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Grünewald, Mathias

(Encyclopedia)Grünewald, Mathias mätēˈäs grünˈəvält [key], c.1475–1528, German painter of religious subjects. His original name was Mathis Gothart Neithart. Although he assimilated various compositional ...

Capernaum

(Encyclopedia)Capernaum or Capharnaum kəpûrˈnēəm; kəfärˈnēəm [key], town, NE ancient Palestine, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee; in the Gospels, it is closely associated with Jesus' minist...

creed

(Encyclopedia)creed [Lat. credo=I believe], summary of basic doctrines of faith. The following are historically important Christian creeds. 1 The Nicene Creed, beginning, “I believe in one God the Father Almighty...

rosary

(Encyclopedia)rosary [rose garden], prayer of Roman Catholics, in which beads are used as counters. The term, applied also to the beads, is extended to Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist prayers that use beads. The tradit...

John the Baptist, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John the Baptist, Saint, d. c.a.d. 28–a.d. 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, th...

Familists

(Encyclopedia)Familists fămˈĭlĭsts [key], religious community founded in Friesland in the 16th cent. by Hendrik Niclaes. Niclaes, a merchant of Münster and originally a Roman Catholic, claimed to have been cho...

mandorla

(Encyclopedia)mandorla mänˈdôrlä [key], [Ital.,=almond], a medieval Christian artistic convention by which an oval or almond-shaped area or series of lines surrounds a deity, most commonly Jesus. The mandorla i...

Smoot, Reed

(Encyclopedia)Smoot, Reed smo͞ot [key], 1862–1941, U.S. senator (1903–33), b. Salt Lake City, Utah. He became successful as a banker and was prominent in the affairs of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter...

Clement XIV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement XIV, 1705–74, pope (1769–74), an Italian (b. near Rimini) named Lorenzo Ganganelli; successor of Clement XIII. He was prominent for many years in pontifical affairs at Rome, and he was cre...

Smith, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Joseph, 1805–44, American Mormon leader, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, b. Sharon, Vt. When he was a boy his family moved to Palmyra, N.Y., where he experienc...