Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “the two spies”
The Poor
[Bible]In the Bible, "the poor" refers to people who struggle to make a living and need protection. The Old Testament makes caring for them a duty of the covenant people, and the New Testament presents the proclamation of the gospel to them as a sign of the kingdom of God.
River of the Water of Life
[Bible]The river of the water of life is the river described in Revelation 22 as flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb and watering the New Jerusalem. Together with Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 47 of a river flowing from the temple, it is read as a symbol of the life that God gives.
Babylon the Great
[Bible]Babylon the Great is a symbolic city that appears in Revelation 14–18. It represents worldly power that opposes God and the judgment that falls upon that power.
Chapter and Verse Divisions of the Bible
[Bible]The chapter and verse divisions of the Bible are the system by which the biblical text is divided into numbered chapters and verses. They were not part of the original text. Chapter divisions were introduced in the early thirteenth century, and New Testament verse numbers in the mid-sixteenth century.
Formation of the Canon
[Bible]The formation of the canon (canonization) is the historical process by which it became settled which of the many writings in circulation were received as Scripture, the norm for faith and life.
New Testament Quotations of the Old Testament
[Bible]The practice by which New Testament writers reproduce or borrow the words of the Old Testament to explain Jesus Christ and the church, and the passages in which they do so. These quotations are treated as a key resource for understanding the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.
Authorship of the Bible
[Bible]The authorship of the Bible concerns who wrote each of the books of Scripture. The Bible speaks both of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and of the writing of human authors, and denominations and scholars differ in how they understand the authorship and inspiration of each book.
Homosexuality and the Church
[Controversies]Homosexuality and the church concerns how churches should respond to homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ church members and clergy. In South Korea, most denominations hold the traditional position that homosexuality is sin, and the issue is closely intertwined with the debate over enacting an anti-discrimination law.
Isaiah the Prophet
[People]Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who ministered in the Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth century BC and is the central figure of the Book of Isaiah. His name means "the LORD is salvation."
John the Baptist
[People]John the Baptist was a Jewish prophet who came before Jesus Christ, calling people to repentance and baptizing in the Jordan River. The New Testament presents him as the one who prepared the way for the Messiah.
James (Brother of the Lord)
[People]James is a New Testament figure identified as "the Lord's brother" and was a leader of the early church in Jerusalem. Tradition holds that he wrote the Epistle of James.
Simon the Cananaean
[People]Simon the Cananaean was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. In Luke and Acts he is called "Simon called Zelotes" (the Zealot), which distinguishes him from Peter, who bore the same name.
Calming the Storm
[Bible]Calming the Storm is the miracle in which Jesus, in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee, rebuked the wind and the waves and made them still. It is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Ananias the High Priest
[People]High priest in Jerusalem in the mid-first century. In Acts 23–24 he orders that Paul be struck on the mouth as Paul stands before the Sanhedrin, and he later brings charges against Paul before the governor at Caesarea.
Simon the Tanner
[People]Simon the tanner was a leather craftsman of Joppa mentioned in Acts 9–10. After raising Tabitha, Peter stayed for many days in Simon's house by the sea, and it was on its housetop, while praying, that Peter saw a vision.
Philip the Evangelist
[People]Philip the Evangelist appears in the Acts of the Apostles as one of "the seven" chosen in the early Jerusalem church. He preached the gospel in Samaria and baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. He is distinct from Philip the Apostle.
Dionysius the Areopagite
[People]Dionysius was an Athenian mentioned in Acts 17:34, a member of the Areopagus who believed after hearing Paul's address at the Areopagus.
Philip the Tetrarch
[People]Philip the Tetrarch was a son of Herod the Great who ruled the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis northeast of the Sea of Galilee. He is named in Luke 3:1 and is known as the founder of Caesarea Philippi.
Heber the Kenite
[People]Heber was a Kenite who appears in Judges 4–5. A descendant of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, he was the husband of Jael, who killed the Canaanite commander Sisera.
Alexander the Great
[People]Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) was a king of ancient Macedonia who overthrew the Persian Empire and built an empire stretching from Greece to the Indus River. The Greek language and culture spread by his conquests formed the backdrop of the intertestamental period and the New Testament era.