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Starting from the finding of the universality of philanthropic approaches in today’s religions, the present study asks whether they appeared in non-Christian religions as a result of a process of influence by Christianity or whether those religions had their own routes to develop philanthropic attitudes. The answer is articulated by analyzing Chinese religions and the alternating relationship that China has had with religious philanthropy over time. Based on the examples in question, it can be seen that the philanthropic concerns of a religion are dependent on the broader way of self-understanding in a given context and therefore have a subordinate role in the overall concerns of a religious community or society. However, when a religion is philanthropically active, it can use its own tradition to substantiate social involvement, even though qualitative or quantitative influences coming from outside may have strongly contributed to the recent philanthropic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, it intends to highlight the value of constructivist insights for religious studies by showing that various forms of approach to issues related to religion are mere constructs. In contrast to this viewpoint, the discipline of religious studies had traditionally sought a higher degree of objectivity in the scientific reflection of religious topics, but that has been a fraught path. Secondly, the example it refers to is worthy in itself. The reception of Judaism in contemporary China is not only an under-investigated topic endowed with a great potential to reveal to what extent the Chinese ordinary man as well as the academic succeed to understand Western thought and to differentiate among the varied cultural traditions generally subsumed by them under the notion Western, but it also shows that the constructivist approaches preserve their validity in non-European contexts as well. Judaism's reception in contemporary China will be pursued on four different levels: popular literature, fake books, articles in the Christian Chinese media and academic productions. The four categories of texts represent four different degrees of comprehension of the object of study, primarily offering information about the worldviews of the authors of the texts. The process of reception of thought is regarded as a form of encounter where the active part is striving to get out of its own mindset and move towards the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not only the case of Christianity that different religious options spring from cultural differences, but it goes the same for other religions too, even for ethnic religions. Using the example of today Judaism, this study seeks to show how different cultural backgrounds lead to different religious forms and how they may bring about tensions between members of the same religion. I shall bring up to discussion situations where the cultural differences are finally bridged, as well as others where they persist, feeding the strained relationship. Via the example of Judaism, I shall elaborate on the importance of non-religious factors in the appearance of confessional differences and the attitude towards other practitioners. The material allows theologians to draw a comparison with the situation within Christianity and to reach to useful conclusions for Christian ecumenism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological development and the socio-political evolutions from the last decades, visible especially in terms of expanding communications and increasing mobility of people, have revealed new phenomena with a high risk potential which ignore the geographical or administrative constraints of borders. Thus, cross-border crime has become, by size and also by its impact in time on people and society, a major challenge of national security and a real commitment to European institutions and organizations. Using a holistic approach, this study aims to emphasize the danger of cross-border crime to the national security of all states and also to underline the main European directions in preventing and combating this form of organized crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the longest of times, the research on the biological next of kin was one of the most profound challenges for the forensic medicine. The succession of characters from a generation to another has been the basis of the first genetic investigations and, in the same time, even from the beginning of the human civilization, it represented one of the issues where the forensic medicine was requested to provide evidences and uncontestable proofs. Human aspiration for research and understanding the life or death enigmas, the mysteries of the creation, the need to know and afterwards the desire to control the birth have led the genetics to surprising and highest of peaks. In this article, we would like to highlight the importance of he AND tests in the biological investigation of the next of kin within the context where such forensic expertise have raised to be very requested in Romania, being not only restricted to cases where traditional expertise fail or trigger inconclusive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the bilateral dialogue between Christian Orthodoxy and Judaism. The dialogue started in the 1970's and has been organized seven times until now. The attention is focused on the context in which the bilateral meetings started, on the highlights of each consultation and on its impulses for the future work. The evaluation of the success of this process depends on the expectancies and on the way in which contextual factors are valued. The paper also opens perspectives for further theological work with the aim of bringing the two religious groups closer to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freedom of the individual represents a significant attribute of human personality, being the possibility that each member of society must have it in order to act according to the own wishes and interests, without being subjected to physical or psychological constraints. The article investigates the relationship between liberty and slavery, as an abusive and degrading institution, in Roman society, it determines the social differentiation of slaves and, in the same time, illustrates the important contribution of slave labor to the Roman civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]