1.
Baptism
–
Baptism is a Christian sacrament of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally. The canonical Gospels report that Jesus was baptized—a historical event to which a degree of certainty can be assigned. Baptism has been called a sacrament and an ordinance of Jesus Christ. In some denominations, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word christening is reserved for the baptism of infants, Baptism has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations. The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed, in v.16, Matthew will speak of Jesus coming up out of the water. The traditional depiction in Christian art of John the Baptist pouring water over Jesus head may therefore be based on later Christian practice, other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead, a method called affusion. Martyrdom was identified early in Church history as baptism by blood, later, the Catholic Church identified a baptism of desire, by which those preparing for baptism who die before actually receiving the sacrament are considered saved. Today, some Christians, particularly Christian Scientists, Quakers, The Salvation Army, and Unitarians, do not see baptism as necessary, among those that do, differences can be found in the manner and mode of baptizing and in the understanding of the significance of the rite. Most Christians baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, much more than half of all Christians baptize infants, many others hold that only believers baptism is true baptism. Some insist on submersion or at least partial immersion of the person who is baptized, others consider that any form of washing by water, as long as the water flows on the head, is sufficient. The term baptism has also used to refer to any ceremony, trial, or experience by which a person is initiated, purified. The Greek verb baptō, dip, from which the verb baptizo is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *gʷabh-, the Greek words are used in a great variety of meanings. John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, the apostle Paul distinguished between the baptism of John, and baptism in the name of Jesus, and it is questionable whether Christian baptism was in some way linked with that of John. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism, though whether Jesus intended to institute a continuing, the earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, complete or partial. Though other modes may have also been used, at the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be baptized first, all of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, after this, the men will be baptized
2.
Infants
–
An infant is the more formal or specialised synonym for baby, the very young offspring of a human or other animal. A newborn is, in use, an infant who is only hours, days. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth, the term applies to premature, full term, and postmature infants, before birth, the term fetus is used. The term infant is typically applied to children under one year of age, however, definitions may vary. When a human child learns to walk, the toddler may be used instead. In British English, infant is a term that can be applied to children aged between four and seven. As a legal term, infancy continues from birth until age 18, a newborns shoulders and hips are wide, the abdomen protrudes slightly, and the arms and legs are relatively long with respect to the rest of their body. In first world nations, the total body length of newborns are 35. 6–50.8 cm. The Apgar score is a measure of a transition from the uterus during the first minutes after birth. In developed countries, the birth weight of a full-term newborn is approximately 3.4 kg. After the first week, healthy term neonates should gain 10–20 grams/day, a newborns head is very large in proportion to the body, and the cranium is enormous relative to his or her face. While the adult human skull is one seventh of the total body length. Normal head circumference for an infant is 33–36 cm at birth. At birth, many regions of the skull have not yet been converted to bone. The two largest are the anterior fontanel, located at the top front portion of the head, and the smaller triangular-shaped posterior fontanel. Later in the life, these bones will fuse together in a natural process. A protein called noggin is responsible for the delay in an infants skull fusion, during labour and birth, the infants skull changes shape to fit through the birth canal, sometimes causing the child to be born with a misshapen or elongated head. It will usually return to normal on its own within a few days or weeks, special exercises sometimes advised by physicians may assist the process
3.
Theology
–
Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as a discipline, typically in universities, seminaries. Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity, the term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or fields of study. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument to help understand, explain, test, critique, the English equivalent theology had evolved by 1362. Greek theologia was used with the discourse on god in the fourth century BC by Plato in The Republic, Book ii. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of discourse, mythical, rational and civil. Theologos, closely related to theologia, appears once in some manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation, apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy. The Latin author Boethius, writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of study, dealing with the motionless. Boethius definition influenced medieval Latin usage, Theology can also now be used in a derived sense to mean a system of theoretical principles, an ideology. They suggest the term is appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently. Kalam. does not hold the place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for theology in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is appropriate, can only do so, he says, I take theology not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God, within Hindu philosophy, there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God and of the Atman. The Sanskrit word for the schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana. Nevertheless, Jewish theology historically has been active and highly significant for Christian. It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law, the history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. Modern Western universities evolved from the institutions and cathedral schools of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages
4.
Believer's baptism
–
Believers baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many evangelical denominations, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist and English Baptist tradition. According to their understanding, a person is baptized on the basis of his or her profession of faith in Jesus Christ and as admission into a local community of faith. The contrasting belief, held in other Christian churches, is infant baptism, baptisms are performed in various ways, believers baptism by immersion or pouring and infant baptism by affusion, aspersion or immersion. Believers baptism is often referred to as adult baptism, even though children may be baptized so long as they are old enough to earnestly profess their faith. The oldest surviving manual of church discipline, the Didache, envisions the baptism of adults, in many instances, citizens of a nation were required under penalty of law to belong to the state church. Infant baptism marked the infant as a citizen of the nation, however, his mother, Monica, was a Christian. St. Augustine was baptized at the age of 30 by St. Ambrose, in addition, earlier patristical writings such as Didache and Tertullian prescribe baptismal candidates to fasting, prayer, confessions, etc. before being allowed to be baptized. Tertullian writes, Christians are made, not born, on the other hand, Tertullian acknowledges that infant baptism was a common practice in his day. Tertullian later in life became a Montanist and the views on post-baptismal sin which that sect took affected some of his writing. Several ecclesiastical histories seem to omit any discussion of infant baptism, Eusebius of Caesarea gives ample discussion of baptisms, but makes no reference to the baptism of infants. Instead, Eusebius discusses the positions, particularly during the time of Cyprian. Likewise, the history of Socrates Scholasticus mentions a handful of examples of baptisms. However, by time the practice of baptizing infants was common. Similarly, the history written by Evagrius Scholasticus also provides descriptions of baptisms. The book Martyrs Mirror documents the history of credobaptists through 1660, the early church witness is mixed with respect to an age of baptism, with some references to infants being baptized and others indicating that the spirit and body mature together. Beginining with Augustine, the Catholic Church solidified the practice of infant baptism, in the early 16th century, the Anabaptist movement began demanding that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen, thus rejecting the baptism of infants. This and other differences led both Catholics and Protestants to persecute the Anabaptists, executing them by fire or sword or drowning. These groups sprang up across Europe and later spread to Russia, in 1609, the Baptist movement applies this practice in all its churches
5.
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
6.
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
7.
Christian denomination
–
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organisation, leadership and doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as branches of Christianity or denominational families. Individual Christian groups vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another, several groups claim to be the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term denomination to describe themselves, however, the Catholic Church does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational church. This view is rejected by other Christian denominations, Protestant denominations account for approximately 37 percent of Christians worldwide. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism comprise Western Christianity, Western Christian denominations prevail in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents, is the second-largest Christian organization in the world, unlike the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches that mutually recognize each other to the exclusion of others. The Eastern Orthodox Church, together with Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe, North Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Africa. Christians have various doctrines about the Church and about how the church corresponds to Christian denominations. Both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox hold that their own organizations faithfully represent the One Holy catholic and Apostolic Church to the exclusion of the other, sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church because of theologies and practices that they considered to be in violation of their own interpretation. But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs and this section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as an autonomous branch of the Christian Church, major synonyms include religious group, sect, Church. Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church, a related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Protestant leaders differ greatly from the views of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, each church makes mutually exclusive claims for itself to be the direct continuation of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism, Christianity can be taxonomically divided into five main groups, the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism
8.
Catholicism
–
The use of terms catholicism and catholicity is closely related to the use of term Catholic Church. The earliest evidence of the use of term is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 108 to Christians in Smyrna. In 380, Emperor Theodosius I limited use of the term Catholic Christian exclusively to those who followed the faith as Pope Damasus I of Rome. Numerous other early writers including Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine of Hippo further developed the use of the term catholic in relation to Christianity. In Christian theology, and specially in ecclesiology, terms Catholicism, when used with small c, terms catholicism and catholicity generally designate theological doctrine of the catholicity of the Church without denominational connotations. A common belief in Catholicism is institutional continuity with the early Christian church founded by Jesus Christ, many churches or communions of churches identify singularly or collectively as the authentic church. The Bishop of Rome was also considered to have the right to convene ecumenical councils, when the Imperial capital moved to Constantinople, Romes influence was sometimes challenged. The first great rupture in the Church followed this Council and they are often called Ancient Oriental Churches. The next major break was after the Council of Chalcedon and this Council repudiated Eutychian Monophysitism which stated that the divine nature completely subsumed the human nature in Christ. This Council declared that Christ, though one person, exhibited two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation and thus is both fully God and fully human, the next great rift within Christianity was in the 11th century. This division between the Western Church and the Eastern Church is called the East–West Schism, several eastern churches reunited, constituting some of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Liturgical and canonical practices vary between all these particular Churches constituting the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches, in all these cases the beliefs and practices of Catholicism would be identical with the beliefs and practices of the Church in question. However, in Roman Catholicism, the term catholic is understood as to cover those who recognize and are in standing with the Magisterium. The sense given to the word by those who use it to distinguish their position from a Calvinistic or Puritan form of Protestantism. It is then meaningful to attempt to draw up a list of common characteristic beliefs, the Roman Catholic Church includes the 23 rites who recognize the Magisterium. Belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the belief that Christ is made manifest in the elements of Holy Communion, possession of the threefold ordained ministry of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Belief that the Church is the vessel and deposit of the fullness of the teachings of Jesus and this teaching is preserved in both written scripture and in unwritten tradition, neither being independent of the other. A belief in the necessity and efficacy of sacraments, liturgical and personal use of the Sign of the Cross The use of sacred images, candles, vestments and music, and often incense and water, in worship
9.
Eastern Orthodox
–
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
10.
Oriental Orthodox
–
Oriental Orthodoxy has approximately 84 million adherents worldwide. Oriental Orthodox Churches uphold their own ancient ecclesiastic traditions of apostolic succession and these Churches rejected the definition of the two natures of Christ, known as the Chalcedonian Definition, which was issued by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Eastern Orthodox maintain numerous theological and ecclesiological similarities with the Oriental Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox Churches are in full communion with each other, but not with the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite the similar name. The schism between Oriental Orthodoxy and the Great Church was based on differences in Christology, the First Council of Nicaea, in 325, declared that Jesus Christ is God, that is to say, consubstantial with the Father. Later, the ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus, declared that Jesus Christ, though divine as well as human, is only one being. Thus, the Council of Ephesus explicitly rejected Nestorianism, the Christological doctrine that Christ was two distinct beings, one divine and one human, who happened to inhabit the same body. The Churches that later became Oriental Orthodoxy were firmly anti-Nestorian, and those who opposed Chalcedon saw this as a concession to Nestorianism, or even as a conspiracy to convert the Church to Nestorianism by stealth. As a result, over the decades, they gradually separated from communion with the Great Church. Monophysitism was condemned as heretical alongside Nestorianism, and to accuse a church of being Monophysite is to accuse it of falling into the opposite extreme from Nestorianism, however, the Oriental Orthodox themselves reject this description as inaccurate, having officially condemned the teachings of both Nestorius and Eutyches. They define themselves as Miaphysite instead, holding that Christ has one nature, the schism between the Oriental Orthodox and the rest of Christendom occurred in the 5th century. They would accept only of or from two natures but not in two natures and it is not entirely clear that Nestorius himself was a Nestorian. The Oriental Orthodox churches were often called Monophysite, although they reject this label, as it is associated with Eutychian Monophysitism. It was not until 518 that the new Byzantine Emperor, Justin I, Justin ordered the replacement of all non-Chalcedonian bishops, including the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria. The extent of the influence of the Bishop of Rome in this demand has been a matter of debate, Justinian I also attempted to bring those monks who still rejected the decision of the Council of Chalcedon into communion with the greater church. The exact time of event is unknown, but it is believed to have been between 535 and 548. St Abraham of Farshut was summoned to Constantinople and he chose to bring with him four monks, upon arrival, Justinian summoned them and informed them that they would either accept the decision of the Council or lose their positions. Abraham refused to entertain the idea, theodora tried to persuade Justinian to change his mind, seemingly to no avail. Abraham himself stated in a letter to his monks that he preferred to remain in exile rather than subscribe to a faith which he believed to be contrary to that of Athanasius of Alexandria
11.
Anglican
–
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
12.
Lutheranism
–
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
13.
Presbyterianism
–
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism which traces its origins to the British Isles, particularly Scotland. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the form of church government. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, Presbyterian church government was ensured in Scotland by the Acts of Union in 1707 which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. In fact, most Presbyterians found in England can trace a Scottish connection, the Presbyterian denominations in Scotland hold to the theology of John Calvin and his immediate successors, although there are a range of theological views within contemporary Presbyterianism. The roots of Presbyterianism lie in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, most Reformed churches which trace their history back to Scotland are either presbyterian or congregationalist in government. In the twentieth century, some Presbyterians played an important role in the ecumenical movement, many Presbyterian denominations have found ways of working together with other Reformed denominations and Christians of other traditions, especially in the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Some Presbyterian churches have entered into unions with other churches, such as Congregationalists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterian history is part of the history of Christianity, but the beginning of Presbyterianism as a distinct movement occurred during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. As the Catholic Church resisted the reformers, several different theological movements splintered from the Church, the Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to England and Scotland. In August 1560 the Parliament of Scotland adopted the Scots Confession as the creed of the Scottish Kingdom, Presbyterians distinguish themselves from other denominations by doctrine, institutional organization and worship, often using a Book of Order to regulate common practice and order. The origins of the Presbyterian churches are in Calvinism, many branches of Presbyterianism are remnants of previous splits from larger groups. Presbyterians place great importance upon education and lifelong learning, Presbyterian government is by councils of elders. Teaching and ruling elders are ordained and convene in the lowest council known as a session or consistory responsible for the discipline, nurture, teaching elders have responsibility for teaching, worship, and performing sacraments. Pastors are called by individual congregations, a congregation issues a call for the pastors service, but this call must be ratified by the local presbytery. Ruling elders are usually laymen who are elected by the congregation and ordained to serve with the elders, assuming responsibility for nurture. Often, especially in larger congregations, the elders delegate the practicalities of buildings, finance and this group may variously be known as a Deacon Board, Board of Deacons Diaconate, or Deacons Court. These are sometimes known as presbyters to the full congregation, above the sessions exist presbyteries, which have area responsibilities. These are composed of teaching elders and ruling elders from each of the constituent congregations, the presbytery sends representatives to a broader regional or national assembly, generally known as the General Assembly, although an intermediate level of a synod sometimes exists. The Church of Scotland abolished the Synod in 1993, Presbyterian governance is practised by Presbyterian denominations and also by many other Reformed churches
14.
Congregational churches
–
Congregational or Congregationalist churches are Protestant churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. Congregationalism is often considered to be a part of the wider Reformed tradition, ideas of nonconforming Protestants during the Puritan Reformation of the Church of England laid foundation for these churches. Congregationalists also differed with the Reformed churches using episcopalian church governance, within the United States, the model of Congregational churches was carried by migrating settlers from New England into New York, then into the Old North West, and further. With their insistence on independent local bodies, they became important in social reform movements, including abolitionism, temperance. Congregationalist tradition has a presence in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and it has been introduced either by immigrant dissenter Protestants or by missionary organization such as the London Missionary Society. Congregationalists believe their model of church governance fulfils the description of the early church, Congregationalism is more easily identified as a movement than a single denomination, given its distinguishing commitment to the complete autonomy of the local congregation. The early Congregationalists shared with Anabaptist theology the ideal of a pure church and they believed the adult conversion experience was necessary for an individual to become a full member in the church, unlike other Reformed churches. As such, the Congregationalists were an influence on the Baptists. They differed in counting the children of believers in some members of the church. On the other hand, the Baptists required each member to experience conversion, in England, the Anglican system of church government was taken over by King Henry VIII. It declared the sovereign of England to be the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England. In the reign of Elizabeth I, this title was changed to Supreme Governor of the Church of England, an act still in effect. Robert Browne, Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, John Penry, William Brewster, Thomas Jollie, the underground churches in England and exiles from Holland provided about 35 out of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower, which sailed from London in July 1620. They became known in history as the Pilgrim Fathers, the early Congregationalists sought to separate themselves from the Anglican church in every possible way and even eschewed having church buildings. They met in homes for many years, in 1639 William Wroth, then Rector of the parish church at Llanvaches in Monmouthshire, established the first Independent Church in Wales according to the New England pattern, i. e. Congregational. The Tabernacle United Reformed Church at Llanvaches survives to this day, during the English Civil War, those who supported the Parliamentary cause were invited by Parliament to discuss religious matters. This government would last until 1660 when the monarch was restored, in 1658 the Congregationalists created their own version of the Westminster Confession, called the Savoy Declaration, which remains the principal subordinate standard of Congregationalism. The work in South America began in 1921 when four Argentine churches urgently requested that denominational recognition be given to George Geier, the Illinois Conference licensed Geier, who worked among Germans from Russia who were very similar to their kin in the United States and in Canada
15.
Calvinist
–
Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
16.
Methodism
–
Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, the movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, the fellowship were branded as Methodist by their fellow students because of the way they used rule and method to go about their religious affairs. John, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church, at a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his heart strangely warmed. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
17.
Church of the Nazarene
–
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th-century Holiness movement in North America. With its members commonly referred to as Nazarenes, it is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world, at the end of September 2016 the Church of the Nazarene had 2,471,553 members in 30,574 churches in 162 different world areas. The Church of the Nazarene uses world area to describe countries and areas that are a part of a country, more than 20 of the denominations 162 world areas fall into this category, such as Guam, a U. S. territory on the Asia-Pacific Region. With 626,811 members, at the end of 2016 the USA was the nation with the greatest number of Nazarenes, Other nations with large Nazarene populations include Mozambique, Brazil, India, Haiti, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Benin, and Ethiopia. In 2016, the Church of the Nazarene had the highest percentage presence in the nations of Barbados, Cape Verde, Swaziland, Haiti Mozambique, and Samoa. The global mission of the Church of the Nazarene since its beginnings has been to respond to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go, in December 2006, this was expressed more succinctly as to make Christlike disciples in the nations. This frames the global mission of the denomination, since 2001, the three “core values” of the Church have been identified as Christian, Holiness, Missional. The denominational vision is, to be a church, an international community of faith. Reflecting the decisions and judgments of ministerial and lay delegates of the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, the Church of the Nazarene supports 52 undergraduate and graduate educational institutions in 35 countries on six continents around the world, with an enrollment of 51,555 students in 2016. The Nazarene Publishing House has been located in Kansas City, Missouri since its inception in 1912. During that reporting period,139,560 people became new members of the Church of the Nazarene, with 113,968 received by profession of faith and a further 25,592 coming from other denominations. With 626,811 members, the USA was the nation with the greatest number of Nazarenes, Other nations with large Nazarene populations include Mozambique, Brazil, India, Haiti, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Benin, and Ethiopia. In 2016, the Church of the Nazarene had the highest percentage presence in the nations of Barbados, Cape Verde, Swaziland, Haiti Mozambique, and Samoa. The highest percentage of Nazarene presence in the USA occurred in 2000, according to the Board of General Superintendents in December 2009, an average of 455 people came to Christ and joined the Church of the Nazarene every day last year. With 27. 29% of the Nazarene population, for the first time Africa was the largest of the denominations 6 global regions, with a total of 674,414 members reported. The USA/Canada region, which had always been the largest region in the ranked as second with 25. 87% of the global Nazarene population. In 2006 the USA/Canada region comprised 40. 27% of the Nazarene population, according to Nazarene Research Services, from 1983 to 2013, Church of the Nazarene membership grew from 650,000 full members to more than 2 million. The top 10 world areas for net gain of full members over that 30-year period were, Mozambique, USA, Brazil, India, Haiti, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Benin, and Peru
18.
Moravian Church
–
The modern Unitas Fratrum, with about 750,000 members worldwide, continues to draw on traditions established during the eighteenth century. The Moravians continue their tradition of missionary work, for example in the Caribbean. This is reflected in their global distribution. The Church places a value on ecumenism, personal piety, missions. The Church’s emblem is the Lamb of God with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription, Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur. The Hussite movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus in early 15th century Bohemia, since these actions predate the Protestant Reformation by a century, some historians claim the Moravian Church was the first Protestant church. The movement gained support in the Crown of Bohemia, however, Hus was summoned to attend the Council of Constance, which decided that he was a heretic and had him burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. In 1434, an army of Utraquists and Catholics defeated the Taborites at the Battle of Lipany, the Utraquists signed the Compacts of Basel on 5 July 1436. Within fifty years of Hus death, a contingent of his followers had become independently organised as the Bohemian Brethren or Unity of the Brethren, a brother known as Gregory the Patriarch was very influential in forming the group, as well as the teachings of Peter Chelcicky. This group held to a strict obedience to the Sermon on the Mount, which included non-swearing of oaths, non-resistance, because of this, they considered themselves separate from the majority Hussites that did not hold those teachings. They received episcopal ordination through the Waldensians in 1467 and these were some of the earliest Protestants, rebelling against Rome some fifty years before Martin Luther. By the middle of the 16th century as many as 90 per cent of the inhabitants of the Bohemian Crown were Protestant, the majority of nobility was Protestant, the schools and printing-shops established by the Moravian Church were flourishing. Protestantism had an influence to the education of the population. Even in the middle of the 16th century there was not a town without a Protestant school in the Bohemian crown lands. With the University of Prague also firmly in hands of Protestants, therefore, the Jesuits were invited, with the backing of the Catholic Habsburg rulers, to come to the Bohemian Crown and establish a number of Catholic educational institutions. One of these is the university in the Moravian capital of Olomouc, in 1582 they forced closure of local Protestant schools. The Revolt started by unplanned second Defenestrations of Prague and was defeated in 1620 in the Battle of White Mountain near Prague, as consequence the local Protestant noblemen were either executed or expelled from the country while the Habsburgs placed Catholic nobility in their place. The war, plague, and subsequent disruption led to a decline in the population from over 3 million to some 800,000 people, by 1622 the entire education system was in the hands of Jesuits and all Protestant schools were closed
19.
Ceremony
–
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin caerimonia, ceremonies may have a physical display or theatrical component, dance, a procession, the laying on of hands. A declaratory verbal pronouncement may explain or cap the occasion, for instance, I now pronounce you husband, I swear to serve and defend the nation. I declare open the games of, both physical and verbal components of a ceremony may become part of a liturgy
20.
Rite
–
A rite or ritual is an established, ceremonial, usually religious, act. Within Christianity, rite often refers to what is called a sacrament. In Roman Catholicism, for example, the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is one of the three that are referred to as the last rites, because they are administered to someone who was dying. The other two are Penance and Eucharist, since the Second Vatican Council, Anointing of the Sick is administered to those who are seriously ill but not necessarily in immediate danger of death. The term rite became widely used after the Second Vatican Council when the traditional sacraments were done away with, while rite is often used synonymously with sacrament, it is technically incorrect to say that one received a rite because the sacrament is what is received. The ritual consists of the prayers and actions that the minister of the sacrament performs when administering a sacrament. Therefore, it is incorrect to say one has received the last rites as that person has really received the last sacraments by a minister following a ritual that has performed the sacramental rite. The word rite is often applied to what are sometimes known as the five lesser sacraments, confirmation, reconciliation, matrimony, holy orders. The term rite refers to a body of liturgical tradition usually emanating from a specific center. Examples include the Roman Rite, the Byzantine Rite, and the Sarum Rite, such rites may include various sub-rites. For example, the Byzantine Rite has Greek, Russian, for a full list of Christian liturgical rites, see Christian liturgy. Of these, the largest is the Latin Rite or Western Church, there are also several Eastern Catholic Churches or Rites. For a full list of Catholic liturgical rites, see List of Catholic rites and churches, in North America, Freemasons have the option of joining the Scottish Rite and/or the York Rite, two appendant bodies that offer additional degrees to those who have taken the basic three. Ambrosian Rite Ceremony Chaldean rite Process Art Rites, a Confucian philosophical concept Ritual Primitive Scottish Rite Rite of Spring
21.
Liturgy
–
Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group, according to its beliefs, customs and traditions. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a response to and participation in. Ritualization may be associated with events such as birth, coming of age, marriage. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. Technically speaking, liturgy is a subset of ritual, when ritual is undertaken to participate in a divine act or assist a divine action, it is liturgy. If the ritual does not have this purpose it is not liturgy, a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish synagogue services would be ritual but not liturgy. If the Temple were re-established, the ritual undertaken by the Judaic priesthood within the Temple would be liturgy, for a simple definition, liturgy is basically the pattern/way of worship the worshippers, worship. So you could use orthodox liturgy which would have different aspects to the Eucharistic liturgy or the catholic liturgy. The word liturgy, derived from the term in ancient Greek, leitourgia. In origin it signified the often expensive offerings wealthy Greeks made in service to the people, and thus to the polis, through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours and prestige. The leitourgia were assigned by the polis, the State and Roman Empire, the performance of such supported the patrons standing among the elite and the popular at large. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, however groups of rich citizens were assigned to pay for expenses such as civic amenities and even payment of warships. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive, Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done once or more times a day and can vary among the Theravada, Mahayana, the liturgy mainly consists of chanting or reciting a sutra or passages from a sutras, a mantra, and several gathas. Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home, the liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water and food. Jewish liturgy are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism and these prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, Jewish men are obligated to pray three times a day within specific time ranges, while, according to the Talmud, women are only required to pray once daily, as they are generally exempted from obligations that are time dependent. Additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, a fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
22.
Godparent
–
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a childs baptism, although the term has also been used in a legal sense. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother, as early as the 2nd century AD, infant baptism had begun to gain acceptance among Christians for the spiritual purification and social initiation of infants. The requirement for some confession of faith necessitated the use of adults who acted as sponsors for the child and they vocalized the confession of faith and acted as guarantors of the child’s spiritual upbringing. Normally, these sponsors were the parents of a child, as emphasized in 408 by St. Augustine who suggested that they could, it seems exceptionally. Within a century, the Corpus Juris Civilis indicates that parents had been replaced in this role almost completely and this was clarified in 813 when the Council of Munich prohibited natural parents from acting as godparents to their own children. This pattern was marked by the creation of legal barriers to marriage that paralleled those for other forms of kin, as confirmation emerged as a separate rite from baptism from the 8th century, a second set of sponsors, with similar prohibitions, also emerged. Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin preserved infant baptism against the attacks of more radical reformers including Anabaptists, in 888, the Catholic Council of Metz attempted to limit the number to one, but proliferation seems to have continued. In early 14th-century Spain, as many as 20 godparents were being chosen, in England, the Synod of Worcester stipulated three sponsors, and this has remained the norm in the Church of England. The Council of Trent attempted to limit the numbers of godparents to one or two, but practice has differed across the Catholic world. They were abolished in 1644 by the Directory of Public Worship promulgated by the English Civil War Parliamentary regime, after the Restoration in 1660, they were reintroduced to Anglicanism, with occasional objections, but dropped by almost every dissenting church. There is some evidence that the institution had lost some of its social importance as well as its universality. At present, in the Church of England, relatives can stand as godparents, godparents should be both baptized and confirmed, but the requirement for confirmation can be waived. There is no requirement for clergy to baptize those from outside their parishes, as a result, individual clergy have considerable discretion over the qualifications of godparents. Many contemporary Anglican rites likewise require parents and godparents to respond on behalf of infant candidates, the Catholic institution of godparenthood survived the Reformation largely unchanged. Someone who belongs to another Christian church cannot become a godparent, a witness does not have any religious role recognized by the Church. Lutherans follow a similar theology of godparents as Roman Catholics and they believe that godparents help with their Christian upbringing, especially if they should lose their parents. Lutherans, like Roman Catholics, believe that a godparent must be both a baptized and confirmed Christian, some Lutherans also follow the Roman Catholic tradition that a Christian who is not affiliated with the Lutheran denomination may serve as a witness rather than a godparent. The Orthodox institution of godparenthood has been the least affected of the traditions by change
23.
Priest
–
A priest or priestess, is a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites, in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of and their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively. The necessity to read sacred texts and keep temple or church records helped foster literacy in early societies. Priests exist in many religions today, such as all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, the question of which religions have a priest depends on how the titles of leaders are used or translated into English. In some cases, leaders are more like those that other believers will often turn to for advice on spiritual matters, for example, clergy in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are priests, but in Protestant Christianity they are typically minister and pastor. The terms priest and priestess are sufficiently generic that they may be used in a sense to describe the religious mediators of an unknown or otherwise unspecified religion. In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time position, many Christian priests and pastors choose or are mandated to dedicate themselves to their churches and receive their living directly from their churches. In other cases it is a part-time role, for example, in the early history of Iceland the chieftains were titled goði, a word meaning priest. In some religions, being a priest or priestess is by election or human choice. In Judaism the priesthood is inherited in familial lines, in a theocracy, a society is governed by its priesthood. The word priest, is derived from Greek, via Latin presbyter. Old High German also has the disyllabic priester, priestar, apparently derived from Latin independently via Old French presbtre, the Latin presbyter ultimately represents Greek presbyteros, the regular Latin word for priest being sacerdos, corresponding to Greek hiereus. That English should have only the term priest to translate presbyter. The feminine English noun, priestess, was coined in the 17th century, in the 20th century, the word was used in controversies surrounding the ordination of women. In the case of the ordination of women in the Anglican communion, it is common to speak of priests. In historical polytheism, a priest administers the sacrifice to a deity, in the Ancient Near East, the priesthood also acted on behalf of the deities in managing their property. Priestesses in antiquity often performed sacred prostitution, and in Ancient Greece, some such as Pythia, priestess at Delphi. Sumerian and Akkadian Entu or EN were top-ranking priestesses who were distinguished with special ceremonial attire and they owned property, transacted business, and initiated the hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings
24.
Minister (Christianity)
–
The term is taken from Latin minister, which itself was derived from minus. In Catholic churches, the concept of a priesthood is emphasised, many ministers are styled as The Reverend, however some use Pastor as a title, and others do not use any specific form of address. The Church of England defines the ministry of priests as follows, Priests are called to be servants, with their Bishop and fellow ministers, they are to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of Gods new creation. Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to declare in Christs name the absolution, with all Gods people, they are to tell the story of Gods love. They are to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and they are to unfold the Scriptures, to preach the word in season and out of season, and to declare the mighty acts of God. They are to preside at the Lords table and lead his people in worship, offering them a spiritual sacrifice of praise. They are to bless the people in Gods name and they are to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, and intercede for all in need. They are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death, guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all Gods people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith. All denominations require that the minister has a sense of calling. One of the clearest references is found in 1 Timothy 3, 1-16, moreover he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to wine, not greedy of filthy lucre. And let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children, the churches have three orders of ordained clergy, Bishops are the primary clergy, administering all sacraments and governing the church. Priests administer the sacraments and lead local congregations, they cannot ordain other clergy, however, in some denominations, deacons play a non-sacramental and assisting role in the liturgy. Until the Reformation, the clergy were the first estate but were relegated to the estate in Protestant Northern Europe. After compulsory celibacy was abolished during the Reformation, the formation of an hereditary priestly class became possible, whereby wealth. Higher positioned clergy formed this clerical educated upper class, High Church Anglicanism and High Church Lutheranism tend to emphasise the role of the clergy in dispensing the Christian Sacrament. Bishops, priests and deacons have traditionally officiated over of acts worship, reverence, rituals, among these central traditions have been baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, marriage, the Mass or the Divine Service, and coronations
25.
Affusion
–
Affusion is a method of baptism where water is poured on the head of the person being baptized. The word affusion comes from the Latin affusio, meaning to pour on, affusion is one of four methods of baptism used by Christians, which also include total submersion baptism, partial immersion baptism, and aspersion or sprinkling. Affusion and aspersion tend to be practiced by Christian denominations that practice infant baptism. This may be due to the difficulties of totally immersing an infant underwater. However, Eastern Orthodox and some Roman Catholics practice infant immersion, amish, Old Order Mennonites, and Conservative Mennonites still practice baptism by pouring. Affusion became the practice in the western church around the 10th century. Acts of various martyrs show that many were baptized in prison, while awaiting martyrdom, the most common use, however, was for ill or dying people who could not rise from their beds. It was consequently known as baptism of the sick, while the practice was decried at the time, the intent of the criticism was not to encourage baptism by immersion, but to refrain from delaying baptism. In the New Testament book of Acts, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is sometimes described, as a “pouring out” of the Holy Spirit. Luke, the author of Acts, uses the word baptism to describe a pouring. It may also indicate that Luke’s concept of baptism includes, or allows for, submersionists say that passages like these do not directly speak to the issue of water baptism because they are, strictly speaking, about baptism with the Holy Spirit. Affusionists think they indirectly apply to water baptism, though, by telling us something about the concept of baptism. Affusionists see more evidence that Luke’s concept of baptism includes pouring by noting a possible connection between water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism. In Acts 10, Peter is “astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles”, Peter responds by saying, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have, affusionists read Peter to be saying by having the Spirit poured out on them, these people already have been baptized with the Spirit, so why not actually baptize them with water. They understand Peter’s words to imply that water baptism is a picture of the Holy Spirit baptism. If this is right, affusionists contend, then water baptism should be, or, at least, can be, by pouring, because the baptism with the Holy Spirit of which it is a picture occurs by pouring. Also noteworthy to affusionists is that, in Luke 11,38, both words are used, in other passages, to mean baptism
26.
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
27.
Eastern Catholic
–
The Melkite and Italo-Greek churches also have claims of perpetual communion. Full communion constitutes mutual sacramental sharing between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church, including Eucharistic intercommunion, notably, Eastern Catholic churches have different traditions concerning clerical celibacy than the Latin Church, in general, Eastern Catholic Churches allow the ordination of married men as priests. Eastern Catholic churches have their origins in the Middle East, East Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin Catholics in the Middle East, on the other hand, are traditionally served by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Eastern Catholic churches are instead distinct particular churches sui iuris, although maintain full, there are different meanings of the word rite. Apart from its reference to the patrimony of a particular church. The rites treated in CCEO, unless stated, are those that arise from the Alexandrian, Antiochene. The Second Vatican Council spoke of Eastern Catholic Churches as particular Churches or rites, in 1999, the United States National Conference of Catholic Bishops stated, We have been accustomed to speaking of the Latin Rite or the Eastern Rites to designate these different Churches. Canon 112 of the Code of Canon Law uses the phrase autonomous ritual Churches to designate the various Churches, and a writer in a periodical of January 2006 declared, The Eastern Churches are still mistakenly called Eastern-rite Churches, a reference to their various liturgical histories. They are most properly called Eastern Churches, or Eastern Catholic Churches, however, the term rite continues to be used. The 1983 CIC forbids a Latin bishop to ordain, without permission of the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, in his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, that any Catholic priest of the Latin rite, under certain conditions, may use either edition of the Roman Missal. The term Uniat or Uniate applies to Eastern Catholic churches previously part of Eastern or Oriental Orthodox churches or of the Assyrian Church of the East. The term is considered to have a derogatory connotation, though it was occasionally used by Latin. Official Catholic documents no longer use the due to its perceived negative overtones. According to John Erickson of Saint Vladimirs Orthodox Theological Seminary, The term uniate itself, Eastern Rite Catholic also was no longer in vogue because it might suggest that the Catholics in question differed from Latins only in the externals of worship. The Second Vatican Council affirmed rather that Eastern Catholics constituted churches whose vocation was to provide a bridge to the churches of the East. Communion between Christian churches has been broken over matters of faith, whereby each side accused the other of heresy or departure from the true faith, communion has been broken also because of disagreement about questions of authority or the legitimacy of the election of a particular bishop. In these latter cases each side accused the other of schism, Major breaches of communion, In 431 the Churches that accepted the teaching of the Council of Ephesus classified as heretics those who rejected the Councils statements. The Church of the East, which was mainly under the Sassanid Empire and it later experienced a period of great expansion in Asia before collapsing after the Mongol invasion of the Middle East in the 14th century
28.
Baptismal font
–
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using an immersion method, the simplest of these fonts has a pedestal with a holder for a basin of water. The materials vary greatly consisting of carved and sculpted marble, wood, many are eight-sided as a reminder of the new creation and as a connection to the practice of circumcision, which traditionally occurs on the eighth day. Some are three-sided as a reminder of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, in many churches of the Middle Ages and Renaissance there was a special chapel or even a separate building for housing the baptismal fonts, called a baptistery. Both fonts and baptisterys were often octagonal, saint Ambrose wrote that fonts and baptistries were octagonal because on the eighth day, by rising, Christ loosens the bondage of death and receives the dead from their graves. Saint Augustine similarly described the day as everlasting. Hallowed by the resurrection of Christ, the quantity of water is usually small. There are some fonts where water pumps, a natural spring and this visual and audible image communicates a living waters aspect of baptism. Some church bodies use special holy water while others use water straight out of the tap to fill the font. A special silver vessel called a ewer can be used to fill the font, the mode of a baptism at a font is usually one of sprinkling, pouring, washing, or dipping in keeping with the Koine Greek verb βαπτιζω. Βαπτιζω can also mean immerse, but most fonts are too small for that application, some fonts are large enough to allow the immersion of infants, however. The earliest baptismal fonts were designed for full immersion, and were often cross-shaped with steps leading down into them, often such baptismal pools were located in a separate building, called a baptistery, near the entrance of the church. As infant baptism became common, fonts became smaller. Full-immersion baptisms may take place in a tank or pool. The entire body is immersed, dunked, submerged or otherwise placed completely under the water. This practice symbolizes the death of the old nature, as found in Romans 6, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, baptism is always by full triple immersion, even in the case of infant baptism. For this reason, Eastern baptismal fonts tend to be larger than Western, and are shaped like a large chalice. During the baptismal service, three candles will be lit on or around the font, in honor of the Holy Trinity
29.
Great Commission
–
In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is similar to the episodes of the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles found in the other Synoptic Gospels, Luke also has Jesus dispatching disciples during his ministry, sending them to all the nations and giving them power over demons, including the Seventy disciples. The dispersion of the Apostles in the ending of Mark is thought to be a 2nd-century summary based on Matthew. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing ministry, missionary work, evangelism, the apostles are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and founded the apostolic sees. Preterists believe that the Great Commission and other Bible prophecies were fulfilled in the 1st century while futurists believe Bible prophecy is yet to be fulfilled at the Second Coming. Some students of the historical Jesus hypothesize the Great Commission as reflecting not Jesus words, some scholars, such as John Dominic Crossan, assert that Jesus did commission the apostles during his lifetime, as reported in the Gospels. Others, however, see even these lesser commissions as representing Christian invention rather than history and it is unknown who coined the term Great Commission. It was likely first used as a summary for the passage by Dutch missionary Justinian von Welz, however, it was popularized by Hudson Taylor. Scholars such as Eduard Riggenbach and J. H. Oldham et al, the most familiar version of the Great Commission is depicted in Matthew 28, 16–20, Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted, and Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ”Other versions of the Great Commission are found in Mark 16, 14–18, Luke 24, 44–49, Acts 1, 4–8, and John 20, 19–23. In Luke, Jesus tells the disciples to preach repentance and forgiveness, in John, Jesus says the disciples will have the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness. In Acts, Jesus promises the disciples that the Holy Spirit will inspire them, all these passages are composed as words of Christ spoken after his resurrection. According to some critics, in Mark Jesus never speaks with his disciples after his resurrection and they argue that the original Gospel of Mark ends at verse Mark 16,8 with the women leaving the tomb. The commission from Jesus has been interpreted by evangelical Christians as meaning that his followers have the duty to go, make disciples, teach, the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gentiles, Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah states, R. Matthew 28
30.
Baptismal clothing
–
Baptismal clothing is apparel worn by Christian proselytes during the ceremony of baptism. White clothes are worn because the person being baptized is fresh like the driven manna. For adults, the robe is a long, sleeved garment, similar to the Western alb, a woman may also cover her head with a white veil. For infant baptisms, the robe may be a white gown and bonnet, and these garments are placed on the newly baptized immediately after coming up out of the waters of baptism. Amen. and the choir sings, Vouchsafe unto me the robe of light, O Thou who clothest Thyself with light as with a garment, Christ our God, plenteous in mercy. In Orthodox theology the baptismal robe symbolizes the Garments of Light with which Adam, baptism is believed to cleanse the believer of all the sinful defilements both of original sin and personal sins and the white garment is symbolic of this. During the ektenia before baptism, the deacon prays That he may preserve this baptismal garment, referring not so much to the material garment as to the spiritual cleansing it represents. The newly baptized will traditionally wear their baptismal garment for eight days and these are special days of prayer and fasting, at the end of which they return to the church for the Removal of the Robe on the Eighth Day and ablutions. Maintain the shield of his faith unassailed by the enemy and he then sprinkles the newly baptized with water and washes all of the places the chrism was applied, and performs the tonsure. Someone who has been baptized as an adult will often be buried in their baptismal robe, in the Roman Catholic Church, most of those born into the faith are baptized as infants. They are in fact the normal, or at least best, the moment of progression to shorter dresses was known as shortcoating, which usually coincided with the beginning of crawling, which was difficult in a long robe, or at five to six months of age. Christening gowns are made of fine white linen or cotton fabric, and may be trimmed with tucks, lace, whitework embroidery. Baptismal gowns often have matching bonnets, and may become family heirlooms, the Anglican church grew from its mother the Church of England and includes the Episcopal Church in the United States. It views itself as the continuation of the early apostolic and later medieval universal church. Many of the traditions are therefore the same as the Roman Catholic. The modern church allows for much diversity, but usually the clothing is white for the infant or young child. A wide variety of practices are found in the spectrum of Protestantism, some mainstream Protestant churches practice infant baptism, and thus make use of the christening gown, while others encourage or practice exclusive adult baptism. In some of the churches, special white clothing may be worn by both the person being baptized and the person performing the baptism
31.
Romper suit
–
A romper suit, or just romper, is a one-piece combination of shorts and a shirt worn both by children and adult women. Rompers appeared in the United States of America in the early 1900s and they were popular as playwear for younger children because people thought they were ideal for movement. Rompers were in many ways the first modern casual clothes for children and they were light and loose fitting, a major change from the much more restrictive clothing children wore during the 19th Century Victorian era. Styles and conventions varied from country to country, in France they were, for many years, only for boys. While primarily a play garment, we note French children wearing dressy rompers and their popularity peaked in the 1950s when they were used by children as playwear and by women as leisure- and beachwear. Thereafter the garment has continued to be used by infants and toddlers, however, it has become common among older girls and women. While rompers had been popular in among women in the 1950s, in the 1970s rompers were usually a casual garment made of terrycloth, and often in a tube top style. They were common in the 1980s in a variety of materials. Since 2006, rompers have enjoyed a renaissance as a fashionable garment for women. Several designers have presented collections including romper suits and they are offered by many retailers, designers include Deborah Sweeney and Juliette Hogan In the 2010s the sleep romper for women gained popularity, being similar in style to the teddy, but with the appearance of shorts
32.
Ship's bell
–
A ships bell is used to indicate the time aboard a ship and hence to regulate the sailors duty watches. The bell itself is made of brass or bronze and normally has the ships name engraved or cast on it. Unlike civil clock bells, the strikes of the bell do not accord to the number of the hour, instead, there are eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour watch. In the age of sailing, watches were timed with a 30-minute hourglass, bells would be struck every time the glass was turned, and in a pattern of pairs for easier counting, with any odd bells at the end of the sequence. The classical system was, At midnight on New Years Eve sixteen bells would be struck – eight bells for the old year, most of the crew of a ship would be divided up into between two and four groups called watches. Each watch would take its turn with the activities of manning the helm, navigating, trimming sails. The hours between 16,00 and 20,00 are so arranged because that watch was divided into two, the odd number of watches aimed to give each man a different watch each day. It also allows the crew of a vessel to eat an evening meal. Some ships bell clocks use a system, Eight bells can also be a way of saying that a sailors watch is over, for instance, in his or her obituary. The ships name is engraved or cast onto the surface of the bell. Occasionally the bell will also carry the name of the shipyard built the ship. If a ships name is changed, maritime tradition is that the original bell carrying the name will remain with the vessel. A ships bell is a prized possession when a ship is broken up, ships bells are also used for safety in foggy conditions, their most important modern use. According to seafaring legend, the cooks and boatswains mates had a duty arrangement to give the cooks more sleep. In return, between meals, the cooks would shine the bell, which was traditionally the boatswains mates responsibility and it is a naval tradition to baptize children using the ships bell as a baptismal font and to engrave the names of the children on the bell afterwards. Christening information from the bells held by the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Museum has been entered into a data archive. When a sailor has died he can be honoured with the sounding of eight bells, the term eight bells can also be used in an obituary
33.
Canadian Forces
–
This unified institution consists of sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the National Defence Act, the Canadian Armed Forces are an entity separate and distinct from the Department of National Defence, the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces is the reigning Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor General of Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces is led by the Chief of the Defence Staff, during the Cold War, a principal focus of Canadian defence policy was contributing to the security of Europe in the face of the Soviet military threat. Toward that end, Canadian ground and air forces were based in Europe from the early 1950s until the early 1990s, Canadian defence policy today is based on the Canada First Defence Strategy, introduced in 2008. Based on that strategy, the Canadian military is oriented and being equipped to carry out six core missions within Canada, in North America and globally. Prior to Confederation in 1867, residents of the colonies in what is now Canada served as members of French and British forces. Thereafter, the Royal Canadian Navy was formed, and, with the advent of military aviation and these forces were organised under the Department of Militia and Defence, and split into the Permanent and Non-Permanent Active Militias—frequently shortened to simply The Militia. By 1923, the department was merged into the Department of National Defence, the first overseas deployment of Canadian military forces occurred during the Second Boer War, when several units were raised to serve under British command. Similarly, when the United Kingdom entered into conflict with Germany in the First World War, the Canadian Crown-in-Council then decided to send its forces into the Second World War, as well as the Korean War. Since 1947, Canadian military units have participated in more than 200 operations worldwide, Canada maintained an aircraft carrier from 1957 to 1970 during the Cold War, which never saw combat but participated in patrols during the Cuban Missile Crisis. At the end of the Second World War, Canada possessed the fourth-largest air force and fifth-largest naval surface fleet in the world, conscription for overseas service was introduced only near the end of the war, and only 2,400 conscripts actually made it into battle. Originally, Canada was thought to have had the third-largest navy in the world and its roots, however, lie in colonial militia groups that served alongside garrisons of the French and British armies and navies, a structure that remained in place until the early 20th century. After the 1980s, the use of the Canadian Armed Forces name gave way to Canadian Forces, land Forces during this period also deployed in support of peacekeeping operations within United Nations sanctioned conflicts. The nature of the Canadian Forces has continued to evolve and they have been deployed in Afghanistan until 2011, under the NATO-led United Nations International Security Assistance Force, at the request of the Government of Afghanistan. The Armed Forces are today funded by approximately $20, the number of primary reserve personnel is expected to go up to 30,000 by 2020, and the number of active to at least 70,000. In addition,5000 rangers and 19,000 supplementary personnel will be serving, if this happens the total strength would be around 124,000. These individuals serve on numerous CF bases located in all regions of the country, and are governed by the Queens Regulations and Orders, the 2006 renewal and re-equipment effort has resulted in the acquisition of specific equipment to support the mission in Afghanistan. It has also encompassed initiatives to renew certain so-called core capabilities, in addition, new systems have also been acquired for the Armed Forces
34.
Didache
–
The Didache, also known as The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise, dated by most modern scholars to the first century. The first line of this treatise is The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the twelve apostles. The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organization, the opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The Lords Prayer is included in full, baptism is by immersion, or by affusion if immersion is not practical. Fasting is ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays, Two primitive Eucharistic prayers are given. Church organization was at a stage of development. Itinerant apostles and prophets are important, serving as chief priests, meanwhile, local bishops and deacons also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. The Didache is considered the first example of the genre of Church Orders, the Didache reveals how Jewish Christians saw themselves and how they adapted their practice for Gentile Christians. The Didache is similar in ways to the Gospel of Matthew. The opening chapters, which appear in other early Christian texts, are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source. The Didache is considered part of the group of second-generation Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers, however, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church broader canon includes the Didascalia, a work which draws on the Didache. Lost for centuries, a Greek manuscript of the Didache was rediscovered in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, a Latin version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht. Many English and American scholars once dated the text to the late 2nd century CE, a view still held today, additionally, apart from two minuscule fragments, the Greek text of the Didache has only survived in a single manuscript, the Codex Hierosolymitanus. Dating the document is made difficult both by the lack of hard evidence and its composite character. The Didache may have compiled in its present form as late as 150. The Two Ways section is based on an earlier Jewish source. The community that produced the Didache was probably based in Syria, the text was lost, but scholars knew of it through the writing of later church fathers, some of whom had drawn heavily on it. In 1873 in Istanbul, metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios found a Greek copy of the Didache, written in 1056, hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884
35.
Irenaeus
–
Irenaeus, also referred to as Saint Irenaeus, was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire. He was an early Church Father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the development of Christian theology. A resident of Smyrna, he heard the preaching of St. Polycarp, as one of the first great Christian theologians, he emphasized the traditional elements in the Church, especially the episcopate, Scripture, and tradition. His polemical work is credited for laying out the orthodoxies of the Christian church, its faith, its preaching and his writings, with those of Clement and Ignatius, are taken as among the earliest signs of the doctrine of the primacy of the Roman see. Irenaeus is the earliest witness to recognition of the character of all four gospels. Irenaeus is recognized as a saint in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church commemorates Irenaeus on that same date for his life of exemplary Christian witness. In the Eastern Catholic Church and Orthodox Church his feast day is 23 August, Irenaeus was born during the first half of the 2nd century, and he is thought to have been a Greek from Polycarps hometown of Smyrna in Asia Minor, now İzmir, Turkey. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was brought up in a Christian family rather than converting as an adult, during the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor from 161–180, Irenaeus was a priest of the Church of Lyon. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a massacre took place in Lyon, returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus and became the second Bishop of Lyon. During the religious peace which followed the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, almost all his writings were directed against Gnosticism. The most famous of these writings is Adversus haereses, Irenaeus alludes to coming across Gnostic writings, and holding conversations with Gnostics, and this may have taken place in Asia Minor or in Rome. However, it appears that Gnosticism was present near Lyon. Little is known about the career of Irenaeus after he became bishop, nothing is known of the date of his death, which must have occurred at the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century. A few within the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church celebrate him as a martyr and he was buried under the Church of Saint John in Lyon, which was later renamed St Irenaeus in his honour. The tomb and his remains were destroyed in 1562 by the Huguenots. Irenaeus wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the Against Heresies, in Book I, Irenaeus talks about the Valentinian Gnostics and their predecessors, who go as far back as the magician Simon Magus. In Book II he attempts to provide proof that Valentinianism contains no merit in terms of its doctrines, in Book III Irenaeus purports to show that these doctrines are false, by providing counter-evidence gleaned from the Gospels. Book IV consists of Jesus sayings, and here Irenaeus also stresses the unity of the Old Testament, in the final volume, Book V, Irenaeus focuses on more sayings of Jesus plus the letters of Paul the Apostle
36.
Eleutherus
–
Pope Eleuterus, also known as Eleutherius, was the Bishop of Rome from c.174 to his death. According to the Liber Pontificalis, he was a Greek born in Nicopolis in Epirus and his contemporary Hegesippus wrote that he was a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Anicetus, and remained so under Pope Soter, whom he succeeded around 174. The 6th-century recension of Liber Pontificalis known as the Felician Catalog includes additional commentary to the earlier entry on Eleuterus. Such a decree might have been issued against early continuations of Jewish dietary law and against similar laws practiced by the Gnostics and Montanists. It is also possible, however, that the editor of the attributed to Eleuterus a decree similar to another issued around the year 500 in order to give it greater authority. Another addition credited Eleuterus with receiving a letter from Lucius, King of Britain or King of the Britons, no earlier accounts of this mission have been found. It is now considered to be a pious forgery, although there remains disagreement over its original purpose. Duchesne dated the entry a little later to the pontificate of Boniface II around 530, the first Englishman to mention the story was Bede and he seems to have taken it, not from native texts or traditions, but from The Book of the Popes. The account, however, dates this baptism to AD167, in the 12th century, more details began to be added to the story. Geoffrey of Monmouths pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain goes into detail concerning Lucius. The 12th-century Book of Llandaf placed the court of Lucius in southern Wales and names his emissaries to the pope as Elfan, an echo of this legend penetrated even to Switzerland. In this way Lucius, the missionary of the Swiss district of Chur. Harnack suggests that in the document which the compiler of the Liber Pontificalis drew his information, the name found was not Britanio, now this is the name of the fortress of Edessa. The king in question is, therefore, Lucius Ælius Septimus Megas Abgar IX, of Edessa, according to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Eleutherius died on 24 May and was buried on the Vatican Hill near the body of St. Peter. Later tradition has his body moved to the church of San Giovanni della Pigna, in 1591, his remains were again moved to the church of Santa Susanna at the request of Camilla Peretti, the sister of Pope Sixtus V. His feast is celebrated on 26 May, List of popes List of Catholic saints
37.
Bishop of Rome
–
The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
38.
Origen
–
Origen, or Origen Adamantius, was a Greek scholar, ascetic, and early Christian theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a writer in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, philosophical theology, preaching. He was anathematised at the Second Council of Constantinople and he was one of the most influential figures in early Christian asceticism. Origens Greek name Ōrigénēs probably means child of Horus and his nickname or cognomen Adamantios derives from Greek adámas, which means adamant, unalterable, unbreakable, unconquerable, diamond. He acquired it because of his ascetical practices. Origen was born in Alexandria to Christian parents and he was educated by his father, Leonides of Alexandria, who gave him a standard Hellenistic education, but also had him study the Christian scriptures. The name of his mother is unknown, in 202, Origens father was martyred in the outbreak of the persecution during the reign of Septimius Severus. A story reported by Eusebius has it that Origen wished to follow him in martyrdom, the death of Leonides left the family of nine impoverished when their property was confiscated. Many modern scholars, however, doubt that Clements school had been an ecclesiastical institution as Origens was. His fame and the number of his pupils increased rapidly, so that Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria, Origen, to be entirely independent, sold his library for a sum which netted him a daily income of 4 obols, on which he lived by exercising the utmost frugality. Teaching throughout the day, he devoted the greater part of the night to the study of the Bible, Eusebius reported that Origen, following Matthew 19,12 literally, castrated himself. The later church historian Philostorgius of Apamea, on the other hand, Eusebius story was accepted during the Middle Ages and was cited by Peter Abelard in his letters to Heloise. Edward Gibbon, in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, during the past century, scholars have often questioned this, surmising that this may have been a rumor circulated by his detractors. Henry Chadwick points out that, while the story may be true, it seems unlikely, however, many noted historians, such as Peter Brown and William Placher, continue to find no reason to deny the truth of Eusebius claims. But the school had far outgrown the strength of a man, the catechumens pressed eagerly for elementary instruction. Under these circumstances, Origen entrusted the teaching of the catechumens to Heraclas and his own interests became more and more centered in exegesis, and he accordingly studied Hebrew, though there is no certain knowledge concerning his instructor in that language. From about this period dates Origens acquaintance with Ambrose of Alexandria, later Ambrose, a man of wealth, made a formal agreement with Origen to promulgate his writings, and all the subsequent works of Origen were dedicated to Ambrose. In the following year, an uprising at Alexandria caused Caracalla to let his soldiers plunder the city, shut the schools
39.
Tertullian
–
Tertullian, full name Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, c.155 – c.240 AD, was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. Of Berber origin, he was the first Christian author to produce a corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was an early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy, Tertullian has been called the father of Latin Christianity and the founder of Western theology. Though conservative in his worldview, Tertullian originated new theological concepts and he is perhaps most famous for being the first writer in Latin known to use the term trinity. According to The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Tertullians trinity not a triune God, other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are three persons, one substance as the Latin tres personae, una substantia. He wrote his understanding of the three members of the trinity after becoming a Montanist, scant reliable evidence exists to inform us about Tertullians life. Most history about him comes from passing references in his own writings, Roman Africa was famous as the home of orators and this influence can be seen in his style with its archaisms or provincialisms, its glowing imagery and its passionate temper. He was a scholar with an excellent education and he wrote at least three books in Greek. In them he refers to himself, but none of these are extant, according to church tradition, Tertullian was raised in Carthage and was thought to be the son of a Roman centurion, Tertullian has been claimed to have been a trained lawyer and an ordained priest. These assertions rely on the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, II,4, and Jeromes De viris illustribus chapter 53. Jerome claimed that Tertullians father held the position of centurio proconsularis in the Roman army in Africa, however, it is unclear whether any such position in the Roman military ever existed. Further, Tertullian has been thought to be a based on his use of legal analogies and an identification of him with the jurist Tertullianus. Although Tertullian used a knowledge of Roman law in his writings, the writings of Tertullianus, a lawyer of the same cognomen, exist only in fragments and do not denote a Christian authorship. Finally, any notion of Tertullian being a priest is also questionable, in his extant writings, he never describes himself as ordained in the church and seems to place himself among the laity. His conversion to Christianity perhaps took place about 197–198, but its immediate antecedents are unknown except as they are conjectured from his writings, the event must have been sudden and decisive, transforming at once his own personality. He said of himself that he could not imagine a truly Christian life without such a conscious breach, two books addressed to his wife confirm that he was married to a Christian wife. In middle life, he was attracted to the New Prophecy of Montanism, in the time of Augustine, a group of Tertullianists still had a basilica in Carthage which, within that same period, passed to the orthodox Church. It is unclear whether the name was another for the Montanists or that this means Tertullian later split with the Montanists
40.
Apostolic Tradition
–
The Apostolic Tradition is an early Christian treatise which belongs to genre of the Church Orders. It has been described as of importance as a source of information about church life. Re-discovered in the 19th century, it was given the name of Egyptian Church Order, in the first half of 20th century this text was commonly identified with the lost Apostolic Tradition presumed by Hippolytus of Rome. Due to this attribution, and the apparent early date of the text, the attribution of this text to Hippolytus has since become a subject of continued debate in recent scholarship. If the Apostolic Tradition is the work of Hippolytus of Rome, it could be dated before AD235 and its origin would be Rome, against this, other scholars have suggested that the Apostolic Tradition portrays a liturgy that was never celebrated. The text found in the Sahidic version was named by the publishers Egyptian Church Order, the text was also found in the late 5th century Latin manuscript known as Verona Palimpsest, where it is the third item in the collection. This version was published in 1900 by Edmund Hauler, but only just over half of the Apostolic Tradition section was preserved and this version survives complete, albeit that it adds selected further material before the concluding chapter 43. Chapter 36 of the probable Greek original text was identified in 1975 as one item in a florilegium of patristic fragments, the surviving Bohairic and Arabic versions are translations of the Sahidic, which was itself translated from a Greek manuscript around the 9th century. The Aksumite Ethiopic and Latin versions differ, however, in their concluding sections, for the Greek text underlying the Aksumite Ethiopic version there is only one ending, which corresponds to the second conclusion of the Latin, without any preceding duplication. The main derived works are, The Canons of Hippolytus, an extensive reworking and adaptation of the Apostolic Tradition made in Egypt in the 4th century. It now survives only in an Arabic version, which translates a Sahidic translation of a Greek original. Probably originating in Syria in the 4th or 5th century and extant in Syriac, this is an original composition, the Eighth Book of the Apostolic Constitutions The Apostolic Constitutions is a compendium of reworked Church Order materials, in which the Eighth Book depends on the Apostolic Tradition. Producing a critical edition of a work that survives in several versions, clearly the edition has to be a translation, but which language should be used as the common version. And should the editor try to recover something close to the original text, the first comprehensive critical editions were those of Gregory Dix in 1937, and then in 1946 by B. Dix and Botte both attempted to recover an original text of the 3rd century, but translated into English, indeed, Bradshaw maintains that, as living literature the Apostolic Tradition cannot be regarded as ever having had a single primary text. The more conservative approach of Dix and Botte has more recently been represented in the translation by Alistair Stewart. For the first edition in 2001, Stewart selected eclectically for each chapter, the version that looked to have the best text and this approach has been criticised as implying a standard text, when there was then no evidence that such a normative text had ever existed. Stewarts second edition of 2015 mainly takes the Latin version as its base text, the context for the Church Order represented in the Apostolic Tradition is one where Christians face official persecution, are regularly imprisoned for their faith and occasionally face martyrdom
41.
Hippolytus of Rome
–
Hippolytus of Rome was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome, where he was probably born. He came into conflict with the popes of his time and seems to have headed a group as a rival to the Bishop of Rome. He opposed the Roman bishops who softened the penitential system to accommodate the number of new pagan converts. However, he was probably reconciled to the Church when he died as a martyr. Starting in the 4th century AD, various legends arose about him and he has also been confused with another martyr of the same name. As a presbyter of the church at Rome under Pope Zephyrinus, Hippolytus was distinguished for his learning and it was at this time that Origen of Alexandria, then a young man, heard him preach. He accused Pope Zephyrinus of modalism, the heresy which held that the names Father, Hippolytus championed the Logos doctrine of the Greek apologists, most notably Justin Martyr, which distinguished the Father from the Logos. An ethical conservative, he was scandalized when Pope Callixtus I extended absolution to Christians who had committed grave sins, Hippolytus himself advocated an excessive rigorism. At this time, he seems to have allowed himself to be elected as a rival Bishop of Rome, G. Salmon suggests that Hippolytus was the leader of the Greek-speaking Christians of Rome. Allen Brent sees the development of Roman house-churches into something akin to Greek philosophical schools gathered around a compelling teacher, under the persecution at the time of Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Hippolytus and Pontian were exiled together in 235 AD to Sardinia, likely dying in the mines. It is quite probable that, before his death there, he was reconciled to the party at Rome, for, under Pope Fabian, his body. The facts of his life as well as his writing were soon forgotten in the West, perhaps by reason of his criticism of the bishops of Rome and because he wrote in Greek. In the Passionals of the 7th and 8th centuries he is represented as a converted by Saint Lawrence. He was also confused with a martyr of the name who was buried in Portus, of which city he was believed to have been a bishop. According to Prudentius account, Hippolytus was dragged to death by horses, a striking parallel to the story of the mythological Hippolytus. He described the tomb of the saint and states that he saw there a picture representing Hippolytus’ execution. He also confirms August 13 as the date on which a Hippolytus was celebrated but this refers to the convert of Lawrence. The latter account led to Hippolytus being considered the saint of horses
42.
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
43.
Initiation
–
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be an admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense it can signify a transformation in which the initiate is reborn into a new role. A person taking the initiation ceremony in traditional rites, such as depicted in these pictures, is called an initiate. Mircea Eliade discussed initiation as a religious act by classical or traditional societies. He defined initiation as a change in existential condition, which liberates man from profane time. Initiation recapitulates the history of the world. And through this recapitulation, the world is sanctified anew. Can perceive the world as a work, a creation of the Gods. Eliade differentiates between types of initiations in two ways, types and functions and this real valuation of ritual death finally led to conquest of the fear of real death. Function is to reveal the meaning of existence to the new generations and to help them assume the responsibility of being truly men. It reveals an open to the trans-human, a world that, in our philosophical terminology. Puberty Rites- collective rituals whose function is to effect the transition from childhood or adolescence to adulthood and they represent above all the revelation of the sacred. Entering into a Secret Society- Mystical Vocation- the vocation of a man or a shaman. This is limited to the few who are destined to participate in an intense religious experience than is accessible to the rest of the community. These can be broken into two types, puberty rites, by virtue of which adolescents gain access to the sacred, to knowledge, specialized initiations, which certain individuals undergo in order to transcend their human condition and become protégés of the Supernatural Beings or even their equals. Dissonance is then thought to produce feelings of group attraction among initiates after the experience. Rewards during initiations have important consequences in that initiates who feel more rewarded express stronger group identity, as well as group attraction, initiations can also produce conformity among new members
44.
Protestant Reformation
–
The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
45.
Sophia Cathedral
–
The Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sophia in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg, was one of the first purely Palladian churches to be built in Russia. Rather paradoxically, it may also be defined as the first example of Byzantinism in Russian architecture, the cathedral was founded in July 1782 at the instigation of Catherine II of Russia as a reminder of her lifelong Greek Plan. The Tsarina, eager to liberate Constantinople from the Turks, wished to have a replica of the Hagia Sophia in the proximity of the Catherine Palace where she spent her summers, but the first project - an exact copy of the Hagia Sophia - was very expensive. His design called for an austere and monumental whitewashed exterior, with Doric porticoes on each side, construction works, supervised by Ivan Starov, lasted for six years. In the eventual variant, the five domes were placed on squat drums. The church was consecrated on 28 May 1788 in the presence of the Empress, during the two decades that followed, the Imperial Academy of Arts had the interior adorned with Neoclassical paintings. A detached two-storied belltower was added later, in 1905. In 1784, the cathedral was to be the church of the newly established Order of Saint Vladimir. The first dean was archpriest Andrey Samborsky - the religion teacher of tsarinas grandsons, in 1817, Alexander I of Russia gave the cathedral to a hussar regiment of his Leib Guard, which was quartered in Sophia. During the rest of the 19th century, the regiment had the cathedral transformed into a sort of military museum, near the altar, for instance, were placed the banners captured by General Cherniaev from the Khan of Kokand. In 1934, the Communist government had the cathedral closed down, with marble plaques, in 1989, the Russian Orthodox Church resumed worship there. The same year, a bust of Alexander Nevsky was added nearby, by way of commemorating the 750th anniversary of the Battle of the Neva, the complete consecration after the restoration took place on May 19,1999. In 2003, a monument to the Leib guard hussar regiment was erected south of the cathedral
46.
Believer's Baptism
–
Believers baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many evangelical denominations, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist and English Baptist tradition. According to their understanding, a person is baptized on the basis of his or her profession of faith in Jesus Christ and as admission into a local community of faith. The contrasting belief, held in other Christian churches, is infant baptism, baptisms are performed in various ways, believers baptism by immersion or pouring and infant baptism by affusion, aspersion or immersion. Believers baptism is often referred to as adult baptism, even though children may be baptized so long as they are old enough to earnestly profess their faith. The oldest surviving manual of church discipline, the Didache, envisions the baptism of adults, in many instances, citizens of a nation were required under penalty of law to belong to the state church. Infant baptism marked the infant as a citizen of the nation, however, his mother, Monica, was a Christian. St. Augustine was baptized at the age of 30 by St. Ambrose, in addition, earlier patristical writings such as Didache and Tertullian prescribe baptismal candidates to fasting, prayer, confessions, etc. before being allowed to be baptized. Tertullian writes, Christians are made, not born, on the other hand, Tertullian acknowledges that infant baptism was a common practice in his day. Tertullian later in life became a Montanist and the views on post-baptismal sin which that sect took affected some of his writing. Several ecclesiastical histories seem to omit any discussion of infant baptism, Eusebius of Caesarea gives ample discussion of baptisms, but makes no reference to the baptism of infants. Instead, Eusebius discusses the positions, particularly during the time of Cyprian. Likewise, the history of Socrates Scholasticus mentions a handful of examples of baptisms. However, by time the practice of baptizing infants was common. Similarly, the history written by Evagrius Scholasticus also provides descriptions of baptisms. The book Martyrs Mirror documents the history of credobaptists through 1660, the early church witness is mixed with respect to an age of baptism, with some references to infants being baptized and others indicating that the spirit and body mature together. Beginining with Augustine, the Catholic Church solidified the practice of infant baptism, in the early 16th century, the Anabaptist movement began demanding that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen, thus rejecting the baptism of infants. This and other differences led both Catholics and Protestants to persecute the Anabaptists, executing them by fire or sword or drowning. These groups sprang up across Europe and later spread to Russia, in 1609, the Baptist movement applies this practice in all its churches
