1.
Pinturicchio
–
Pintoricchio or Pinturicchio whose formal name was Bernardino di Betto, also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. Born in Perugia in 1454 and dying in Siena in 1513, Pintoricchio acquired his nickname, meaning and he also used it to sign some of his 14th and 15th century artworks. Pinturicchio was born the son of Benedetto or Betto di Blagio, in his career, he may have trained under lesser known Perugian painters such as Bonfigli and Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. According to Vasari, Pinturicchio was an assistant of Perugino. The works of the Perugian Renaissance school are very similar, and paintings by Perugino, Pinturicchio, Lo Spagna, the Sistine Chapel was also where it is believed that Pinturicchio was collaborating with Perugino to some extent. Would be, if it had left with all its original decorations. A great deal still remains, but much has been swept away, the earliest of his works is an altarpiece of the Adoration of the Shepherds, in the Della Rovere Chapel, the first chapel on the south, built by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere. The old fresco of the Virgin and the Child by Pinturicchio was detached from the wall, the fragment was re-used as the altarpiece of the Ducal Chapel of the Cathedral of Massa. The third chapel on the south is that of Girolamo Basso della Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, and bishop of Recanati. The Basso Della Rovere Chapel contains an altarpiece of the Madonna enthroned between Four Saints, and on the east side a very nobly composed fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin. In the Costa Chapel, Pinturicchio or one of his helpers painted the Four Latin Doctors in the lunettes of the vault, most of these frescoes are considerably injured by moisture and have suffered little from restoration. In the centre is a panel of the Coronation of the Virgin. The spaces between them are filled by reclining figures of the Four Sibyls, on each pendentive is a figure of one of the Four Doctors enthroned under a niched canopy. No finer specimen of the decoration of a quadripartite vault can be seen anywhere. In 1492, Pinturicchio was summoned to Orvieto Cathedral and he was employed by Pope Alexander VI to decorate a recently completed suite of six rooms, the Borgia Apartments in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. These rooms now form part of the Vatican Library, and five still retain a series of Pinturicchio frescoes, the Umbrian painter worked in these rooms till around 1494, assisted by his pupils, and not without interruption. It was not until Pope Alexander VI died that Pinturicchio left Rome for Umbria, leaving much of the work in Rome to be completed by Michelangelo, Raphael, and company. His other chief frescoes in Rome, still existing in good condition, are in the Bufalini Chapel in the southwest sector of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, probably executed around 1484-1486
Pinturicchio
–
Self-portrait in the
Baglioni Chapel.
Pinturicchio
–
The Crucifixion with Sts. Jerome and Christopher, 1471, oil on wood, 59 × 40 cm,
Galleria Borghese, Rome.
Pinturicchio
–
Fresco at
Siena Cathedral depicting
Pope Pius II.
Pinturicchio
–
Bernard of Clairvaux between
Louis of Toulouse and
Anthony of Padua,
Bufalini Chapel,
Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome.
2.
Judaism
–
Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
Judaism
–
Judaica (clockwise from top):
Shabbat candlesticks,
handwashing cup,
Chumash and
Tanakh,
Torah pointer,
shofar and
etrog box
Judaism
–
Silver case containing a handwritten
Torah (
Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris)
Judaism
–
Glass platter inscribed with the Hebrew word zokhreinu – remember us
Judaism
–
A 19th-century silver
Macedonian Hanukkah menorah
3.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
4.
Islam
–
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
Islam
–
The
Kaaba, in
Mecca,
Hejaz region, today's
Saudi Arabia, is the
center of Islam.
Muslims from all over the world gather there to
pray in unity.
Islam
–
The dome of the
Carol I Mosque in
Constanța,
Romania, topped by the
Islamic crescent
Islam
–
Medallion showing "
Allah " (
God) in
Hagia Sophia,
Istanbul,
Turkey.
Islam
–
An
angel presenting
Muhammad and his companions with a miniature city. In the
Topkapi Palace Library,
Istanbul.
5.
Canonization
–
Originally, persons were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes were developed, such as used today in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The first persons honored as saints were the martyrs, pious legends of their deaths were considered affirmations of the truth of their faith in Christ. The Roman Rites Canon of the Mass contains only the names of martyrs, along with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, since 1962, that of St. Joseph her spouse. By the fourth century, however, confessors—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by word, examples of such people are Saint Hilarion and Saint Ephrem the Syrian in the East, and Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Hilary of Poitiers in the West. Their names were inserted in the diptychs, the lists of saints venerated in the liturgy. Since the witness of their lives was not as unequivocal as that of the martyrs and this process is often referred to as local canonization. This approval was required even for veneration of a reputed martyr, and Saint Cyprian recommended that the utmost diligence be observed in investigating the claims of those who were said to have died for the faith. Evidence was sought from the records of the trials or from people who had been present at the trials. Saint Augustine of Hippo tells of the procedure which was followed in his day for the recognition of a martyr, the bishop of the diocese in which the martyrdom took place set up a canonical process for conducting the inquiry with the utmost severity. Other churches still use the older practice, in the Catholic Church, canonization is a decree that allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite. For permission to venerate merely locally, only beatification is needed, only acceptance of the cultus by the Pope made the cultus universal, because he alone can rule the universal Catholic Church. In the Medieval West, the Apostolic See was asked to intervene in the question of canonizations so as to more authoritative decisions. Swibert by Pope Leo III in 804, thereafter, recourse to the judgment of the Pope was had more frequently. Pope Urban II, Pope Calixtus II, and Pope Eugene III conformed to this discipline, a decree of Pope Alexander III1170 gave the prerogative to the ope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned. However, the procedure initiated by the decretal of Pope Alexander III was confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent III issued on the occasion of the canonization of St. Cunegunda in 1200. The bull of Pope Innocent III resulted in increasingly elaborate inquiries to the Apostolic See concerning canonizations and he further regulated both of these acts by issuing his Decreta servanda in beatificatione et canonizatione Sanctorum on 12 March 1642. His work published from 1734-8 governed the proceedings until 1917, the article Beatification and canonization process in 1914 describes the procedures followed until the promulgation of the Codex of 1917
Canonization
–
Icon of
St. Cyprian of Carthage, who urged diligence in the process of canonization
Canonization
–
Pope Pius II canonizes
Catherine of Siena
Canonization
–
The Turkish
atrocities in Bulgaria (1876). On 3 April 2011, Batak massacre victims were canonized as saints.
6.
Calendar of saints
–
The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
Calendar of saints
–
A
medieval manuscript fragment of
Finnish origin, about 1340–60. Utilized by the
Dominican convent at
Turku.
Calendar of saints
–
Excerpt from the Irish
Feastology of Oengus, presenting the entries for 1 and 2 January in the form of quatrains of four six-syllabic lines for each day. In this 16th-century copy (MS G10 at the
National Library of Ireland) we find pairs of two six-syllabic lines combined into bold lines, amended by glosses and notes that were added by later authors.
Calendar of saints
–
A
Welsh calendar of saint days c.1488 - 1498
Calendar of saints
–
Anglican Communion
7.
Michael (archangel)
–
Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions, he is called Saint Michael the Archangel, in the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox traditions, he is called Taxiarch Archangel Michael or simply Archangel Michael. Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, in the New Testament Michael leads Gods armies against Satans forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as the archangel Michael, by the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations, Michael is mentioned three times in the Hebrew Scriptures, all in the book of Daniel. The prophet Daniel experiences a vision after having undergone a period of fasting, Daniel 10, 13-21 describes Daniels vision of an angel who identifies Michael as the protector of Israel. At Daniel 12,1, Daniel is informed that Michael will arise during the time of the end, the Book of Revelation describes a war in heaven in which Michael, being stronger, defeats Satan. After the conflict, Satan is thrown to earth along with the fallen angels, in the Epistle of Jude 1,9, Michael is referred to as an archangel when he again confronts Satan. A reference to an archangel also appears in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians 4,16 and this archangel who heralds the second coming of Christ is not named, but is often associated with Michael. Michael, is one of the two mentioned in the Quran, alongside Jibreel. In the Quran, Michael is mentioned only, in Sura 2,98, Whoever is an enemy to God, and His angels and His messengers. Then, God is an enemy to the disbelievers, some Muslims believe that the reference in Sura 11,69 is Michael, one of the three angels who visited Abraham. Michaels enmity with Samael dates from the time when the latter was thrown down from heaven, Samael took hold of the wings of Michael, whom he wished to bring down with him in his fall, but Michael was saved by God. But appeal to Michael seems to have more common in ancient times. Thus Jeremiah is said to have addressed a prayer to him, the rabbis declare that Michael entered upon his role of defender at the time of the biblical patriarchs. Thus, according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, it was Michael who rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he had been thrown by Nimrod. It was Michael, the one that had escaped, who told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive, and he announced to Sarah that she would bear a son and he rescued Lot at the destruction of Sodom. It is said that Michael prevented Isaac from being sacrificed by his father by substituting a ram in his place, later Michael prevented Laban from harming Jacob
Michael (archangel)
–
A 13th-century Byzantine icon from
Saint Catherine's Monastery
Michael (archangel)
–
Guido Reni 's Michael (in
Santa Maria della Concezione church, Rome, 1636) tramples Satan. A mosaic of the same painting decorates St. Michael's Altar in
St. Peter's Basilica.
Michael (archangel)
–
Michael archangel by anonymous painter
Michael (archangel)
–
Michael in
Hebrew
8.
Raphael (archangel)
–
Raphael is an archangel of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam who in the Christian tradition performs all manners of healing. In Islam, Raphael is the fourth angel, in the Muslim tradition. Raphael is generally associated with the mentioned in the Gospel of John as stirring the water at the healing pool of Bethesda. Raphael is also an angel in Mormonism, as he is mentioned in the Doctrine. The angels mentioned in the Torah, the books of the Hebrew Bible, are without names. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish of Tiberias, asserted that all the names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon. Raphael is named in several Jewish apocryphal books, and place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the judgment he shall be cast into the fire. Of archangels in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only Michael, mentioned as archangel, the name of the angel Raphael appears only in the Biblical Book of Tobit. The Book of Tobit is considered deuterocanonical by Catholics, Orthodox, Raphael first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of Tobits son, Tobiah, calling himself Azarias the son of the great Ananias. During the course of the journey the archangels protective influence is shown in many including the binding of a demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After returning and healing the blind Tobit, Azarias makes himself known as the angel Raphael, one of the seven and he is venerated as Saint Raphael the Archangel. In the New Testament, only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name, and he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. Because of the role assigned to Raphael, this particular angel is generally associated with the archangel. On July 8,1497, when Vasco Da Gama set forth from Lisbon with his four ship fleet to sail to India, when the flotilla reached the Cape of Good Hope on October 22, the sailors disembarked and erected a column in the archangels honor. The little statue of St. Raphael that accompanied Da Gama on the voyage is now in the Naval Museum in Lisbon, Raphael is said to guard pilgrims on their journeys, and is often depicted holding a staff. He is also depicted holding or standing on a fish. The feast day of Raphael was included for the first time in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, with the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar, the feast was transferred to September 29 for celebration together with archangels Saints Michael and Gabriel
Raphael (archangel)
–
Saint Raphael the Archangel by
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Raphael (archangel)
–
Tobias and the Angel
Raphael (archangel)
–
Raphael, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, detail
Raphael (archangel)
–
Virgin Mary
9.
Western Rite Orthodoxy
–
In addition, the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches and the Orthodox Church of France are entirely Western Rite. In the past, there have also been Western Rite communities within Oriental Orthodoxy, Western Rite parishes are found almost exclusively in countries with large Roman Catholic or Protestant majorities. There are also numerous devotional societies and publishing ventures related to the Western Rite, despite having a place within many Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions, the Western Rite remains a contentious issue for some. In the East, the Byzantine Rite was the predominant liturgical rite, in the West, the Latin Rite was the dominant rite. One of such regions was Byzantine Italy, in the time of the final split much of the southern Italy was still under Byzantine rule and was organized as the Catepanate of Italy. For centuries, church life in Byzatine regions of Italy was developing under dual influence of Latin, during the 11th century, Latin rite churches in Byzantine Italy still did not use the interpolated Creed and were in full communion with Eastern Orthodoxy. During the Byzantine–Norman wars, Byzantine Empire finally lost its last positions in the West, the Norman conquest of southern Italy was completed with the Conquest of Bari in 1071. One of the consequences of the political change was the establishment of the supremacy of the Church of Rome over the church life in former Byzantine Italy. The main theological challenge was resolved at the Council of Bari in 1098, from that point, all churches in southern Italy were obligated to accept the Filioque clause into the Creed. Implementation of that decision soon marked the end of Latin rite Orthodoxy in southern Italy, after the 11th century, the Byzantine Rite was gradually becoming dominant in the Eastern Orthodox world, almost to the point of exclusion of any other liturgy. This changed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when some Western Christians converted to Orthodoxy, during the 1840s, William Palmer, a Church of England priest, corresponded with Russian Orthodox Church \ Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov, of Moscow, and Aleksey Khomyakov. From 1864, Julian Joseph Overbeck, a former Roman Catholic priest, Overbeck converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and married. He then emigrated to England in 1863 to become professor of German at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1865 Overbeck was received as a layman into the Russian Orthodox Church, by Father Eugene Poppoff, at the Russian Embassy in London. As a part of his conversion into the ROC, Overbeck requested permission from the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to begin a Western Orthodox church in England, initially, Philaret was hesitant about Overbecks request, but did not rule out the idea entirely. In 1867 Overbeck began to edit The Orthodox Catholic Review, a periodical for the advancement of Western Orthodoxy, a synodical commission investigated Overbecks petition, in 1870 he stated his case before the commission in St. Petersburg. The commission approved the petition and he was instructed to present a revised Western liturgy for evaluation by the commission and he presented a revised Western liturgy in December. That liturgy was subsequently approved for use – specifically in the British Isles, over the next several years, Overbeck developed liturgies for administering other sacraments and for praying a Divine Office. During this time, he continued to criticize Roman Catholics and Anglicans as well as those Western converts to Orthodoxy who utilized the Byzantine Rite, by 1876, Overbeck appealed to other Orthodox Churches for their recognition of his plan
Western Rite Orthodoxy
–
An altar prepared according to the rubrics for the Tridentine Rite. Many Western Rite Orthodox congregations celebrate a revised version of the Tridentine mass under the name Divine Liturgy of Saint Gregory.
10.
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
Orthodox liturgy
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
An
icon of
John the Baptist, 14th century, Macedonia
11.
Julian calendar
–
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
Julian calendar
–
Russian icon of the
Theophany (the baptism of
Jesus by
John the Baptist) (6 January), the highest-ranked feast which occurs on the fixed cycle of the
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Julian calendar
–
This is a visual example of the official date change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian
Julian calendar
–
Key concepts
12.
Saint symbolism
–
Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life, symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, the study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene and they are often carried in the hand by the Saint. Attributes often vary with time or geography, especially between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can also be recognised by a distinctive facial type – as can Christ. Some attributes are general, such as the palm frond carried by martyrs, the use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story. The following is a list of some of these attributes, a New Dictionary of Saints, East and West. Catholic Forum Patron Saints Index Saints Badges or Shields On the Canonizations of John Paul II
Saint symbolism
–
Dutch Book of Prayers from the mid-fifteenth century. Group of five saints. From left to right,
Saint Joseph,
Saint James the Great,
Saint Eligius,
Saint Hermes, and
Saint Ghislain, with their emblems.
Saint symbolism
–
The symbols of the four Evangelists are here depicted in the
Book of Kells. The four winged creatures symbolize, clockwise from top left,
Matthew,
Mark,
John, and
Luke.
Saint symbolism
–
The
key as symbol of St. Peter
Saint symbolism
–
The
Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles. Russian, 14th century, Moscow Museum.
13.
Archangel
–
An archangel /ˌɑːrkˈeɪndʒəl/ is an angel of high rank. The word archangel itself is associated with the Abrahamic religions. The word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος, Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism, Islam and by most Christians. Protestants recognize Gabriel as an angel but consider Michael to be the only archangel, raphael—mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit—is also recognized in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast on September 29, the named archangels in Islam are Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrael. Jewish literature, such as the Book of Enoch, mentions Metatron as an archangel, called the highest of the angels, some branches of the faiths mentioned have identified a group of seven Archangels, but the actual angels vary, depending on the source. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are always mentioned, the other archangels vary, but most commonly include Uriel, in Zoroastrianism, sacred texts allude to the six great Amesha Spenta of Ahura Mazda. An increasing number of experts in anthropology, theology and philosophy, the Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism are likened to archangels. They individually inhabit immortal bodies that operate in the world to protect, guide, and inspire humanity. The Avesta explains the origin and nature of archangels or Amesha Spentas, to maintain equilibrium, Ahura Mazda engaged in the first act of creation, distinguishing his Holy Spirit Spenta Mainyu, the Archangel of righteousness. Ahura Mazda also distinguished from himself six more Amesha Spentas, who, along with Spenta Mainyu, then he oversaw the development of sixteen lands, each imbued with a unique cultural catalyst calculated to encourage the formation of distinct human populations. The Amesha Spentas were charged with protecting these holy lands and through their emanation, the Amesha Spentas as attributes of God are, Spenta Mainyu, lit. Immortality The Hebrew Bible uses the ter. מלאכי אלוהים, The Hebrew word for angel is malach, מלאכי י י, בני אלוהים and הקדושים to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angelic messengers. Other terms are used in texts, such as העליונים. References to angels are uncommon in Jewish literature except in works such as the Book of Daniel, though they are mentioned briefly in the stories of Jacob. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name and it is therefore widely speculated that Jewish interest in angels developed during the Babylonian captivity. According to Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias, specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, there are no explicit references to archangels in the canonical texts of the Hebrew Bible. In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels came to take on a particular significance, though these archangels were believed to have rank amongst the heavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed
Archangel
–
The Annunciation by
Paolo de Matteis
Archangel
–
Jacob wrestling with the Angel by
Gustave Doré 1885
Archangel
–
Guido Reni 's Archangel Michael Trampling Satan, 1636.
Archangel
–
Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, depicted in
stained glass in
St Ailbe's Church, a Catholic church in Ireland
14.
Patron saint
–
Catholics believe that patron saints, having already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges. Historically, a practice has also occurred in many Islamic lands. With regard to the omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote. Traditionally, it has been understood that the saint of a particular place prays for that places wellbeing and for the health. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active, professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession and it is, however, generally discouraged in some Protestant branches such as Calvinism, where the practice is considered a form of idolatry. In Islam, the veneration or commemoration and recognition of saints is found in many branches of traditional Sunnism
Patron saint
–
Saint Matthew the Apostle, depicted with an angel, is the patron saint of
Salerno, Italy, bankers and tax collectors
Patron saint
–
A branch of
Saint Honore Cake Shop, a
Hong Kong chain bakery, in Hong Kong.
Saint Honorius (Honoré) is the patron saint of bakers and confectioners.
15.
Portugal
–
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
Portugal
–
Citânia de Briteiros, in the
Minho Province, is the best preserved
Iron Age and
Castro culture site in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Flag
Portugal
–
The
Roman Temple of Évora, in the
Alentejo, is a symbol of
Lusitania, Roman rule in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Monument in Porto to
Vimara Peres, first ruler of the County of Portugal
16.
Santander, Cebu
–
Santander is a 4th municipal income class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 17,857, in the 2016 electoral roll, it had 11,577 registered voters. Santander is the southernmost municipality of Cebu, at 137 km by road, and it is the location of sea ports that connect to Negros Oriental. Fast craft ferry passengers to Sibulan, with trips taking 20 minutes, roll-on roll-off barges travel to Amlan, with trips taking one hour. It is known for its Tostado Festival, Santander is at the southernmost tip of Cebu. The town was originally called Tañong, but with the coming of the Spaniards, the town was established in 1867, the parish in 1897. Santanders terrain is dominated by a backdrop of rugged ranges which raise from a narrow coastal plain to an average elevation of 200 metres. Strongly sloping to sleepy sloping contours are scattered throughout the municipality, Santander comprises 10 barangays, In the 2016 electoral roll, it had 11,577 registered voters, meaning that 65% of the population are aged 18 and over. The death rate is 3.06 per 1000 people, or 0. 306%, most of the Tañonganons speak Cebuano. In schools, Filipino and English languages are taught and used as an instruction in all subjects. Santander may be a smallest town in Cebu, but it has turned out many professionals, majority of the people depend on the sea for livelihood – fishermen who continually explore the vast Palawan and East Philippine seas in search for rich fishing grounds. The method of fishing used is the destructive muro-ami technique, which has been banned on several occasions due to its effects on marine life. Before, there were four wholesale enterprises, one superstore and few sari-sari stores, an improvised market composed mostly of talipapas serves as satellite mater. This were located along Jose Rizal Street beside the Municipal building, by the year 2001, the business establishments began to grow and develop. Many larger businesses have established in Santander such as LGC Marketing. The major agricultural produce in Santander is corn, copra, most people especially those living in mountain barangays plant corns as a source of their income and livelihood. Santander was the only 5th class municipality in Cebu that was promoted its income class from 5th to 4th class, before, there were only two ports in Santander serving barges and boats bound for Dumaguete City. Now there are 4 ports connecting to Negros Island – three are located at Liloan and one at Talisay, there are 8 elementary and 3 high schools in Santander
Santander, Cebu
–
Fast craft terminal in Liloan
Santander, Cebu
–
Santander Municipal Hall
Santander, Cebu
–
Waterfront of Santander, with Negros Oriental in the background
17.
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, from around 1434-1436. The panel is housed in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D. C and it was originally on panel but has been transferred to canvas. It is thought that it was the wing of a triptych. The annunciation is a complex work, whose iconography is still debated by art historians. The picture depicts the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she bear the son of God. The inscription shows his words, AVE GRÃ, PLENA or Hail, full of grace. She modestly draws back and responds, ECCE ANCILLA DÑI or Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, the words appear upside down because they are directed to God and are therefore inscribed with a Gods-eye view. Through Christs human incarnation the old era of the Law is transformed into a new era of Grace. Mary was believed in the Middle Ages to have been a studious girl who was engaged by the Temple of Jerusalem with other selected maidens to spin new curtains for the Holy of Holies. The book she is reading here is too large to be a ladys Book of Hours, the architecture moves from older, round Romanesque forms above, to pointed Gothic arches below, with the higher levels largely in darkness, and the floor level well-lit. The gloom of the Old Covenant is about to be succeeded by the light of the New Covenant, the flat timber roof is in poor repair, with planks out of place. The decoration of the Temple is naturally all derived from the Old Testament, in the floor tiles Davids slaying of Goliath, foretells Christs triumph over the devil. Behind this, Samson pulls down the Temple of the Philistines, to the left, Delilah is cutting Samsons hair, and behind he slays the Philistines. The death of Absalom and possibly that of Abimelech are identified by art historians. Erwin Panofsky, who developed much of this analysis, proposed a scheme for the significance of the symbols in the round border tiles. The rear wall has a stained glass window, where Jehovah stands, above triple plain-glazed windows below. On either side of the window are dim wall-paintings of the finding of Moses by Pharaohs daughter. Below them are roundels with Isaac and Jacob, for various symbolic functions have been proposed
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
The Annunciation
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Floor tiles:
David slaying
Goliath in front,
Samson pulling down the
Philistines ' Temple behind
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Detail - Mary and Gabriel
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Le sacerdoce de la Vierge (The Priesthood of the Virgin), 1425-50, Louvre, unknown French artist
18.
Jan van Eyck
–
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish/Netherlandish painter active in Bruges. He is often considered one of the founders of Early Netherlandish painting school, the few surviving records of his early life indicate that he was born c. After Johns death in 1425 he was employed in Lille as court painter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, until 1429 before moving to Bruges, where he lived until his death. Apart from the Ghent Altarpiece and the miniatures of the Turin-Milan Hours, about 20 surviving paintings are confidently attributed to him. Ten, including the Ghent altarpiece, are dated and signed with a variation of his motto, ALS IK KAN always written in Greek characters, Van Eyck painted both secular and religious subject matter, including altarpieces, single panel religious figures and commissioned portraits. His work includes single panels, diptychs, triptychs, and polyptych panels and he was well paid by Philip, who sought that the painter was secure financially and had artistic freedom and could paint whenever he pleased. Van Eycks work comes from the International Gothic style, but he soon eclipsed it, through his developments in the use of oil paint he achieved a new level of virtuosity. Van Eyck was highly influential and his techniques and style were adopted and refined by the Early Netherlandish painters, little is known of Jan van Eycks early life and neither the date nor place of his birth is documented. This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest, however, his apparent age in the London probable self-portrait of 1433 suggests to most scholars a date closer to 1380. He was identified in the late 1500s as having been born in Maaseik and this claim is still considered credible on etymological grounds, considering that Van Eyck means of Eyck which is an old variant spelling of eik. He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, Hubert and Lambert, both painters, but the order of their births has not been established. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France and it is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in his inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics. This level of education was rare among painters, and would have made him attractive to the cultivated Philip. Van Eyck served John of Bavaria-Straubing, ruler of Holland, Hainault, by this time van Eyck had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. After Johns death in 1425 he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of Philip the Good c and his emergence as a collectable painter generally follows his appointment to Philips court, and from this point his activity in the court is comparatively well documented. He served as court artist and diplomat, and a was a member of the Tournai painters guild. On 18 October 1427, the Feast of St. Luke, he travelled to Tournai to attend a banquet in his honour, also attended by Robert Campin, a court salary freed him from commissioned work, and allowed a large degree of artistic freedom. Over the following decade van Eycks reputation and technical ability grew, unlike most of his peers his reputation never diminished and he remained well regarded over the following centuries
Jan van Eyck
–
Portrait of a Man in a Turban, possible self-portrait, 1433
Jan van Eyck
–
The Three Marys at the Tomb, painted or begun by Jan's brother
Hubert van Eyck, perhaps between 1410 and 1420, completed by members of Jan's workshop c 1440.
Jan van Eyck
–
Ghent Altarpiece, c. 1432, Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent
Jan van Eyck
–
The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434;
National Gallery, London
19.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew street sign, above in
Hebrew alphabet, below in
Latin transliteration. Aluf Batslut veAluf Shum (he) ("The Onion Champion and the Garlic Champion") is a
play by
Hayim Nahman Bialik.
Hebrew language
–
Portion of the
Temple Scroll, one of the longest of the
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at
Qumran
Hebrew language
–
The
Shebna Inscription, from the tomb of a royal steward found in
Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew script used in writing a Torah scroll. Note ornamental "crowns" on tops of certain letters.
20.
Biblical Greek
–
It was based mainly on Attic and related Ionic speech forms, with various admixtures brought about through dialect levelling with other varieties. Koine Greek displayed a wide spectrum of different styles, ranging from more conservative literary forms to the vernaculars of the time. As the dominant language of the Byzantine Empire, it developed further into Medieval Greek, Koine Greek remained the court language of the Byzantine Empire until its dissolution in 1453, while Medieval and eventually Modern Greek were the everyday language. Literary Koine was the medium of much of post-classical Greek literary and scholarly writing, such as the works of Plutarch, Koine is also the language of the Christian New Testament, of the Septuagint, and of most early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers. In this context, Koine Greek is also known as Biblical, New Testament and it continues to be used as the liturgical language of services in the Greek Orthodox Church. The word koinē is the Greek word for common, and is understood as referring to the common dialect. The word is pronounced /kɔɪˈneɪ/, /ˈkɔɪneɪ/ or /kiːˈniː/ in US English, the pronunciation of the word in Koine gradually changed from Greek pronunciation, to Greek pronunciation. Its pronunciation in Modern Greek is, the term was applied in several different senses by ancient scholars. Others chose to refer to Koine as the Alexandrian dialect or the dialect of Alexandria, the former was often used by modern classicists. Koine Greek arose as a dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Under the leadership of Macedon, their newly formed common variety was spoken from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt to the Seleucid Empire of Mesopotamia and it replaced existing ancient Greek dialects with an everyday form that people anywhere could understand. The passage into the period, known as Medieval Greek. The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to the creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic, the linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic period, most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα. The view accepted by most scholars today was given by the Greek linguist Georgios Hatzidakis, who showed that, despite the composition of the Four, the stable nucleus of Koine Greek is Attic. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, the degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on the region of the Hellenistic World. The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it is mentioned as Common Attic. Koine Greek was therefore considered a form of Greek which was not worthy of attention
Biblical Greek
–
Papyrus 46 is one of the oldest extant
New Testament manuscripts in
Greek, written on
papyrus, with its 'most probable date' between 175-225.
Biblical Greek
–
Dark blue: areas where Greek speakers probably were a majority. Light blue: areas that were Hellenized. [
when?] [
citation needed]
21.
Amharic language
–
Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by the Amhara in Ethiopia, the language serves as the official working language of Ethiopia, and is also the official or working language of several of the states within the federal system. Amharic is the second-most widely spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic and it is written using Amharic Fidel, ፊደል, which grew out of the Geez abugida—called, in Ethiopian Semitic languages, ፊደል fidel and አቡጊዳ abugida. There is no agreed way of transliterating Amharic into Roman characters, the Amharic examples in the sections below use one system that is common, though not universal, among linguists specializing in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Amharic is spoken by 22 million native speakers in Ethiopia and 15 million secondary speakers in Ethiopia, additionally,3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic, in Washington DC, Amharic became one of the six non-English languages in the Language Access Act of 2004, which allows government services and education in Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered a language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide. It is the most widely spoken language in the Horn of Africa, the Amharic ejective consonants correspond to the Proto-Semitic emphatic consonants, usually transcribed with a dot below the letter. The consonant and vowel tables give these symbols in parentheses where they differ from the standard IPA symbols, the Amharic script is an abugida, and the graphemes of the Amharic writing system are called fidel. Each character represents a sequence, but the basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant. Some consonant phonemes are written by more than one series of characters, /ʔ/, /s/, /sʼ/ and this is because these fidel originally represented distinct sounds, but phonological changes merged them. The citation form for each series is the form, i. e. the first column of the fidel. The Amharic script is included in Unicode, and glyphs are included in fonts available with major operating systems, as in most other Ethiopian Semitic languages, gemination is contrastive in Amharic. That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another, for example, alä he said, allä there is, yǝmätall he hits, gemination is not indicated in Amharic orthography, but Amharic readers typically do not find this to be a problem. This property of the system is analogous to the vowels of Arabic and Hebrew or the tones of many Bantu languages. Punctuation includes the following, ፠ section mark ፡ word separator ። full stop ፣ comma ፤ semicolon ፥ colon ፦ Preface colon, question mark ፨ paragraph separator Simple Amharic sentences One may construct simple Amharic sentences by using a subject and a predicate. Here are a few sentences, ኢትዮጵያ አፍሪቃ ውስጥ ናት ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfriqa wǝsṭ nat Ethiopia is in Africa. Lǝǧu is the boy The boy is asleep, አየሩ ደስ ይላል Ayyäru däss yǝlall
Amharic language
–
The Ethiopic (or Ge'ez) writing system is visible on the side of this
Ethiopian Airlines Fokker 50: it reads "Ethiopia's": የኢትዮጵያ ye-Ītyōṗṗyā.
Amharic language
–
The vowels of Amharic on a
vowel chart.
Amharic language
–
A modern usage of Amharic: the label of a
Coca-Cola bottle. The script reads ኮካ-ኮላ (koka-kola).
Amharic language
–
Ethiopian anthem (since 1992) in Amharic, done on manual typewriter.
22.
Geez language
–
Geez is an ancient South Semitic language that originated in Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the language of the Kingdom of Aksum. However, in Ethiopia Amharic or other languages, and in Eritrea and Tigray Region in Ethiopia. Tigrinya and Tigre are closely related to Geez, with at least four different configurations proposed, the foremost Ethiopian experts such as Amsalu Aklilu point to the vast proportion of inherited nouns that are unchanged, and even spelled identically in both Geez and Amharic. Geez is transliterated according to the system, Because Geez is no longer a spoken language. There is, however, no evidence either in the tradition or in Ethiopian Semitic what value these consonants may have had in Geez, a similar problem is found for the consonant transliterated ḫ. Gragg notes that it corresponds in etymology to velar or uvular fricatives in other Semitic languages, though the use of a different letter shows that it must originally have had some other pronunciation, what that pronunciation was is not certain. The chart below lists /ɬ/ and /ɬʼ/ as possible values for ś and ḍ respectively and it also lists /χ/ as a possible value for ḫ. These values are tentative, but based on the reconstructed Proto-Semitic consonants that they are descended from, in the chart below, IPA values are shown. When transcription is different from the IPA, the character is shown in angular brackets, question marks follow phonemes whose interpretation is controversial. In Geez, Emphatic consonants are phonetically ejectives, as is the case with Arabic, emphatic velars may actually be phonetically uvular. Geez consonants have an opposition between voiceless, voiced, and ejective obstruents. The Proto-Semitic emphasis in Geez has been generalized to include emphatic p̣. Geez has phonologized labiovelars, Geez ś ሠ Sawt is reconstructed as descended from a Proto-Semitic voiceless lateral fricative. Like Arabic, Geez merged Proto-Semitic š and s in ሰ, apart from this, Geez phonology is comparably conservative, the only other Proto-Semitic phonological contrasts lost may be the interdental fricatives and ghayin. Geez distinguishes two genders, masculine and feminine, which in certain words is marked with the suffix -t, there are two numbers, singular and plural. The plural can be constructed either by suffixing -āt to a word, plural using suffix, ʿāmat – ʿāmatāt year, māy – māyāt water. Internal plural, bet – ʾābyāt house, houses, qərnəb – qarānəbt eyelid, nouns also have two cases, the nominative which is not marked and the accusative which is marked with final -a. Triconsonantal nouns follow one of the following patterns, quadriconsonantal and some triconsonantal nouns follow the following pattern
Geez language
–
Drawing of the
Virgin Mary 'with her beloved
son,' from a Geʻez manuscript copy of Weddasé Māryām, circa 1875.
Geez language
–
Genesis 29.11–16 in Geʻez
23.
Arabic
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
Arabic
–
The Galland Manuscript of
One Thousand and One Nights, 14th century
Arabic
–
Arabic is the sole official language
Arabic
–
Bilingual traffic sign in
Qatar.
Arabic
–
Examples of how the Arabic root and form system works.
24.
Abrahamic religions
–
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the largest Abrahamic religions in terms of numbers of adherents. As of 2005, estimates classified 54% of the population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions. Christianity claims 33% of the population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0. 2%. It has been suggested that the phrase, Abrahamic religion, may mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Christians refer to Abraham as a father in faith, there is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim, indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham. Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and it is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abrahams son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites. The Báb, regarded by Baháís as a predecessor to Baháulláh, was a Sayyid, or a descendant of Muhammad. Tradition also holds that Baháulláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, while there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, there are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity, and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháí Faith not shared by Judaism. Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob and it has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches, dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones. Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central. The Islamic faith consider all prophets and messengers from Adam through the messenger to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding Islam split into two branches, each of which now have a number of denominations
Abrahamic religions
–
An interpretation of the borders (in red) of the
Promised Land, based on God's promise to
Abraham.
Abrahamic religions
–
Clockwise from Top Left:
Christian cross, Islamic
star and crescent, Bahá'i
nine-pointed star, Jewish
Star of David
Abrahamic religions
–
The tomb of
Abraham, a
cenotaph above the
Cave of the Patriarchs traditionally considered to be the burial place of Abraham.
Abrahamic religions
–
A Bible handwritten in
Latin, on display in
Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. This Bible was transcribed in Belgium in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.
25.
God
–
In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, divine simplicity, many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent and all loving. Furthermore, some religions attribute only a purely grammatical gender to God, incorporeity and corporeity of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the immanent transcendence of Chinese theology. God has been conceived as personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, in pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism, God has also been conceived as the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God, there are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about Gods identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one true Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, He Who Is, I Am that I Am, in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, in Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a concept of God. In Chinese religion, God is conceived as the progenitor of the universe, intrinsic to it, other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Baháí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. The earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus, the English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau-, in the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic God and gods in polytheism. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, in many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton. Allāh is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning The God, Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning placing ones mind, Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God
God
–
"God the Father", a representation of the theistic version of God, by
Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 –
c. 1528)
God
–
Detail of
Sistine Chapel fresco Creation of the Sun and Moon by
Michelangelo (c. 1512), a well-known example of the depiction of
God the Father in Western art
God
–
Depiction of God in the Catholic Church, Latin America
God
–
St. Thomas Aquinas summarized
five arguments which he believed were proof for the existence of God
26.
Old Testament
–
Its counterpart is the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names. The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books, the Catholic canon comprises 46 books, the 39 books in common to all the Christian canons corresponds to 24 books of the Tanakh, with some differences of order, and there are some differences in text. The additional number reflects the split of texts in the Christian Bibles into separate books, for example, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah, the books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical. In general, Protestant bibles do not include books in its canon. The Old Testament consists of translations of many books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. The canon formed in stages, first the Pentateuch by around 400 BC, then the Prophets during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books. The Old Testament contains 39 or 46 or more books, divided, very broadly, into the Pentateuch, the books, the wisdom books. For the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions, for the Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. Likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the spelling when referring to them in the New Testament. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b gives a different order for the books in Neviim and Ketuvim and this order is also cited in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7,15. The order of the books of the Torah is universal through all denominations of Judaism and they are present in a few historic Protestant versions, the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version. Empty table cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon, several of the books in the Eastern Orthodox canon are also found in the appendix to the Latin Vulgate, formerly the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, there is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much the material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah, were finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two to four Books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and these history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. God is consistently depicted as the one who created or put into order the world, the Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well
Old Testament
–
Jesus
27.
Daniel (biblical figure)
–
Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel. Six cities claim Daniels Tomb, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. The various branches of the Christian church do recognise him as a prophet, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a nabi, Daniels name means God is my judge. In chapter 20, Ezekiel says of the land of Israel that even if these three, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. In chapter 28, Ezekiel taunts the king of Tyre, asking rhetorically and it is possible that the author of the Book of Daniel chose the name Daniel for his hero because of his reputation. The legendary Daniel, known long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character. Serves as the human hero in the biblical book that now bears his name. Ezra 8,2 mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra, Daniel is a son of David mentioned at 1 Chronicles 3,1. Daniel is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit and this legendary Daniel is known for his righteousness and wisdom and a follower of the god El, who made his will known through dreams and visions. It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, the four are chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained in the Babylonian court, and are given new names. Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, while his companions are given the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, Daniel and his friends refuse the food and wine provided by the king of Babylon to avoid becoming defiled. They receive wisdom from God and surpass all the magicians and enchanters of the kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue made of four metals with feet of mingled iron and clay, smashed by a stone from heaven. Only Daniel is able to interpret it, the dream signifies four kingdoms, of which Babylon is the first, the Medes and Persians overthrow Nebuchadnezzar and the new king, Darius the Mede, appoints Daniel to high authority. In the third year of Darius, Daniel has a series of visions, in the second, a ram with two horns is attacked by a goat with one horn, the one horn breaks and is replaced by four. A little horn arises and attacks the people of God and the temple, in the third, Daniel is troubled to read in holy scripture that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years. Daniel repents on behalf of the Jews and requests that Jerusalem, an angel refers to a period of 70 sevens of years. The Greek text of Daniel contains three additional tales, two of which feature Daniel, Daniels clever cross-examination unmasks their evil and leads to their deaths. Bel and the Dragon consists of two episodes, in the first Daniel exposes the deceptions of the heathen priests, who have been pretending that their idols eat and drink
Daniel (biblical figure)
–
Daniel's Answer to the King by
Briton Rivière
Daniel (biblical figure)
–
Stained glass depiction of Daniel interceding with
Arioch, commander of the king's guard, charged with killing all the Babylonian wise men after they were unable to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Daniel (biblical figure)
–
Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration
Daniel (biblical figure)
–
Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).
28.
Book of Daniel
–
The Book of Daniel is a biblical apocalypse, combining a prophecy of history with an eschatology which is both cosmic in scope and political in its focus. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, in the Hebrew Bible it is found in the Ketuvim, while in Christian Bibles it is grouped with the Major Prophets. Its message is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, the book divides into two parts, a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6 followed by four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12. The literary structure of the book of Daniel is marked by three prominent features, the most fundamental is a genre division between the court tales of chapters 1–6 and the apocalyptic visions of 7–12. The second is a division between the Hebrew of chapters 1 and 8–12, and the Aramaic of chapters 2–7. This language division is reinforced by the arrangement of the Aramaic chapters. Various suggestions have been made by scholars to explain the fact that the division does not coincide with the other two. It should also be noted that the settings of chapters 1–6 show a progression from Babylonian to Median times. Among them are Daniel and his three companions, who refuse to touch the food and wine for fear of defilement. They are allowed to continue to refrain from eating the kings food, in the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. When he wakes up, he realizes that he forgot the content of the dream and he then demands that his wise men tell him its content. When the wise men protest that this is beyond the power of any man, he sentences all, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel explains the dream to the king, the statue symbolized four successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, all of which would be crushed by Gods kingdom, which would endure forever. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the supremacy of Daniels god, raises him over all his wise men, Daniels companions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to King Nebuchadnezzars golden statue and are thrown into a fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar is astonished to see a figure in the furnace with the three, one with the appearance like a son of the gods. So the king called the three to come out of the fire, and blessed the God of Israel, and decreed that any who blasphemed against him should be torn limb from limb. Nebuchadnezzar recounts a dream of a tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream, the tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast
Book of Daniel
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Daniel
–
Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century).
Book of Daniel
–
Chapters of the Book of Daniel
Book of Daniel
–
"Nebuchadnezzar" in madness,
Tate
29.
Book of Enoch
–
It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel. It is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and it is wholly extant only in the Geez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek and Latin fragments. No Hebrew version is known to have survived and it is asserted in the book itself that its author was Enoch, before the Biblical Flood. The text was also utilised by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enochs visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations. By the 4th century, the Book of Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian canons, and it is now regarded as scripture by only the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, compare this with Enoch 1,9, translated from the Ethiopic, And behold. Under the heading of canonicity, it is not enough to demonstrate that something is quoted. Instead, it is necessary to demonstrate the nature of the quotation. In the case of the Jude 1,14 quotation of 1 Enoch 1,9, it would be difficult to argue that Jude does not quote Enoch as an historical prophet since he cites Enoch by name. However, there remains a question as to whether the author of Jude attributed the quotation believing the source to be the historical Enoch before the flood or a midrash of Deut 33, certainly he did consider it authoritative, a true word from God. We cannot tell whether he ranked it alongside other books such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. What we do know is, first, that other Jewish groups, most notably those living in Qumran near the Dead Sea, also used and valued 1 Enoch, but we do not find it grouped with the scriptural scrolls. The attribution Enoch the Seventh from Adam is apparently itself a section heading taken from 1 Enoch, also, it has been alleged that 1 Peter, and 2 Peter make reference to some Enochian material. However, later Fathers denied the canonicity of the book, the traditional belief of the Ethiopic Orthodox Church, which sees 1 Enoch as an inspired document, is that the Ethiopic text is the original one, written by Enoch himself. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not consider 1 Enoch to be part of its standard canon, the most extensive witnesses to the Book of Enoch exist in the Geez language. Robert Henry Charless critical edition of 1906 subdivides the Ethiopic manuscripts into two families, Family α, thought to be ancient and more similar to the Greek versions. 485 of the British Museum, 16th century, with Jubilees B – ms. orient,491 of the British Museum, 18th century, with other biblical writings C – ms. of Berlin orient. 531 of the Bodleian Library of Oxford, 18th century I – ms, brace 74 of the Bodleian Library of Oxford, 16th century J – ms. orient
Book of Enoch
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Enoch
–
Chester Beatty XII, Greek manuscript of the Book of Enoch, 4th century
30.
New Testament
–
The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
New Testament
–
Books of the New Testament
New Testament
–
Evangelist Mathäus und der Engel, by
Rembrandt.
New Testament
–
Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, 17th-century painting. Most scholars think Paul actually dictated his letters to a secretary.
New Testament
–
Papyrus Bodmer VIII, at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, showing 1 and 2 Peter.
31.
Gospel of Luke
–
The Gospel According to Luke, also called the Gospel of Luke, or simply Luke, is the third of the four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, Luke is the second-longest of the four gospels, and together with Acts of the Apostles, the pair make up a two-volume work from the same pen, called Luke–Acts. The cornerstone of Luke-Acts theology is salvation history, the understanding that Gods purpose is seen in the way he has acted. The gospels sources are the Gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source, and a collection of material called the L source. Luke-Acts does not name its author, the most probable date for its composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Autographs of Luke and the other Gospels have not been preserved, as is typical for ancient documents, the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume and he admired Paul, but his theology was significantly different from Pauls on key points and he does not represent Pauls views accurately. The eclipse of the attribution to Luke the companion of Paul has meant that an early date for the gospel is now rarely put forward. Luke-Acts is a history of the Founder of the church and his successors. All three authors anchor the histories of their respective peoples by dating the births of the founders and narrate the stories of the founders births from God, each founder taught authoritatively, appeared to witnesses after death, and ascended to heaven. Crucial aspects of the teaching of all three concerned the relationship between rich and poor and the question of whether foreigners were to be received into the people. The author used as his sources the gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source. Mark, written around 70 AD, provided the narrative outline, for these Luke turned to Q, which consisted mostly, although not exclusively, of sayings. Mark and Q account for about 64% of Luke, the remaining material, known as the L source, is of unknown origin and date. Most Q and L-source material is grouped in two clusters, Luke 6, 17-8,3 and 9, 51-18,14, Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper. The author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large. He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to Theophilus, the name means Lover of God, here he informs Theophilus of his intention, which is to lead his reader to certainty through an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. He did not, however, intend to provide Theophilus with a justification of the Christian faith – did it happen
Gospel of Luke
–
Books of the
New Testament
Gospel of Luke
–
A 3rd-century AD Greek
papyrus of the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
–
Annunciation (
Murillo)
Gospel of Luke
–
Parable of the Sower (Biserica Ortodoxă din Deal, Cluj-Napoca),
Romania)
32.
Zechariah (priest)
–
Zechariah is a figure in the Bible and the Quran. In the Bible, he is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron, a prophet in Luke 1, 67–79, and the husband of Elizabeth who is a relative of the Virgin Mary. According to the Gospel of Luke, during the reign of king Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the course of Abia, whose wife Elizabeth was also of the priestly family of Aaron. The evangelist states that both the parents were righteous before God, since they were blameless in observing the commandments, when the events related in Luke began, their marriage was still childless, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. The duties at the temple in Jerusalem alternated between each of the lines that had descended from those appointed by king David. Luke states that during the week when it was the duty of Zechariahs family line to serve at the temple of the Lord, citing their advanced age, Zechariah asked with disbelief for a sign whereby he would know the truth of this prophecy. Consequently, when he went out to the worshippers in the temples outer courts. After returning to his house in Hebron, in the country of Judah. Elizabeth gave birth, and on the day, when their son was to be circumcised according to the commandment, her neighbours. Elizabeth, however, insisted that his name was to be John, so the family then questioned her husband. As soon as Zechariah had written on a table, His name is John, he regained the power of speech. The child grew up and waxed strong in spirit, but remained in the deserts of Judæa until he assumed the ministry that was to him the name John the Baptist. Origen suggested that the Zechariah mentioned in Matthew 23,35 as having killed between the temple and the altar may be the father of John the Baptist. This is also recorded in the Infancy Gospel of James, a work from the 2nd century. The Roman Catholic Church commemorates him as a saint, along with Elizabeth and he is also venerated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on September 5. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates the feast day of Zechariah on September 5, together with Elizabeth, Zechariah and Elizabeth are invoked in several prayers during the Orthodox Mystery of Crowning, as the priest blesses the newly married couple, saying Thou who didst. Accept Zechariah and Elizabeth, and didst make their offspring the Forerunner, and. bless them, O Lord our God, as Thou didst Zechariah and Elizabeth. In the Greek Orthodox calendar, Zechariah and Elizabeth are also commemorated on June 24, armenians believe that the Gandzasar Monastery in Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan contains relics of Zechariah
Zechariah (priest)
–
Annunciation of the Angel to Zechariah by
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1490,
fresco in the
Tornabuoni Chapel,
Florence)
Zechariah (priest)
–
Zechariah and St. John the Baptist. A medieval Georgian fresco from Jerusalem.
Zechariah (priest)
–
The so-called "
Tomb of Absalom " or "Absalom's Pillar" in the
Kidron Valley; an inscription suggests that it is Zechariah's tomb
Zechariah (priest)
–
Domenico Ghirlandaio 's fresco Zechariah Writes Down the Name of His Son (1490,
fresco in the
Tornabuoni Chapel,
Florence)
33.
Mary (mother of Jesus)
–
Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
–
Our Lady of Vladimir, one of the medieval representations of the
Theotokos
Mary (mother of Jesus)
–
Virgin and Child with angels and Sts. George and Theodore. Icon from around 600, from
Saint Catherine's Monastery.
Mary (mother of Jesus)
–
The
Annunciation by
Eustache Le Sueur, an example of 17th-century
Marian art. The
Angel Gabriel announces to Mary her pregnancy with Jesus and offers her
White Lilies.
Mary (mother of Jesus)
–
The Virgin's first seven steps, mosaic from
Chora Church, c. 12th century
34.
John the Baptist
–
John the Baptist, also known as John the Baptizer, was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian traditions, John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his messianic movement. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, according to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, John is also identified with the prophet Elijah. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Synoptic Gospels describe John baptising Jesus, in the Gospel of John it is implied in John 1, 32-34. The Gospel of Mark introduces John as a fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah about a messenger being sent ahead, John is described as wearing clothes of camels hair, living on locusts and wild honey. John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan. The account describes how, as he emerges from the water, the heavens open, a voice from heaven then says, You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased. Later in the gospel there is an account of Johns death and it is introduced by an incident where the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, hearing stories about Jesus, imagines that this is John the Baptist raised from the dead. It then explains that John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herodias, Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who liked to listen to John, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a righteous and holy man. The account then describes how Herods daughter Herodias dances before Herod, when the girl asks her mother what she should request, she is told to demand the head of John the Baptist. Reluctantly, Herod orders the beheading of John, and his head is delivered to her, at her request, Johns disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb. There are a number of difficulties with this passage, the Gospel wrongly identifies Antipas as King and the ex-husband of Herodias is named as Philip, but he is known to have been called Herod. Although the wording clearly implies the girl was the daughter of Herodias, many texts describe her as Herods daughter, Herodias. Since these texts are early and significant and the reading is difficult, many see this as the original version, corrected in later versions and in Matthew. Josephus says that Herodias had a daughter by the name of Salome, scholars have speculated about the origins of the story
John the Baptist
–
John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness by
Anton Raphael Mengs, 1760
John the Baptist
–
The Preaching of St. John the Baptist by
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
John the Baptist
–
St. John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1665, by
Mattia Preti
John the Baptist
–
John the Baptist (right) with
child Jesus, painting by
Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo
35.
Jesus
–
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message orally and often being referred to as rabbi. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate, Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God, performed healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and his birth is celebrated annually on December 25 as a holiday known as Christmas, his crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter. The widely used calendar era AD, from the Latin anno Domini, most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, the great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, in Islam, Jesus is considered one of Gods important prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin but was not the Son of God, the Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity. To most Muslims, Jesus was not crucified but was raised into Heaven by God. Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, a typical Jew in Jesus time had only one name, sometimes supplemented with the fathers name or the individuals hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, the carpenters son, or Josephs son. In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth, the name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς. The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע, a variant of the earlier name יהושע, the name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. The 1st century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the etymology of Jesus name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as Yahweh is salvation. Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as Jesus Christ, the word Christ is derived from the Greek Χριστός, which is a translation of the Hebrew משיח, meaning the anointed and usually transliterated into English as Messiah. Christians designate Jesus as Christ because they believe he is the Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, in postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of Jesus Christ—but originally it was a title. The term Christian has been in use since the 1st century, the four canonical gospels are the only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus. Acts of the Apostles refers to the ministry of Jesus
Jesus
–
(
stained glass at
St John's Ashfield in
Sydney, Australia)
Jesus
Jesus
–
A 3rd-century Greek
papyrus of the
Gospel of Luke
Jesus
–
Adoration of the Shepherds by
Gerard van Honthorst, 1622.
36.
Saint
–
A saint, also historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions also use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint. These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses also in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
Saint
–
In traditional
Christian iconography, saints are often depicted with
halos, a symbol of holiness; note how
Judas Iscariot at the forefront is the only apostle without a halo.
Saint
–
A portrait depicting
Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist
Cimabue (1240-1302)
Saint
–
(
The Ninety-Five Theses)
37.
Muhammad in Islam
–
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, in short form Muhammad, is considered by Muslims to be the last Rasul and Nabi sent by Allah to guide humanity to the right way. The religious, social, and political tenets that Muhammad established in the light of Quran became the foundation of Islam, Muslims often refer to Muhammad as Prophet Muhammad, or just The Prophet or The Messenger, and regard him as the greatest of all Prophets. He is seen by Muslims as a possessor of all the virtues, as an act of respect, Muslims follow the name of Muhammad by the Arabic benediction sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, a practice instructed by Qur’an and Hadith. The deeds and sayings in the life of Muhammad – known as Sunnah – are considered a model of the life-style that Muslims are obliged to follow. Recognizing Muhammad as Gods final messenger is one of the requirements in Islam which is clearly laid down in the second part of the Shahadah. The Qur’an chiefly refers to Muhammad as Messenger and Messenger of God, and asks people to him so as to become successful in this life. Born in about 570 CE into a respected Qurayshi family of Mecca, because of persecution of the newly converted Muslims, upon the invitation of a delegation from Medina, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 622 CE, an event known as Hijra. A turning point in Muhammads life, this Hijra also marks the beginning of Islamic calendar. Despite the ongoing hostility of the Meccans, Muhammad, along with his followers, took control of Mecca in 630 CE, treated its citizens with generosity, and ordered to destroy all the pagan idols. By the time he died in 632, his teachings had won the acceptance of Islam by almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. The Qur’an enumerates little about Muhammads early life or other details, but it talks about his prophetic mission, his moral excellence. According to the Qur’an, Muhammad is the last in a chain of prophets sent by God, throughout the Qur’an, Muhammad is referred to as Messenger, Messenger of God, and Prophet. Some of such verses are 2,101,2,143,2,151,3,32,3,81,3,144,3,164,4, 79-80,5,15,5,41,7,157,8,01,9,3,33,40,48,29, and 66,09. Other terms are used, including Warner, bearer of glad tidings, the Quran asserts that Muhammad was a man who possessed the highest moral excellence, and that God made him a good example or a goodly model for Muslims to follow. The Quran disclaims any superhuman characteristics for Muhammad, but describes him in terms of human qualities. In several verses, the Quran crystallizes Muhammad’s relation to humanity, according to the Quran, God sent Muhammad with truth, and as a blessing to the whole world. The Quran also categorizes some theological issues regarding Muhammad, the most important among them is the edict to follow the teachings of Muhammad. The Quran repeatedly commands people to follow God and his Messenger in verses including 3, 31-32,3,132,4,59, and 4,69
Muhammad in Islam
–
Common
calligraphic representation of Muhammad's name
Muhammad in Islam
Muhammad in Islam
–
The birth place of Muhammad. After his migration, the house was taken and sold by
Aqil ibn Abi Talib. In modern times, the house was demolished and converted into a library in 1951
Muhammad in Islam
–
Quba Mosque, the first mosque in the history of Islam, at the outskirts of
Medina. It was founded by Islamic prophet Muhammad when he emigrated to Medina
38.
Quran
–
The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
Quran
–
Manuscript of the Quran.
Brooklyn Museum.
Quran
–
Quran
Quran
–
11th-century North African Quran in the
British Museum.
Quran
–
Quran − in
Mashhad, Iran − written by
Ali.
39.
Al-Alaq
–
Sūrat al-ʻAlaq, is the 96th sura or chapter of the Quran. It is composed of 19 ayat, and is believed to have been revealed at Mecca at cave Hira. It is sometimes known as Sūrat Iqrā. The linguistic definition of ′alaq علق is leech, medicinal leech, coagulated blood, blood clot, ′Alaq is also a derivative of alaqa which means attached and hanging to something. Professor Abdul Haleem mentions that ′alaq can also mean anything that clings, a clot of blood, all these meanings involve the basic idea of clinging or sticking. The term ′alaqah is the stage of human prenatal development which descriptively encompasses the primary external and internal features of the early embryo. The term ′alaqah also occurs in several related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is עֲלוּקָה alûqāh, the name for any blood-sucking worm or leech. This sura has two parts, the first part consists of vv, 1-5, and the second of vv. The majority of scholars agreed that the first part forms the first revelation to be sent down to prophet Muhammad in 610. In this regard, the Hadith from Aisha, which Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim, in it Aisha narrates the full story of the beginning of revelation as she herself heard it from Muhammad. Besides, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa al-Ashari and a group of the Companions also are reported to have stated that these were the very first verses of the Quran to be revealed to Muhammad. The second part was revealed later, when Muhammad began to perform the prayer in the precincts of the Kaaba. The first five verses of this sura are believed by all sources. A few commentators disagree with this account, claiming that the first revelation was the beginning of surat al-Muddaththir or surat al-Fatiha, but theirs is a minority position. Moreover, the term ‘Insan’ which is translated to man or human appears 65 times in the Quran, the remainder of the sura, revealed later, questions the morality and beliefs of mankind, who thinks himself self-sufficient, unaware that all things will return to their Lord. Once man becomes self-satisfied, he has the tendency to transgress, the text continues, addressing the impiety of the man who forbids Our servant to pray. These later lines are thought to date from the time when Muhammad began to pray the salat in the Kaaba, Abu Jahl attempted to interrupt the prayer by trampling on Muhammads neck while he was prostrated
Al-Alaq
–
Egyptian Calligraphy of the first lines of Sura al-Alaq
Al-Alaq
–
Quran
40.
Latter-day Saint
–
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus
Latter-day Saint
–
Classification
Latter-day Saint
–
Church members believe that
Joseph Smith was called to be a modern-day prophet through, among other events, a
visitation from
God the Father and
Jesus Christ.
Latter-day Saint
–
Brigham Young led the LDS Church from 1844 until his death in 1877.
41.
Rabbi
–
In Judaism, a rabbi /ˈræbaɪ/ is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רַבִּי rabi, meaning My Master, the word master רב rav literally means great one. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era, the first sage for whom the Mishnah uses the title of rabbi was Yohanan ben Zakkai, active in the early to mid first century CE. Within the various Jewish denominations there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, for example, Orthodox Judaism does not ordain women as rabbis, but other movements have chosen to do so for halakhic reasons as well as ethical reasons. Although the usage rabbim many the majority, the multitude occurs for the assembly of the community in the Dead Sea scrolls there is no evidence to support an association with the later title Rabbi, the root is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning lord. As a sign of respect, some great rabbis are simply called The Rav. The titles Rabban and Rabbi are first mentioned in the Mishnah, the term was first used for Rabban Gamaliel the elder, Rabban Simeon his son, and Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai, all of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhedrin. The title Rabbi occurs in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John in the New Testament, other variants are rəvī and, in Yiddish, rebbə. The word could be compared to the Syriac word ܪܒܝ rabi, in ancient Hebrew, rabbi was a proper term of address while speaking to a superior, in the second person, similar to a vocative case. While speaking about a superior, in the person one could say ha-rav or rabbo. Later, the term evolved into a title for members of the Patriarchate. Thus, the title gained an irregular form, רַבָּנִים rabbanim. Rabbi as a title does not appear in the Hebrew Bible. All of the above personalities would have expected to be steeped in the wisdom of the Torah and the commandments. And honor is due only for Torah, as it is said, The wise shall inherit honor, and only Torah is truly good, as it is said, I have given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Torah. This was eventually encoded and codified within the Mishnah and Talmud and subsequent rabbinical scholarship, the title Rabbi was borne by the sages of ancient Israel, who were ordained by the Sanhedrin in accordance with the custom handed down by the elders. They were titled Ribbi and received authority to judge penal cases, Rab was the title of the Babylonian sages who taught in the Babylonian academies. After the suppression of the Patriarchate and Sanhedrin by Theodosius II in 425, a recognised scholar could be called Rab or Hacham, like the Babylonian sages
Rabbi
–
Rabbi instructing children in 2004
Rabbi
–
Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein, a leading Rabbinical authority for Orthodox Judaism of the second half of the twentieth century.
Rabbi
–
Rabbi
Regina Jonas, the first ordained female rabbi. Ordained in Germany in 1935, she died in
Auschwitz in 1944.
42.
Book of Ezekiel
–
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books in the Old Testament, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. The visions, and the book, are structured around three themes, Judgment on Israel, Judgment on the nations, and Future blessings for Israel. Its themes include the concepts of the presence of God, purity, Israel as a divine community and its later influence has included the development of mystical and apocalyptic traditions in Second Temple and rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. Inaugural vision, God approaches Ezekiel as the warrior, riding in his battle chariot. The chariot is drawn by four living creatures, each having four faces, beside each living creature is a wheel within a wheel, with tall and awesome rims full of eyes all around. God commissions Ezekiel as a prophet and as a watchman in Israel, Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites. Building a new city, The Jewish exile will come to an end, a new city and new Temple will be built, and the Israelites will be gathered and blessed as never before. Most scholars today accept the authenticity of the book. According to the book that bears his name, Ezekiel ben-Buzi was born into a family of Jerusalem c.623 BCE. Josiah was killed in 609 and Judah became a vassal of the new regional power, in 597, following a rebellion against Babylon, Ezekiel was among the large group of Judeans taken into captivity by the Babylonians. He appears to have spent the rest of his life in Mesopotamia, the various dates given in the book suggest that Ezekiel was 25 when he went into exile,30 when he received his prophetic call, and 52 at the time of the last vision c.571. The Jewish scriptures were translated into Greek in the two immediately before the birth of Christ. The Greek version of books is called the Septuagint. The Jewish Bible in Hebrew is called the Masoretic text, ecclesiasticus 49,8 refers to it, so does Josephus. It is mentioned as part of the canon in Melitos catalogue, cited by Eusebius, also in Origen, Jerome, the first half of the 20th century saw several attempts to deny the authorship and authenticity of the book, with scholars such as C. C. Torrey and Morton Smith placing it variously in the 3rd century BCE, the pendulum swung back in the post-war period, with an increasing acceptance of the books essential unity and historical placement in the Exile. The most influential modern work on Ezekiel, Walther Zimmerlis two-volume commentary, appeared in German in 1969. Ezekiel depicts the destruction of Jerusalem as a sacrifice upon the altar
Book of Ezekiel
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Ezekiel
–
A mid-12th century
Flemish piece of copperwork depicting Ezekiel's Vision of the Sign "Tau" from Ezekiel IX:2–7. The item is currently held by the
Walters Museum.
Book of Ezekiel
–
Monument to
Holocaust survivors at
Yad Vashem in
Jerusalem; the quote is Ezekiel 37:14
Book of Ezekiel
–
The Visionary Ezekiel Temple plan drawn by the 19th-century French architect and Bible scholar
Charles Chipiez.
43.
Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
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From upper left: Jerusalem skyline viewed from Givat ha'Arba,
Mamilla, the
Old City and the
Dome of the Rock, a
souq in the
Old City, the
Knesset, the
Western Wall, the
Tower of David and the
Ottoman Old City walls
Jerusalem
–
Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim)
Arabic: القُدس (al-Quds)
Aramaic: יְרוּשְׁלֶם (Yərushəlem)
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
Stepped Stone Structure in
Ophel /
City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem
44.
Syria Palaestina
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Syria Palaestina was a Roman province between 135 and about 390. It was established by the merger of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea, shortly after 193, the northern regions were split off as Syria Coele in the north and Phoenice in the south, and the province Syria Palaestina was reduced to Judea. The earliest numismatic evidence for the name Syria Palaestina comes from the period of emperor Marcus Aurelius, Syria was an early Roman province, annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War, following the defeat of Armenian King Tigranes the Great. Following the partition of the Herodian Kingdom into tetrarchies in 6 AD, it was absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexing Iturea. The Roman province of Judea incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea and it was named after Herod Archelauss Tetrarchy of Judea, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory. H. Ben-Sasson, had been the capital of the region beginning in 6 AD. Judea province was the scene of unrest at its founding in 6 AD during the Census of Quirinius and several wars were fought in its history, the Temple was destroyed in 70 as part of the Great Jewish Revolt resulting in the institution of the Fiscus Judaicus. Disturbances followed throughout the region during the Kitos War in 117–118, between 132–135, Simon Bar Kokhba led a revolt against the Roman Empire, controlling parts of Judea but seemingly not Jerusalem, for three years. As a result, Hadrian sent Sextus Julius Severus to the region, after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Roman Emperor Hadrian applied the name Syria Palestina to the entire region, that had formerly included Judea province. The city of Aelia Capitolina was built by the emperor Hadrian on the ruins of Jerusalem, the capital of the enlarged province remained in Antiochia. In 193, the province of Syria-Coele was split from Syria Palaestina, in the 3rd century, Syrians even reached for imperial power, with the Severan dynasty. Syria was of strategic importance during the Crisis of the Third Century. Beginning in 212, Palmyras trade diminished as the Sassanids occupied the mouth of the Tigris, in 232, the Syrian Legion rebelled against the Roman Empire, but the uprising went unsuccessful. Septimius Odaenathus, a Prince of the Aramean state of Palmyra, was appointed by Valerian as the governor of the province of Syria Palaestina. After Valerian was captured by the Sassanids in 260, and died in captivity in Bishapur, Odaenathus campaigned as far as Ctesiphon for revenge, when Odaenathus was assassinated by his nephew Maconius, his wife Septimia Zenobia took power, ruling Palmyra on behalf of her son, Vabalathus. Zenobia rebelled against Roman authority with the help of Cassius Longinus and took over Bosra and lands as far to the west as Egypt, next, she took Antioch and large sections of Asia Minor to the north. In 272, the Roman Emperor Aurelian finally restored Roman control and Palmyra was besieged and sacked, Aurelian captured Zenobia, bringing her back to Rome. He paraded her in chains in the presence of the senator Marcellus Petrus Nutenus, but allowed her to retire to a villa in Tibur
Syria Palaestina
–
Roman mosaic from
Antiochia (detail) 2nd century,
Musée du Louvre
Syria Palaestina
–
Inscription honouring Julius Aurelius Zenobius, the father of
Queen Zenobia, at Palmyra.
45.
Kabbalah
–
Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought that originated in Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist in Judaism is called a Mekubbal, Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof and the mortal and finite universe. While it is used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. It forms the foundations of religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence and it also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realisation. Kabbalah originally developed within the realm of Jewish tradition, and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain, traditional practitioners believe its earliest origins pre-date world religions, forming the primordial blueprint for Creations philosophies, religions, sciences, arts, and political systems. Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah and it was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. According to the Zohar, a text for kabbalistic thought. These four levels are called pardes from their initial letters, peshat, the direct interpretations of meaning. Derash, midrashic meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses, sod, the inner, esoteric meanings, expressed in kabbalah. Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah being an inherent duty of observant Jews. A third tradition, related but more shunned, involves the magical aims of Practical Kabbalah and they can be readily distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God, The Theosophical tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah seeks to understand and describe the divine realm. Consequently, it formed a minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. According to traditional belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BC, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel. Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time to hide the knowledge and make it secret and it is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with different outlooks, however. From the Renaissance onwards Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish culture, where they were studied and translated by Christian Hebraists, syncretic traditions of Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah, reading the Jewish texts as universal ancient wisdom. Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Judaic understanding, to merge with other theologies, religious traditions, with the decline of Christian Cabala in the Age of Reason, Hermetic Qabalah continued as a central underground tradition in Western esotericism
Kabbalah
–
Latin translation of
Gikatilla's Shaarei Ora
Kabbalah
–
Jewish mysticism
Kabbalah
–
Grave of
Rabbi Akiva in
Tiberias. He features in Hekhalot mystical literature, and as one of the four who entered the
Pardes
46.
Sephirot
–
The term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sefirot/Sefiroth, singular Sephirah/Sefirah etc. Alternative configurations of the sephirot are given by different schools in the development of Kabbalah. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah, Ten sephirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven. As altogether 11 sephirot are listed across the different schemes, two are seen as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the principle, conserving the ten categories. In Kabbalah the functional structure of the sephirot in channeling Divine creative life force, the first sephirah describes the Divine Will above intellect. The next sephirot describe conscious Divine Intellect, and the latter sephirot describe the primary and secondary conscious Divine Emotions, two sephirot are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes a vessel that receives the outward male light, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to lower sephirot. Corresponding to this is the Female Divine Presence, Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the Divine, and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sephirot. Therefore, the sephirot also describe the life of man. This relationship between the soul of man and the Divine, gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing Divinity, alongside the other Ohr metaphor, however, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sephirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed into Partsufim, underlying the structural purpose of each sephirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience. The term sefirah thus has complex connotations within Kabbalah, the Sephirot are considered revelations of the Creators Will, and they should not be understood as ten different gods but as ten different ways the one God reveals his Will through the Emanations. While in Cordoveran Kabbalah, Keter is listed as the first Sephirah, the Sephirot are emanated from the Divine Will, because Kabbalah sees different levels within Keter, reflecting Gods inner Will and outer Will. The innermost, hidden levels of Keter, also in some contexts called The head/beginning that is not known, are united above the Sephirot with the Ein Sof and it is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes. This difference between the MaOhr and the Ohr He emanates is stressed in Kabbalah, so as to avoid notions of any plurality in the Godhead. In its early 12th-century dissemination, Kabbalah received criticism from some Rabbis, the multiplicity of revealed emanations only applies from the perspective of the Creation, and not from the perspective of the infinite Divine essence. The ten Sephirot are a step-by-step process illuminating the Divine plan as it unfolds itself in Creation and they are fully found in the Medieval Kabbalah texts, such as the central work in Kabbalah, the Zohar. The Hebrew etymology of their names in Kabbalah is understood to refer to the aspects of meaning of each Sephirah. Kabbalah expounds on the terms of the Sephirot and this difference of opinion reflects earlier Medieval debate on whether Keter can be identified with the Ohr Ein Sof itself, or as the first revealed Sephirah
Sephirot
–
The Yosher -Upright configuration of the 10 Sephirot, arranged into 3 columns
Sephirot
Sephirot
–
Kabbalah relates the Sephirot and Indwelling Shechinah Presence to Male-Female Divine principles, represented in the union of Jewish marriage Below. In Medieval Kabbalah the task of man is Yichud-"Union" of Male and Female Divinity on High [
citation needed]. In Lurianic Kabbalah man redeems exiled Sparks of Holiness of the Shechinah from material Kelipot
Sephirot
–
Ten Sephirot on the east wall of the Cordoba Synagogue, Spain
47.
Yesod
–
Yesod is a sephirah in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Yesod is the sephirah below Hod and Netzach, and above Malkuth and it can be seen as the vehicle, from one thing or condition to another. Yesod is the foundation upon which God has built the world and it also serves as a transmitter between the sephirot above, and the reality below. The light of the upper sephirot gather in Yesod and are channelled to Malkuth below, in this manner, Yesod is associated with the sexual organs. The masculine Yesod collects the vital forces of the sephirot above, in turn, it is through Malkuth that the earth is able to interact with the divinity. It plays the role of collecting and balancing the different and opposing energies of Hod and Netzach and it is likened to the engine-room of creation. The Cherubim is the angelic choir connected to Yesod, headed by the Archangel Gabriel, in contrast, the demonic order in the Qliphothic sphere opposite of Yesod is Gamaliel, ruled by the Archdemon Lilith. The third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is the Christian counterpart of Yesod, the Holy Spirit is known as the aspect of god that sanctifies mankind, unifying God with it. Yesod is responsible for the powers of communication, connection and contact with external reality within the soul, in comparison with forms of Eastern mysticism, Yesod is most commonly associated with the Swadhisthana chakra, which is associated with the moon, with sexuality, and with the unconscious. Sefirot Yesod Yesod, The Translator Lessons in Tanya
Yesod
48.
Jewish mythology
–
Jewish mythology is a major literary element of the body of folklore found in the sacred texts and in traditional narratives that help explain and symbolize Jewish culture and Judaism. Elements of Jewish mythology have had a influence on Christian mythology and on Islamic mythology. Christian mythology directly inherited many of the narratives from the Jewish people, Islamic mythology also shares many of the same stories, for instance, a creation-account spaced out over six periods, the legend of Abraham, the stories of Moses and the Israelites, and many more. Jewish mythology contains similarities to the myths of other Middle Eastern cultures, the ancient Hebrews often participated in the religious practices of their neighbors, worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh. These pagan religions were forms of worship, their deities were personifications of natural phenomena like storms. Because of its worship, Mircea Eliade argues, Near Eastern paganism expressed itself in rich and dramatic mythologies featuring strong and dynamic gods. The Biblical prophets, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, had a concept of the divine that differed significantly from that of the nature religions. According to Jewish mythology, their lives were full of miracles, signs, and visions from God that kept Jewish mythology alive, growing, instead of seeing the God of Israel as just one national god, these prophets saw him as the one God of the entire universe. The prophets condemned Hebrew participation in worship, and they refused to completely identify the divine with natural forces. In so doing, they set the stage for a new kind of mythology — a mythology featuring a single God who exists beyond the natural world, through the prophets influence, Jewish mythology increasingly portrayed God as aloof from nature and acting independently of natural forces. On one hand, this produced a mythology that was, in a sense and it was therefore something irreversible and unrepeatable. The fall of Jerusalem does not repeat the fall of Samaria, Jahveh stands out from the world of abstractions, of symbols and generalities, he acts in history and enters into relations with actual historical beings. On the other hand, this transcendent God was absolutely unique, thus, the myths surrounding him were, in a sense, less complex, they did not involve the acts of multiple, anthropomorphic gods. In this sense, Jahveh is surrounded by no multiple and varied myths, the Hebrew prophets had to struggle against the nature gods popularity, and Jewish mythology reflects this struggle. In fact, some Jewish myths may have been designed to reflect the conflict between paganism and a new uncompromising monotheism. In Psalm 82, God stands up in the Divine Council and condemns the pagan deities, although they are gods, he says, karen Armstrong interprets the creation myth of Genesis 1 as a poised, calm polemic against the old belligerent cosmogonies, particularly the Babylonian cosmogonic myth. The Babylonian Enûma Eliš describes the god Marduk earning kingship over the gods, battling the monster Tiamat. In contrast, Armstrong argues, in the Genesis account, the sun, moon, stars, sky and earth are not gods in their own right and they are subservient to him, and created for a purely practical end
Jewish mythology
–
Names of territories during the
Caliphate in 750 CE. Khorasan was a province of
Persia in
yellow.
Jewish mythology
–
One traditional depiction of the
cherubim and chariot vision, based on the description by
Ezekiel.
Jewish mythology
–
Noah's Ark, oil on canvas painting by
Edward Hicks, 1846 Philadelphia Museum of Art
49.
Garden of Eden
–
The Garden of Eden or often Paradise is the biblical garden of God, described most notably in the Book of Genesis chapters 2 and 3, and also in the Book of Ezekiel. The garden of God, not called Eden, is mentioned in Genesis 13, the Book of Zechariah and the Book of Psalms also refer to trees and water in relation to the temple without explicitly mentioning Eden. Traditionally, the derivation of the name Eden was from the Akkadian edinnu. Eden is now believed to be closely related to an Aramaic root word meaning fruitful. The Hebrew term is translated pleasure in Sarahs secret saying in Genesis 18,12, in the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve are depicted as walking around the Garden of Eden naked due to their innocence. Eden and its rivers may signify the real Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon and it may also represent the divine garden on Zion, and the mountain of God, which was also Jerusalem. The imagery of the Garden, with its serpent and cherubs, has compared to the images of the Solomonic Temple with its copper serpent. The second part of the Genesis creation narrative, Genesis, opens with Adonai Elohim creating the first man, the man was free to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Last of all, the God made a woman from a rib of the man to be a companion the man, cherubim were placed east of the garden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep him away from the tree of life. Genesis lists four rivers in association with the garden of Eden, Pishon, Gihon, the Tigris, and it also refers to the land of Cush - translated/interpreted as Ethiopia, but thought by some to equate to Cossaea, a Greek name for the land of the Kassites. These lands lie north of Elam, immediately to the east of ancient Babylon, in Antiquities of the Jews, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Pishon as what the Greeks called Ganges and the Geon as the Nile. According to Terje Stordalen, the Eden in Ezekiel appears to be located in Lebanon. According to the Bible, the location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 10-14, A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams. The first is named the Pishon, and this winds all through the land of Havilah where there is gold, the gold of this country is pure, bdellium and cornelian stone are found there. The second river is named the Gihon, and this winds all through the land of Cush, the third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates, the city of Dilmun in the Sumerian mythological story of Enki and Ninhursag is a paradisaical abode of the immortals, where sickness and death were unknown. In this painting, only the action takes place there identifies the setting as distinct from the Garden of the Hesperides. The Persian term paradise, meaning a garden or hunting-park
Garden of Eden
–
The Garden of Eden as depicted in the first or left panel of
Bosch 's
The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych. The panel includes many imagined and exotic
African animals.
Garden of Eden
–
Expulsion from Paradise, painting by
James Jacques Joseph Tissot
Garden of Eden
–
The Expulsion illustrated in the English
Caedmon manuscript, c. 1000 CE
Garden of Eden
–
Carte de la Situation du Paradis Terrestre, Et des Pais Habitez par les Patriarches Dressee pour bien entendre l'Histoire Sainte, Par Messire Pierre Daniel Huet
50.
Julian Calendar
–
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
Julian Calendar
–
Russian icon of the
Theophany (the baptism of
Jesus by
John the Baptist) (6 January), the highest-ranked feast which occurs on the fixed cycle of the
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Julian Calendar
–
This is a visual example of the official date change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian
Julian Calendar
–
Key concepts
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