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Ophites

(Encyclopedia)Ophites ōˈfīts [key] [Gr.,=believers in the serpent], group of Gnostic sects notorious for extreme cultism and inverted morality. Certain of these sects were known as Naasseni. Almost all that is k...

Lloyd Webber, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Lloyd Webber, Andrew, 1948–, British theatrical composer. A member of a successful musical family, he began composing musicals as a teenager; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968) was ...

Schillebeeckx, Edward Cornelius Florentius

(Encyclopedia)Schillebeeckx, Edward Cornelius Florentius skĭlˈəbāks [key], 1914–2009, Belgian Roman Catholic theologian, b. Antwerp. He entered the Dominican order in 1934 and was ordained in 1941. After stud...

Rouault, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Rouault, Georges zhôrzh ro͞o-ōˈ [key], 1871–1958, French expressionist artist. First apprenticed to a stained-glass maker, Rouault studied after 1891 under Gustave Moreau. He exhibited several p...

era

(Encyclopedia)era, period of historic time. In geology, it is the name applied to large divisions of geological process, e.g., Paleozoic era (see geology). In chronology an era is a period reckoned from a fixed poi...

Real Presence

(Encyclopedia)Real Presence, expression of the belief among certain Christians, especially Roman Catholics and some Anglicans, that the actual presence of the body and blood of Jesus is in the Eucharist. Saints Ign...

Joanna, in the Bible

(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. ...

Bartimaeus

(Encyclopedia)Bartimaeus bärtīmēˈəs [key], in the New Testament, blind man to whom Jesus restored sight. ...

prodigal son

(Encyclopedia)prodigal son, in the New Testament, parable of Jesus about heaven and the sinner who repents. A young man leaves home and becomes a wastrel; repentant, he returns to be received with joyful welcome. ...

Maundy Thursday

(Encyclopedia)Maundy Thursday mônˈdē [key] [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the E...