Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) hymn, song of praise, devotion, or thanksgiving, especially of a religious character (see also cantata). Early Christian hymnody consisted mainly of the Psalms and the great canticles Nunc dimittis, M...

(Encyclopedia) Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

(Encyclopedia) New Testament, the distinctively Christian portion of the Bible, consisting of 27 books of varying lengths dating from the earliest Christian period. The seven epistles whose authorship by St. Paul is...

(Encyclopedia) sculpture, art of producing in three dimensions representations of natural or imagined forms. It includes sculpture in the round, which can be viewed from any direction, as well as incised relief, in ...

(Encyclopedia) Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917–63, 35th President of the United States (1961–63), b. Brookline, Mass.; son of Joseph P. Kennedy. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed while ...

(Encyclopedia) Neoplatonism nēˌōplāˈtənĭzəm [key], ancient mystical philosophy based on the doctrines of Plato. Neoplatonism was an early influence on Christian thinkers. The Christian apologists Clement...

(Encyclopedia) Prime Ministers of Great Britain 1 The modern party system did not evolve until the end of the 18th cent. ...

(Encyclopedia) philosophy [Gr.,=love of wisdom], study of the ultimate reality, causes, and principles underlying being and thinking. It has many aspects and different manifestations according to the problems involv...

(Encyclopedia) opera, drama set to music. In the early part of the 20th cent. the foremost operatic composer was Richard Strauss. Although influenced by Wagner, he composed operas with even richer and more stunnin...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Bahamas, the bəhäˈməz [key], officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, independent nation (2020 ...