Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America

(Encyclopedia)National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, cooperative agency of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations. Formed in 1950, with headquarters in New York Cit...

En-gannim

(Encyclopedia)En-gannim ĕn-gănˈĭm [key], in the Bible. 1 Town of Judah. 2 Levitical city, the modern Jenin (West Bank), at the southeastern end of the plain of Esdraelon. An alternate form is Anem. ...

Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Josiah jōsīˈəs [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Judah, son and successor of Amon. The great event of his reign came in its 18th year, when the book of the law, apparently Deuteronomy, was found in t...

Miriam

(Encyclopedia)Miriam mĭrˈēəm [key], in the Bible. 1 Sister of Moses and Aaron. After the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, she led the women in the song of Miriam. Later she sided with Aaron against Moses and was s...

Sheshbazzar

(Encyclopedia)Sheshbazzar shĕshˌbăzˈär [key], in the Bible, exiled Jewish prince, later governor of a reestablished Jewish state centered in Jerusalem, commissioned (538 b.c.) by Cyrus to take back to Jerusale...

Gloria in excelsis

(Encyclopedia)Gloria in excelsis ĕksĕlˈsĭs [key] [Lat.,=glory in the highest], the Angelic Hymn or greater doxology, ancient Christian hymn beginning, according to the Authorized Version, “Glory be to God on ...

Peter the Hermit

(Encyclopedia)Peter the Hermit, c.1050–1115, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade (see Crusades), and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople ...

teleportation, in science fiction

(Encyclopedia)teleportation, in science fiction, the process of instantaneously transporting a person or an object between two points, usually by disappearing from one place and reappearing at a second place as a p...

Pekah

(Encyclopedia)Pekah pēˈkə [key], in the Bible, king of Israel. He was a general under King Pekahiah and murdered him for the throne. As the head of an anti-Assyrian coalition, he went to war with Ahaz of Judah. ...

Seir

(Encyclopedia)Seir sēˈər [key]. 1 Mountainous region, S Palestine, S of the Dead Sea. Mt. Hor is the highest point. Seir is identical with Edom, which is mentioned frequently in the Bible as Mt. Seir. The eponym...