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Moorish art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Moorish art and architecture, branch of Islamic art and architecture developed in the westernmost lands of the Muslims, known as the Maghreb: N Africa and Spain. The Great Mosque at Al Qayrawan in Tun...

church, building for Christian worship

(Encyclopedia)church [Gr. kuriakon=belonging to the Lord], in architecture, a building for Christian worship. The earliest churches date from the late 3d cent.; before then Christians, because of persecutions, wors...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

catacombs

(Encyclopedia)catacombs katˈəkōmz [key], cemeteries of the early Christians and contemporary Jews, arranged in extensive subterranean vaults and galleries. Besides serving as places of burial, the catacombs were...

Artemis

(Encyclopedia)Artemis ärˈtəmĭs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian goddess, daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo. Artemis' early worship, especially at Ephesus, identified her as an ...

Ignatius of Antioch, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ignatius of Antioch, Saint ĭgnāˈshəs, ănˈtēŏk [key], d. c.107, bishop of Antioch and Christian martyr, called Theophorus [Gr.,= God-bearer]. He was probably a convert and a disciple of St. Joh...

Ephesians

(Encyclopedia)Ephesians ĭfēˈzhənz [key], letter of the New Testament, written, according to tradition, by St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus from his captivity at Rome (c.a.d. 60). There is ground for believ...

Valens

(Encyclopedia)Valens väˈlənz [key], c.328–378, Roman emperor of the East (364–78). Brother and coregent of Valentinian I, Valens followed in most respects his brother's policies but, unlike him, embraced Ari...

Hippolytus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Hippolytus, Saint hĭpŏlˈĭtəs [key] [Gr.,=loosed horse], d. c.236, first antipope (c.217–235), theologian, and martyr. Probably a disciple of St. Irenaeus, he became the most astute theologian i...

Irenaeus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Irenaeus, Saint īrĭnēˈəs [key], c.125–c.202, Greek theologian, bishop of Lyons, and one of the Fathers of the Church. Born in Asia Minor, he was a disciple of St. Polycarp. Irenaeus went to Rom...