Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

The concept of ‘pressures’ has been widely used in recent work on the relationship between the Trinity and Scripture, particularly among scholars relying on the theological interpretation of Scripture. Despite that, the concept has often been conceptually underdeveloped. This article offers a taxonomy of different sorts of biblical pressures that lead to the doctrine of the Trinity, considering both viable meanings of the concept and more implausible variants.

Humility is a salient virtue for Christian formation with demonstrated relevance for religious leader effectiveness and well-being. However, humility is complex for religious leaders, as role-related factors promote and challenge healthy humility. Practicing healthy humility might be particularly complicated for religious leaders who hold non-dominant identities, such as women or Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Using reflexive thematic analysis, this study reports on humility experiences among eight women, most of whom were BIPOC, enrolled in an Evangelical seminary. Four overarching themes were constructed: (1) Humility is essential for Christian life but can be difficult to define , (2) Humble leadership involves negotiating intersecting identities across time and context , (3) Ministry pressure and personal tendencies challenge authentic humility , and (4) Authentic humility can and should be cultivated . Discussion includes implications for these findings and recommendations for seminarian formation.

This article marks the 41st year of including statistical information on World Christianity and mission in the IBMR. This year’s focus is geographical, covering major religious trends in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Northern America, and Oceania over the last 125 years. This year’s article includes the Middle East, which is formed by countries in Northern Africa and Western Asia. In 2025, the Global South is home to 69% of all Christians in the world, projected to reach 78% by 2050. Africa became the continent with the most Christians in 2018, passing Latin America (which passed Europe in 2014).

It is imperative to understand possible protections against suicide because of the steadily climbing U.S. suicide rate. Religion has been associated with fewer suicidal behaviors. This study sought to explore the perspective of congregants experiencing suicidal behaviors (CESBs) on the risks and protections that they experience in their religious communities (RCs) in two separate studies. Study One included a purposive sample of 15 Christian congregants yielding seven codes: routine practices and deliberate suicide prevention efforts were inconsistent both before and during the pandemic lockdown, though RCs continued to operate. Cultures provided participants both protections and risks, while the pandemic amplified deep cultural divides already present before the pandemic. Study Two included a purposive sample of 20 congregants yielding six codes, core protections of a routinely provided worldview and deliberately provided theological teachings, risks of absent protections, aspirational tasks for faith leaders and RCs, inspiring stories of recovery, and some consistency with human flourishing with caution. CESBs in some RCs that have a norm of well-being hide their norm violation and expect rejection. RCs need training in order to provide deliberate suicide prevention protections and CESBs may provide counter-narratives to stigma in RCs and cultures.

The emperor's new coins My mother was a very clever woman. She knew that people were more likely to remember stories than lectures, especially when it came to lessons about morality and ethics. My childhood was filled with Aesop's fables, Grimm's fairy tales and the captivating stories of Hans Christian Andersen, including my personal favorite, The Emperor's New Clothes. For those not familiar with that particular tale, it is the story of a vain emperor, who is duped by two fraudsters into thinking they had designed for him a suit of clothes that were not only "uncommonly fine," but "had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid." The emperor could not resist the temptation, both to don such a remarkable outfit, and to discern the "wise men from the fools" in his kingdom. Feigning the work of weavers, the men proceeded to mime the process of dressing the king, while he, and his courtiers, not wishing to appear as fools themselves, affirmed the beauty and the majesty of the imaginary outfit. As he pridefully strode down the street in his exceptional "new clothes," one small boy blurted out the obvious, "he hasn't got anything on," and the spell was broken. Soon the entire crowd was murmuring that the emperor was in fact, naked: The emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, 'this procession has got to go on.' So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all [1].

To systematically review the available evidence from research exploring the image of nurses in the media. Nurses have historically faced many challenges and have received media attention for such efforts. However, the image of nursing traditionally conveyed by media has failed to represent the real character and a positive image of the nursing profession. For this scoping literature review, a search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Dialnet to identify studies written in English, Spanish or Portuguese from the earliest date in the databases until February 2022. Four authors were involved in a two-stage screening process. Data were subjected to quantitative content analysis. A decade-by-decade analysis was performed to track the evolution of the research. Sixty studies were included. The analysis shows (1) an increasing interest in analysing the portrayal of nurses and nursing in media over time, especially from 2000 onwards; (2) a prevailing trend of focusing on one form of media when analysing the portrayal of nurses; (3) qualitative designs as the most frequent method for exploring the image of nursing; and (4) a predominantly negative image conveyed by media. There is a notable body of scientific evidence about the image of nurses and nursing portrayed in media. The interest in analysing media depictions of nursing has a long history. The included studies' samples showed heterogeneity, as they were obtained from different media, periods and countries. This scoping review is the first systematic review to provide a comprehensive map of what has been studied thus far regarding media depictions of nursing. It confirms the imperative need for nurses in different settings (academic, assistance or management fields) to maintain a proactive attitude towards addressing images of nursing and ensuring accurate representations.

This article marks the 39th year of including statistical information on World Christianity and mission in the International Bulletin of Mission Research. This year’s focus is on women in World Christianity, highlighting results of the Women in World Christianity Project from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (2019–2021). Although women make up the majority in Christian congregations worldwide, massive data gaps still exist that hinder women’s full recognition in Christian organizations. World Christianity can be considered a women’s movement because women are more likely than men to self-identify as Christian, participate in Christian activities, and actively pass the faith to the next generation. However, a chronic lack of gender-conscious data collection makes it extremely difficult to provide a nuanced picture of women’s full participation in Christian communities worldwide.