Contextualising Recent Tensions in Seventh‐day Adventism: “A Constant Process of Struggle and Rebirth”?

Between 1844 and 1863, fragments of disappointed Millerism developed the landmark ideas, the denominational name and the basic structure of what is now the Seventh‐day Adventist Church with fifteen million members (2008) in 201 countries. This article contextualises the struggle of recent decades between continuity and change in Adventist teaching, suggesting that a score of doctoral theses/dissertations and other studies offer a coherence that is deeply disturbing for some believers, insufficient for some others, but satisfying for many. The demands in Western culture for faith to be shaped by evidence and to offer existential meaning have elicited three stances in relation to traditional Adventist thought: reversion, alienation, and transformation. Whereas the consequent tensions may be viewed as evidence of “growth, vitality and increased understanding,” they also constitute an urgent call for effective internal and external dialogue.     

GAS LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF FATTY ACIDS IN FOOD RESIDUES FROM CERAMICS FOUND IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CAPE,SOUTH AFRICA

Gas liquid chromatography was used to analyse residues adhering to the inside of excavated potsherds from dated South African sites. The results suggested marine animal fat, possibly seal, had been cooked in the vessels. Fat of modern seals was baked and also analysed as a control sample. This gave similar results. The importance of seals in the prehistoric diet of the Southwestern Cape is supported by a large number of seal bones in the associated faunal material.     

Das Opium des Volkes

G. J. Cuming and Derek Baker (Eds): Popular Belief and Practice: Papers Read at the Ninth Summer Meeting and the Tenth Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Cambridge University Press, 1972; pp. xii+331. Derek Baker (Ed.): Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest: Papers Read at the Tenth Summer Meeting and the Eleventh Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Cambridge University Press, 1972; pp. xV&Plus;404.     

Last charge of the knights? Iraq,Afghanistan and the special relationship

At the heart of the ‘special relationship’ ideology, there is supposed to be a grand bargain. In exchange for paying the ‘blood price’ as America's ally, Britain will be rewarded with exceptional influence over American foreign policy and its strategic behaviour. Soldiers and statesman continue to articulate this idea. Since 9/11, the notion of Britain playing ‘Greece’ to America's ‘Rome’ gained new life thanks to Anglophiles on both sides of the Atlantic. One potent version of this ideology was that the more seasoned British would teach Americans how to fight ‘small wars’ in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby bolstering their role as tutor to the superpower. Britain does derive benefits from the Anglo‐American alliance and has made momentous contributions to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet British solidarity and sacrifices have not purchased special influence in Washington. This is partly due to Atlanticist ideology, which sets Britain unrealistic standards by which it is judged, and partly because the notion of ‘special influence’ is misleading as it loses sight of the complexities of American policy‐making. The overall result of expeditionary wars has been to strain British credibility in American eyes and to display its lack of consistent influence both over high policy and the design and execution of US military campaigns. While there may be good arguments in favour of the UK continuing its efforts in Afghanistan, the notion that the war fortifies Britain's vicarious world status is a dangerous illusion that leads to repeated overstretch and disappointment. Now that Britain is in the foothills of a strategic defence review, it is important that the British abandon this false consciousness.     

COMPOSITIONAL VARIATION IN ROMAN COLOURLESS GLASS OBJECTS FROM THE BOCHOLTZ BURIAL (THE NETHERLANDS)*

We investigated the major and trace element composition and Pb and Sr isotope characteristics of a series of about 20 colourless glass objects from a single high‐status Roman burial from the Netherlands (Bocholtz). The major elements show a relatively homogeneous group, with one outlier. This is corroborated by the Sr isotopes. Based on the Sb and Pb content, three major groups can be discerned, with two other outliers. This grouping is corroborated by the contents of the trace elements Bi, Sn, Ag, As and Mo, and by variations in lead isotopic ratios. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the glass of all objects was probably made with sand and lime from the same source. The variation in trace elements and lead isotope composition is most likely the result of variations in the composition of the sulphidic antimony ore(s) that were used to decolourize the glass. The composition of the Bocholtz glass is compared with that of other Roman glass, and implications for production models, trade and use of colourless glass objects are discussed. On the basis of isotopic and major element variation, we conclude that the antimony ore presumably originated from different mines.     

Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2017

This section of the journal comprises two core sets of reports linked to work in 2017: finds and analyses relating to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and site-specific discoveries and reports in medieval Britain and Ireland (MB&I), with a selection of highlighted projects. For the PAS report, reviews on coin and non-coin finds and on specific research angles are presented. For MB&I, the Society is most grateful to all contributors (of field units, museums, universities, developers, specialist groups and individuals) who have provided reports on finds, excavations, field-surveys and building analyses for 2017. For MB&I, see below for the format and content of the Fieldwork Highlights section and for contact details of the compilers. Annual Specialist Groups Reports appear in the Society’s Newsletter.