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Malebranche, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Malebranche, Nicolas nēkôläˈ mälbräNshˈ [key], 1638–1715, French philosopher. Malebranche's philosophy is a highly original synthesis of Cartesian and Augustinian thought. Its purpose was to ...

Copernicus, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Copernicus, Nicholas kōpûrˈnĭkəs [key], Pol. Mikotaj Kopérnik, 1473–1543, Polish astronomer. After studying astronomy at the Univ. of Kraków, he spent a number of years in Italy studying vari...

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...

Oz, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Oz, Amos, 1939–2018, Israeli writer, b. Jerusalem as Amos Klausner. As a teenager he changed his name to Oz [Heb.,=strength]. A former kibbutz member, Israeli soldier, and schoolteacher, he became o...

Frazer, Sir James George

(Encyclopedia)Frazer, Sir James George, 1854–1941, Scottish classicist and anthropologist, b. Glasgow, educated at the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge. He is known especially for his masterpiece, The Golden...

culture

(Encyclopedia)culture, in anthropology, the integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which delimit the range of accepted behaviors in any given society. Cultural differences dist...

Barebone, Praise-God

(Encyclopedia)Barebone or Barbon, Praise-God both: bârˈbōn [key], 1596?–1679, English lay preacher and leather merchant. Soon after 1630 he became leader of half of a Baptist congregation that had split over t...

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...

Grégoire, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Grégoire, Henri äNrēˈ grāgwärˈ [key], 1750–1831, French priest, writer, and revolutionist. A Jansenist (see under Jansen, Cornelis), he was prominent in the States-General of 1789 and support...

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...