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Presentation of the Lord
[Feasts & Seasons]The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a feast of the church year that commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth. Western churches usually observe it on February 2.
Gospel of the Hebrews
[History]The Gospel of the Hebrews is a gospel said to have been read among Christians of Jewish origin around the second century. No copy survives. It is a New Testament apocryphal work known only from a few passages quoted by the Church Fathers.
The Widow's Jar of Oil
[Bible]The widow's jar of oil is a miracle recorded in 2 Kings 4:1-7, in which the prophet Elisha helped a widow who was about to lose her two sons to slavery because of a debt. The single jar of oil left in her house filled every empty vessel she had borrowed.
The Floating Axe Head
[Bible]The floating axe head is a miracle recorded in 2 Kings 6:1-7, in which Elisha made a borrowed iron axe head that had fallen into the Jordan River float to the surface by throwing a stick into the water.
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.
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.
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.
Redemption of the Firstborn
[Bible]The redemption of the firstborn is a provision of the Mosaic Law by which the firstborn son in Israel was set apart as belonging to God and then redeemed by a payment of five shekels of silver. The institution served as a reminder that God spared Israel's firstborn sons at the time of the Exodus.
The Cushite Woman
[People]The Cushite woman is the "Cushite woman" (KJV: "Ethiopian woman") whom Moses married, according to Numbers 12. She appears in the account in which Miriam and Aaron used this marriage as a pretext for speaking against Moses. Her name is not recorded.
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
[People]An unnamed disciple of Jesus who appears only in the Gospel of John. He is present at the Last Supper, at the foot of the cross, at the empty tomb, and by the Sea of Tiberias. Church tradition identifies him as John the son of Zebedee.
Mary the Mother of James
[People]One of the women who followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered to him, she witnessed his crucifixion and burial and went to the empty tomb on the morning of the resurrection.
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 have become 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.
The Holocaust
[History]The systematic murder of approximately six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the World War II era. After the war, it prompted the churches to reexamine antisemitism and replacement theology.
Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire
[History]The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire refers to the punishment of Christians by Roman authorities, and their efforts to compel Christians to renounce their faith, from the reign of Nero in the first century to Constantine's legal recognition of Christianity in the early fourth century.
Book of the Wars of the Lord
[Bible]The Book of the Wars of the Lord is an ancient Israelite book cited once, in Numbers 21:14. It is thought to have been a collection of poems celebrating the battles God fought on Israel's behalf, and it is no longer extant.
The Pilgrim's Progress
[Christian Life]The Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian allegory by the English Puritan preacher John Bunyan, published in 1678 (Part One) and 1684 (Part Two). Told in the form of a dream, it depicts the journey of the pilgrim Christian from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City.
Establishment of the State of Israel
[History]The proclamation of the State of Israel by Jewish leaders on May 14, 1948, as the British Mandate for Palestine was coming to an end. The event is frequently mentioned in Korean churches in connection with eschatology, and different theological traditions interpret its significance in different ways.
Fear of the Lord
[Bible]The fear of the Lord is a biblical expression for an attitude of fearing, revering, and obeying God. Old Testament wisdom literature calls it the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.
Illumination of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The illumination of the Holy Spirit is a theological term for the work by which the Holy Spirit enlightens the human heart to understand and receive the meaning of Scripture that has already been written.
Division of the Land of Canaan
[Bible]The division of the land of Canaan was the allotment of territory by lot to the twelve tribes, carried out by Joshua and Eleazar the priest after Israel entered Canaan. It is recorded chiefly in Joshua 13–21.