1.
Apostles
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In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles, were the primary historical disciples of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the word disciple is sometimes used interchangeably with apostle, for instance, the Gospel of John makes no distinction between the two terms. In modern usage, prominent missionaries are often called apostles, a practice which stems from the Latin equivalent of apostle, i. e. missio, for example, Saint Patrick was the Apostle of Ireland, and Saint Boniface was the Apostle to the Germans. The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, after his resurrection, Jesus sent 11 of them by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. This event is called the Dispersion of the Apostles. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke of there having been as many as 70 apostles during the time of Jesus ministry. Prominent figures in early Christianity, notably Paul, were called apostles. The period of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the apostles is called the Apostolic Age, during the 1st century AD, the apostles established churches throughout the territories of the Roman Empire and, according to tradition, through the Middle East, Africa, and India. In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant, Paul did not restrict the term apostle to the Twelve, the restricted usage appears in the Revelation to John. By the 2nd century AD, association with the apostles was esteemed as an evidence of authority, Churches which are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees. Pauls epistles were accepted as scripture, and two of the four gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions, were attributed to the apostles, bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession, early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles, such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter, are referred to as the Apostolic Fathers. The Apostles Creed, popular in the West, was said to have composed by the apostles themselves. The word apostle comes from the Greek word ἀπόστολος, formed from the prefix ἀπό- and root στέλλω and originally meaning messenger and it has, however, a stronger sense than the word messenger, and is closer to a delegate. The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament argues that its Christian use translated a Jewish position known in Hebrew as the sheliach and this ecclesiastical meaning of the word was later translated into Latin as missio, the source of the English missionary. In the New Testament, the names of the majority of the apostles are Hebrew names, Mark 6, 7-13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs to towns in Galilee. The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and their carrying of just a staff is sometimes given as the reason for the use by Christian bishops of a staff of office in those denominations that believe they maintain an apostolic succession
2.
Bethsaida
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Bethsaida /ˌbɛθ. seɪˈiːdə/ is a place mentioned in the New Testament. A city east of the Jordan River, in a place possibly the site at which Jesus miraculously fed the multitude with five loaves. It lay near the place where the Jordan enters the Sea of Gennesaret and this city was most likely located at et-Tell, a ruined site on the east side of the Jordan on rising ground,2 km from the sea. This distance poses a problem, however, why would a fishing village be so far from the water. Dissenters suggest two other sites as locations for Bethsaida, el-Araj and el-Mesydiah. Schumacher was, however inclined to favor el-Mes‛adīyeh which stands on a mound about a mile. However, the name is in origin radically different from Bethsaida, the substitution of sin for cad is easy, but the insertion of the guttural ‛ain is impossible. No trace of the name Bethsaida has been found in the district, to this neighborhood Jesus retired by boat with His disciples to rest a while. The multitude following on foot along the shore of the lake would cross the Jordan by the ford at its mouth which is used by foot travelers to this day. The desert of the narrative is just the barrīyeh of the Arabs where the animals are out for pasture. The names of ancient places have been lost, and others have strayed from their original localities. As per the scholars, Bethsaida was never in Galilee, here dwelt Philip, Andrew, Peter, and perhaps also James and John. The house of Andrew and Peter seems to have been not far from the synagogue in Capernaum on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Unless they had moved their residence from Bethsaida to Capernaum, of which there is no record, and it may have been the fishing town adjoining the larger city. As in the case of the other Bethsaida, no name has been recovered to guide us to the site, nearby is the site at ‛Ain et-Ṭābigha, which many have identified with Bethsaida of Galilee. The warm water from copious springs runs into a bay of the sea in which fish congregate in great numbers. This has therefore always been a haunt of fishermen. If Capernaum were at Khān Minyeh, then the two lay close together, Bethsaida is described in Mark 8, 22-26 as a town where Jesus met a blind man seeking healing
3.
Galilee
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Al-Jalīl) is a region in northern Israel. The term Galilee traditionally refers to the part and divided into Upper Galilee. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of the country, the regions Israelite name is from the Hebrew root galil, an ultimately unique word for district, and usually circle. The Hebrew form used in Isaiah 8,23 is in the state, glil hagoyim, meaning Galilee of the Nations. The region in turn gave rise to the English name for the Sea of Galilee referred to as such in many languages including ancient Arabic and these are the three names used in originally internal Jewish-authored literature rather than the Sea of Galilee. However, Jews did use the Galilee to refer to the whole region, most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 m. Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, as a result of this climate, flora and wildlife thrive in the region, while many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. According to the Bible, Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the region of Naphthali and Dan. However, Dan was dispersed among the people rather than isolated to the lands of Dan, as the Tribe of Dan was the hereditary local law enforcement. Normally, Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali, hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to David, accepted the upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali and renamed it the land of Cabul for a time. After Judea became a Roman province in 6, C. E. Galilee briefly became a part of it, the Galilee region was presumably the home of Jesus during at least 30 years of his life. Much of the first three Gospels of the New Testament give an account of Jesus public ministry in this province, particularly in the towns of Nazareth, Galilee is also cited as the place where Jesus performed many public miracles, including curing a blind man. After the death of Jesus, some accounts suggest his disciples returned to Galilee, many are cited for their large number of students and followers throughout the Jewish people among the common people. According to the Talmud, one of the most important founders of the modern Jewish faith, simeon bar Yochai, one of the most famed of all the Tannaim, hid from the Romans in the Galilee, and dug tunnels there to hide. Many miracles are ascribed to him during his Galilean period after escaping Judea proper, in medieval Hebrew legend, he may have written the Zohar while there. Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until the seventh century, after the Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of Jund al-Urdunn. Its major towns were Tiberias, Baysan, Acre, Saffuriya, the Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 10th century, a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in Mount Lebanon and partially Galilee. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, the Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire
4.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
5.
Ephesus
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Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic, during the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC, the city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other buildings are the Library of Celsus. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation, the Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils, the city was destroyed by the Goths in 263, and although rebuilt, the citys importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD, the area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age, as was revealed by excavations at the nearby höyük of Arvalya and Cukurici. Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at Ayasuluk Hill, according to Hittite sources, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa was Apasa. Some scholars suggest that this is the later Greek Ephesus, in 1954, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi settled in Asia Minor during the 14th and 13th centuries BC, Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on the Ayasuluk Hill, three kilometers from the centre of ancient Ephesus. The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, according to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality. Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and he was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper and he died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League. Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and Herodotos and the poet Kallinos reassigned the citys mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons. The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus, Pausanias mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caystrus, before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains, about 650 BC, Ephesus was attacked by the Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. After the Cimmerians had been away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. Following a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a council and his signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple
6.
Canonization
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Originally, persons were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes were developed, such as used today in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The first persons honored as saints were the martyrs, pious legends of their deaths were considered affirmations of the truth of their faith in Christ. The Roman Rites Canon of the Mass contains only the names of martyrs, along with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, since 1962, that of St. Joseph her spouse. By the fourth century, however, confessors—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by word, examples of such people are Saint Hilarion and Saint Ephrem the Syrian in the East, and Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Hilary of Poitiers in the West. Their names were inserted in the diptychs, the lists of saints venerated in the liturgy. Since the witness of their lives was not as unequivocal as that of the martyrs and this process is often referred to as local canonization. This approval was required even for veneration of a reputed martyr, and Saint Cyprian recommended that the utmost diligence be observed in investigating the claims of those who were said to have died for the faith. Evidence was sought from the records of the trials or from people who had been present at the trials. Saint Augustine of Hippo tells of the procedure which was followed in his day for the recognition of a martyr, the bishop of the diocese in which the martyrdom took place set up a canonical process for conducting the inquiry with the utmost severity. Other churches still use the older practice, in the Catholic Church, canonization is a decree that allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite. For permission to venerate merely locally, only beatification is needed, only acceptance of the cultus by the Pope made the cultus universal, because he alone can rule the universal Catholic Church. In the Medieval West, the Apostolic See was asked to intervene in the question of canonizations so as to more authoritative decisions. Swibert by Pope Leo III in 804, thereafter, recourse to the judgment of the Pope was had more frequently. Pope Urban II, Pope Calixtus II, and Pope Eugene III conformed to this discipline, a decree of Pope Alexander III1170 gave the prerogative to the ope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned. However, the procedure initiated by the decretal of Pope Alexander III was confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent III issued on the occasion of the canonization of St. Cunegunda in 1200. The bull of Pope Innocent III resulted in increasingly elaborate inquiries to the Apostolic See concerning canonizations and he further regulated both of these acts by issuing his Decreta servanda in beatificatione et canonizatione Sanctorum on 12 March 1642. His work published from 1734-8 governed the proceedings until 1917, the article Beatification and canonization process in 1914 describes the procedures followed until the promulgation of the Codex of 1917
7.
Calendar of saints
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The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
8.
Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
9.
Anglicanism
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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
10.
Eastern Orthodox Church
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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
11.
Saint symbolism
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Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life, symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, the study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene and they are often carried in the hand by the Saint. Attributes often vary with time or geography, especially between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can also be recognised by a distinctive facial type – as can Christ. Some attributes are general, such as the palm frond carried by martyrs, the use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story. The following is a list of some of these attributes, a New Dictionary of Saints, East and West. Catholic Forum Patron Saints Index Saints Badges or Shields On the Canonizations of John Paul II
12.
Patron saint
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Catholics believe that patron saints, having already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges. Historically, a practice has also occurred in many Islamic lands. With regard to the omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote. Traditionally, it has been understood that the saint of a particular place prays for that places wellbeing and for the health. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active, professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession and it is, however, generally discouraged in some Protestant branches such as Calvinism, where the practice is considered a form of idolatry. In Islam, the veneration or commemoration and recognition of saints is found in many branches of traditional Sunnism
13.
Aramaic language
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Aramaic is a language or group of languages belonging to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic group, the Aramaic alphabet was widely adopted for other languages and is ancestral to the Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic alphabets. During its approximately 3000 years of history, Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires, therefore, there is not one singular, static Aramaic language, each time and place rather has had its own variation. The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered, Aram is used as a proper name of several people in the Torah including descendants of Shem, Nahor, and Jacob. Ancient Aram, bordering northern Israel and now called Syria, is considered the epicenter of Aramaic. The language is often considered to have originated within Assyria. Interestingly, the Christian New Testament, for which the constituent texts are written in Koine Greek. The Hellenized Jewish community of Alexandria instead translated Aramaic to the Syrian tongue, a related language, Mlahsô, has recently become extinct. Mandaeans living in the Khuzestan Province of Iran and scattered throughout Iraq and it is quite distinct from any other Aramaic variety. Central Neo-Aramaic consists of Turoyo and the recently extinct Mlahsô, very little remains of Western Aramaic. All these speakers of Modern Western Aramaic are fluent in Arabic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic and Samaritan Aramaic are preserved in liturgical and literary usage. Each dialect of Aramaic has its own pronunciation, and it would not be feasible here to go into all these properties. Aramaic has a palette of 25 to 40 distinct phonemes. The open vowel is an open near-front unrounded vowel and it usually has a back counterpart, and a front counterpart. There is much correspondence between these vowels between dialects, there is some evidence that Middle Babylonian dialects did not distinguish between the short a and short e. In West Syriac dialects, and possibly Middle Galilean, the long a became the o sound, the open e and back a are often indicated in writing by the use of the letters א alaph or ה he. The close front vowel is the long i and it has a slightly more open counterpart, the long e, as in the final vowel of café. Both of these have shorter counterparts, which tend to be pronounced more open
14.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
15.
Koine Greek
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It was based mainly on Attic and related Ionic speech forms, with various admixtures brought about through dialect levelling with other varieties. Koine Greek displayed a wide spectrum of different styles, ranging from more conservative literary forms to the vernaculars of the time. As the dominant language of the Byzantine Empire, it developed further into Medieval Greek, Koine Greek remained the court language of the Byzantine Empire until its dissolution in 1453, while Medieval and eventually Modern Greek were the everyday language. Literary Koine was the medium of much of post-classical Greek literary and scholarly writing, such as the works of Plutarch, Koine is also the language of the Christian New Testament, of the Septuagint, and of most early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers. In this context, Koine Greek is also known as Biblical, New Testament and it continues to be used as the liturgical language of services in the Greek Orthodox Church. The word koinē is the Greek word for common, and is understood as referring to the common dialect. The word is pronounced /kɔɪˈneɪ/, /ˈkɔɪneɪ/ or /kiːˈniː/ in US English, the pronunciation of the word in Koine gradually changed from Greek pronunciation, to Greek pronunciation. Its pronunciation in Modern Greek is, the term was applied in several different senses by ancient scholars. Others chose to refer to Koine as the Alexandrian dialect or the dialect of Alexandria, the former was often used by modern classicists. Koine Greek arose as a dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Under the leadership of Macedon, their newly formed common variety was spoken from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt to the Seleucid Empire of Mesopotamia and it replaced existing ancient Greek dialects with an everyday form that people anywhere could understand. The passage into the period, known as Medieval Greek. The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to the creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic, the linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic period, most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα. The view accepted by most scholars today was given by the Greek linguist Georgios Hatzidakis, who showed that, despite the composition of the Four, the stable nucleus of Koine Greek is Attic. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, the degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on the region of the Hellenistic World. The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it is mentioned as Common Attic. Koine Greek was therefore considered a form of Greek which was not worthy of attention
16.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
17.
Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
18.
New Testament
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The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
19.
Zebedee
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Zebedee /ˈzɛbᵻdiː/, according to all four Canonical gospels, was the father of James and John, two disciples of Jesus. The Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that the Salome of Mark 15,40 is probably identical with the mother of the sons of Zebedee in Matthew, Zebedee was presumably a fisherman, probably of some means. Although named several times in the gospels, the times he actually appears are in Matthew 4, 21-22 and Mark 1, 19-20. Mark noting that Zebedee was left with the men and Gospel of Luke 5,4 noting two boats imply the family had some wealth. Zebedee lived at or near Bethsaida, other popular interpretations of the name are, abundant or my gift. Mary Salome and Zebedee New Testament people named John John the Apostle
20.
Salome (disciple)
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Salome, was a follower of Jesus who appears briefly in the canonical gospels and in more detail in apocryphal writings. She is sometimes identified as the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, in Roman Catholic tradition Salome is counted as one of the Three Marys. Salome may be the Hellenized form of a Hebrew name, such as Shulamit, Shulamith and her name in Hebrew is שלומית and is derived from the root word שָׁלוֹם, meaning peace. The parallel passage of Matthew 27,56 reads thus, Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children. In John, three or perhaps four women are mentioned at the crucifixion, this time they are named as Jesus mother, and his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, a common interpretation identifies Salome as the sister of Jesus mother, thus making her Jesus aunt. Traditional interpretations associate Mary wife of Clophas with Mary the mother of James son of Alphaeus, in the Gospel of Mark, Salome is among the women who went to Jesus tomb to anoint his body with spices. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. They discovered that the stone had been rolled away, and a man in white then told them that Jesus is risen. In Matthew 28,1, two women are mentioned in the passage, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary – identified previously in Matthew 27,56 as Mary the mother of James and Joses. Clement quotes the passage in his letter, Then he came into Jericho, and the sister of the young man whom Jesus loved was there with his mother and Salome, but Jesus would not receive them. The lines complete a well-known lacuna in Mark as the text currently stands, in the early but non-canonical Greek Gospel of the Egyptians, Salome appears again as a disciple of Jesus. She asks him how long death would hold sway, and he says to her, So long as women bring forth, to this Salome replies, Then I have done well in not bringing forth. It would appear from this text that there was a tradition that Salome the disciple was childless. Jesus answers, I am he who is from the One, Salome replies, But I am your disciple, and Jesus answers, When the disciple is united he will be filled with light, but if he is divided he will be filled with darkness. A 2nd-century Greek, Celsus, wrote a True Discourse attacking the Christian sects as a threat to the Roman state and he described the variety of Christian sects at the time he was writing, c. And some Christians teach that the Son came from this higher god. Still others admit of a third god - those, that is to say, I could also mention those who call themselves Simonians after Simon, and those naming themselves Helenians after Helen, his consort. In the early Christian texts, there are other references to Salome
21.
James, son of Zebedee
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James, son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and traditionally considered the first apostle to be martyred. He was a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle and he is also called James the Greater or James the Great to distinguish him from James, son of Alphaeus and James the brother of Jesus. James the son of Zebedee is the saint of Spaniards. The son of Zebedee and Salome, James is styled the Greater thunder to distinguish him from the Apostle James the Less and he was the brother of John, the beloved disciple, and probably the elder of the two. His parents seem to have people of means. Zebedee, his father, was a fisherman of the Sea of Galilee, who lived in or near Bethsaida, present Galilee, Israel, perhaps in Capernaum. It is probable that his brother had not received the training of the rabbinical schools, in this sense they were unlearned. But, according to the rank of their parents, they must have been men of ordinary education. James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus, the Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him. James was one of three apostles whom Jesus selected to bear witness to his Transfiguration. James and John asked Jesus to grant them seats on his right, Jesus rebuked them, and the other ten apostles were annoyed with them. James and his brother wanted to call fire on a Samaritan town. The Acts of the Apostles records that Herod the king had James executed by sword and he is the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament. He is, thus, traditionally believed to be the first of the twelve apostles martyred for his faith, nixon suggests that this may have been caused by James fiery temper, for which he and his brother earned the nickname Boanerges or Sons of Thunder. F. F. Bruce contrasts this story to that of the Liberation of Saint Peter, the New Testament scholar Dennis MacDonald identifies Castor and Pollux as basis characters for the appearance of James and John in the narrative by Mark the Evangelist. The English name James comes from Italian Giacomo, a variant of Giacobo derived from Iacobus in Latin, itself from the Greek Ἰάκωβος Iakōbos, in French, Jacob evolves into Jacques. In eastern Spain, Iacobus became Jacome or Jaime, in Catalan language, Santiago is the local Galician or Spanish evolution of Vulgar Latin Sanctu Iacobu Saint James. Tiago is a popular deglutination native to Portuguese language, it crossed with old Diago to give Diego in Spanish and Diogo in Portuguese, for example, Miguel de Cervantes in his famous Don Quixote uses San Diego instead of Santiago
22.
Church Fathers
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The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are ancient and generally influential Christian theologians, some of whom were eminent teachers and great bishops. The era of these scholars who set the theological and scholarly foundations of Christianity largely ended by 700 AD, the earliest Church Fathers, are usually called the Apostolic Fathers since tradition describes them as having been taught by the twelve. Important Apostolic Fathers include Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna and his epistle,1 Clement, was copied and widely read in the Early Church. Clement calls on the Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order and it is the earliest Christian epistle aside from the New Testament. Ignatius of Antioch was the bishop or Patriarch of Antioch. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved, important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, the role of bishops, and the Incarnation of Christ. He is the second after Clement to mention Pauls epistles, Polycarp of Smyrna was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. It is recorded that he had been a disciple of John, the options for this John are John, the son of Zebedee, traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John, or John the Presbyter. Traditional advocates follow Eusebius in insisting that the connection of Polycarp was with John the Evangelist, and that he was the author of the Gospel of John. Polycarp tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to have the West celebrate Passover on 14 Nisan, around 155, the Smyrnans demanded Polycarps execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as an ancient man who was a hearer of John, Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch. In this office Papias was presumably succeeded by Abercius of Hierapolis, the name Papias was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about 95–120. Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the late Middle Ages, extracts, however, appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek Fathers. Justin Martyr is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century, Irenaeus was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyon, France. His writings were formative in the development of Christian theology. He was a notable early Christian apologist and he was also a disciple of Polycarp. His best-known book, Against Heresies enumerated heresies and attacked them, Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils
23.
John the Evangelist
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John the Evangelist is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, the Gospel of John refers to an otherwise unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved, who bore witness to and wrote the Gospels message. Christian tradition says that John the Evangelist was John the Apostle, the Apostle John was a historical figure, one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church after Jesus death. He was one of the twelve apostles and is thought to be the only one to have lived into old age. John is associated with the city of Ephesus, where he is said to have lived, some believe that he was exiled to the Aegean island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. However, this is a matter of debate, with some attributing the authorship of Revelation to another man, the authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century AD. The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, orthodox tradition attributes all the books to John the Apostle. In the 6th century, the Decretum Gelasianum argued that Second and Third John have an author known as John. Historical criticism rejects the view that John the Apostle authored any of these works, many modern scholars conclude that the apostle John wrote none of these works, although others, notably J. A. T. Robinson, F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, and Martin Hengel hold the apostle to be behind at least some, there may have been a single author for the gospel and the three epistles. Some scholars conclude the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel, the gospel and epistles traditionally and plausibly came from Ephesus, c. 90-110, although some argue for an origin in Syria. In the case of Revelation, many scholars agree that it was written by a separate author, John of Patmos. In the Tridentine Calendar he was commemorated also on each of the days up to and including 3 January. This Octave was abolished by Pope Pius XII in 1955, the traditional liturgical color is white. John the Evangelist is usually depicted as a young man, in Christian art, John is symbolically represented by an eagle, one of the creatures envisioned by Ezekiel and in the Revelation to John. The use of the chalice as a symbol for John is sometimes interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, another explanation is to be found in the words of Christ to John and James, My chalice indeed you shall drink. According to some authorities, this symbol was not adopted until the 13th century, the painting Saint John the Evangelist by Domenico Zampieri was auctioned in London in December 2009, for an estimated US$16.5 million
24.
John of Patmos
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John of Patmos is the name given to the author of the Book of Revelation, the apocalyptic text forming the final chapter of the New Testament. Traditionally, the writer of Revelation is widely considered to be John the Apostle, however, others identify the author as John the Elder and many modern scholars believe it was written by an otherwise unknown author, to whom they have given the name John of Patmos. The author of the Book of Revelation identifies himself only as John, traditionally, this was often believed to be the same person as John, son of Zebedee, one of the apostles of Jesus, to whom the Gospel of John was also attributed. The early 2nd century writer, Justin Martyr, was the first to equate the author of Revelation with John the Evangelist, the assumption that the apostle John was also author of the Book of Revelation is now widely rejected in modern critical scholarship. John is considered to be exiled to Patmos, undergoing a time of persecution under the Roman rule of Domitian. Revelation 1,9 states, I, John, both brother and companion in tribulation. was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God. Adela Yarbro Collins, a scholar at Yale Divinity School, writes. This tradition is credible because banishment was a punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and astrology, prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, three of the islands in the Sporades were places where political offenders were banished
25.
Disciple whom Jesus loved
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The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved or, in John 20,2, the disciple beloved of Jesus is used six times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. John 21,24 states that the Gospel of John is based on the testimony of this disciple. Since the end of the 1st century, the Beloved Disciple has been identified with John the Evangelist. Scholars have debated the authorship of Johannine literature since at least the third century, according to Stephen L. Harris, this view is rejected by modern scholars. Later at the crucifixion, Jesus tells his mother, Woman, here is your son, when Mary Magdalene discovers the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Beloved Disciple and Peter. The two men rush to the empty tomb and the Beloved Disciple is the first to reach the empty tomb, however, Peter is the first to enter. In John 21, the last chapter of the Gospel of John, also in the books final chapter, after Jesus implies the manner in which Peter will die, Peter sees the Beloved Disciple following them and asks, What about him. Jesus answers, If I want him to remain until I come, again in the gospels last chapter, it states that the very book itself is based on the written testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved. The other Gospels do not mention anyone in parallel circumstances who could be linked to the Beloved Disciple. For example, in Luke 24,12, Peter runs alone to the tomb, Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not mention any one of the twelve disciples having witnessed the crucifixion. There are also two references to an unnamed other disciple in John 1, 35-40 and John 18, 15-16, which may be to the same person based on the wording in John 20,2. The closing words of Johns Gospel state explicitly concerning the Beloved Disciple that It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. Eusebius writing in the 4th century recorded in his Church History a letter which he believed to have been written by Polycrates of Ephesus in the 2nd century. The assumption that the Beloved Disciple was one of the Twelve Apostles is that he was present at the Last Supper which Matthew. Thus the most frequent identification is with John the Apostle, who would then be the same as John the Evangelist, merril F. Unger presents a case for this by a process of elimination. Some scholars have suggested a homoerotic interpretation of Christs relationship with the Beloved Disciple. Tilborg suggests that the portrait in the Gospel of John is positively attuned to the development of homosexual behaviour. However, he cautions that in the code, such imaginary homosexual behaviour is not an expression of homosexuality
26.
Gospel of John
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The Gospel According to John is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament. It traditionally appears fourth, after the gospels of Matthew, Mark. John begins with the witness and affirmation of John the Baptist and concludes with the death, burial, resurrection, although the Gospel of John is anonymous, Christian tradition historically has attributed it to John the Apostle, son of Zebedee and one of Jesus Twelve Apostles. C. K. Barrett, and later Raymond E. Brown, suggested that a tradition developed around the Johannine Community, and that this tradition gave rise to the gospel. The discovery of a number of papyrus fragments of manuscripts with Johannine themes has led more scholars to recognize that the texts were among the most influential in the early Church. The discourses contained with this gospel seem to be concerned with issues of the debate at the time of composition. It is notable that in John, the community appears to define itself primarily in contrast to Judaism, though Christianity started as a movement within Judaism, it gradually separated from Judaism because of mutual opposition between the two religions. The Gospel of John can be divided into four sections, a prologue, a Book of Signs, a Book of Glory, the narrative of Jesus public ministry, beginning with the introduction of the first disciples of Jesus. It consists of seven miracles, or signs, interspersed with long dialogues, discourses, Amen, amen sayings, in John it is this, and not the cleansing of the Temple, that prompts the authorities to have Jesus executed. The narrative of Jesus Passion, Resurrection, and post-Resurrection appearances and this is followed by Jesus Farewell Discourse, an account of his betrayal, arrest, trial, death, burial, post-Resurrection appearances, and final commission for his followers. Jesus mocking and crowning with thorns, the Ecce homo, the discovery of the empty tomb, the noli me tangere, the Great Commission, and the incredulity of Thomas. The section ends with a conclusion on the purpose of the gospel, that may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, a large majority of scholars believes this chapter to be an addition to the gospel. The Gospel of John is anonymous, traditionally, Christians have identified the author as the Disciple whom Jesus loved mentioned in John 21,24, who is understood to be John son of Zebedee, one of Jesus Twelve Apostles. These identifications, however, are rejected by the majority of biblical scholars. Nevertheless, the author of the fourth Gospel is sometimes called John the Evangelist, a significant minority consider the traditional account of John the Apostles authorship to be genuine. In addition, the ancient external attestation for Johannine authorship is strong, John is usually dated to AD 90–110. It arose in a Jewish Christian community in the process of breaking from the Jewish synagogue, scholars believe that the text went through two to three redactions, or editions, before reaching its current form. John, which regularly describes Jesus opponents simply as the Jews, is more hostile to the Jews than any other body of New Testament writing
27.
Johannine epistles
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The Johannine epistles, the Epistles of John, or the Letters of John are three of the catholic epistles of the New Testament, thought to have been written AD 85–100. The author of letters is alternatively believed to be John of Patmos, John the Evangelist, John the Apostle. This Epistle is written as a letter from the Apostle to an unnamed elect lady whom he loves. Within the letter John warns about opening home to false teachers, the third epistle, also a short letter, is addressed to a man named Gaius and mentioned as a dear friend. It talks about a man named Diotrephes whom Gaius excommunicated from the church and had gone on to create an anti-missionary sentiment and it is believed that the letter was delivered by a third person, Demetrius
28.
First Epistle of John
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The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. It is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and this epistle was probably written in Ephesus in AD 95–110. The work was written to counter docetism, which is the belief that Jesus did not come in the flesh and it also defined how Christians are to discern true teachers, by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love. The main themes of the epistle are love and fellowship with God and it also distinguishes between the world and the children of God. The main themes of the epistle are discernible in the writers sectional organisation of his contents, there are four sections,1, 1–2,14,2, 15–3,10,3, 11–4,13,4, 14–5,20. The first, A, speaks of the witness, given and received, to God who is light, the second, B, is an exhortation to love not the world, with earthly motives, in earthly ways. The third, B, a balance to B, emphasizes love one another, the fourth, A, again begins with the witness, but this time it is to God who is love, life eternal is theirs who live a life of loving God. The key requirements of Ancient Rhetoric, Purpose and Structure are clearly evidenced in this letter, so too are the other requirements of Style and Memory. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and it was included in the King James Bible, something Isaac Newton commented on in An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture. This is sometimes used as evidence to counter the King-James-Only Movement, the majority of modern translations do not include this text, or include it as a footnote. The epistle is not written in the form as the other biblical epistles. The epistle is written in a style, without syntactical flourishes, and makes frequent use of asyndeton. In contrast to the style used in the Pauline epistles. In summary, the epistle may be said to exhibit a style which is marked by personal appeal, contrasts of right and wrong, true and false. Some scholars have proposed the idea that the epistle is really Johns commentary on a selection of traditional parallel couplets, the epistle is traditionally held to have been composed by John the Evangelist, at Ephesus, when the writer was in advanced age. The epistles content, language and conceptual style are similar to the Gospel of John,2 John. However, other scholars have challenged this position. There are at least two principal arguments for this view, the second is that the author of the epistle uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel
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Second Epistle of John
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The language of this epistle is remarkably similar to 3 John. It is therefore suggested by a few that a single author composed both of these letters, the traditional view contends that all the letters are by the hand of John the Apostle, and the linguistic structure, special vocabulary, and polemical issues all lend toward this theory. This establishes that, from the time the epistle was first written, there were those who had docetic Christologies, alternatively, the letters acknowledgment and rejection of gnostic theology may reveal a later date of authorship than orthodox Christianity claims. This can not be assured by a study of the context. Gnosticisms beginnings and its relationship to Christianity are poorly dated, due to an insufficient corpus of literature relating the first interactions between the two religions, adherents of gnosticism were most numerous during the second and third centuries. A late date of the composition, I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, and this is love, that we walk according to his commandments, this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, any person is the deceiver. Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God, whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching, for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person. Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, the children of your elect sister send you their greetings. The doctrines of Doceticm and Gnosticism had made inroads among the followers of Jesus in the half of the First Century. Some said that Jesus never assumed human flesh, but only had the appearance of flesh, others said that Christ was raised as a spirit only, and did not experience a bodily resurrection. In this epistle John condemns such doctrines in no uncertain terms with the statement that such persons were antichrist, the text is addressed to the elect lady and her children, and closes with the words, The children of thy elect sister greet thee. However, some prefer to transliterate the Greek word for lady with the proper name Kyria. The person addressed is commended for her piety, and is warned against false teachers, the lady has traditionally been seen as a metaphor for the church, the church being the body of believers as a whole and as local congregations. The children would be members of local congregation. He also includes a greeting from another church in the last verse, the term the elect was a fairly common term for those who believe in the gospel and follow Christ
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Third Epistle of John
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The purpose of the letter is to encourage and strengthen Gaius, and to warn him against Diotrephes, who refuses to cooperate with the author of the letter. Early church literature contains no mention of the epistle, with the first reference to it appearing in the middle of the third century. The language of 3 John echoes that of the Gospel of John, others contest this view, such as the scholar John A. T. Robinson, who dates 3 John to c. The location of writing is unknown, but tradition places it in Ephesus, the epistle is found in many of the oldest New Testament manuscripts, and its text is free of major discrepancies or textual variants. Third John is the shortest book of the Bible by word count and it is the only New Testament book which does not contain the names Jesus or Christ. The letter is written to a man named Gaius, the Elder may have converted Gaius, since he calls Gaius his child in the faith. The Apostolic Constitutions VII.46.9 records that Gaius was made bishop of Pergamon, the name Gaius occurs three other times in the New Testament. First, a Christian Gaius is mentioned in Macedonia as a companion of Paul. One chapter later, a Gaius from Derbe is named as one of Pauls seven traveling companions who waited for him at Troas. Next, a Gaius is mentioned residing in Corinth as being one of only a few there who were baptised by Paul. Lastly, a Gaius is referred to in a final greeting portion of the Epistle to the Romans as Pauls host and also host of the whole church, however, there is no reason to suppose that any of these men were the Gaius of 3 John. The Elder continues the letter by commending Gaius for his loyalty, the brothers are brothers in the faith or missionaries, who in accordance with Jesus command in Mark 6, 8–9 have set out on a journey without any money. The Elder then goes on to request that Gaius provide for the brothers to continue their journey, the Elder next describes his conflict with Diotrephes, who does not acknowledge the Elders authority and is excommunicating those, like Gaius, who welcome missionaries sent by the Elder. The Elder mentions a letter which he has written to the church which was suppressed by Diotrephes. The church is known to Gaius, but he is likely not a member of it. The dispute between Diotrephes and the Elder seems to be based on leadership and authority rather than doctrine. John Painter, however, argues the Elder is in referring to 2 John. The Elder closes this section with an entreaty to Gaius, Beloved, do not imitate evil, whoever does good is from God, whoever does evil has not seen God
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Book of Revelation
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Its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek, apokalypsis, meaning unveiling or revelation. The Book of Revelation is the apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon. The author names himself in the text as John, but his identity remains a point of academic debate. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, and many consider that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet, Some modern scholars characterise Revelations author as a putative figure whom they call John of Patmos. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the emperor Domitian, the book spans three literary genres, the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean and he then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. The title is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek, ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, the author names himself as John, but it is currently considered unlikely that the author of Revelation was also the author of the Gospel of John. All that is known is that this John was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets and his precise identity remains unknown, and modern scholarship commonly refers to him as John of Patmos. 70 AD is the date of writing according to Martha Himmelfarb in the recently published Blackwell series. Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, Apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries, John is to write down what is revealed and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the letter—the letters to the seven churches are introductions to the rest of the book. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author himself as a Christian prophet, Revelation uses the word in various forms twenty-one times. The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, almost every verse alludes to or echoes older scriptures. Over half of the stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms. He very frequently combines multiple references, and again the style makes it impossible to be certain to what extent he did so consciously. Revelation was the last book accepted into the Christian biblical canon and it was considered tainted because the heretical sect of the Montanists relied on it and doubts were raised over its Jewishness and authorship. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, disciple of Origen wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer and he regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle
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Events of Revelation
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The events of Revelation are the events that occur in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. An outline follows below, by Chapter, in linear format, the Revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated, through an angel, to John the Apostle when he was on the island of Patmos. John records the vision, in written text, and is instructed to send the document to the seven churches of Asia. John addresses the church of Ephesus to repent from the ways of the Nicolaitans, John addresses the church of Smyrna to warn them of ten days of tribulation that may cost them their lives or imprisonment. John addresses the church of Pergamum to repent from the doctrines of Balaam, John addresses the church of Thyatira to repent from the teachings of the prophetess Jezebel. John addresses the church of Sardis for being dead or unaware of things to come, John addresses the church of Philadelphia to persevere with what little strength they have, to hold fast so that no one takes their crown. John addresses the church of Laodicea to repent from investing in material riches that make them miserable, rather, the heavenly throne with a rainbow around it, having the One seated in it, is revealed. Twenty-four surrounding thrones seated with twenty-four crowned elders appear, the four living creatures present themselves, each having six wings full of eyes, one having the face of a lion, another as a calf, the third as a man, and the last as an eagle. The first vision that the experiences is that of entering Heaven. In Revelation, God is described as having the appearance like that of jasper, around Gods throne are twenty four other thrones, on which sit elders in white robes. From the throne come thunder and lightning and, in front of the throne, the author sees seven torches, the author then sees four creatures which have six wings and are covered in eyes. The creatures are giving eternal thanks to God and, whenever one of them bows down to worship God, a book secured by seven seals is revealed in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. It is made known only the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah is worthy to open this book. The Lamb, with seven horns and seven eyes, takes the book from Him who sits on the throne, all heavenly beings sing praise and honor the Lamb. The first seal is broken and the first of the four living creatures introduces a white horse whose crowned rider, equipped with a bow, the second seal is broken and the second of the four living creatures introduces a red horse, whose rider wields a great sword. The third seal is broken and the third of the four living creatures introduces a black horse, whose rider carries a pair of scales, goes out. The fourth seal is broken and the fourth of the four living creatures introduces an ashen horse comes out, whose rider has the name Death, the fifth seal is broken revealing the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God. Mankind hides themselves in the caves and mountains acknowledging the presence of Him who sits on the throne, the servants of God are revealed, those who are to be sealed before the destruction of the Earth
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Authorship of the Johannine works
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The authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century AD. The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, there may have been a single author for the gospel and the three epistles. Orthodox tradition attributes all the books to John the Apostle, however, in the 6th century, the Decretum Gelasianum argued that Second and Third John have a separate author known as John, a priest. 90-110, but perhaps, according to scholars, from Syria. Some scholars, however, argue that the apostle John wrote none of these works, although others, Robinson, F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, and Martin Hengel hold the apostle to be behind at least some, in particular the gospel. In the case of Revelation, many scholars agree that it was written by a separate author, John of Patmos. While evidence regarding the author is slight, some believe this gospel developed from a school or Johannine circle working at the end of the 1st century. Some 19th-century scholars, however, agreed with the traditional authorship view, in favor of the historical and eyewitness character of the Gospel, a few passages are cited. Fredriksen sees the Fourth Gospels unique explanation for Jesus arrest and crucifixion as the most historically plausible, The priests motivation is clear and commonsensical, the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation. Caiaphas continues, It is expedient that one man should die for the people and these three epistles are similar in terminology, style, and general situation. They are loosely associated with the Gospel of John and may result from that gospels theology and these epistles are commonly accepted as deriving from the Johannine community in Asia Minor. Early references to the epistles, the organization of the church apparent in the text, and the lack of reference to persecution suggests that they were written early in the 2nd century. The phraseology of the first letter of John is very similar to that of the fourth gospel, so the question of its authorship is often connected to the question of authorship of the gospel. The two works use many of the characteristic words and phrases, such as light, darkness, life, truth. In both works, the basic concepts are explored, the Word, the incarnation, the passing from death to life. The two works also bear many stylistic affinities to one another, given the similarity with the Gospel, the great majority of critical scholars assign the same authorship to the epistle that they assign to the Gospel. Starting with Heinrich Julius Holtzmann, however, and continuing with C. H. Dodd, some scholars have maintained that the epistle, there are at least two principal arguments for this view. The second is that the author of the epistle, uses the sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel
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Acts of John
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The Acts of John is a collection of narratives and traditions ascribed to John the Apostle, who was the author of the Gospel of John. It is long known in fragmentary form, together with the Acts of Paul it is considered one of the most significant of the apostolic Acts in the New Testament apocrypha. It was condemned as a Gnostic heresy by the Church, the traditional author was said to be one Leucius Charinus, a companion of John, who was associated with several 2nd century Acts. Conventionally, the Acts of John was ascribed to Prochorus, one of the Seven Deacons discussed in Acts of the Apostles and it is difficult to know when the Acts of John was composed, but many scholars locate it to the second half of the second century. It may have originated as a Christianized wonder tale, designed for an urban Hellenic audience accustomed to things as having ones portrait painted. The Acts of John was eventually rejected by the church for its docetic overtones. However, although the Acts of John was condemned as heretical, the surviving Latin fragments, by contrast, seem to have been purged of unorthodox content, according to their translator M. R. James, the Latin fragments contain episodes now missing in the Greek. The Stichometry of Nicephorus gives its length as 2500 lines, an on-line translation presents the confrontation of John and Domitian during Domitians persecution of Christians, described as instigated by a letter of complaint from the Jews. Specifically, the account narrates two journeys of John, son of Zebedee, to Ephesus, filled with events, miracles. Lycomedes recounts a vision he received from the God of John, telling him that a man from Miletus was coming to heal his wife, Cleopatra, who had died seven days before from illness. Upon arrival, Lycomedes curses his situation and, despite Johns pleas to have faith that his wife will be back to life by the power of God. The entire city of Ephesus is stirred by his death and comes to his house to see his body, John then asks Christ to raise the two of them from the dead in order to prove Christs own might, quoting Matthew 7,7 in his request. Both Cleopatra and Lycomedes are resurrected, leaving the people of Ephesus in awe of the miracle that was performed before them. Later, during a festival celebrating the birthday of the Greek goddess Artemis, John rebukes them, threatening to have his God kill them if they are unable to convince their goddess to make him die on the spot with her divine power. Knowing that John has performed many miracles in their city, the people at the temple beg John not to destroy them, upon seeing this destruction, the people immediately see the error of their ways and acknowledge the God of John as the only true God. In a more comical account mentioned in the narrative, John, the author, and their companions stay overnight at an inn plagued with a bedbug infestation. The next morning, the author, joined by two of his companions, Verus and Andronicus, awakes to find the bugs gathered in the doorway. The three men wake John, who allows the creatures to return to the bed because of their obedience to the will of God, immediately following Johns encounter with the bedbugs, the traveling party journeys to the house of Andronicus in Ephesus in section 62
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Signs Gospel
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The Signs Gospel or the semeia source is a hypothetical gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ which some scholars have suggested could have been a primary source document for the Gospel of John. This theory has its basis in source criticism, since the commentary of Rudolf Bultmann was published in 1941, the hypothesis of a semeia source has gained some acceptance. One possible construction of the internal states that the Beloved Disciple wrote an account of the life of Jesus. However, this disciple died unexpectedly, necessitating that a revised gospel be written, in other words, it may be that John “is the source of the Johannine tradition but not the final writer of the tradition. The hypothesis of the Gospel of John being composed in layers over a period of time originated in the work of Rudolf Bultmann in 1941, Bultmann suggested that the author of John depended in part on an author who wrote an earlier account. This hypothetical Signs Gospel listing Christs miracles was independent of, and not used by and it was believed to have been circulating before the year 70 AD. Bultmanns conclusion was so controversial that heresy proceedings were instituted against him, nevertheless, this hypothesis has not disappeared. Scholars such as Raymond E. Brown believe that the author of the Signs Gospel to be the Beloved Disciple. They argue that the disciple who formed this community was both a person and a companion of Jesus Christ. Brown also suggests that the Beloved Disciple had been a follower of John the Baptist before joining Jesus and it is now widely agreed that the Gospel of John draws upon a tradition of Miracles of Jesus which is substantially independent of the three synoptic gospels. The Jesus Seminar has detected at least two distinct writing styles contained in the Gospel of John, the later style contains midrash and theological essays placed in the mouth of Jesus. The other - earlier - style is the original Signs Gospel and it is simple, direct and historical in style and can be reconstructed as follows, Text of the Signs Gospel
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Logos (Christianity)
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In Christology, the Logos is a name or title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent second person of the Trinity. It has been important for establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus and his being God the Son by Trinitarian theologians as set forth in the Chalcedonian Definition. The concept derives from the prologue to the Gospel of John, which is translated into English as, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. In the translations, Word is used for Λόγος, although the term is often used transliterated but untranslated in theological discourse. Christian theologians often consider John 1,1 to be a text in their belief that Jesus is God, in connection with the idea that the Father, the Son. Though only in verse and the fourteenth verse of the prologue is Jesus referred to as the Word. Theologian N. T. Wright characterizes Word as being incomprehensible in human language and he claims that through belief the Logos will transform people with its judgment and mercy. According to Wright, Johns view of the Incarnation, of the Word becoming flesh, theologian Stephen L. Harris claims the author of John adapted Philos concept of the Logos, identifying Jesus as an incarnation of the divine Logos that formed the universe. To the rabbis who spoke of the Torah as preexistent, as Gods instrument in creation, to the Gnostics who would deny a real incarnation, Johns answer was most emphatic, the Word became flesh. To those who stopped with John the Baptist, he made it clear that John was not the Light, although the term Logos is not retained as a title beyond the prologue, the whole book of John presses these basic claims. As the Logos, Jesus Christ is God in self-revelation and redemption and he is God to the extent that he can be present to man and knowable to man. The Logos is God, as Thomas stated, My Lord, yet the Logos is in some sense distinguishable from God, for the Logos was with God. God and the Logos are not two beings, and yet they are not simply identical. In contrast to the Logos, God can be conceived apart from his revelatory action─although we must not forget that the Bible speaks of God only in his revelatory action. The paradox that the Logos is God and yet it is in some sense distinguishable from God is maintained in the body of the Gospel. That God as he acts and as he is revealed does not exhaust God as he is, is reflected in sayings attributed to Jesus, I and the Father are one and also, the Logos is God active in creation, revelation, and redemption. Jesus Christ not only gives Gods Word to us humans, he is the Word and he is the true word─ultimate reality revealed in a Person. The Logos is God, distinguishable in thought yet not separable in fact and this was decreed at the First Council of Constantinople
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Holy Spirit in Johannine literature
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Three separate terms, namely Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth and Paraclete are used in Johannine literature. The Spirit of Truth is used in John 14,17,15,26 and 16,13, the First Epistle of John then contrasts this with the spirit of error in 1 John 4,6. 1 John 4, 1-6 provides the separation between spirits that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and those who in error refuse it - an indication of their being evil spirits. In John 14,26 Jesus states, But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the identity of the Comforter has been the subject of debate among theologians, who have proposed multiple theories on the matter. Paraclete considered as the Spirit of Truth is used three times in the Gospel of John, in 14, 15-17,14,26 and 15, 26-27, where it is viewed as the Spirit which communicates Truth
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John's vision of the Son of Man
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Johns vision of the Son of Man is described in the scriptural Revelation 1, 9-20. John sees a vision of the risen, ascended and glorified Jesus Christ, Jesus is portrayed in this vision as having a robe with a golden sash, white hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze and a voice like rushing waters. He holds seven stars in his hand and has a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. John, the author of Revelation, was exiled to the island of Patmos and he says that on the Lords Day he was in the Spirit, and heard a loud voice like a trumpet. When he turned around, he saw this Son of Man figure, in 1,18, the figure whom John sees identifies himself as the First and the Last, who was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever — a reference to Jesus resurrection. Some of the used in Revelation 1 is also used in Revelation 19 to describe the Rider on the White Horse. In both places he has a coming out of his mouth and has eyes like blazing fire. The Son of Man in this passage is portrayed as walking among seven lampstands, chapters 2 and 3 report letters written to the seven churches by John as it was revealed to him by the Son of Man. William Hendriksen suggests that the whole of the vision is symbolical of Christ, the Holy One, coming to purge His churches, One aspect of the vision is the portrayal of Jesus holding seven stars in his right hand. Such a motif is found on coins of the emperor Domitian. Sometime between 77 and 81, Domitians infant son died and he was subsequently deified, and is portrayed on coins of Domitian, with seven stars. Austin Farrer, on the hand, takes them to be the seven classical planets. Although Domitians son cannot be said to be holding the stars, frederick Murphy notes that Revelations image of Jesus with seven stars in his hand may be an allusion to that coin and an implicit critique of it. It is not the Roman imperial family that has cosmic significance, John tells us in Revelation 1,20 that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches In commenting on this verse, C. I. Scofield states, The natural explanation of the messengers is that they were men sent by the seven churches to ascertain the state of the aged apostle, but they figure any who bear Gods messages to a church. In the New Testament, the Greek word for angels is not only used for heavenly angels, merrill Unger is of the opinion that human messengers is the meaning of the stars. Chronology of Revelation Resurrection appearances of Jesus
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New Testament people named John
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The name John is prominent in the New Testament and occurs numerous times. Among Palestinian Jews of this period, the name was one of the most popular, thus, it has long been debated which Johns are to be identified with which. Simon Peter is at times called “Simon, son of John”, the latter appears to be untranslated Aramaic, with bar meaning “son of” and Iona being Jonah, or according to Bauckham, Jôhana‘, an Aramaized form of John. John the Baptist, son of Zechariah, figures prominently in the beginning of each of the four Gospels, the Synoptic Gospels distinguish him as “the Baptist”, but the Gospel of John omits this epithet, as no other John is therein mentioned by name. John the Baptist was beheaded during the ministry of Jesus, so in most cases he is distinguished from other Johns. Ford proposes that Revelation originated as prophecy of John the Baptist, expanded by his followers to produce the book in its current form, John, son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Apostles, along with his brother James. This John is mentioned frequently in the Synoptic Gospels, but always in company with his brother James or with Peter or often with both, but after the execution of his brother James in 44, this John is never again mentioned. There are many indications that James and John were killed together. Indeed, Papias records that James and John “were killed by the Jews”, nevertheless, many ancient sources and many modern scholars identify John the Apostle as the author of some or all of the Johannine books, thereby claiming apostolic authority for them. Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, Polycrates of Ephesus writes that John the Evangelist “was a priest, wearing the petalon”—i. e. specifically that he had served as High Priest. In this, he seems to identify the Evangelist with this high-priestly John mentioned in Acts, “John, called Mark” is mentioned several times in Acts. Such use of one Semitic name and another Greek name was a practice among Jews of the time. He is usually identified with the Mark mentioned in various epistles and this John is occasionally proposed as author of some of the Johannine works as well. Tarazi even goes so far as to attribute to him the Gospels of both Mark and John and all the other Johannine books. Since antiquity, many have considered the entire Johannine corpus to be the work of an author, a certain John of Ephesus. On the other hand, this identification and the authorship of works have also been disputed since antiquity. Thus, the authors of the Johannine works are conventionally called more explicitly—without prejudice to the issues of actual authorship. The author of the Gospel is termed John the Evangelist, in the Gospel, the name John occurs exclusively in reference to John the Baptist, and without that epithet, though “the sons of Zebedee” are also mentioned once
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Crucifixion of Jesus
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The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st century Judea, most probably between the years 30 and 33 AD. According to the gospels, Jesus, the Christ, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with gall to drink and he was then hung between two convicted thieves and according to Marks Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating Jesus of Nazareth and they then divided his garments among them, but cast lots for his seamless robe. After Jesus death they pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, the Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as the Passion, Jesus suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation. The baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be two historically certain facts about Jesus, bart Ehrman states that the crucifixion of Jesus on the orders of Pontius Pilate is the most certain element about him. John Dominic Crossan states that the crucifixion of Jesus is as certain as any historical fact can be, eddy and Boyd state that it is now firmly established that there is non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Craig Blomberg states that most scholars in the third quest for the historical Jesus consider the crucifixion indisputable. Christopher M. Tuckett states that, although the reasons for the death of Jesus are hard to determine, one of the indisputable facts about him is that he was crucified. While scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason, geza Vermes also views the crucifixion as a historical event but provides his own explanation and background for it. John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that, based on the criterion of embarrassment, Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader. Meier states that a number of criteria, e. g. the criterion of multiple attestation. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about 70 AD, the analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s. The earliest detailed accounts of the death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels, there are other, more implicit references in the New Testament epistles. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate episodes, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and accounts of resurrection. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that Gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, after being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the King of the Jews, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, beaten and spat on
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Stabat Mater (art)
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For the Roman Catholic poetry sequence please see Stabat Mater. Stabat Mater is a feature in the Crucifixion of Jesus in art in which the Virgin Mary is depicted under the cross during the Crucifixion of Christ. In these depictions, the Virgin Mary is almost always standing to the hand side of the body of her son Jesus on the Cross. It contrasts with the swoon of the Virgin, where she is seen fainting and this is only seen from the late medieval period onwards. Stabat Mater is one of the three common artistic representations of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, the two being Mater Dolorosa and Pietà. The depictions generally reflect the first three lines of the Stabat Mater poem, At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, the concept is also present in other designs, e. g. the Miraculous Medal and the more general Marian Cross. The Miraculous Medal by Saint Catherine Labouré in the 19th century includes a letter M and our Lady of Sorrows Pietà Marian art in the Catholic Church
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Pietro Perugino
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Pietro Perugino, born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil, Pietro Perugino was born Pietro Vannucci in Città della Pieve, Umbria, the son of Cristoforo Marie Vannucci. Pietros nickname characterizes him as from Perugia, the city of Umbria. Scholars continue to dispute the status of the Vannucci family. While certain academics maintain that Vannucci worked his way out of poverty and his exact date of birth is not known, although, based on his age at the death mentioned by Vasari and Giovanni Santi, he is suspected to be born between 1446 and 1452. Pietro most likely began studying painting in local workshops in Perugia such as those of Bartolomeo Caporali or Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, the date of this first Florentine sojourn is unknown, some make it as early as 1466/1470, others push the date to 1479. According to Vasari, he apprenticed in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio alongside Leonardo da Vinci, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo di Credi, Filippino Lippi, piero della Francesca is thought to have taught him perspective form. In 1472 he must have completed his apprenticeship, for he was enrolled as a master in the Confraternity of St Luke, Pietro, although very talented was not extremely enthusiastic about his work. Perugino was one of the earliest Italian practitioners of oil painting, a good specimen of his early style in tempera is the tondo in the Musée du Louvre of the Virgin and Child Enthroned between Saints. Perugino returned from Florence to Perugia, where his Florentine training showed in the Adoration of the Magi for the church of Santa Maria dei Servi of Perugia, in about 1480, he was called to Rome by Sixtus IV to paint fresco panels for the Sistine Chapel walls. The frescoes he executed there included Moses and Zipporah, the Baptism of Christ, pinturicchio accompanied Perugino to Rome, and was made his partner, receiving a third of the profits. He may have some of the Zipporah subject. The Sistine frescoes were the major high Renaissance commission in Rome, the altar wall was also painted with the Assumption, the Nativity, and Moses in the Bulrushes. He had a studio in Florence, and received a great number of commissions. His Pietà in the Uffizi is an uncharacteristically stark work that avoids Peruginos sometimes too easy sentimental piety, in 1499 the guild of the cambio of Perugia asked him to decorate their audience-hall, the Sala delle Udienze del Collegio del Cambio. The humanist Francesco Maturanzio acted as his consultant, on the mid-pilaster of the hall Perugino placed his own portrait in bust-form. It is probable that Raphael, who in boyhood, towards 1496, had been placed by his uncles under the tuition of Perugino, Perugino was made one of the priors of Perugia in 1501. On one occasion Michelangelo told Perugino to his face that he was a bungler in art, Vannucci brought an action for defamation of character, unsuccessfully
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Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
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