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Cabalah See Kabbalah Caballa See Kabbalah Caballah See Kabbalah Cabbala See Kabbalah Cabbalah See Kabbalah Cabballa See Kabbalah Cabballah See Kabbalah
Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt. It is the Arab World's largest and Africa's most populous city. While Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is called by the dialect's name for the country, Masr. (Egypt's first Arab capital, Fustat, was known as Misr al-Fustat, "City of the Tents".) Cairo was founded by the Fatimid caliphs as a royal enclosure. It replaced Fustat as the seat of the government. It later came under the Mamluks, was ruled by the Ottomans 1517 to 1798, and briefly occupied by Napoleon. Muhammad Ali of Egypt made Cairo the capital of his independent empire from 1805 to 1882, after which the British took control of it until Egypt attained independence in 1922. Cairo has a mix of historic towns and modern districts. This includes the pyramids, the Hanging Church, Saladin's Citadel, the Virgin Mary's Tree, the Sphinx, and Heliopolis, Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A'as, Saqqara, the Cairo Tower, and the Old City. Cairo is nicknamed "The City of A Thousand Minarets".
The name of three biblical men and a place&ldots; Caleb gave his name, apparently, to a part of the south country (1 Sam. 30:14) of Judah, the district between Hebron and Carmel, which had been assigned to him. When he gave up the city of Hebron to the priests as a city of refuge, he retained possession of the surrounding country (Josh. 21:11,12; compare 1 Sam. 25:3).
Calvinism, in its broadest sense, is the entire body of conceptions arising from the teachings of John Calvin. Its fundamental principle is the conception of God as absolutely sovereign. More than other branches of Protestantism, Calvinism emphasizes the doctrine of predestination, the idea that God has already determined whom to save and damn and that nothing can change his decision. The 1618–1619 Synod of Dort produced five canons that defined Calvinist orthodoxy: total depravity, the belief that original sin renders humans incapable of achieving salvation without God's grace; unconditional election, that the saved do not become so as a result of their own virtuous behavior but rather because God has selected them; limited atonement, that Christ died only to redeem those whom God has already chosen for salvation; irresistible grace, that individuals predestined for salvation cannot reject God's grace; and perseverance of the saints, that those whom God has chosen for salvation cannot lose that grace. The statement of Calvinism most influential in the United States was the Westminster Confession of 1647. New England Congregationalists accepted its doctrinal portion and embodied it in their Cambridge Platform of 1648. American Presbyterians coming from Scotland and Northern Ireland were sternly Calvinistic. The Synod of Philadelphia, the oldest general Presbyterian body in the United States, passed the Adopting Act in 1729, which required all ministers and licentiates to sub-scribe to the Westminster Confession. Other Calvinistic bodies in the United States are the Dutch and German Reformed churches and all Presbyterian bodies. CAN abbreviation for Cult Awareness Network Canaan descibed below is of a region See the Biblical character. Canann here The name Canaan is mentioned frequently in the Bible. It referred to parts or all of the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in antiquity It is also sometimes used interchangeably with the Land of Israel, Palestine, Zion, the Holy Land or the Promised Land Canaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Arab Palestinian Authority, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt. In the Hebrew Bible, the "Land of Canaan" extends from Lebanon southward across Gaza to the "Brook of Egypt" and eastward to the Jordan River Valley, thus including modern Israel and the area presently ruled by the Arab Palestinian Authority. In far ancient times, the southern area included various ethnic groups. The Amarna Letters found in Ancient Egypt mention Canaan (Akkadian: Kinah(h(u) in connection with Gaza and other cities along the Phoenician coast and into Upper Galilee. Many earlier Egyptian sources also make mention of numerous military campaigns conducted in Ka-na-na, just inside Asia. Various Canaanite sites have been excavated by archaeologists. Canaanites spoke Canaanite languages, closely related to other West Semitic languages. Canaanites are mentioned in the Bible, Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian texts. Although the residents of ancient Ugarit in modern Syria do not seem to have considered themselves Canaanite, and did not speak a Canaanite language (but one that was closely related), archaeologists have considered the site, which was rediscovered in 1928, as quintessentially Canaanite. Much of the modern knowledge about the Canaanites stems from excavation in this area. It is generally thought that they originally migrated from the Arabian Peninsula, as that is the most generally accepted Semitic urheimat. More recently Juris Zarins has suggested that Canaanite culture developed in situ from the Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex, which in turn developed from a fusion of Harifian hunter gatherers with PPNB farming cultures, practicing animal domestication, during the 6,200 BC climatic crisis. See the Biblical character. Canann here
Migrating from their original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and to have there sojourned for some time. They thence "spread to the west, across the mountain chain of Lebanon to the very edge of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying all the land which later became Palestine, also to the northwest as far as the mountain chain of Taurus. This group was very numerous, and broken up into a great many peoples, as we can judge from the list of nations (Gen. 10), the 'sons of Canaan.'" Six different tribes are mentioned in Ex. 3:8, 17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11. In Ex. 13:5 the "Perizzites" are omitted. The "Girgashites" are mentioned in addition to the foregoing in Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10. The “Canaanites,” as distinguished from the Amalekites, the Anakim, and the Rephaim, were "dwellers in the lowlands" (Num. 13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centers of great commercial activity; and hence the name “Canaanite” came to signify a “trader” or "merchant" (Job 41:6; Prov. 31:24, lit. “Canaanites;” compare Zeph. 1:11; Ezek. 17:4). The name “Canaanite” is also sometimes used to designate the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general (Gen. 12:6; Num. 21:3; Judg. 1:10). The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised Land, were commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of Canann then possessing it (Ex. 23:23; Num. 33:52,53; Deut. 20:16,17. This was to be done "by little and little," lest the beasts of the field should increase (Ex. 23:29; Deut. 7:22,23). The history of these wars of conquest is given in the Book of Joshua. The extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully carried out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Sam. 5:6-7). In the days of Solomon bond-service was exacted from the fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings 9:20,21). Even after the return from captivity survivors of five of the Canaanitish tribes were still found in the land. In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets Canaan is found under the forms of Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. Under the name of Kanana the Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments, wearing a coat of mail and helmet, and distinguished by the use of spear and javelin and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians by the Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. They were famous as merchants and seamen, as well as for their artistic skill. The chief object of their worship was the sun-god, who was addressed by the general name of Baal, “lord.” Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, “lords.” Canticles See Song of Songs
Given that the only known references to the Cainites as a sect derive from the writing of anti-heretical theologians (and not, thus, from the Cainites or any other Gnostic sect themselves, nor from anything close to an impartial source,) the possibility remains that the sect may well have been nothing more than the invention of the Orthodoxy (much as, for instance, Catholic theologians of the Middle Ages wrote of psychopathic, cannibalistic and sodomitic devil-worshiping sects whose factual basis was almost certainly nil)
A Biblical canon or canon of Scripture is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example: the Masoretic Text is the canonical text for Judaism, and the King James Version is the canonical text for the King-James-Only Movement, but this is not the general meaning of canon. These lists, or canons, have been developed through debate and agreement by the religious authorities of those faiths. Believers consider these canonical books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people. Books excluded from a particular canon are considered non-canonical - however, many disputed books considered non-canonical or even apocryphal by some are considered Biblical apocrypha or Deuterocanonical or fully canonical, by others. There are differences between the Jewish and Christian canons, and between the canons of different Christian denominations. The differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what the communities regard as the inspired books. The canons listed below are usually considered closed (i.e., books cannot be added or removed). The closure of the canon reflects a belief that public revelation has ended and thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon. By contrast, an open canon permits the addition of additional books through the process of continuous revelation. In Christian traditions, continuing revelation is most commonly associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and with some denominations of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.
The process by which a Christian becomes a saint. The process by which writings are accepted into a holy book, like the Christian Scriptures (New Testament)
Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of churches. The way that such church law is legislated, interpreted and at times adjudicated varies widely among these three bodies of churches. In all three traditions, a canon was initially a rule adopted by a council (From Greek kanon, for rule, standard, or measure); these canons formed the foundation of canon law. Read The CODE OF CANON LAW here
A person who recites and sings liturgical materials in Jewish religious services. One who leads the congregation in singing during a service. A cantor or chanter is the chief singer (and ofttimes instructor) employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor. The cantor's duties and qualifications have varied considerably according to time and place; but generally he must be competent to conduct the vocals for the choir, to start any chant on demand, and to be able to identify and correct the missteps of singers placed under him. He may be held accountable for the immediate rendering of the music, showing the course of the melody by movements of the hand(s), similar to a conductor.
Capernaum was a large Galilean fishing village and busy trading center. This place is of special interest to Christians because of its frequent mention in the history of Jesus Christ. Peter, Andrew, James and John also lived here. It played a unique and important part in Christ's life and ministry, and in his outreach to the people of Israel. The inhabitants of Capernaum, including various high ranking citizens, were given unique and abundant opportunities to hear Jesus Christ's message firsthand and witness His awesome power and love. 2.5 miles (4 km) from the Jordan River, Capernaum stood on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee (modern Lake Kinneret, which the Bible also called the lake of Gennesaret, Sea of Chinnereth and the Sea of Tiberias). The ancient city of Capernaum was abandoned about a thousand years ago or more, and was rediscovered by archaeologists beginning in the 1800s. In modern times, it is called Kefar Nahum (Hebrew) and Talhum (Arabic). The Gennesaret area was one of the most prosperous and crowded districts of Palestine. Capernaum lay on the great Via Maris highway between Damascus (Syria) and Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean Sea, and between Tyre and Egypt. Customs taxes were collected from travelers at this crossroads (Matthew 9:9). This was the job of Levi, the tax collector, who became Christ's disciple and was later named Matthew. Jews criticized Jesus for befriending him and other tax collectors. Caravans stopped at Capernaum to resupply themselves with produce and dried fish. At the lake shore, where Peter and other fishermen worked, archaeologists discovered a fish sales area. This well-built structure measured 2 meters in width and 5 meters in length and contained two large, rather shallow, semicircular pools, one at each end, with a rectangular platform in the middle on which, presumably, the fish were cleaned and sold&ldots; The two pools had a thick coat of watertight plaster. [Herold Weiss, "Recent Work at Capernaum," Bible and Spade, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Associates for Biblical Research, 1981), After our Lord's expulsion from Nazareth (Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:16-31), Capernaum became his "own city." It was the scene of many acts and incidents of his life (Matt. 8:5, 14,15; 9:2-6, 10-17; 15:1-20; Mark 1:32-34, etc.).
castrati See Castrato
The castrato voice was introduced in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel in the 16th century, when women were still banned from church choirs as well as the stage. It reached its greatest prominence in 17th- and 18th-century opera. The illegal and inhumane practice of castration, largely practiced in Italy, could produce a treble voice of extraordinary power, attributable to the lung capacity and physical bulk of the adult male. The unique tone quality and the ability of intensively trained singers to execute virtuosic passagework made castrati the rage among opera audiences and contributed to the spread of Italian opera. Most male singers in 18th-century opera were castrati; the most famous bore the stage names Senesino (Francesco Bernardi; died c. 1750), Caffarelli (Gaetano Majorano; 1710 – 1783), and Farinelli. Castrati sang in the Sistine Chapel choir until 1903.
A catechism is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized, a format that has been used in non-religious or secular contexts as well. As defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 5: Catechesis (pronounced /?kæt??ki?s?s/) is an education in the faith of children, young people and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life.
A catechist is one who engages in such religious
instruction. Typically, it is a lay minister trained in the art of
catechesis. It might also be a pastor or priest, religious teacher,
or other individuals in church roles (including a deacon, religious
brother or sister, or nun). The primary catechists for children are
their parents. A catechumen is one who receives catechetical instruction. The Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It was first published in Latin and French in 1992 by the authority of Pope John Paul II. The volume has been translated into many other languages, including English. In 1997, a Latin text was issued which is now the official text of reference[3] the contents of the first French text being amended at a few points. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church was published in 2005, and the first edition in English in 2006. It is a more concise and dialogic version of the CCC. The text is available in twelve languages on the Vatican website, which gives the text of the Catechism itself in eight languages.
A cathedra is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches. Cathedra is the Latin word for a chair with armrests; its Roman connotations of authority reserved for the Emperor were adopted by bishops after the 4th century. In this sense, it is sometimes referred to as a "bishop's throne." A church into which a bishop's official cathedra is installed is called a cathedral or co-cathedral — the seat of a particular church called a diocese.
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a religious building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and some Lutheran churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a diocese. In the Greek Orthodox Church, the terms "kathedrikos naos" (literally: "cathedral shrine") is sometimes used for the church at which an archbishop or "metropolitan" presides. The term "metropolis" (literally "mother city") is used more commonly than "diocese" to signify an area of governance within the church. There are certain variations on the use of the term "cathedral"; for example, some pre-Reformation cathedrals in Scotland now within the Church of Scotland still retain the term cathedral, despite the Church's Presbyterian polity which does not have bishops. The same occurs in Germany, where Protestant churches (mostly non-episocopal) co-operate under an umbrella organisation, the Evangelical Church in Germany, with some retaining cathedrals or using the term as a merely honorary title and function, void of any hierarchical supremacy. As cathedrals are often particularly impressive edifices, the term is often used incorrectly as a designation for any large, important church. This is especially true in Berlin, where three Protestant church buildings, which never functioned as cathedrals, are colloquially called cathedral (German: Dom; cf. Berliner Dom, Deutscher Dom and Französischer Dom). Several cathedrals in Europe, such as that of Strasbourg, Essen, Freiburg i.B., and in England at York, Lincoln and Southwell, are referred to as Minster (German: Münster) churches, from Latin monasterium, because the establishments were served by canons living in community or may have been an abbey, prior to the Reformation. The other kind of great church in Western Europe is the abbey.
Many faith groups refer to themselves as Catholic: the Roman Catholic Church, centered in the Vatican; Anglo-Catholics (within the Anglican Communion); and Evangelical Catholics (among Lutherans).
The basics of Catholic belief are best summed up in the Nicene Creed, a declaration of Faith drafted by the first ecumenical council, that of Nicaea in 325 AD in order to codify Christian belief against the heresies then prevalent, most specifically that of Arianism. Here follows its final form of that Creed translated into English: Further statement of Catholic belief is found in the Catholic Catechism, a book of religious instruction or in images, as found in Catholic churches, at least those built before the modern era, which were designed to illustrate in paintings and images basic Catholic belief and morals. The origin of Catholic belief is Jesus Christ and the apostolic Tradition. The Christian radition began orally, transmitted from Christ to His Apostles, and through them to others. Within a short time, a few of these Apostles recorded the life and teachings of Jesus in writing, although preaching remained the main way of spreading His Gospel. The Church Fathers, those associated and picked by the Apostles to continue Christ's work, preserved these written and oral teachings and sought to disperse, defend and develop them to their conclusions. It is from this repository that Catholic belief originated.
Ordained Catholic clergymen are deacons, priests, or bishops, i.e., they belong to the diaconate, the presbyterate, or the episcopate. Among bishops, some are metropolitans, archbishops, or patriarchs, and the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. With rare exceptions, cardinals are bishops, although it was not always so; formerly, some cardinals were unordained laymen and not clergymen. The Holy See supports the activity of its clergy by the Congregation for the Clergy, a dicastery of Roman curia. Canon Law indicates (canon 107) that "by divine institution, there are in the Church [Latin: Ecclesia] clergy [Latin: clerices] distinguished from laics". This distinction of a separate class was formed in the early times of Christianity; one early source reflecting this distinction is the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The original clerics were the bishops (the Twelve Apostles) and the deacons (their seventy appointed assistants); the presbyterate actually developed as a sort of semi-bishop (cf. the disused chorepiskopos, "rural bishop"). In the Catholic Church, only men are allowed to be members of the clergy. Catholic clerical organization is hierarchical in nature: before the reforms after the Second Vatican Council, the tonsure admitted a man to the clerical state, after which he could receive the four minor orders (ostiary, lectorate, order of exorcists, order of acolytes) and then the major orders of subdiaconate, diaconate, presbyterate, and finally the episcopate, which is defined in Catholic doctrine as "the fullness of Holy Orders". Today the minor orders and the subdiaconate have been replaced by lay ministries and the tonsure no longer takes place, the clerical state being tied to reception of Holy Orders rather than being symbolically part of a bishop's household. Monks and other religious are not necessarily part of the clergy, unless they have received Holy Orders. Thus, The unordained monks, nuns, friars, and religious brothers and sisters should not be considered part of the clergy. Holy Orders is one of the Seven Sacraments considered to be of Divine institution in Catholic doctrine. Clergy have four classical rights: 1. Right of Canon: whoever commits real violence on the person of a clergyman, commits a sacrilege. This decree was issued in a Lateran Council of 1097 (requested by Pope Urban II), then renewed in the Lateran Council II (1139) 2. Right of Forum: by this right clergy may be judged by ecclesiastical tribunals only. Emperor Constantine I granted this right for bishops, which was subsequently extended to the rest of the clergy by Imperial Decree 3. Right of Immunity: clergy cannot be called for military service or for duties or charges not compatible with their role 4. Right of Competence: a certain part of the income of clergy, necessary for sustenance, cannot be sequestered by any action of creditors The extent to which these rights are recognized under civil law varies dramatically from country to country, with traditionally Catholic countries being more inclined to respect these rights.
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole. Depending on the understanding of the word "Catholic", it may refer to the Roman Catholic Church, namely the Christians living in communion with the Church of Rome. More broadly, it refers to many churches, including the Roman Catholic Church and others not in communion with it, that claim continuity with the Catholic Church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western. Churches that make this claim of continuity include the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox churches, the Assyrian Church of the East,the Old Catholic churches and the churches of the Anglican Communion. The claim of continuity may be based on Apostolic Succession, especially in conjunction with adherence to the Nicene Creed. Some interpret Catholicism as adherence to the traditional beliefs that Protestant Reformers were denied, as with the Oxford Movement.
Catholicism is distinguished from other forms of Christianity in its particular understanding and commitment to tradition, the sacraments, the mediation between God, and communion. Catholicism can include a monastic life, religious orders, a religious appreciation of the arts, a communal understanding of sin and redemption, missionary activity, and, in the Roman Catholic Church, papacy
Anglican
Causa sui denotes something, which is generated within itself. This concept was central to the works of Spinoza, Freud, and Ernest Becker, where it relates to the purpose that objects can assign to themselves. In Freud and Becker's case, the concept was often used as an immortality vessel, where something could create meaning or continue to create meaning beyond its own life. In Phenomenology of Perception, Maurice Merleau-Ponty critiqued Descartes cogito ergo sum by saying it was a causa sui. That is, to be self-conscious one must be conscious of being conscious of something at the moment one becomes conscious of that something. Self-consciousness, therefore, would be a causa sui in the cogito. It must be the cause of itself. In traditional Western theism, God cannot be created by any other force or being, therefore God is either self-caused (causa sui) or uncaused.
CCM abbreviation for Counter
cult movement A religiously-neutral calendar notation that is numerically equivalent to the "AD" notation without the connotation that the user recognizes Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) to be God. Some non-Christians find the use of "AD" to be offensive.
Cenobitic monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West, the community belongs to a religious order and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of precepts. The older style of monasticism, to live as a hermit, is called eremitic; and a third form of monasticism, found primarily in the East, is the skete. The English words "cenobite" and "cenobitic" are derived, via Latin, from the Greek words koinos and bios, meaning "common" and "life". A group of monks living in community is often referred to as a "cenobium". Cenobitic monasticism exists in various religions, though Buddhist and Christian cenobitic monasticism are the most prominent.
Centrist Orthodoxy's weltanschauung , or "Hashkafa," is characterised by "education, moderation, and the centrality of the people of Israel." In general, differences between Centrist Orthodoxy and other Orthodox movements (both Haredi and Modern - e.g. Open Orthodoxy) result from the particular emphasis placed on each of these characteristics; see further discussion under Modern Orthodox Judaism. See also Torah Umadda and Judaism
Cessationists usually believe the miraculous gifts were given only for the foundation of the Church, during the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, c. AD 33 (see Acts 2) and the fulfillment of God's purposes in history, usually identified as either the completion of the last book of the New Testament or the death of the last Apostle. Its counterpart is continuationism.
CEV Abbreviation for Contemporary
English Version - a version of The Bible
Example: go here
The country so named is a vast plain formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about 400 miles along the course of these rivers, and about 100 miles in average breadth. "In former days the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the surface of the country like a network. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving corn stood frequent groves of palm-trees and pleasant gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their grateful and highly-valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in corn and wine." Recent discoveries, more especially in Babylonia, have thrown much light on the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, and have illustrated or confirmed the Biblical narrative in many points. The ancestor of the Hebrew people, Abram, was, we are told, born at "Ur of the Chaldees." "Chaldees" is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Kasdim, Kasdim being the Old Testament name of the Babylonians, while the Chaldees were a tribe who lived on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and did not become a part of the Babylonian population till the time of Hezekiah. Ur was one of the oldest and most famous of the Babylonian cities. Its site is now called Mugheir, or Mugayyar, on the western bank of the Euphrates, in Southern Babylonia. About a century before the birth of Abram it was ruled by a powerful dynasty of kings. Their conquests extended to Elam on the one side, and to the Lebanon on the other. They were followed by a dynasty of princes whose capital was Babylon, and who seem to have been of South Arabian origin. The founder of the dynasty was Sumu-abi ("Shem is my father"). But soon afterwards Babylonia fell under Elamite dominion. The kings of Babylon were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Elam, and a rival kingdom to that of Babylon, and governed by Elamites, sprang up at Larsa, not far from Ur, but on the opposite bank of the river. In the time of Abram the king of Larsa was Eri-Aku, the son of an Elamite prince, and Eri-Aku, as has long been recognized, is the Biblical "Arioch king of Ellasar" (Gen. 14:1). The contemporaneous king of Babylon in the north, in the country termed Shinar in Scripture, was Khammu-rabi.
1. A member of an
ancient Semitic people who ruled in Babylonia. Chaldeans See Chaldea above
Goblet used to hold and dispense the consecrated wine at Mass In general religious terms, it is intended for quaffing during a ceremony.
Chametz refers to bread, grains and leavened products that are not consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover, as well as all food items that are not specifically marked "kosher for Passover." According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. This law appears several times in the Bible. The punishment for eating chametz on Passover is karet ("spiritual excision").
Chametz is a product
that is channelling See mediumship
The movement has been characterized by its acceptance of the importance of speaking in tongues (also known as glossolalia), divine healing and prophecies as part of the grace of the power of the Holy Spirit; most meetings are for prayer and spirited singing and shouting; anointing the sick with oil is also often part of worship service. It has become a meeting ground between followers of the older Pentecostalism and people who manifest the gifts but are members of older denominations. As the movement matured through the 1980s, a number of new denominations evolved from it. In time most evangelicals came to accept the charismatic movement and many of its practices. It is no longer unusual to see charismatics of many faiths—Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans—as well as non-denominationalists, raising their hands and arms in prayer, and singing, dancing, and shouting in the Spirit.
In Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literature, a celestial winged being with human, animal, or birdlike characteristics. They are included among the angels, and in the Hebrew Scriptures they are described as the throne bearers of God. In Christianity and Islam they are celestial attendants of God and praise him continually. Known as karubun in Islam, they repeat "Glory to God" ceaselessly, and they dwell in a section of Heaven inaccessible to attacks by the Devil. In art they are often depicted as winged infants.
Winged bulls or geniuses are a
standard feature of Assyrian monuments, reliefs, and seals, where
they often appear ministering to the gods or worshiping a sacred
tree. After the expulsion of Adam
and Eve, God
stationed cherubim east of the Garden of EDEN
"to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen. 3:24). cherubim Cherubim means more than one cherub or a mighty cherub.
Chesed is the fourth Sephirah on the tree of life in the Kabbalah of Judaism. It is given the association of kindness and love, and is the first of the emotive attributes of the Sephirot. It sits below Chokhmah, across from Gevurah and above Netzach. It is usually given four paths. To Chokhmah, Gevurah, Tiphereth, and Netzach (some Kabbalists place a path from Chesed to Binah as well.) The first three of the Ten Sephirot, are the attributes of the "intellect," while Chesed is the first sephira of the attribute of "action." Chesed translated as "kindness" is often thought of as being synonymous with niceness, but the connotation of Chesed is much deeper. Chesed can be properly described as an act that has no "cause." Chesed is proactive – it is the initiator of interaction, and must therefore be the first in the sephirot of action. Chesed deals with the level of the visible, and in the chain of social dynamics is the primary spark that initiates subsequent action. Cheshvan sometimes called Marcheshvan (Hebrew: Standard Marh.ešvan Tiberian Marh.ešwa-n; from Akkadian warah(samnu, literally "eighth month") is the second month of the civil year and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical on the Hebrew calendar. In the Bible it is called Bul (I Kings 6:38). It is an autumn month of 29 days, except in "complete" years, in which it has 30 days (see Hebrew calendar). Cheshvan usually occurs in October–November on the Gregorian calendar. Given the Akkadian etymology, it seems likely the ? and the ? were switched at some point in time, since y-r-h. is the Semitic root for "moon" (and thus also "month"), and s-m-n is the Semitic root for "eight". Since then, the first two letters (mar) have been reinterpreted as the Hebrew word for bitter, alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts. Interestingly, the Ethiopian Jewish community celebrates Sigd on the 29th day of Cheshvan (50 days from Yom Kippur, analogous to counting 50 days from Pesach to Shavuos), as recognized by the Israeli Knesset July 2008. Events in Cheshvan 7 Cheshvan - V'tein Tal u-Matar ("Deliver Dew and Rain"), a prayer, is added to the Shemoneh Esrei prayers in Israel. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain.
The papyri were most likely first obtained by illegal antiquity traders. Because of this, the exact circumstances of the find are not clear. One account is that the manuscripts were in jars in a Coptic graveyard near the ruins of the ancient city of Aphroditopolis. Other theories have proposed that the collection was found near the Fayum instead of Aphroditopolis, or that the location was a Christian church or monastery near instead of a graveyard. Most of the papyri were bought from a dealer by Alfred Chester Beatty, after whom the manuscripts are named, although some leaves and fragments were acquired by the University of Michigan and a few other collectors and institutions. The papyri were first announced on November 19th, 1931, although more leaves would be acquired over the next decade. Frederic G. Kenyon, in an 8 volume work that spanned 1933-58, published the manuscripts in The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible. The papyri are usually cataloged as P. Chester Beatty followed by a corresponding Roman numeral between I-XII, one for each manuscript. The term "Chester Beatty Papyri" can also generally refer to the collection of manuscripts that Alfred Chester Beatty acquired over his lifetime, which include non-Biblical papyri such as the Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus.
the singular form of the word (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 19:35), which is also used in the plural form, Chinneroth, the name of a fenced city which stood near the shore of the lake of Galilee, a little to the south of Tiberias The town seems to have given its name to a district, as appears from 1 Kings 15:20, where the plural form of the word is used. The Sea of Chinnereth (Num. 34:11; Josh. 13:27), or of Chinneroth (Josh. 12: 3), was the "lake of Gennesaret" or “sea of Tiberias” (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2). Chinnereth was probably an ancient Canaanitish name adopted by the Israelites into their language.
1. A "wise man" is
a chakham (feminine: chakhama). Certain Sefardic Jews refer to their rabbis as a Hakham ("wise man") and the Chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire was called a Hakham Bashi. 2. in the Kabbalah of Judaism, chokhmah is the name of one of the Sefirot. The name Chabad, of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim, is an acronym, and the first letter ("Ch") is taken from chokhmah: (Chokhmah) for "wisdom" – (Binah) for "understanding" – (Da'at) for "knowledge."
Chometz See Chametz The three largest Jewish denominations—Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism—maintain the belief that the Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. In Judaism, chosenness is the belief that the Jews are the chosen people: chosen to be in a covenant with God. This idea is first found in the Torah (Five Books of Moses) and is elaborated on in later books of the Hebrew Bible. Much is written about this topic in rabbinic literature.
Chrism (Greek word literally meaning "an anointing"), also called "Myrrh" (Myron), Holy anointing oil or "Consecrated Oil," is a consecrated oil used in the Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Old-Catholic churches, and some Anglican and Lutheran churches in the administration of certain sacraments and ecclesiastical functions. Pure or scented olive oil, although typically not called chrism today, has been called chrism in the past, including oil used by Protestants and Restorationists in some forms of Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick and foot washing. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons, chrism was historically used in some of their temple ordinances. Multiple early Christian documents discuss the "ordinance" or "several ceremonies . . . explained in the Apostolical Constitutions" of "chrism," including documents by Theophilus and Tertullian. The most detailed version of the practice is by Cyril of Jerusalem who details how ointment or oil was "symbolically applied to thy forehead, and thy other organs of sense" and that the "ears, nostrils, and breast were each to be anointed." Cyril states that the "ointment is the seal of the covenants" of baptism and God’s promises to the Christian who is anointed. Cyril taught that being "anointed with the Holy anointing oil [Chrism] of God" was the sign of a Christian (Christos means "anointed"), and a physical representation of having the Gift of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost), and it retains this meaning in Catholicism and Orthodoxy today. He say's; "Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians."
The term chrismation is used because of the chrism (perfumed holy oil, usually containing myrrh, and consecrated by a bishop) with which the recipient of the sacrament is anointed, while the priest speaks the words sealing the initiate with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29)
People have assigned many meanings to the word "Christian." Some definitions include everyone who has:
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The word comes from Greek (khristianos), from (khristos) meaning "the anointed." In the (Greek) Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, khristos was used to translate the Hebrew (Mašía) (Messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed." The first known usage of the term khristianos can be found in the New Testament in Acts 11:26: "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." The name Christian was first used to denote those known to be teachers or leaders of the church (saints). They were disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. The other two New Testament uses of the word also refer to the public identity of those who follow Jesus. The Jewish king said the Apostle Paul had almost persuaded the king "to become a Christian" (Acts 26:28). Writing in 1 Peter 4:16, The Message translation, the Apostle Peter encouraged believers who are abused "because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!" The earliest recorded use of the term outside the Bible was when Tacitus recorded that Nero blamed the "Christians" for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. "Christian" also means a member or adherent of a church or other organized group within Christianity. As an adjective, the term may describe anything associated with Christianity or even remotely thought to be consistent with Christianity, as in "the Christian thing to do."
In Judaism, the term Christian Bible is commonly used to identify only those books like the New Testament which have been added by Christians to the Masoretic Text, and excludes any reference to an Old Testament
1. One of the groups of Christians
who have their own beliefs and forms of worship 2. A Protestant church that accepts the Bible as the only source of true Christian faith and practices baptism by immersion. In general, Christian clergy are ordained; that is, they are set apart for specific ministry in religious rites. Others who have definite roles in worship but who are not ordained (e.g. laypeople acting as acolytes) are generally not considered clergy, even though they may require some sort of official approval to exercise these ministries. Types of clerics are distinguished from offices, even when the latter are commonly or exclusively occupied by clerics. A Roman Catholic cardinal, for instance, is almost without exception a cleric, but a cardinal is not a type of cleric. An archbishop is not a distinct type of cleric, but is simply a bishop who occupies a particular position with special authority. Conversely, a youth minister at a parish may or may not be a cleric. Different churches have different systems of clergy, though churches with similar polity have similar systems.
Worldwide, Christians are divided, often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and another are defined by doctrine and church authority. Issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, and papal primacy separate one denomination from another. Catholicism is the largest denomination, comprising just over half of Christians worldwide. Protestant denominations comprise about 40% of Christians worldwide, and together the Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, and closely related denominations compose Western Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy, largely Greek and Russian, and the much smaller Oriental Orthodoxy are considered Eastern Christianity. Western Christian denominations prevail in Europe and its former colonies. Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe (including all of Russia), and the Near East. Christians have various doctrines about the Church, the body of faithful that they believe was established by Jesus Christ, and how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations. Together both the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to faithfully represent the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Protestants exist, historically, due to several perceived Catholic Church theologies and practices that they consider unorthodox, corrupt or anti-Biblical. Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to the extent that they acknowledge historically orthodox views including the deity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation, even though some obstacles hinder full communion between churches. Since the reforms surrounding Vatican II, the Catholic Church has referred to Protestant communities as denominations, while reserving the term "church" for apostolic churches, including the Eastern Orthodox.
The Christian Identity movement holds that non-Caucasian peoples have no souls, and can therefore never earn God's favor or be saved. Believers of the theology affirm that Jesus Christ paid only for the sins of the House of Israel and the House of Judah and that salvation must be received through both redemption and race. The Christian Identity movement first broke into the mainstream media in 1984, when the white nationalist organization The Order embarked on a murderous crime spree before being taken down by the FBI. Tax resister and militia movement organizer Gordon Kahl, whose death in a 1983 shootout with authorities helped inspire The Order, also had connections to the Identity movement.. The movement returned to public attention in 1992 and 1993, in the wake of the deadly Ruby Ridge confrontation, when newspapers discovered that former Green Beret and right-wing Christian fundamentalist Randy Weaver had at least a loose association with Christian Identity. No single document expresses the Christian Identity belief system; however, adherents draw upon arguments from linguistic, historical, archaeological and Biblical sources to support their beliefs. Estimates are that these groups have 2,000 to 50,000 members in the United States of America, and an unknown number in Canada and the rest of the Commonwealth. Christian Identity believers reject the beliefs of most contemporary Christian denominations. They claim that modern Christian churches are teaching a heresy: the belief that God's promises to Israel (through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) have been expanded to create a spiritual people of "Israel," which constitutes the Christian "Church". In turn, most modern Christian denominations and organizations denounce Christian Identity as heresy and condemn the use of the Christian Bible as a basis for promoting anti-Semitism. Adherents claim that Europeans are the true descendants of the Biblical Jacob, hence the true Israel, and that it is those who are against the interests of European-descended Christians that are the true anti-Semites.
It is clear that it is much easier to define Christianity in terms of its current Catholic Canon, and its Protestant variants, complex as that may be, than in terms of historical roots which are clouded by the effects of time, mishap and generations of intervening redactors.
Denominations of Christianity Roman Catholic · Eastern Catholic · Anglican · Independent Catholic · Old Catholic · Lutheran · Reformed · Anabaptist · Baptist · Methodist · Adventist · Evangelicalism · Holiness · Pentecostal Eastern Orthodoxy · Oriental Orthodoxy (Miaphysite) · Syriac Christianity Christian Kabbalah See Christian Kabbalah Here
Christian mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Christianity. Many Christians believe that these narratives are sacred and that they communicate profound truths. These traditional narratives include, but are not necessarily limited to, the stories contained in the Christian Bible. Many Christian denominations have emerged over the centuries, and not all denominations hold the same set of sacred traditional narratives. For example, the books of the Bible accepted by the Roman Catholic Church include a number of texts and stories (such as those narrated in the Book of Judith and Book of Tobit) that many Protestant denominations do not know or accept as canonical.
1. Calvinism describing the personal regeneration that is required to change people before changes occur in the broader culture, 2. Theonomy applying the general principles of Old Testament and New Testament moral law and case laws in the appropriate family, church and/or civil government, 3. Postmillennialism, the Christian Eschatology belief that God's kingdom began at the first coming of Jesus Christ, and will advance throughout history until it fills the whole earth through conversion to the Christian faith, 4. The presuppositional apologetics of Cornelius Van Til which holds there is no neutrality between believers and non-believers, that the Bible reveals a self-authenticating world-view and system of truth, and that non-believing belief systems self-destruct when they become more consistent with their presuppositions, (Bahnsen, Van Til's Apologetic, pp. 145-6, 97, 315-6) or even the views of Gordon Clark and 5. Decentralized social order resulting in minimal state power. They have no connection at all to Reconstructionist Judaism, which is a liberal group within Judaism.
Christian theology has permeated much of Western culture, especially in pre-modern Europe.
Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.
Many who are excitedly preparing for their Christmas celebrations would prefer not knowing about the holiday’s real significance. If they do know the history, they often object that their celebration has nothing to do with the holiday’s monstrous history and meaning. “We are just having fun.” So what is the real significance? How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25? Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season). In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc. The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.” Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681. However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran&ldots; amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.” As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.” On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.
Christmas Gifts See Christmas Presents
There has historically been opposition to the custom of the Christmas tree because of its alleged pagan origins. Thus, Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols and decorated trees. As pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland, Ohio decorated in 1851 what was likely the first Christmas tree in an American church, his parishioners condemned the idea as a Pagan practice. There are various legends regarding the origin of the Christmas tree, often relating to Saint Boniface. Thus, in one version, Boniface disrupted a pagan child sacrifice at an oak tree, flattening the oak with a blow of his fist. A small fir sprang up in place of the oak, which Boniface told the pagans represented Christ. In some accounts, Martin Luther is credited with coming up with the idea after seeing the night stars through the branches of a pine tree on a walk home, and decorated a tree with his family with candles and silver and gold tinsel. Condemnation of the Christmas tree as pagan has been based on a passage in Jeremiah, "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4, KJV). Christmas traditions in general have often been associated with paganism in 19th century scholarship. Robert Chambers in his 1832 Book of Days notes that the festivities of Christmas originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia , had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons. Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule log. Regarding the Christmas tree itself, Chambers notes that it seems to be a very ancient custom in Germany, and is probably a remnant of the splendid and fanciful pageants of the middle ages. Other traditions relating to Christmas that may derive from Germanic pagan practices include the Christmas ham, Yule Goat, stuffing stockings, elements of Santa Claus and his nocturnal ride through the sky, and elements of Alpine folklore. There are also some accounts that place the earliest Christmas trees in the Baltic (variously Estonia or Lativa), while in actuality the custom was introduced there in the 1920s.
2. A doctrine or theory based on Jesus or Jesus's teachings. Christology is the study of the nature of Jesus Christ. Because the traditional and orthodox Christian position has been the Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, one of the key questions in Christology has been to explain how that might be possible.
see Chronicles 1 and Chronicles 2 These two books contain stories of the Israelites that were not written in the first and second Books of Kings. They also are Israel's history books down to the time when King Cyrus of Persia overthrew Babylon and let the captive Israelites return to Palestine, their homeland. The Books of Chronicles (Hebrew Divrei Hayyamim, Greek Paraleipomêna) are part of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament). In the masoretic text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim (the latter arrangement also making it the final book of the Jewish bible). Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the books of Samuel (First Book of Samual - Second Book of Samual) and the Books of Kings. For this reason it was called "Supplements" in the Septuagint, where it appears in two parts (I & II Chronicles), immediately following 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings as a supplement to them. The division of Chronicles and its place in the Christian canon of the Old Testament are based upon the Septuagint.
Also refered to modern times people, a Native American people located in California Chumetz See Chametz A local church is a Christian religious organization made up of a congregation, its members and clergy. They are organized more or less formally, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, sometimes seek non-profit corporate status in the United States and often have state or regional structures. Church bodies often belong to a broader tradition within the Christian religion, sharing in a broad sense a history, culture and doctrinal heritage with other church bodies of the same tradition. A local church may be an independently run congregational church and may be associated with other similar congregations in a denomination or convention, as are the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. It may be united with other congregations under the oversight of a council of pastors as are Presbyterian churches. It may be united with other parishes under the oversight of bishops, as are Methodist, Anglican, and Eastern churches. Finally, the local church may function as the lowest subdivision in a large, global hierarchy under the leadership of one priest, such as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Such association or unity is a church's ecclesiastical polity. Church may also refer to: In Christianity:
Protestant church, form of Christian faith and church organization originating from the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation.
Smith and his associates intended that the Church of Christ would be a restoration of the 1st-century Christian church, which Smith taught had fallen from God's favor and authority because of a Great Apostasy. Upon Smith's death in 1844, there was a crisis of authority, with the majority of the members following Brigham Young to Utah Territory and several smaller denominations remaining in the surrounding states. All of the churches that resulted from this schism consider themselves to be the rightful continuation of the original 'Church of Christ'.
The Church of England understands itself to be both Catholic and Reformed:
Church of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated bodies, most of which descend from either Pentecostal/Holiness or Adventist traditions.
The 1906 Asuza Street Revival in Los Angeles, presided over by the black preacher William J. Seymour, drew the approval of many Pentecostal leaders. Mason sought the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Asuza Street and acquired a new comprehension of the power of speaking in tongues, a gift he soon applied in his public ministry. Debate arose in 1907 between Mason and Charles Jones over the use of speaking in tongues as initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and Mason took about half the ministers and members with him; those who remained with Jones became the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. The Church of God in Christ quickly built upon its southern constituency, expressing a greater faith in the power of God to transcend human sinfulness than other black denominations. It stressed freedom as the essence of religion and the need for an infusion of the Holy Spirit in order to give power for service. Such power assured individuals and communities of personal security in a region where they lived under oppressive conditions. Under Mason the Church of God in Christ sought to capture the guiding essence of the Holy Spirit while avoiding the contentiousness of Baptist-style conventions. The instrument for this was the Holy Convocation at Memphis, Tennessee, a combination of annual revival and camp meeting. Held in late November and early December, it consisted of twenty-one days devoted to prayer, Bible teaching, testimonies, and singing. The intention was to preserve, through repetition, the essence of the covenant with God and to inspire listeners with their special status as God's chosen. Following the great migration of African Americans from the rural South to the cities in the early twentieth century, Mason sent out preachers and female missionaries to Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New York, California, and Michigan. The church experienced phenomenal growth that was aided by the willingness of missionaries to care for children, pray for the sick, and teach homemaking skills. In 1911 Mason established a Women's Department to make full use of the skills of the church's female members. He welcomed women's free expression of their spiritual gifts, but insisted on the reservation of the offices of pastor and preacher for men; all female leaders remained subordinate to a male. First under Lizzie Roberson and then Lillian Brooks-Coffey, churches were founded and Bible study and prayer groups were organized. They called on women to dress modestly and to respect a pastor's authority. Mother Roberson also succeeded in raising, through her subordinates, the funds needed to open the denomination's first bank account. Ultimately the Women's Department took responsibility for foreign missions to Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, England, and Liberia. The church experienced a tempestuous transition to a new generation of leaders after Mason's death in 1961. In more recent years, however, it has grown dramatically and become visible to the American public. The church became a leader in ecumenical discussions with nonfundamentalist denominations, and C. H. Mason Seminary, established in 1970, was one of the few Pentecostal seminaries in the nation accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. During the 1970s the church also established military, prison, and hospital ministries. By the early 1990s, the Church of God in Christ, headed by Presiding Bishop Gilbert E. Patterson, had become the fifth largest denomination in the United States, with 5,499,875 members in 1991.
similarly named church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often colloquially referred to as the Mormon Church) is the largest denomination originating from the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., on April 6, 1830. The Church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations (called wards or branches) worldwide. As of 2007, the Church reported just over 13 million members worldwide, with about 6 million in the United States, thus making it the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States. Adherents—usually referred to as Latter-day Saints, LDS, or Mormons—are restorationist Christians and are not a part of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Like other Restorationist organizations, the LDS Church teaches that after the events described in the New Testament, there was a Great Apostasy, or "falling away" from the true Christian faith and priesthood. The Church teaches that this true faith and priesthood were restored to Joseph Smith, Jr. through Smith's prophecy and the visitation of angels in the early 1800s. Thus, the Church teaches that it is the only organization on the Earth with authority to conduct valid Christian sacraments (ordinances) such as baptism or the Eucharist (called by LDS the Sacrament). The Church also practices other sacraments, said to have been restored or instituted by Joseph Smith, such as Celestial marriage. The LDS Church is organized in a hierarchical structure, with Jesus viewed as the head, who provides revelation to the President of the Church, his counsellors in the First Presidency, and a Quorum of the Twelve, all of whom are ordained as "prophets, seers, and revelators." Along with additional quorums of men, these men make up the General Authorities of the Church. The Church is further structured in a way that provides a direct chain of authority down to the local congregational level. At the local level, these members of the priesthood are drawn from the laity and work on a purely volunteer basis without stipend. Members, including clergy, are asked to donate a full tithe (10%) of their income to the Church. The Church has a canon of four scriptural texts: the Bible (both Old and New Testament), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Other than the Bible, the majority of the LDS canon constitutes revelation dictated by Joseph Smith, and includes commentary and exegesis about the Bible, texts described as "lost" parts of the Bible, and books said to be written by non-Biblical prophets. LDS theology has many similarities with traditional Christianity. Similarities include teachings that Jesus is the divine son of God the Father, delivered to the earth by the Virgin Mary, that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, that he suffered, was crucified and resurrected, that his sacrifice was an atonement for the sins of all humanity, and that Jesus ascended to sit on the right hand of his Father, and will return again. However, there are distinct differences associated with LDS theology. First, is their non-trinitarian doctrine, teaching that while Jesus and the Father are united in purpose, will, and attributes, they are not literally the same person and have distinct physical bodies. Church doctrine also distinguishes itself from other Christian denominations by its practice of temple ordinances and teaching that Jesus visited and preached in the Americas after his resurrection, as recounted in the Book of Mormon. A ciborium is a covered container used in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and related churches to store the consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion. A ciborium is also an architectural feature in some churches. It resembles the shape of a chalice but its bowl is more round than conical, and takes its name from its cover, surmounted by a cross or other sacred design. In the early Christian Church, Holy Communion was not kept in churches for fear of sacrilege or desecration. Later, the first ciboria were kept at homes to be handy for the Last Rites where needed. In churches, a ciborium is usually kept in a tabernacle or aumbry. In some cases, it may be veiled (see photograph below) to indicate the presence of the consecrated hosts. Other containers for the host include the paten (a small plate) or a basin (for loaves of bread rather than wafers) used at the time of consecration and distribution at the main service of Holy Eucharist. A pyx is a small, circular container into which a few consecrated hosts can be placed. Pyxes are typically used to bring communion to the sick or shut-in.
Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures may be open to interpretation. Male circumcision is considered a commandment from God in Judaism. In Islam, though not discussed in the Qur'an, circumcision is widely practiced and most often considered to be a sunnah. It is also customary in some Christian Churches in Africa, including some Oriental Orthodox Churches. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global estimates suggest that 30% of males are circumcised, of whom 68% are Muslim. The prevalence of circumcision varies mostly with religious affiliation, and sometimes culture. There is controversy surrounding circumcision. Advocates for circumcision state that it provides important health advantages which outweigh the risks, has no substantial effects on sexual function, has a low complication rate when carried out by an experienced physician, and is best performed during the neonatal period. Opponents of circumcision state that it is extremely painful, adversely affects sexual pleasure and performance, may increase the risk of certain infections, and when performed on infants and children violates the individual's human rights. The American Medical Association stated in 1999: "Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice." The World Health Organization (WHO; 2007), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS; 2007), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2008) state that evidence indicates male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by men during penile-vaginal sex, but also state that circumcision only provides partial protection and should not replace other interventions to prevent transmission of HIV. Classical Hebrew See Biblical Hebrew
A priesthood is a body of priests, shamans, or oracles who have special religious authority or function. The term priest is derived from the Greek presbyter (presbýteros, elder or senior), but is often used in the sense of sacerdos in particular, i.e., for clergy performing ritual within the sphere of the sacred or numinous (ta hiera) communicating with the gods on behalf of the community. There is a significant difference between clergy and theologians; clergy have the above-mentioned duties while theologians are scholars of religion and theology, and are not necessarily clergy. A lay person can be a theologian. In Christianity there is a wide range of formal and informal clergy positions, including deacons, priests, bishops, and ministers. In Shiaa Islam, religious leaders are usually known as imams or ayatollahs.
See also:
Closed communion is the practice of restricting the serving of the elements of communion (also called Eucharist, The Lord's Supper) to those who are members of a particular church, denomination, sect, or congregation. Though the meaning of the term varies slightly in different Christian theological traditions, it generally means that a church or denomination limits participation either to members of their own church, members of their own denomination, or members of some specific class (e.g., baptized members of evangelical churches). See also intercommunion. See also Eucharist and Open communion
A bound book made up of folded leaves or pages. Codices gradually replaced scrolls as the medium for written transmission of the Bible and other ancient texts. A book made of thin wooden strips coated with wax upon which one wrote. The usual modern sense of codex, “book formed of bound leaves of paper or parchment,” is due to Christianity. By the first century B.C. there existed at Rome notebooks made of leaves of parchment, used for rough copy, first drafts, and notes. By the first century A.D. such manuals were used for commercial copies of classical literature. The Christians adopted this parchment manual format for the Scriptures used in their liturgy because a codex is easier to handle than a scroll and because one can write on both sides of a parchment but on only one side of a papyrus scroll. By the early second century all Scripture was reproduced in codex form. In traditional Christian iconography, therefore, the Hebrew prophets are represented holding scrolls and the Evangelists holding codices. coenobitic See Cenobite
Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the date. The numbering of years is identical to that used in the Anno Domini (AD) system, with current year as of now being the current year in both systems and neither using a year zero. Common Era is also known as Christian era and Current Era, with all three expressions abbreviated as CE. (Christian era is, however, also abbreviated AD, for Anno Domini.) Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for "Before the Common Era", "Before the Christian Era", or "Before the Current Era". Both the BC/AD and BCE/CE systems are based on a sixth century estimate for the year in which Jesus was conceived or born; with common era designation originating among Christians in Europe at least as early as 1615 (at first in Latin). The Gregorian calendar, and the year numbering system associated with it, is the calendar system with most widespread usage in the world today. For decades, it has been the de facto global standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union. Common Era notation has been adopted in several non-Christian cultures, by many scholars in religious studies and other academic fields, and by others wishing to be sensitive to non-Christians, because Common Era does not explicitly make use of religious titles for Jesus, such as Christ and Lord, which are used in the BC/AD notation. The abbreviation BCE, just as with BC, always follows the year number. Unlike AD, which traditionally precedes the year number, CE always follows the year number (if context requires that it be written at all) Thus, the current year is written as 2009 in both systems (or, if further clarity is needed, as 2009 CE, or as AD 2009), and the year that Socrates died is represented as 399 BCE (the same year that is represented by 399 BC in the BC/AD system). The abbreviations are sometimes written with small capital letters, or with periods (e.g., "BCE" or "C.E.")
Communion is a polyvalent term (having many values, meanings or appeals). Though not Christian-specific, the term "communion" has several denotations within the Christian traditions. It may refer to:
Communion (Christian) In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with other Christians. This basic meaning of the word, found in many passages of the New Testament predates its other, more specific, Christian uses. By metonymy, the term is used of a group of Christian Churches that have this close relationship of communion with each other. An example is the Anglican Communion. If the relationship between the Churches is complete, involving fulness of "those bonds of communion - faith, sacraments and pastoral governance - that permit the Faithful to receive the life of grace within the Church", it is called full communion. However, the term "full communion" is frequently used in a broader sense, to refer instead to a relationship between Christian Churches that are not united, but have only entered into an arrangement whereby members of each Church have certain rights within the other. If a Church recognizes that another Church, with which it lacks bonds of pastoral governance, shares with it some of the beliefs and essential practices of Christianity, it may speak of "partial communion" between it and the other Church. The communion of saints is the relationship that, according to the belief of Christians, exists between them as people made holy by their link with Christ. This relationship is generally understood to extend not only to those still in earthly life, but also to those who have gone past death to be "at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). Since the word rendered in English as "saints" can mean not only "holy people" but also "holy things", the term communion of saints also applies to the sharing by members of the Church in the holy things of faith, sacraments (especially the Eucharist), and the other spiritual graces and gifts that they have in common.
In a special way the term
communion is applied to sharing in the Eucharist
by partaking of the consecrated bread and wine, an action seen as
entering into a particularly close relationship with Christ.
Sometimes the term is applied not only to this partaking but to the
whole of the rite or to the consecrated elements. Full communion Full communion is a term used in Christian ecclesiology to describe the relationship of communion, with mutually recognized sharing of the same essential doctrines, between a Christian community and other communities or between that community and individuals. The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity see full communion between local Churches as uniting them into a single Churches. Other Western denominations apply the term instead to practical arrangements entered into by Churches and communities that fully maintain their distinct identities.
Monte Kim Miller formed a group known as the Concerned Christians in Colorado, during the 1980s. Created as an element of the Christian countercult movement to combat New Age religious movements and anti-Christian sentiment, it has since become known as an apocalyptic Christian cult as the group adopted the less mainstream views of the millennium held by Miller. There is a separate and unrelated ministry known as Concerned Christians outreach to Mormons in transition out of Mormonism, based in Mesa, Arizona, that was established in the 1970s. There are also other unrelated organizations that use "Concerned Christians" as part of their name. Between 60 and 80 members of the group disappeared from their homes and jobs in Colorado in October 1998 and were the subject of a search. On January 3, 1999, they gained notoriety when they were arrested and deported from Israel as part of an Israeli effort to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque from extremist Christian groups, codenamed "Operation Walk on Water". According to Israeli police, the Concerned Christians were one of several independent groups who believed it must be destroyed to facilitate the return of Jesus Christ. The group members said that they were law abiding religious pilgrims there to await the return of Jesus but had no plans to participate in any illegal activity. The group is said to currently reside in Greece or the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and its potential threat level has since been disputed
However the "Pastors' Emergency League" founded by Detrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor Niemoller, and other ministers opposed the Nazi's aryanization of German Christianity. The League grew into the Confessing Church and later forced underground as Nazi pressure intensified. Many of its leaders were executed by the Nazis. The movement continued in World War II, though it was hampered by the conscription of clergy and laity. In 1948 the church ceased to exist when the reorganized Evangelical Church was formed.
The most familiar meaning of the word refers to the Catholic tradition of confessing ad auriculam, "into the ear of" a priest. The practice began in the medieval church. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 declared confession had to be at least an annual event if the confessor wanted to receive the host during Eucharist. In the sixteenth century, in order to provide privacy and a more substantial ritual, confessional stalls began to be used. It has always been the law of the land that anything said to a priest was absolutely confidential. The priest took a holy vow that he was bound not to reveal anything told him in the confessional. But recently, as a result of child-abuse scandals in the Catholic church, state legislatures are beginning to question the practice of excusing priests and ministers from lists of people, such as doctors and social workers, who are required to report instances of child abuse. In May 2002 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for example, eliminated from the list of exceptions ministers of denominations who did not use confessionals by tradition. Terrorist threats raised more questions. If a terrorist, seeking to save his soul after committing murder, confesses to a priest bound by the power of the confessional, is the priest obligated to remain silent? It remains to be seen how long the Church will be able to hold out from social pressure requiring, for the public good, at least some confidentiality to be discarded. (as of March 26, 2009)
The priest and penitent are in separate compartments and speak to each other through a grid or lattice. A crucifix is sometimes hung over the grille. The priest will usually sit in the middle and the penitents will enter the compartments to either side of him. The priest can close off the other compartment by a sliding screen so that only one person will be confessing at a time. Kneelers are provided in the compartments on each side of the priest, sometimes a prie-dieu style kneeler, or sometimes a diagonal kneeler built into the walls of the confessional. Confessions and conversations are usually whispered. Sometimes a confessional will be built into the church walls and have separate doors for each compartment; other confessionals can be free-standing structures where curtains are used to conceal penitents (and even the priest in some confessionals) from the rest of the church.
Catholics believe that Confirmation is based on Biblical precedent such as Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17: A sacrament in which the Holy Ghost is given to those already baptized in order to make them strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. Confirmation is the sacrament in which the Holy Spirit comes to us in a special way to join us more closely to Jesus and his Church and to seal and strengthen us as Christ's witnesses. It is the completion of baptismal grace.
The political morality taught by Confucius and his disciples, which forms the basis of the Chinese jurisprudence and education. It can hardly be called a religion, as it does not inculcate the worship of any god. Scholarly tradition and way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th – 5th century BC and followed by the Chinese for more than two millennia. Though not organized as a religion, it has deeply influenced East Asian spiritual and political life in a comparable manner. The core idea is ren ("humaneness," "benevolence"), signifying excellent character in accord with li (ritual norms), zhong (loyalty to one's true nature), shu (reciprocity), and xiao (filial piety). Together these constitute de (virtue). Mencius, Xunzi, and others sustained Confucianism, but it was not influential until Dong Zhongshu emerged in the 2nd century BC. Confucianism was then recognized as the Han state cult, and the Five Classics became the core of education. In spite of the influence of Daoism and Buddhism, Confucian ethics have had the strongest influence on the moral fabric of Chinese society. A revival of Confucian thought in the 11th century produced Neo-Confucianism, a major influence in Korea during the Choson dynasty and in Japan during the Tokugawa period.
The term can also refer to an assembly of senior members at a university.
The word conjuration can be interpreted in several different ways: as an invocation or evocation (the latter in the sense of binding by a vow); as an exorcism; or as an act of illusionism. The word is often used synonymously with "invocation", although the two are not synonyms. One who performs conjurations is called a conjurer or conjuror. The word (as conjuration or conjurison) was formerly used in its Latin meaning of "conspiracy". The conjuration of the ghosts or souls of the dead for the purpose of divination is called necromancy. When it is said that a person is calling upon or conjuring misfortune or disease, it is due to the ancient belief that personified diseases and misfortune as evil deities, spirits or demons that could enter a human or animal body; see demon possession. The notion of the action of a conjuration is traditionally linked to the task of repelling negative spirits away, and protecting an individual, space or collectivity. However, it is also believed by many, particularly in Christian and Islamic societies, that magic, and thus conjuration, is an inherently evil practice. According to these beliefs, conjurers summon demons or other evil spirits to cause harm to people or things, to obtain favors from them, or simply to enter servitude to such beings. The belief in similarly-minded conjurers also exists in belief systems in which magic is not inherently evil, although in these cultures these "black magicians" are not the rule and have opposition among more traditional magicians.
The principles of Conservative Judaism include:
Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism, developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and does not imply the movement's adherents are politically conservative. Because of this potential for confusion, a number of Conservative Rabbis have proposed renaming the movement, and outside of the United States and Canada, in many countries including Israel and the UK, it is today known as Masorti Judaism (Hebrew for "Traditional").
Contemporary English Version
a version of The Bible
Continuationists are considered either Pentecostal or Charismatic, although these terms sometimes are used in a general sense to include the other.
Though, it should be noted that the denominations are considered different due to the time of each denomination's separation from the mainstream church along with other reasons.
the act of changing one's beliefs from one religion to another or from one faith group to another within the same religion. It is be a capital offense in some predominately Muslim lands to convert from Islam to another religion. In a general sense the heathen are said to be “converted” when they abandon heathenism and embrace the Christian faith; and in a more special sense men are converted when, by the influence of divine grace in their souls, their whole life is changed, old things pass away, and all things become new (Acts 26:18). Thus we speak of the conversion of the Philippian jailer (16:19-34), of Paul (9:1-22), of the Ethiopian treasurer (8:26-40), of Cornelius (10), of Lydia (16:13-15), and others.
(Spanish and Portuguese for "a convert", from Latin conversus, "converted, turned around") and its feminine form conversa referred to Jews or Muslims or the descendants of Jews or Muslims who had converted or, in most cases, were compelled to convert to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, particularly during the 14th century and 15th century.
Conversos were apparently subject to harassment from both the community they were leaving and that they were joining. Both Christians and Jews called them tornadizo (renegade), and laws were passed during the reigns of Jaime I, Alfonso X and Juan I forbidding the use of this epithet. This was part of a larger pattern of royal protection, laws also being promulgated to protect their property, forbid attempts to reconvert them, and regulating the behavior of the conversos themselves, preventing their cohabitation or even dining with Jews, lest they reconvert. However, they did not enjoy legal equality, Alfonso VII prohibiting the "recently converted" from holding office in Toledo, and they had both supporters and bitter opponents within the Christian secular and religious leadership. Conversos could be found in various roles within the Iberian kingdoms, from Bishop to royal mistress, showing a degree of general acceptance, yet they would become targets of occasional pogroms and of the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. While pure blood (so-called limpieza de sangre) would come to be placed at a premium, particularly among the nobility, in a 15th century defense of conversos Bishop Lope de Barrientos would list what Roth calls "a veritable 'Who's Who' of Spanish nobility" as having converso members or being of converso descent and would point out that given the near-universal conversion of Iberian Jews during Visigothic times, (quoting Roth) "who among the Christians of Spain could be certain that he is not a descendant of those conversos?"
It is about 48 miles west of Athens. The ancient city was destroyed by the Romans (B.C. 146), and that mentioned in the New Testament was quite a new city, having been rebuilt about a century afterwards and peopled by a colony of freedmen from Rome. It became under the Romans the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Acts 18:12-16). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. When Paul first visited the city (A.D. 51 or 52), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Here Paul resided for eighteen months (18:1-18). Here he first became aquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, and soon after his departure Apollos came to it from Ephesus. After an interval he visited it a second time, and remained for three months (20:3). During this second visit his Epistle to the Romans was written (probably A.D. 55). Although there were many Jewish converts at Corinth, yet the Gentile element prevailed in the church there. Some have argued from 2 Cor. 12:14; 13:1, that Paul visited Corinth a third time (i.e., that on some unrecorded occasion he visited the city between what are usually called the first and second visits). But the passages referred to only indicate Paul's intention to visit Corinth (compare 1 Cor. 16:5, where the Greek present tense denotes an intention), an intention which was in some way frustrated. We can hardly suppose that such a visit could have been made by the Apostle without more distinct reference to it.
A Roman Catholic holy day which commemorates the Eucharist - a ritual in which they believe that a wafer and wine become the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (or on the following Sunday). The feast, which celebrates the founding of the sacrament of the Eucharist, was established generally in 1264 with an office by St. Thomas Aquinas, which includes the splendid hymn Pange Lingua. In medieval times it was celebrated with pageants and the performance of miracle plays. The anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus is on Maundy Thursday. See also The Blessed Sacrament. See also Eucharist
The idea of counting each day represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah, which was given by God on Mount Sinai at the beginning of the month of Sivan, around the same time as the holiday of Shavuot. The Sefer HaChinuch states that the Jewish people were only freed from Egypt at Passover in order to receive the Torah at Sinai, an event which is now celebrated on Shavuot, and to fulfill its laws. Thus the Counting of the Omer demonstrates how much a Jew desires to accept the Torah in his own life.
In 1922 Margaret Murray launched the theory that witches were always organized in groups of thirteen where the leader impersonated the Devil, and alleged that trial records showed several such groups, including five in England. When checked by historians, her figures turned out to be wrong; she had manipulated information in her sources to achieve the desired number. Though the idea of organization by covens is now rejected by scholars as unhistorical, it is widely taken for granted in fiction and journalism; it is also central to the organization of the Wicca movement. Coven as a local group of Wiccans or other Neo-pagans. During the "burning times" when Christian groups were tracking down and exterminating heretics, it was believed that each coven held 13 members. This was and is not true; covens can be of any size, but are most often perhaps about a half-dozen.
More specifically, a covenant, in contrast to a contract, is a one-way agreement whereby the covenanter is the only party bound by the promise. A covenant may have conditions and prerequisites that qualify the undertaking, including the actions of second or third parties, but there is no inherent agreement by such other parties to fulfill those requirements. Consequentially, the only party that can break a covenant is the covenanter. In a religious context: "Berith" in Hebrew and "diatheke" in Greek. Most commonly used to refer to various covenants between God and the Hebrews. Jews believe that these covenants are permanent; some Christians believe that God unilaterally abrogated them and selected Christians to be the new chosen people. In certain religions, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition. An example of a covenant relationship in Judaism and Christianity is that between Abraham and God, in which God made a covenant with Abraham that He would bless Abraham's descendants making them more numerous than the stars. Also Job made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1). Christianity asserts that God made an additional covenant through Jesus Christ, called the "new covenant", in which Jesus' sacrifice on the cross would atone for the sins of all who put their faith in him (Matthew 26:28). In Islam God reminds all humanity of their covenants with him. A covenant may also refer to an agreement between members of a congregation to work together according to the precepts of their religion. In Islam, God enters into a covenant with Muhammad, impressing into his shoulder the seal of prophecy. In Indo-Iranian religious tradition, Mithra-Mitra is the hypostasis of covenant, and hence keeper and protector of moral, social and interpersonal relationships, including love and friendship. In living Zoroastrianism, which is one of the two primary developments of Indo-Iranian religious tradition, Mithra is by extension a judge, protecting agreements by ensuring that individuals who break one do not enter Heaven.
The place of publication of the 1535 edition was long disputed. The printer was assumed to be either Froschover in Zurich or Cervicornus and Soter (in Cologne or Marburg). Since the discovery of Guido Latré in 1997, the printer has been identified as Merten de Keyser in Antwerp. The publication was partly financed by Jacobus van Meteren in Antwerp, whose sister-in-law, Adriana de Weyden, married John Rogers. The other backer of the Coverdale Bible was Jacobus van Meteren's nephew, Leonard Ortels (†1539), father of Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), the famous humanist geographer and cartographer. Although Coverdale was also involved in the preparation of the Great Bible of 1539, the Coverdale Bible continued to be reprinted. The last of over 20 editions of the whole Bible or its New Testament appeared in 1553. Coverdale based his New Testament on Tyndale's translation. For the Old Testament, Coverdale used Tyndale's published Pentateuch and possibly his published Jonah. He apparently did not make use of any of Tyndale's other, unpublished, Old Testament material (cf. Matthew Bible). Instead, Coverdale himself translated the remaining books of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. Not being a Hebrew or Greek scholar, he worked primarily from German Bibles-Luther's Bible and the Swiss-German version (Zürich Bible) of Zwingli and Juda-and Latin sources including the Vulgate.
Genesis 1-11 is based on Mesopotamian creation myths, differing in that it presents the theological message of Yahwistic monotheism. For Jews and Christians this creation account is considered to be sacred history. There has been considerable debate concerning this account with regards to the language, structure, and interpretation. The discussion around the language of the original Hebrew concerns whether or not it supports the teaching of creatio ex nihilo ("creation out of nothing") and that of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. When looking at the structure of these two chapters, the question is whether or not they consist of simply one creation account or of two creation accounts that have been merged together. Then interpretively there are two popular views of the Genesis account that exist today within religious scholarship: The first understands it as being an accurate record of the creation of the universe while the second view interprets it as being allegorical.
The belief that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing. Biblical creationists believe that the story told in Genesis of God's six-day creation of the universe and all living things is literally correct. Scientific creationists believe that a creator made all that exists, though they may not hold that the Genesis story is a literal history of that creation. Creationism became the object of renewed interest among conservative religious groups following the wide dissemination of the theory of biological evolution, first systematically propounded by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species (1859). In the early 20th century some U.S. states banned the teaching of evolution, leading to the Scopes Trial. In the late 20th century many creationists advocated a view known as intelligent design, which was essentially a scientifically modern version of the argument from design for the existence of God as set forth in the late 18th century by the Anglican clergyman William Paley. Other Creationism theories:
A creed is a statement of belief — usually religious belief — or faith often recited as part of a religious service. The word derives from the Latin: credo for I believe and credimus for we believe. It is sometimes called symbol, signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other. The most definitive creed in Christianity is the Nicene Creed, formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, the first of the Twenty One Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church (See Catholic Ecumenical Councils. Affirmation of this creed, which describes the Trinity, is generally taken as a fundamental test of orthodoxy. The Apostle's Creed is also broadly accepted. Yet many Christians, including Unitarians, Quakers, Baptist, Messianics, Restorationists and others have rejected the authority of those creeds. Whether Judaism is creedal has been a point of some controversy. Though some say Judaism is noncreedal in nature, others say it recognizes a single creed, the Shema. "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Muslims declare the shahada, "there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." The terms "creed" and "faith" are sometimes used to mean religion. Where "creed" appears alongside "religion" or "faith" it can also refer to a person's political or social beliefs.
It was at one time a very prosperous and populous island, having a “hundred cities.” The character of the people is described in Paul's quotation from "one of their own poets" (Epimenides) in his epistle to Titus: "The Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies" (Titus 1:12). Jews from Crete were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). The island was visited by Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27). Here Paul subsequently left Titus (1:5) “to ordain elders.” Some have supposed that it was the original home of the Caphtorim (q.v.) or Philistines
One style of crucifix that has become popular is called the resifix or resurrection cross. Instead of featuring Christ dying on the cross, it depicts a triumphant resurrected Jesus. Some people prefer the resifix to the more traditional crucifix since emphasis in the symbol shifts away from Christ’s death to his resurrection. A crucifix in a church or home is considered an object of meditation. In churches, people often pray before the crucifix. At homes, people may affix crucifixes to walls where they will be seen frequently. They may either pray at their crucifix or simply use the crucifix in an obvious location to be reminded often of Christ’s sacrifice, his love for humanity and his resurrection.
crusades Military expeditions, beginning in the late 11th century, that were organized by Western Christians in response to centuries of Muslim wars of expansion. Their objectives were to check the spread of Islam, to retake control of the Holy Land, to conquer pagan areas, and to recapture formerly Christian territories. The Crusades were seen by many of their participants as a means of redemption and expiation for sins. Between 1095, when the First Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, and 1291, when the Latin Christians were finally expelled from their kingdom in Syria, there were numerous expeditions to the Holy Land, to Spain, and even to the Baltic; the Crusades continued for several centuries after 1291, usually as military campaigns intended to halt or slow the advance of Muslim power or to conquer pagan areas. The Crusaders initially enjoyed success, founding a Christian state in Palestine and Syria, but the continued growth of Islamic states ultimately reversed those gains. By the 14th century the Ottoman Turks had established themselves in the Balkans and would penetrate deeper into Europe despite repeated efforts to repulse them. Crusades were also called against heretics (the Albigensian Crusade, 1209 – 29) and various rivals of the popes, and the Fourth Crusade (1202 – 04) was diverted against the Byzantine Empire. Crusading declined rapidly during the 16th century with the advent of the Protestant Reformation and the decline of papal authority. The Crusades constitute a controversial chapter in the history of Christianity, and their excesses have been the subject of centuries of historiography. Historians have also concentrated on the role the Crusades played in the expansion of medieval Europe and its institutions, and the notion of "crusading" has been transformed from a religio-military campaign into a modern metaphor for zealous and demanding struggles to advance the good ("crusades for") and to oppose perceived evil ("crusades against").
The cubit is based on measuring by comparing – especially cords and textiles, but also for timbers and stones – to one's forearm length. The Egyptian hieroglyph for the unit shows this symbol. It was employed consistently through Antiquity, the Middle-Ages up to the Early Modern Times. The distance between thumb and another finger to the elbow on an average person measures about 24 digits or 6 palms or 1½ feet. This is about 45 cm or 18 inches. This so-called "natural cubit" of 1½ feet is used in the Roman system of measures and in different Greek systems. Over time, units similar in type to the cubit have measured:
From late Antiquity, the Roman ulna, a four-foot cubit (about 120 cm) is also attested. This length is the measure from a man's hip to the fingers of the outstretched opposite arm. The English yard could be considered to be a type of cubit, measuring 12 palms, ~90 cm, or 36 inches (3.00 ft). This is the measure from the middle of a man's body to his fingers, always with outstretched arm. The English ell is essentially a kind of great cubit of 15 palms, 114 cm, or 45 inches (3.75 ft).
Collective veneration or worship (e.g., the cult of the saints — meaning collective veneration of the saints — in Roman Catholicism). In the West, the term has come to be used for groups that are perceived to have deviated from normative religions in belief and practice. They typically have a charismatic leader and attract followers who are in some way disenfranchised from the mainstream of society. Cults as thus defined are often viewed as foreign or dangerous. In the media, the term is often used to refer to a destructive religious group which:
Doomsday/Destructive/Apocalyptic cults to be religiously based, very high intensity, controlling groups that have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public. It is important to realize that out of the tens of thousands of new religious groups worldwide, only a very few meet these criteria. We do not include terrorist groups in the above definition, because their goals are primarily political, not religious. However, groups like Al Quaeda (The Source) do have some points of similarities with destructive religious cults. Fortunately, such groups are extremely rare. The word "cult" has other neutral or positive meanings, such as:
cummin Cummin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavor and appearance. It is used as a spice.
A curse is any manner of adversity thought to be inflicted by any supernatural power, such as a spell, a prayer, an imprecation, an execration, magic, witchcraft, a god, a natural force, or a spirit. The study of the forms of curses comprise a significant proportion of the study of both folk religion and folklore. The deliberate attempt to levy curses is often part of the practice of magic. In Hindu culture the Fakir is believed to have the power to bless and curse[citation needed]. Special names for specific types of curses can be found in various cultures:
Curse is also a term sometimes used colloquially for the menstrual period. It has been in use for centuries, because menstruating women were believed to produce many horrifying effects. They were considered unclean, unfit for coitus and capable of spoiling food, drink, and crops. Early Hebrews, for example, punished women who had intercourse during menstruation and in medieval times menstruating women were prevented from going to church or even entering a wine cellar in case they spoiled the wine
Some Biblical scholars see the "curse of Ham" story as an early Hebrew rationalization for Israel's conquest and enslavement of the Canaanites, who were presumed to descend from Canaan. The "curse of Ham" had been used by some members of Abrahamic religions to justify racism and the enslavement of people of Black African ancestry, who were believed to be descendants of Ham. They were often called Hamites and were believed to have descended through Canaan or his older brothers. This racist theory was widely held during the 18th-20th centuries, but it has been largely abandoned since the mid-20th century. Cush See Cush Here in Names in The Bible
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