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confirmation

(Encyclopedia)confirmation, Christian rite in which the initiation into the church that takes place by baptism is confirmed. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches, it is a sacrament by which a Christi...

Philemon, epistle of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)Philemon fĭlēˈmən [key], letter of the New Testament, written to a Colossian named Philemon by Paul, probably when the latter was a prisoner in Rome (c.a.d. 60). Onesimus, Philemon's fugitive slav...

Erastus

(Encyclopedia)Erastus ĭrăsˈtəs [key], in the New Testament. 1 Companion of Paul. 2 Early Christian, probably the same as 1. 3 Chamberlain of Corinth. ...

Campbellites

(Encyclopedia)Campbellites: see Campbell, Alexander; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). ...

Aquila, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Aquila ăkˈwĭlə, əkwĭlˈə [key], in the New Testament, Christian of Jewish origin from Pontus who lived at Rome. He and his wife, Prisca or Priscilla, were friendly to Paul. ...

fall, the

(Encyclopedia)fall, the, i.e., the fall of man, in Christian thought: see original sin; grace. ...

Silas

(Encyclopedia)Silas sīˈləs [key], in the Acts of the Apostles, early Christian leader and companion of Paul on two missionary journeys. Probably he is the Silvanus mentioned frequently in the Letters. ...

Caughnawaga

(Encyclopedia)Caughnawaga käˈnəwäˌgə [key], community and Native American reserve, S Que., Canada, on the Saint Lawrence River opposite Lachine. It was founded (1676) as a refuge for Iroquois converts to the ...

Lactantius, Lucius Caelius Firmianus

(Encyclopedia)Lactantius, Lucius Caelius Firmianus lo͞oˈshəs sēˈlēəs fûrmēāˈnəs lăktănˈshəs [key], c.260–a.d. 340, Christian author and apologist, b. Africa. He taught rhetoric at Diocletian's sch...

Harris, Thomas Lake

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Thomas Lake, 1823–1906, American Christian mystic. Born in England, he was brought to the United States as a child. In 1845 he was called to the pulpit of the Fourth Universalist Society, in...