Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hel

(Encyclopedia)Hel hĕl [key], in Norse mythology, the underworld (sometimes called Niflheim) and the goddess who ruled there. In early Germanic mythology, Hel was the goddess who ruled the majestic abode for the de...

Errett, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Errett, Isaac ĕrˈĭt [key], 1820–88, American minister of the Disciples of Christ, b. New York City. After years of pastoral and evangelistic work in pioneer towns of Ohio and Michigan, he became ...

Minya, Al

(Encyclopedia)Minya, Al äl mēˈnyə [key], city (1986 pop. 179,060), capital of Al Minya governorate, N central Egypt, on the Nile River. About half the city's population is Coptic Christian. It is a tourist spot...

Paul of the Cross, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Paul of the Cross, Saint, 1694–1775, Italian, religious founder of the Passionists. His original name was Paolo Francesco Danei. He had visions calling him to found a new order and received papal pe...

Caldwell, Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Caldwell, Taylor (Janet Taylor Caldwell), 1900–1985, American novelist, b. London, England. Her best-selling works ranged from romance to satire to fictionalized biography, often reflecting her Chri...

Terrell

(Encyclopedia)Terrell tĕrˈəl [key], city (1990 pop. 12,490), Kaufman co., N Tex.; inc. 1883. In a farm area, cattle and horses are raised and there are nurseries; peaches, cotton, and wheat are grown. Motor vehi...

Barbara, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barbara, Saint, fl. 3d or 4th cent., virgin martyr, whose life is shrouded in contradictory legends. Her father is said to have shut her up in a tower and then to have killed her for being a Christian...

Bar-jesus

(Encyclopedia)Bar-jesus ĕlˈĭmăs [key], in the New Testament, Jewish sorcerer at Paphos who tried to divert a prospective Christian convert and was cursed with blindness. ...

Corinthians

(Encyclopedia)Corinthians kərĭnˈthēənz [key], two letters of the New Testament. They were written to the church at Corinth by Paul whose stay in Corinth is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. First Corinthia...

Jacobite Church

(Encyclopedia)Jacobite Church jăkˈəbītˌ [key], officially Syrian Orthodox Church, Christian church of Syria, Iraq, and India, recognizing the Syrian Orthodox patriarch of Antioch as its spiritual head, regarde...

Browse by Subject