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pontifex maximus

(Encyclopedia)pontifex maximus pŏnˈtĭfĕks măkˈsĭməs [key], highest priest of Roman religion and official head of the college of pontifices. As the chief administrator of religious affairs he regulated the c...

miracle

(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...

Tatian

(Encyclopedia)Tatian tāˈshən [key], 2d cent., Christian apologist. Probably born in Syria, he was a pupil of Justin Martyr. After his master's death, he left Christianity, becoming an Encratitic Gnostic—i.e., ...

Aksum

(Encyclopedia)Aksum or Axum both: äkso͞omˈ [key], town , Tigray region, N Ethiopia. Aksum was the capital of an empire (c.1st–8th cent. a.d.) that controlled much of what is now N ...

Harnack, Adolf von

(Encyclopedia)Harnack, Adolf von äˈdôlf fən härˈnäk [key], 1851–1930, German theologian and church historian. He was professor of church history successively in the universities of Leipzig, Giessen, Marbur...

priest

(Encyclopedia)priest, in Christianity: see orders, holy. ...

Edmund, Saint, d. 869, king of East Anglia

(Encyclopedia)Edmund, Saint, d. 869, king of East Anglia (855–869). He was supposedly martyred by the invading Danes for his adherence to Christianity. His shrine was at Bury St. Edmunds. Feast: Nov. 20. ...

Junia

(Encyclopedia)Junia jo͞oˈnēə [key], in the New Testament, man or woman early converted to Christianity. ...

Niebuhr, Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Reinhold rīnˈhōld nēˈbo͝or [key], 1892–1971, American religious and social thinker, b. Wright City, Mo. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he served (1915–28) as pastor of Bethel E...

Duran

(Encyclopedia)Duran, Durand düräNtˈ [key], Jewish family of scholars. Profiat Isaac ben Moshe ha-Levi Duran, 1350–1414, called Efodi, was born probably in Perpignan, France, but he moved to Catalonia. In 1391...