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Ephesians

(Encyclopedia)Ephesians ĭfēˈzhənz [key], letter of the New Testament, written, according to tradition, by St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus from his captivity at Rome (c.a.d. 60). There is ground for believ...

Jairus

(Encyclopedia)Jairus jāīˈrəs [key] [Gr. form of Jair], in the New Testament, prominent Jew whose daughter was raised from the dead by Jesus. ...

Docetism

(Encyclopedia)Docetism dōsētˈĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=to appear], early heretical trend in Christian thought. Docetists claimed that Christ was a mere phantasm who only seemed to live and suffer. A similar tendency to...

Holy Family

(Encyclopedia)Holy Family, term referring to the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Roman Catholic Church the feast in its honor falls usually on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. In art the theme of the Holy...

Zacchaeus

(Encyclopedia)Zacchaeus or Zaccheus both: zăkēˈəs [key] [Gr.,=Heb. Zaccai], in the New Testament, publican of Jericho, short of stature, who climbed a tree to see Jesus. ...

Nestorianism

(Encyclopedia)Nestorianism, Christian heresy that held Jesus to be two distinct persons, closely and inseparably united. In 428, Emperor Theodosius II named an abbot of Antioch, Nestorius (d. 451?), as patriarch of...

Gabbatha

(Encyclopedia)Gabbatha găbˈəthə [key], in the New Testament, yard or porch where Pilate sat in judgment on Jesus. ...

Nicodemus

(Encyclopedia)Nicodemus nĭkˌədēˈməs [key], in the Gospel of St. John, member of the Sanhedrin sympathetic to Jesus. He helped Joseph of Arimathea to bury him. Among the New Testament Apocrypha is a Gospel of ...

Cleopas

(Encyclopedia)Cleopas klēˈōpəs [key], in the New Testament, one of the two who met the risen Jesus on the way to Emmaus. Perhaps the same as Cleophas. ...

Accademia della Crusca

(Encyclopedia)Accademia della Crusca äk-kädĕˈmēä dĕlˈlä kro͞osˈkä [key] [Ital.,=academy of the chaff], Italian literary society founded in Florence in 1582 to maintain the purity of the language. Leonar...