Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) miracle, preternatural occurrence that is viewed as the expression of a divine will. Its awe and wonder lie in the fact that the cause is hidden. The idea of the miracle occurs especially with the evo...

(Encyclopedia) South India, Church of, Indian Protestant church, formed in 1947 by the merger of Anglican dioceses in India, Myanmar, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); the Methodist Church of South India; and the South India ...

(Encyclopedia) Bar-jesus ĕlˈĭmăs [key], in the New Testament, Jewish sorcerer at Paphos who tried to divert a prospective Christian convert and was cursed with blindness. ...

(Encyclopedia) Garofalo, Il ēl gärôˈfälō [key], 1481–1559, Italian painter of the Ferrarese school, whose real name was Benvenuto Tisi or Tisio. Influenced by Raphael, he painted in a competent though unorig...

(Encyclopedia) John, three letters of the New Testament. Traditionally, they are ascribed to John son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. All three letters probably date to the end of the 1st cent. a.d., and may have...

(Encyclopedia) Corpus Christi [Lat.,=body of Christ], feast of the Western Church, observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (or on the following Sunday). The feast, which celebrates the founding of the sacramen...

(Encyclopedia) Fools, Feast of, burlesque religious festival of the Middle Ages. It occurred during the Christmas and New Year's revels, on or near New Year's Day. In many places a Lord of Misrule ruled over the rev...

(Encyclopedia) Fathers of the Church, collective name for the Christian writers of early times whose work is considered generally orthodox. A convenient definition includes all such writers up to and including St. G...

(Encyclopedia) indulgence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants indulgences out of th...

(Encyclopedia) Joseph of Arimathea, Saint ârˌĭməthēˈə [key], in the New Testament, wealthy man, probably a member of the Sanhedrin, who gave the body of Jesus a decent burial. The Christian Church has always ...