Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

A

(Encyclopedia)A, first letter of the alphabet. A is a usual symbol for a low central vowel, as in father; the English long a (ā) is pronounced as a diphthong of ĕ and y. The corresponding letter of the Greek alph...

Paley, William

(Encyclopedia)Paley, William, 1743–1805, English theologian. Ordained in 1767, he lectured on moral philosophy at Christ's College, Cambridge. Made a prebendary of the cathedral church of Carlisle (1780), he beca...

Zebedee

(Encyclopedia)Zebedee zĕbˈədē [key] [Gr., for Zebadiah], in the New Testament, father of James and John. His wife Salome attended Jesus. ...

Tischendorf, Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin von

(Encyclopedia)Tischendorf, Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin von lōˈbəgôt frēˈdrĭkh kônˈstäntēn fən tĭshˈəndôrf [key], 1815–74, German biblical critic. In 1844 he discovered in the monastery of St. Ca...

coronation

(Encyclopedia)coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

Job

(Encyclopedia)Job jōb [key], book of the Bible. The book is of unknown authorship and date, although many scholars assign it to a time between 600 b.c. and 400 b.c. A lament in narrative form, the subject is the p...

Messiah

(Encyclopedia)Messiah məsīˈəs [key] [Heb.,=anointed], in Judaism, a man who would be sent by God to restore Israel and reign righteously for all humanity. The idea developed among the Jews especially in their a...

Dalmanutha

(Encyclopedia)Dalmanutha dălmənyo͞oˈthə [key], in the New Testament, a place, probably on the W shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus came apparently to be tempted by the Pharisees. In a parallel passage it...

Henryson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Henryson, Robert, c.1425–c.1506, Scottish poet. It is thought that he was a schoolmaster at Dunfermline Abbey. His principal poem is The Testament of Cresseid, which was written as a harshly moral e...

Joseph of Arimathea, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Joseph of Arimathea, Saint ârˌĭməthēˈə [key], in the New Testament, wealthy man, probably a member of the Sanhedrin, who gave the body of Jesus a decent burial. The Christian Church has always ...