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determinism

(Encyclopedia)determinism, philosophical thesis that every event is the inevitable result of antecedent causes. Applied to ethics and psychology, determinism usually involves a denial of free will, although many ph...

shamrock

(Encyclopedia)shamrock, a plant with leaves composed of three leaflets. According to legend it was used by St. Patrick in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity; it is now used as the emblem of Ireland. An artifici...

Togliatti, Palmiro

(Encyclopedia)Togliatti, Palmiro pälmēˈrō tōlyätˈtē [key], 1893–1964, Italian Communist leader. A lawyer, he helped found the Italian Communist party in 1921. He lived in Moscow for many years after the F...

Overbeck, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Overbeck, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh oˈvərbĕk [key], 1789–1869, German religious painter. Expelled from the Vienna Academy because of his opposition to its classicism, he went to Rom...

Aylmer, John

(Encyclopedia)Aylmer, John ālˈmər [key], 1521–94, bishop of London. His name is also spelled Ælmer or Elmer. He was briefly chaplain to the duke of Suffolk and tutor to his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. In 1553 h...

original sin

(Encyclopedia)original sin, in Christian theology, the sin of Adam, by which all humankind fell from divine grace. Saint Augustine was the fundamental theologian in the formulation of this doctrine, which states th...

Test Act

(Encyclopedia)Test Act, 1673, English statute that excluded from public office (both military and civil) all those who refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, who refused to receive the communion acc...

Calixtus, Georgius

(Encyclopedia)Calixtus, Georgius kəlĭkˈstəs [key], 1586–1656, German Protestant theologian, whose original name was Georg Callisen. He extended the influence of Melanchthon, and sought a basis, such as the A...

Brenz, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Brenz, Johannes yōhänˈəs brĕnz [key], c.1522–67, German Protestant reformer. After coming under the influence of Johannes Oecolampadius and Martin Luther, Brenz stopped celebrating Mass (1523) ...

Miami Beach

(Encyclopedia)Miami Beach, city (1990 pop. 92,639), Dade co., SE Fla., on an island between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; inc. 1915. It is connected to Miami by four causeways. Miami Beach is a popular year-...