Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Apollonius of Tyana

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius of Tyana, fl. 1st cent. a.d., Greek philosopher, b. Tyana, Cappadocia. A philosopher of the Neo-Pythagorean school, he traveled widely and became famous for his wisdom and reputed magical p...

Concordat of 1801

(Encyclopedia)Concordat of 1801, agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII that reestablished the Roman Catholic Church in France. Napoleon took the initiative in negotiating this agreement; he recogni...

Adventists

(Encyclopedia)Adventists ădˈvĕnˌtĭsts [key] [advent, Lat.,=coming], members of a group of related religious denominations whose distinctive doctrine centers in their belief concerning the imminent second comin...

Church, Richard William

(Encyclopedia)Church, Richard William, 1815–90, English Anglican clergyman. He was educated at Oxford, where he became a follower of John Henry Newman. As dean of St. Paul's (1871–90) he did much to disseminate...

Bridget of Sweden, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bridget of Sweden, Saint, c.1300–1373, Swedish nun, one of the great saints of Scandinavia. She was a noblewoman at court and the mother of eight children. After her husband's death she founded (134...

Saint Peter's Church

(Encyclopedia)Saint Peter's Church, Vatican City, principal and one of the largest churches of the Christian world. The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican c...

Christian Catholic Church

(Encyclopedia)Christian Catholic Church, religious denomination founded (1896) in Chicago by John Alexander Dowie. Its members are sometimes known as Zionites. The church has its center in Zion, Ill., which Dowie f...

Cyril, Saint (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

(Encyclopedia)Cyril, Saint (Saint Cyril of Alexandria) sĭrˈəl [key], d. a.d. 444, patriarch of Alexandria (412–44), Doctor of the Church, known for his animosity toward heretics and heathens. He drove the Jews...

Day of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Day of the Dead, Span. Día de los Muertos, annual festival in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, commonly on November 1st and 2d. Its ancient Mesoamerican roots now augmented by Christian custo...

Browse by Subject