Search the encyclopedia

Search the Bible

1000 articles found for “and Azariah”

• Christmas Tree

  [Feasts & Seasons]

  A Christmas tree is a decoration set up in the days before Christmas, consisting of an evergreen or a tree of similar shape adorned with a star, lights, and ornaments. Although it is not a rite grounded in Scripture, most churches in Korea set one up inside and outside their sanctuaries during Advent and the Christmas season.

• Recapitulation

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  Recapitulation (anakephalaiōsis) is the soteriology developed by the second-century Church Father Irenaeus. It teaches that Christ retraced from the beginning the human path on which Adam failed, restored it through obedience, and gathers all things together in himself.

• Voluntary Poverty

  [Christian Life]

  Voluntary poverty is the choice to live simply and without desire for wealth, out of purity of heart. In Christianity, it denotes an attitude of faith that is not bound by possessions but relies on God and embraces a modest life.

• Lament Psalms

  [Bible]

  Lament psalms are a type of psalm in which the psalmist cries out and appeals to God amid suffering, illness, persecution, or national disaster. They are among the most common types in the Book of Psalms.

• Judicial Law

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  In the theological tradition that divides the Mosaic law into moral, ceremonial, and judicial law, judicial law refers to the civil and criminal regulations that governed the national and social life of ancient Israel. It is also called civil law.

• The Five Visions of Amos

  [Bible]

  The Five Visions of Amos is the collective name for five scenes that God showed the prophet Amos, recorded in Amos 7:1–9:4 in the Old Testament: the locusts, the fire, the plumb line, the basket of summer fruit, and the Lord standing beside the altar.

• Child Dedication

  [Worship & Rites]

  Child dedication is a rite in which parents present a newborn child to God and promise to raise the child in the faith, while the church blesses the child and prays for him or her.

• Hermit

  [Christian Life]

  A hermit is a person who lives alone in a remote place apart from the world, cultivating faith through prayer and ascetic discipline. The tradition originated with the monks of the Egyptian desert in the third and fourth centuries.

• Relic

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  A relic is the preserved remains of a saint or martyr, an object that a saint or martyr used, or an object associated with the life of Jesus, kept as an object of veneration. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church venerate relics, while Protestants generally reject the practice.

• Belshazzar's Feast

  [Bible]

  Belshazzar's Feast is the event recorded in Daniel 5, in which handwriting appeared on the wall during a banquet at which Belshazzar, king of Babylon, drank from the vessels of the Temple in Jerusalem and praised idols. The king was slain that same night.

• Astrology

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  Astrology is a form of divination that interprets the positions and movements of the sun, moon, and stars to discern human destiny and foretell future events. Christianity has traditionally shunned it on the basis of the biblical prohibitions against divination.

• The Imitation of Christ

  [Christian Life]

  The imitation of Christ is an attitude of faith that seeks to live according to the character and life of Jesus Christ. The term also refers to a fifteenth-century devotional book of the same title, traditionally attributed to Thomas à Kempis.

• Feminist Theology

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  Feminist theology is a theological movement that rereads the Bible and the Christian tradition from the experience and perspective of women and critically examines male-centered interpretations and institutions within the church and theology.

• Liturgy of the Hours

  [Worship & Rites]

  The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, is the public prayer of the church in which psalms, canticles, Scripture readings, and prayers are offered at fixed times of the day. The term is used chiefly in the Catholic Church, and similar traditions exist in the Anglican and Lutheran churches.

• Obedience

  [Christian Life]

  Obedience is hearing God's will and word and acting accordingly. Protestants generally understand it as a believer's response in life that flows from faith.

• Veneration of the Saints

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  The veneration of the saints is a devotional practice of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in which saints who serve as models of faith are honored and asked for their intercession. Protestants remember the saints as examples of faith but do not make them objects of prayer.

• Book of Common Prayer

  [Worship & Rites]

  The Book of Common Prayer is the official liturgical book used in Anglican churches for worship and prayer. First produced during the English Reformation in the sixteenth century, it contains the orders of service and prayers for daily prayer, Holy Communion, and various other rites.

• Moral Law

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  Moral law is a theological term for the part of the Old Testament law that expresses God's moral will and applies to all people regardless of era or nation; it is commonly held to be summarized in the Ten Commandments.

• Pope

  [Organization & Polity]

  The pope is the Bishop of Rome, the supreme leader of the Catholic Church (the Roman Catholic Church). The Catholic Church regards the pope as the successor of the apostle Peter, but Protestant and Orthodox churches do not recognize his primacy.

• Mariology

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  Mariology is the field of theology concerned with the identity and role of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Understandings differ considerably among the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions.