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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...

Micah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Micah mīˈkə [key], 6th of the books of the Minor Prophets of the Bible, containing the oracles of the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah whose career spanned the period c.750–c.700 b.c. The ...

Zoroaster

(Encyclopedia)Zoroaster zōrˈōăsˌtər [key], c.628 b.c.–c.551 b.c., religious teacher and prophet of ancient Persia, founder of Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster, the name by which he is ordinarily known, is derived ...

Portsmouth, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Portsmouth. 1 City (1990 pop. 25,925), Rockingham co., SE N.H., a port of entry with a good harbor and a state-owned port terminal at the mouth of the Piscataqua River opposite Kittery, Maine; inc. 16...

Familists

(Encyclopedia)Familists fămˈĭlĭsts [key], religious community founded in Friesland in the 16th cent. by Hendrik Niclaes. Niclaes, a merchant of Münster and originally a Roman Catholic, claimed to have been cho...

Hananiah

(Encyclopedia)Hananiah hănənīˈə [key]. 1 One of the Three Young Men. According to the Book of Daniel, he was one of Daniel's three companions and was also known as Shadrach. 2 In the Book of Jeremiah, a false ...

John the Baptist, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John the Baptist, Saint, d. c.a.d. 28–a.d. 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, th...

Babylonian captivity

(Encyclopedia)Babylonian captivity, in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 b.c.). After the capture of the cit...

Haggai

(Encyclopedia)Haggai hăgˈāī [key], prophetic book of the Bible. Dated 520 b.c., it is a collection of five oracles addressed to Jews, newly returned from the Babylonian exile. The prophet summons the people to ...

Nichiren

(Encyclopedia)Nichiren nĭchˈərən [key] [Jap.,=sun lotus], 1222–82, Japanese Buddhist priest, founder of Nichiren Buddhism. Of humble birth, Nichiren (whose given name was Zennichimaro) early became a monk, an...