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Romans 4:1–5
[Bible Verses]In this passage Paul uses Abraham as an example to explain that a person is counted righteous by faith rather than by works. It is frequently cited as a key text for the doctrine of justification by faith, and denominations differ in how they interpret it.
Revelation 20:1–3
[Bible Verses]John's vision in which an angel seizes the dragon, that is, Satan, and shuts him in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Because it is the first passage in the Bible to mention the "thousand years," it is the central text in debates over the interpretation of the millennium.
Acts 8:32–35
[Bible Verses]In this passage Philip explains to an Ethiopian eunuch, who was reading the passage in Isaiah 53 about the one "led as a sheep to the slaughter," that the words refer to Jesus. Because it is a leading text identifying the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah 53 with Jesus, it is frequently cited and discussed.
The Woman Caught in Adultery
[People]The woman caught in adultery is an unnamed woman who appears in John 7:53–8:11. She is the central figure in the account in which Jesus told her accusers, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
Tower of Babel
[Bible]The Tower of Babel is an event recorded in Genesis 11:1-9. After Noah's Flood, people who spoke a single language began building a city and a tower on the plain of Shinar, but God confounded their language and scattered them over all the earth.
Daniel in the Lions' Den
[Bible]Daniel in the lions' den is an event recorded in Daniel 6. Although a decree forbade praying to anyone but the king, Daniel continued to pray to God. He was thrown into a den of lions for doing so, but he came out alive and unharmed.
Raising of Lazarus
[Bible]The raising of Lazarus is an event recorded in John 11, in which Jesus, at Bethany, raised Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead four days. It is commonly regarded as the last and greatest of the signs in the Gospel of John.
Contest on Mount Carmel
[Bible]The contest on Mount Carmel was an event during the reign of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel in which the prophet Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and demonstrated that the God who answers by fire is the true God. It is recorded in 1 Kings 18.
Wedding at Cana
[Bible]The Wedding at Cana is an event recorded in John 2:1-11 in which Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. The Gospel of John calls it Jesus' "first sign."
Day of Atonement
[Bible]The Day of Atonement was an annual holy day of Old Testament Israel, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the sins of the people and for the sanctuary. Its procedure is described in Leviticus 16.
Cursing of the Fig Tree
[Bible]The cursing of the fig tree is an event in which Jesus, after entering Jerusalem, cursed a fig tree that was full of leaves but bore no fruit, after which the tree withered. It is recorded in Mark 11 and Matthew 21.
Kinsman-Redeemer
[Bible]The kinsman-redeemer (Hebrew goel) is an Old Testament institution in which a close relative paid the price to recover land or freedom that a family member had lost through poverty or similar circumstances. Boaz in the Book of Ruth is the best-known example.
King James Version
[Bible]The King James Version (KJV) is an English translation of the Bible produced at the command of King James I of England and published in 1611. For centuries it served as the standard Bible of English-speaking Protestantism.
Day of the Lord
[Bible]The Day of the Lord is an expression used by the Old Testament prophets for the time when God intervenes directly in history to bring about judgment and salvation. The New Testament takes it up as "the day of the Lord" and "the day of Christ," connecting it with the Second Coming and the Last Judgment.
Leprosy
[Bible]Leprosy is the biblical term for an "unclean" disease of the skin and for blemishes on garments and houses. Leviticus sets out the regulations for its diagnosis and for purification, and leprosy also figures in the accounts of Miriam, Naaman, and Uzziah and in the healing narratives of Jesus.
Book of Enoch
[Bible]The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic work transmitted under the name of Enoch, the figure in Genesis. One of its passages is quoted in Jude 1:14-15, but neither Protestants nor Catholics regard it as canonical.
Marriage Supper of the Lamb
[Bible]The marriage supper of the Lamb is an expression found in Revelation 19. It refers to the feast celebrating the complete union of Christ, the Lamb, with his bride at the end of the age.
Angel of the Lord
[Bible]The Angel of the Lord is an Old Testament term for a being sent by God who appears to people and delivers his word. Because the angel sometimes speaks as though he were God himself, interpreters disagree about the angel's identity.
Breaking of Bread
[Bible]The breaking of bread is an expression derived from the Jewish mealtime custom of breaking bread by hand and sharing it. In the New Testament it refers to the meals of Jesus and to the communal meals and the Lord's Supper of the early church.
Gospel of Thomas
[History]The Gospel of Thomas is an ancient document containing a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus. Its complete Coptic text was discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. It is not included in the biblical canon.