Search Results (22)

This article builds on a previous essay and arises from research carried out between the summer of 2018 and the spring of 2020 among pilgrims who had participated in the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain and St Patrick’s Purgatory on Lough Derg in the northwest of Ireland. Research focused on embodied experience in relation to pilgrim motivation, groundedness and the enduring power of sacred travel as ritual. Convergent considerations about psychology, theology and pilgrimage studies were deployed as lenses of analysis of the pilgrims’ experience. The findings brought clarity in relation to pilgrims’ motivations and the subsequent satiation experienced as they became more grounded in relation to the physical rituals of the pilgrimage. The experience of full-blooded, fleshy embodiment, the analysis suggests, has considerable psychological dividend and is, the discussion argues, of theological significance, particularly from the perspective of Incarnation. As pilgrimage scholars have noted, a refreshing outcome of 21st Century research is the way in which it has been lifted out of the ‘narrow fields of religious or medieval studies’ and yet the analysis of this study suggests that we not dismiss the enduring possibility of religious quest as a still traceable element in the experience of contemporary pilgrimage. Full article

Flours rich in resistant starch (RS) are crucial for producing low glycemic index foods, as per Commission Regulation (EU) No. 432/2012. This study assessed the environmental profiles of two high-RS fresh pasta variants: one from malted and decorticated Gradoli Purgatory beans, and another from amylose-rich soft wheat flour, using the Product Environmental Footprint standard method. Both pastas had similar carbon footprints, but the overall weighted score of malted bean pasta was 38% higher than that of the high-amylose wheat pasta, making the latter more economically and environmentally viable. Climate change and water use were major contributors to their environmental footprints, influenced by cultivation practices. Mitigation strategies, such as cultivating drought-resistant beans, are recommended. Although greenhouse gas emissions per gram of protein or RS were similar, overall scores varied, emphasizing the need for sustainable crop selection. Consumer preferences may favor high-amylose wheat for glucose metabolism, while gluten-free, protein-rich needs can be met with malted bean flour, despite its higher environmental impact. Full article

The medieval epic poem, The Divine Comedy, and Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s prestige drama, Westworld, have more in common than at first meets the eye. Both represent hellish and purgatorial geographies, both physical and psychological. And both share the view that what is regularly considered “perfect liberty”, or the liberty to indulge in any and every desire one wishes to with impunity, is in fact a form of slavery, as argued by Aristotle. Both the denizens in Dante’s Inferno and the guests in Westworld’s park, therefore, are ensnared by their own desires. This article will consider the structure of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy and Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s hit HBO show Westworld, which I will argue takes parts of its structure consciously from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. And though at the outset, the two works of art appear dissimilar, the theologically and philosophically infused medieval Catholic-Italian poetry of Dante and the sensuous, nihilistic, and provocative story-telling of Jonathan Nolan’s recent work on the generation and expression of consciousness, ultimately what they share is similarity in structure and an agreement on the connection between activity, suffering, madness, perfection, consciousness, and freedom of the will from sin. Full article

Legumes, rich in protein, fiber, and micronutrients, are increasingly popular in pulse-based and gluten-free foods despite global consumption stagnating at 21 g/day due to taste, low protein digestibility, anti-nutrients, and long cooking times. Bean resistance to cooking causes textural defects like the hardshell and hard-to-cook phenomena. The pectin–cation–phytate hypothesis explains why soaking beans in sodium salts reduces cooking time by enhancing pectin solubility in water. Gradoli Purgatory beans (GPB), from Italy′s Latium region, were malted, reducing phytic acid by 32% and oligosaccharides by 63%. This study evaluated the hardness of cooked GPB seeds in various conditions, including decorticated or malted states, using a modified standard method. Cooking at 98 °C for 7–75 min on an induction hob with a water-to-seed ratio of 4 g/g was tested. Soaking was applied before cooking for conventional seeds only, followed by texture analysis. Conventional GPBs were adequately cooked if their cotyledons disintegrated upon pressing, requiring a force peak of 250 to 220 N and cooking times of 52 to 57 min. Malted, decorticated, and split GPBs cooked similarly to raw decorticated and split ones, with times of 32 and 25 min, respectively. Faster cooking was due to bean coat removal and splitting, not chemical changes. Sodium or potassium carbonate/bicarbonate at 1–2 g/L improved cooking efficiency, with 2 g/L of sodium carbonate reducing cooking time to 13 min. Higher concentrations caused non-uniform cooking. Cooking malted, decorticated, and split GPBs in sodium-carbonated water reduced greenhouse gas emissions from 561 to 368 g CO_2e/kg, meeting the demand for eco-friendly and nutritionally enhanced plant protein sources. Full article

Three representative pulses from the Latium region of Italy (namely, Solco Dritto chickpeas, SDC, Gradoli Purgatory beans, GPB, and Onano lentils, OL) underwent malting to reduce their anti-nutrient content, such as phytic acid and flatulence-inducing oligosaccharides. This initiative targets the current low per capita consumption of pulses. Employing Life Cycle Analysis, their environmental impact was assessed, revealing an overall carbon footprint of 2.8 or 3.0 kg CO_2e per kg of malted (M) and decorticated (D) SDCs or GPBs and OLs, respectively. The Overall Weighted Sustainability scores (OWSS) complying with the Product Environmental Footprint method ranged from 298 ± 30 to 410 ± 40 or 731 ± 113 µPt/kg for malted and decorticated SDCs, OLs, or GPBs, indicating an increase from 13% to 17% compared to untreated dry seeds. Land use impact (LU) was a dominant factor, contributing 31% or 42% to the OWSS for MDSDCs or MDOLs, respectively. In MDGPBs, LU constituted 18% of the OWSS, but it was overshadowed by the impact of water use arising from bean irrigation, accounting for approximately 52% of the OWSS. This underscores the agricultural phase’s pivotal role in evaluating environmental impact. The climate change impact category (CC) was the second-largest contributor, ranging from 28% (MDSDCs) to 22% (MDOLs), and ranking as the third contributor with 12% of the OWSS for MDGPBs. Mitigation should prioritize the primary impact from the agricultural phase, emphasizing land and water utilization. Selecting drought-tolerant bean varieties could significantly reduce OWSSs. To mitigate climate change impact, actions include optimizing electricity consumption during malting, transitioning to photovoltaic electricity, upgrading transport vehicles, and optimizing pulse cooking with energy-efficient appliances. These efforts, aligning with sustainability goals, may encourage the use of malted and decorticated pulses in gluten-free, low fat, α-oligosaccharide, and phytate-specific food products for celiac, diabetic, and hyperlipidemic patients. Overall, this comprehensive approach addresses environmental concerns, supports sustainable practices, and fosters innovation in pulse utilization for improved dietary choices. Full article

The debate on Christian East–West relations usually centres on the “usual suspects”: papal primacy, the filioque and core doctrine in general, the interpretation of Scripture, ecclesiology, and so on. This review article of Edward Siecienski’s Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory explores other issues that divide East and West, particularly those that may be approached via material ecologies: Fire, Beards, and Bread. “Bread” as in the debate on the Azymes, following Siecienski’s 2023 book; “Beards” as in the beardfullness or beardlessness of clerics; and “Fire” as in ignis purgatorius, yet at an even wider scale, the very fire of Gehenna: the question of the hereafter and the location of the dividing line between doctrine and theologoumena. Thus, a wider spectrum of the debate emerges, with which the present review article aspires to familiarize its readers. Full article

This study was aimed at minimizing the anti-nutrient content of the Gradoli Purgatory bean (GPB: Phaseolus vulgaris) and Solco Dritto chickpea (SDC: Cicer arietinum) seeds grown in the Latium region of Italy by defining the three steps of their malting process. The water steeping and germination phases were carried out in a 1.0-kg bench-top plant at 18, 25, or 32 °C. By soaking both seeds at 25 °C for 3 h, 95 to 100% of seeds sprouted. There was no need for prolonging their germination process after 72 h, the degradation degree of raffinose in germinated GPBs or SDCs being about 63%, while that of phytic acid being ~32% or 23%, respectively. The steeping and germination kinetics of both seeds were mathematically described via the Peleg and first-order reaction models, respectively. The third step (kilning) was carried out under fluent dry air at 50 °C for 24 h and at 75 °C for 3 h, and yielded cream-colored malted seeds, the cotyledons of which were cyclonically separated from the cuticles and finally milled. Owing to their composition, the decorticated malted pulse flours might be used in the formulation of specific gluten-free food products high in raw proteins and low in phytate, α-oligosaccharides and in vitro glycemic index (GI). Even if their low GI trait was preserved after malting, only the GPB malt flour having a resistant starch-to-total starch ratio ≥ 14% has the potential to be labeled with the health claim for improving postprandial glucose metabolism according to EU Regulation 432/2012. Full article

This essay arises from research carried out between the summer of 2018 and the spring of 2020 among pilgrims who had participated in the Camino de Santiago in north-western Spain and St Patrick’s Purgatory, on Lough Derg in the northwest of Ireland. Research focused on embodied experience in relation to pilgrim motivation, groundedness and the enduring power of sacred travel as ritual. Convergent considerations about psychology, theology and pilgrimage studies clarified perspective on descriptions and definitions of pilgrimage in contemporary literature. Long-standing questions about journey vs. destination are subsumed into a description of pilgrimage which emphasizes larger process. Interconnected elements of this process are a most significant part of the enduring appeal of contemporary Western pilgrimage. Full article

This article shows how temporal disorder diffuses into the wildernesses within early modern English drama. Those areas beyond the walls of cities and castles in—among other plays—The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth thus flit free from the temporal rules that construct a play’s quotidian world, and the conspicuous partitions that enclose an otherworld in medieval iconography no longer seem clear within them. I argue that these spaces enact an unfamiliar and chaotic ‘otherworld’ within quotidian space, and characters’ ventures into these outer regions at certain points resemble movements into an ‘afterlife’. Journeys into a wilderness, then, parallel a shift from one temporal sphere to another, and characters encounter a post-death state of being within the play’s present. Full article

During the twentieth century, Catholic theology moved to reject the misuse of imaginaries of the afterlife. By insisting on a de-cosmologization of the “last things”, theologians endorsed a Christocentric eschatology. However, a physical material view remains dominant in the popular perception of the afterworld. Recently, some authors have engaged in a reevaluation of the role of imagination. In eschatology as well, several theologians assert the need for a more affective and effective Christian imaginary of the hereafter. In this essay, the image of fire serves as a case study. References to fire are frequent in the Bible, and many mystics also describe their encounter with God in terms of burning. For instance, Catherine of Genoa’s experience of purification through Christ’s fire of love led to a commitment to social justice. Appreciating the contribution of mystics of fire, theologians might fashion a revised imaginary of fire to address certain eschatological issues such as Purgatory. Despite the fact that in Islam “the Fire” is a synonym for Hell, Christian theologians could enter into dialogue with certain Shi’i authors and Sufi experiences regarding the ontology of imagination, the importance of unity with God, and the fiery imaginary of God’s love. Full article

The psychological and social effects of the doctrine of purgatory (temporary afterlife punishment) have not received sufficient attention from sociologists. Temporary afterlife punishment (TAP) is any kind of ‘temporary’ torment a person believes they will receive after death as a result of one’s sins, before admission into heaven/paradise. Investigating the effects of TAP beliefs can help to understand their social impact on contemporary Islamic societies. Drawing on related research on the Protestant ethic hypothesis, and self-control theory, the present study theorized the negative psychological and social impact of TAP. We argue that the effect of the Predestination doctrine on pro-sociality is best attributed to the Protestant denial of belief in TAP, and that the positive impact of afterlife punishment beliefs on self-control and prosocial behavior decreases with belief in TAP. To test these hypotheses, we first developed the Temporary Afterlife Punishment Expectations (TAPE) scale and examined the relationship between TAPE and self-control, rule-breaking ability, and integrity (as an indicator of prosocial behavior). Data were collected from Muslim youth in two countries (Jordan N = 605 and Malaysia N = 303). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Jordanian data support the construct validity of the TAPE scale. In line with our hypotheses, path analysis results supported the negative effects of TAPE on self-control, rule-breaking ability, and integrity. Replicating the study with the Malaysian sample led to similar results. Future research directions are recommended. Full article

The didactic importance of the religious image can be appreciated in the use of engraving and its power to disseminate, especially in the urban society of the Modern Age, in connection with the printed book. Such images will use their evocative power to suggest, based on observable realities, a reality that never existed, but which is convenient to create: The image will be able to construct this reality and convince observers of its undoubted existence. Some examples elaborated in Spain will be analyzed, as well as their inventors or the engravers who followed the instructions of the previous ones. Full article

The purgatory doctrine, which has played a vital role in Christian culture, states that most believers must experience afterlife punishment in order to be cleansed of their sins before entering Heaven. Traditional Islamic theology rejects the notion of purgatory (Al-Motahher) through the Balance doctrine (Mizan), which states that if the good deeds performed during a Muslim’s life outweigh their bad deeds, the person will enter heaven without suffering or punishment. This study hypothesizes that folk intuitions and cognitive biases (tendency to proportionality) explain, in part, the emergence and spread of the purgatory doctrine in the Islamic world. Drawing on a cognitive science of religion lens, the current study examines this hypothesis in an Islamic cultural context. Quantitative surveys (three studies) conducted in Jordan (n = 605, and n = 239) and Malaysia (n = 303) indicate that the doctrine of purgatory is prevalent (36% in Jordan and 69% in Malaysia) despite its contradiction with the Balance doctrine as defined by Islamic theology. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting the phenomenon of theological incorrectness in Muslim afterlife beliefs by using empirical research. Implementation of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Full article

Despite the promise of AI and IoT, the efforts of many organizations at scaling smart city initiatives fall short. Organizations often start by exploring the potential with a proof-of-concept and a pilot project, with the process later grinding to a halt for various reasons. Pilot purgatory, in which organizations invest in small-scale implementations without them realizing substantial benefits, is given very little attention in the scientific literature relating to the question of why AI and IoT initiatives fail to scale up for smart cities. By combining extensive study of the literature and expert interviews, this research explores the underlying reasons why many smart city initiatives relying on Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) fail to scale up. The findings suggest that a multitude of factors may leave organizations ill prepared for smart city AIoT solutions, and that these tend to multiply when cities lack much-needed resources and capabilities. Yet many organizations tend to overlook the fact that such initiatives require them to pay attention to all aspects of change: strategy, data, people and organization, process, and technology. Furthermore, the research reveals that some factors tend to be more influential in certain stages. Strategic factors tend to be more prominent in the earlier stages, whereas factors relating to people and the organization tend to feature later when organizations roll out solutions. The study also puts forward potential strategies that companies can employ to scale up successfully. Three main strategic themes emerge from the study: proof-of-value, rather than proof-of-concept; treating and managing data as a key asset; and commitment at all levels. Full article

Based on ethnographic field research and thanatological literature, this article analyzes the continuing, but rapidly disappearing, Kashubian custom of bidding farewell to a deceased member of the local community known as “empty night”. Its essence is the night prayer vigil in the house of the deceased, performed by neighbors and relatives. The prayer consists mainly of singing religious songs on “the last things”—in particular about purgatory, human fragility, God’s mercy, and the Passion of Christ. The efforts of the orants are motivated by the concern for the salvation of the soul of the deceased, that is, the shortening and relieving the purgatorial punishment. The centuries-old tradition of “empty night” has been rapidly disappearing over the past 50 years as a result of both economic and social transformations, the gradual erosion of living faith, and the abandonment of the priority of salvation by younger Kashubians. The progressive medicalization of life and change of the approach to death play a crucial role in weakening the tradition of the ancestors. Thus the traditional “empty night” becomes a relic of “tamed death,” giving way to its tabooization and the illusion of “technological immortality”. Full article