equated confirmation with a promise to a virtuous life. Also, while accepting sighs and tears as testifying to the sincerity of a confirmant s profession, many authors explicitly warned against strong emotions that could carry newly confirmed church members away from the narrow path of virtue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

InTheology and the Philosophy of Science, Wolfhart Pannenberg argues that theology is on a par with the natural sciences, insofar as theological statements are hypotheses subject to confirmation or disconfirmation by experience. He defends his thesis by claiming that theology makes truth-claims about reality; and, second, that these are verifiable in the same sense that scientific statements are. I will argue that this thesis is wrong; and that the first claim could be right in a sense that has yet to be made clear; the second is not defensible even if fleshed out by some conceivable scientific scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author, in the dialect of the region of Utena, tells of an anecdotal incident in his home district when distracted and tipsy godparents baptised a family's second daughter with the same name as her older sister. Therefore two sisters in one family were baptised as Marija. The essence of the story -- it is not just a funny incident, but also exhibits the amazing language of the Highlanders (Aukštaičiai), their idioms, images of their livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the approaches adopted by the state courts for preserving the causes of action for post-confirmation litigation. It informs that bankruptcy practitioners should follow these approaches in drafting effective preservation provisions in disclosure statements and chapter 11 plans. It discusses the Bankruptcy Court case Mickey's Enterprises, Inc. v. Saturday Sales, Inc. regarding preference claims for the post-petition action pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code.

The first book of baptisms of Churriana is an essential source for the study of the population of this small village located in the fertile plain of Granada; during the sixteenth century it was inhabited entirely by moriscos, The book is dated in 1510, being one of the oldest in the archbishopric of Granada, and the effectiveness of the assimilation measures imposed by authorities to control these converts can be traced through the records of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials included in this book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights regarding the view of confirmation within the broader educational system of the local Lutheran congregation. The author states that the number of hours spent in three years of confirmation at his congregation is equals to three weeks of media usage. He says that it is essential to view confirmation instruction within the lifelong context rather than the terminus of formal Christian education.

We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why citizens are biased information processors. Two experimental studies explore how citizens evaluate arguments about affirmative action and gun control, finding strong evidence of a prior attitude effect such that attitudinally congruent arguments are evaluated as stronger than attitudinally incongruent arguments. When reading pro and con arguments, participants (Ps) counterargue the contrary arguments and uncritically accept supporting arguments, evidence of a disconfirmation bias. We also find a confirmation bias—the seeking out of confirmatory evidence—when Ps are free to self-select the source of the arguments they read. Both the confirmation and disconfirmation biases lead to attitude polarization—the strengthening of t2 over t1 attitudes—especially among those with the strongest priors and highest levels of political sophistication. We conclude with a discussion of the normative implications of these findings for rational behavior in a democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores English lollards' beliefs about the sacraments of baptism and confirmation in the medieval period. English lollards have been portrayed as religious radicals who called for the overthrow of the sacramental system of late medieval Christianity. It examines the development of lollard theology.

In response to accusations leveled against the integrity of confirmation as a distinct sacrament, the author searches magisterial documents for a theology of confirmation. Two main theological explanations of the sacrament are explored: the ecclesial significance of the bishop's office as the original minister of confirmation; and the grace of the sacrament - that is, the gifts and Gift of the Holy Spirit. This grace is characterized as both defensive and offensive, from the perspective of defending the faith of the individual and the Church, and sharing in Christ's mission to evangelize the world. In a final section, the author addresses several popular but mistaken or one-sided approaches to explaining confirmation that have had negative pastoral consequences in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In catechesis for adolescents seeking confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church, a dualistic bias unconsciously dichotomizes objective doctrine and subjective psychology. This is problematic because if a catechist does not communicate mind-independent truth, no seed of Catholic faith will have been planted in a student. At the same time, if a catechist does not affirm a student's subjectivity, the seed cannot find receptive soil. I believe the key to integrating these intellectual and affective elements - the head and the heart - lies in the link between what Bernard Lonergan calls authentic subjectivity and objectivity. Catechists can appeal to this link by embracing the moral responsibility to 'know our knowing,' becoming aware of our dualistic bias and judging our faith experiences according to objective standards of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Models used for Model-Based Diagnosis usually assume that observations, and predictions based on the system description are accurate. In some domains, however, this assumption is invalid. Observations may not be accurate or the behavior model of the system does not allow for accurate predictions. Therefore, the accuracy of predictions, which is a function of the accuracy of the observed system inputs and the behavior model of the system, may differ from the accuracy of the observed system outputs. This paper investigates the consequences of using inaccurate values. [1] An initial version of the paper has been published in . 1 The paper will show that traditional notions of preferred diagnoses such as abductive diagnosis and minimum consistency-based diagnosis are no longer suited if the available data has different accuracies. A new notion of preferred diagnoses, called maximal-confirmation diagnoses, is introduced. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents an approach to ecumenical ecclesiology, which appeared to reflect the ecumenical dimension of Ecclesiology. The author approaches the subject in five steps: the need for an ecumenical ecclesiology, ecumenism as "formal principle" of ecclesiology and the sources and methods of ecumenical ecclesiology. He concludes with the study of "authority, God's gift to the Church", where the question of authority, the Episcopal ministry as service to the unit and the Petrine ministry as confirmation of the unit, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of confirmation work is uncertain, which is also evidenced by the results of the International Network for Research and Development of Confirmation and Christian Youth Work dating from 2007. Last but not least it is, in view of pluralisation and individualization, necessary to enquire the conditions which most encourage and give distinction to confirmation work. In doing so, it will be clearly shown that the main focus should be rather on comprehensive context orientated integration than didactical improvement of confirmation work. The varying initial situations of East- and West-Germany prove themselves as very productive for this analysis. The results obtained may also be important for the further European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the interaction of teenagers in the current consumerist culture, and how Martin Luther's Small Catechism offers multiple entry points to begin conversation around the illusions of consumerism. It examines motives behind consumption and what the church has to say in response to the consumerist 'catechism.' Suggestions pertaining to the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer are provided for pastors and teachers of catechetical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's explanation of the word "initiation" used in theological expression. The author states that sacraments of initiation are baptism, confirmation and Eucharist in the present Roman Catholic Church. He notes that through pagan traditions, the term initiation occurred to Christianity.

This article provides a conversation analytic description of a previously unstudied conversational action: 'articulating the unsaid' via and-prefaced formulations of other people's talk. Contributing to the extant research on formulations and on interactional functions of discourse markers, the article shows that and-prefaced formulations accomplish a distinct conversational action that has the following features: these formulations are assertions about the addressee's domain of knowledge that perform a repair operation in the form of a request for confirmation; they articulate a 'missing' element of the addressee's preceding talk (which is, typically, an extended informing turn); what is being formulated is claimably inferable from the prior talk; moreover, such formulations extend the addressee's course of action on his/her behalf. The article describes compositional and sequential features of and-prefaced formulations and how they shape interactional trajectories of in-progress courses of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes two newly discovered original early Romanesque fragments of a pilaster that was long ago reconstructed by Gunjača on the basis of two original pieces, while the other two were replaced. During structural repairs and conservation at the fortress of Tnin in Knin in 2006, the missing two original segments were discovered, which Gunjača had though had been forever lost. They consist of the central part of the pilaster and the base. The fragments are analyzed in catalogue form. In addition to the analysis of the two newly found fragments, other fragments discovered earlier that also have early Romanesque characteristics were also considered. In contrast to the majority of earlier known examples that have an inscription field, fragments are analyzed here that have a characteristic decoration that ties them to the previously noted finds. Through a method of comparison, stylistic decorative traits are noted that characterize one and the other fragment on the kymation. The comparisons were carried out not merely on the early Romanesque fragments from the Knin fortress, but also from the site of Kapitul, and further on one fragment of an architrave beam whose provenience is not known, currently located in the Archaeological Museum in Split. As it has the same stylistic decorative characteristics as the two new Romanesque fragments from Knin, a three-braided ribbon and stylized flowers, it probably came from the same workshop circle or even the same ecclesiastical structure, the Church of St. Stephen in Knin. As arched elements that come from Kapitul are also located in the Archaeological Museum in Split, it is not excluded that several fragments that are kept in the that museum come from the Knin region. The analysis carried out on the two new early Romanesque pilaster fragments has led to results tied to the question of the stonemasonry workshops, or workshop circle in which the carving took place. The emphasis on a workshop circle in Knin again becomes topical, and explanations offered by earlier researchers for this Knin workshop find their confirmation in the discovery of these two new early Romanesque fragments. It can be concluded that the investigation into the past of Knin becomes more interesting everyday in archaeological terms, as it once was long before. This refers primarily to the area of Podgrada (the suburbium), where excavations have been performed for several years, as well as the Knin fortress itself. The results of such investigation, as well as the conservation works following structural repairs that have been carried out at the Knin fortress for a long time at the northern fortress of Tnin, are particularly valuable, as they are one of the indicators of the development of the medieval city, as indicated by the discovered material, as well as the stone furnishings. Similarly, in this case the confirmation of the existence of an ecclesiastical structure has acquired full meaning though the identification of its interior stone inventory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay presents results about a deviation from independence measure called focused correlation. This measure explicates the formal relationship between probabilistic dependence of an evidence set and the incremental confirmation of a hypothesis, resolves a basic question underlying Peter Klein and Ted Warfield's `truth-conduciveness' problem for Bayesian coherentism, and provides a qualified rebuttal to Erik Olsson's claim that there is no informative link between correlation and confirmation. The generality of the result is compared to recent programs in Bayesian epistemology that attempt to link correlation and confirmation by utilizing a conditional evidential independence condition. Several properties of focused correlation are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the vocational model of confirmation among youth in the Slovak Lutheran Church in Slovakia. It states that confirmation refers to the practice in which confirmands renew their baptismal vow and accepts the grace of God. It reveals that confirmation focuses on goals of ownership, membership and citizenship and is guided through practical theological reflection. It shows that confirmation help address the needs of the people in matters of faith.

The article presents an exploration into the coming-of-age rituals and traditions of Sweden from the 19th-century. Details are given identifying the age of adulthood as 15 and an extensive overview of the Lutheran confirmation process and its social implications is given. Elements discussed include the origins and logistics of the Confirmation and First Communion rites in the Swedish Lutheran Church, the requisite testing and knowledge needed to undergo the process, and the changes in dress and legal status which came from it.

The article presents a report on church confirmation, a sacrament admitting a baptized person to full participation in the church. The section focuses on the importance of confirmation instruction as a main component of Christian education and content and approach in developing the mental stage of the learner, like other curriculum. The author suggests directions in which classic cognitive and developmental theory may be used to develop a teaching/learning framework within which crucial church doctrines of the Lutheran belief can be best understood and absorbed.

This qualitative research sets out to investigate firstly, if dual religious belonging exists, and, secondly, if it does, what the nature of this belonging is. The article defines dual religious belonging using a conceptual framework of human beings as functioning on the cognative, affective and cognative levels which allows for degrees of belonging. A battery of questions built into a structured interview was the instrument used to interview a total of thirty-three adults taken from the greater Sydney area in Australia. While many issues came to the fore in the interviews, the conclusion was that dual religious belonging did in fact exist; that a number of interviewees did in fact "walk two paths", or "have two religious roots". It also concluded that dual religious belonging tended to be the adherence to one main religion while having a second religion on which the individual draws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]