Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cerinthus sĭrĭnˈthəs [key], fl. c.a.d. 100?, Jewish-Christian religious leader, b. Ephesus. He held tenets influenced by Gnosticism and similar to those of the Ebionites. He taught that the Christ...

(Encyclopedia) Eucharist yo͞oˈkərĭst [key] [Gr.,=thanksgiving], Christian sacrament that repeats the action of Jesus at his last supper with his disciples, when he gave them bread, saying, “This is my body,”...

(Encyclopedia) Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the tremblin...

(Encyclopedia) Piero della Francesca pyĕˈrō dĕlˈlä fränchāsˈkä [key], c.1420–1492, major Italian Renaissance painter, b. Borgo San Sepolcro (modern Sansepolcro). All his masterpieces were created in town...

(Encyclopedia) Gaddi gädˈdē [key], celebrated family of Florentine artists. Gaddo Gaddi, c.1260–c.1333, painter and mosaicist, is said by Vasari to have been associated with Cimabue and Giotto. Among the mosaic...

(Encyclopedia) Cambridge, University of, at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th cent. (legend places its origin even earlier than that of t...

(Encyclopedia) John, Gospel according to Saint, fourth book of the New Testament. This account of Jesus' life is clearly set off from the other three Gospels (see Synoptic Gospels), although it is probable that John...

(Encyclopedia) Baruch, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible and placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version. It is named for a Jewish prince Baruch (fl. 600 b.c.),...

(Encyclopedia) Episcopal Church, Anglican church of the United States. Its separate existence as an American ecclesiastical body with its own episcopate began in 1789. During the American Revolution the personal l...