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Erastus, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Erastus, Thomas, 1524–83, Swiss Protestant theologian, a physician, whose original name was Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler. As a follower of Huldreich Zwingli, he supported the Swiss leader's view of th...

John, three epistles of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)John, three letters of the New Testament. Traditionally, they are ascribed to John son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. All three letters probably date to the end of the 1st cent. a.d., and may have...

mortmain

(Encyclopedia)mortmain môrtˈmānˌ [key] [Fr.,=dead hand], ownership of land by a perpetual corporation. The term originally denoted tenure (see tenure, in law) by a religious corporation, but today it includes o...

novena

(Encyclopedia)novena nōvēˈnə [key] [Lat.,=a group of nine], in the Roman Catholic Church, primarily a series of public or private prayers extending over nine consecutive days, especially nine days preceding a f...

Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn

(Encyclopedia)Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, 1815–81, English clergyman and author. As a student at Rugby he was influenced by the liberal views of Thomas Arnold. In 1838 he was elected a fellow of University College, ...

investiture

(Encyclopedia)investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the symbols of spiri...

Basel, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Basel, Council of, 1431–49, first part of the 17th ecumenical council in the Roman Catholic Church. It is generally considered to have been ecumenical until it fell into heresy in 1437; after that i...

crypt

(Encyclopedia)crypt krĭpt [key] [Gr.,=hidden], vault or chamber beneath the main level of a church, used as a meeting place or burial place. It undoubtedly developed from the catacombs used by early Christians as ...

Churches of God, General Conference

(Encyclopedia)Churches of God, General Conference, conservative evangelical Christian bodies, Arminian in faith (see Jacobus Arminius), with certain Baptist doctrines. The movement originated during revivals held i...

Cluny

(Encyclopedia)Cluny klo͞oˈnē, Fr. klünēˈ [key], former abbey, E France, in the present Saône-et-Loire dept., founded (910) by St. Berno, a Burgundian monk and reformer. Cluny was one of the chief religious a...