(Encyclopedia) Maundy ThursdayMaundy Thursdaymônˈdē [key] [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary…
(Encyclopedia) AgapemoneAgapemoneăgəpĕmˈənē [key] [Gr.,=abode of love], English religious community of men and women, holding all goods in common. It was founded (c.1850) at the village of Spaxton,…
(Encyclopedia) Agnus DeiAgnus Deiăgˈnəs dēˈī, änˈy&oobreve;s dāˈē [key] [Lat.], the Lamb of God, i.e., Jesus. The lamb of the Passover sacrifice is said to prefigure the crucifixion. Isaiah calls…
(Encyclopedia) Joanna, in the New Testament. 1 Wife of Herod's steward Chuza. She was a follower of Jesus and was one who found the tomb empty. 2 Ancestor of St. Joseph.
(Encyclopedia) CalvaryCalvarykălˈvərē [key] [Lat.,=a skull] or GolgothaGolgothagŏlˈgəthə [key] [Heb.,=a skull], in the Gospels, place where Jesus was crucified, outside what was then the wall of…
(Encyclopedia) Martha, in the New Testament, friend of Jesus, sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. In Christian literature, Martha has been a symbol of the active, as opposed to the contemplative,…
(Encyclopedia) atonement, the reconciliation, or “at-one-ment,” of sinful humanity with God. In Judaism both the Bible and rabbinical thought reflect the belief that God's chosen people must be pure…
(Encyclopedia) acrostic acrostic əkrŏˈstĭk [key], arrangement of words or lines in which a series of initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken together,…
(Encyclopedia) MuhammadMuhammadməhămˈəd [key] [Arab.,=praised], 570?–632, the name of the Prophet of Islam, one of the great figures of history, b. Mecca.
The traditions concerning Muhammad's…
