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1000 articles found for “a leper”

• Lectionary

  [Worship & Rites]

  A lectionary is a list of Scripture passages appointed in advance to be read on each Sunday and feast day according to the church year. It typically groups together readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels.

• Rock

  [Bible]

  A rock is a large, solid mass of stone. In the Bible it appears as the actual rock that gave water in the wilderness, and it also serves as a figure for God's unchanging protection, for Christ, and for the foundation of the church.

• Manuscript

  [Bible]

  A manuscript is a book or document copied by hand from an original. None of the original documents of the Bible survive, and modern Bibles are translated from texts established by comparing manuscripts from many periods.

• Deacon

  [Church Offices]

  A deacon is a member of the clergy ranking below the priest in churches, such as the Catholic and Anglican churches, that divide holy orders into the three ranks of bishop, priest, and deacon. The term comes from the same Greek word that Korean Protestant churches use for the distinct office known as jipsa.

• Proselytes to Judaism

  [Bible]

  A proselyte to Judaism was a person born a Gentile who came to believe in the God of Israel and formally entered Judaism. The term appears four times in the New Testament, in Matthew and Acts.

• Second Vatican Council

  [History]

  A council of the Catholic Church held at the Vatican in Rome from 1962 to 1965. Under the banner of church renewal and dialogue with the modern world, it approved the celebration of Mass in vernacular languages, dialogue with other Christians, and religious freedom, among other decisions.

• Vision

  [Bible]

  A vision is a means by which God makes something known to a person by showing scenes or meanings that cannot be perceived with ordinary sight. Visions appear frequently in the Old Testament prophetic books and in the Book of Acts.

• Genealogy

  [Bible]

  A genealogy is a record that traces descent from ancestors to descendants by name. In the Bible, genealogies appear in Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Matthew, Luke, and elsewhere.

• Ziggurat

  [History]

  A ziggurat is a massive, tower-like structure of ancient Mesopotamia, built of brick in stepped tiers to raise a temple to a lofty height. It is frequently cited as the background to the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis.

• Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud

  [Bible]

  A sign during the Exodus in which the LORD led the people of Israel through the wilderness, going before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. It symbolizes God's presence and guidance.

• Pearl

  [Bible]

  A pearl is a round gem formed inside a mollusk. In the Bible it denotes something of great value, and it is best known from the New Testament parable of the pearl of great price and from the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem.

• Christian

  [Bible]

  A Christian is "one who belongs to Christ," a person who believes in and follows Jesus as the Christ. The word appears three times in the New Testament, in Acts and 1 Peter.

• Portion

  [Bible]

  A portion is a share that is divided and received, such as an inheritance or an allotment of land. In the Old Testament the term is used for the tribes' allotments of land and in the confession of faith "the LORD is my portion"; in the New Testament it appears in the parable of the prodigal son.

• Lord's Day

  [Bible]

  A New Testament expression that, in Revelation 1:10, refers to the day on which Christians gathered for worship and, in the Epistles, to the last day, when Christ will return to judge.

• Redeemer

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  A redeemer is one who pays a price to recover a person or property that has been sold or bound. In Christianity, the term is a title for God, and especially for Jesus Christ, who delivers humanity from sin and death.

• Raising of the Widow's Son at Nain

  [Bible]

  A miracle in which Jesus met a funeral procession near the gate of the town of Nain in Galilee, raised a widow's only son from the dead, and restored him to his mother. It is recorded only in Luke 7:11-17.

• Syro-Ephraimite War

  [Bible]

  A war in the late eighth century BC in which Rezin, king of Aram (Syria), and Pekah, king of the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim), joined forces to attack Ahaz, king of Judah. The Immanuel prophecy of Isaiah 7 was given during this crisis.

• Sojourner

  [Bible]

  A sojourner, or resident alien, is a biblical term for a foreigner who has left his homeland and lives among another people. The Old Testament law commands that such people be protected, and the New Testament applies the term to Christian identity.

• Guardian Angel

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  A guardian angel is an angel whom God sends to protect a person or community; the term also refers to the belief that God sends such angels. The Catholic Church teaches it as doctrine, while Protestants generally affirm angelic protection but do not insist that each person is assigned a single angel.

• Sacred Pillar

  [Bible]

  A sacred pillar (Hebrew matstsebah) was a standing stone erected in ancient Canaan to worship or commemorate a deity. The Old Testament commands Israel not to erect pillars associated with pagan worship and to break them down.