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Star of Bethlehem, in the Gospels

(Encyclopedia)Star of Bethlehem, name given to the luminous celestial object rising in the sky that, as related in the Gospel of Matthew, led the Wise Men of the East to the manger in Bethlehem where Jesus was born...

Sanday, William

(Encyclopedia)Sanday, William, 1843–1920, English theologian and biblical scholar. He was professor of exegesis (1883–95) at Oxford and from 1895 to 1919 Lady Margaret professor of divinity and canon of Christ ...

Hodges, George

(Encyclopedia)Hodges, George, 1856–1919, American Episcopal clergyman, b. Rome, N.Y. While at Calvary Church, Pittsburgh (1881–94), he attracted attention by the quality of his preaching. He was an early expone...

Capernaum

(Encyclopedia)Capernaum or Capharnaum kəpûrˈnēəm; kəfärˈnēəm [key], town, NE ancient Palestine, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee; in the Gospels, it is closely associated with Jesus' minist...

Gladden, Washington

(Encyclopedia)Gladden, Washington, 1836–1918, American clergyman, writer, and lecturer, b. Pottsgrove, Pa. He was pastor of the First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio, from 1882 until his death. He helped to...

Otfried von Weissenburg

(Encyclopedia)Otfried von Weissenburg ôtˈfrēt fən vīˈsənbo͝orkh [key], 9th-century German monk and poet; pupil of Rabanus Maurus Magnentius. His Liber Evangeliorum (863–71) is a counterpart in Old High Ge...

Levi

(Encyclopedia)Levi lēˈvī [key], in the Bible. 1 Son of Jacob and Leah and eponymous ancestor of the Levites. His name appears infrequently—at his birth, when he and Simeon massacred the Shechemites out of reve...

Galatians

(Encyclopedia)Galatians gəlāˈshənz [key], letter of the New Testament. It is ascribed to St. Paul and addressed to ethnic Gauls living in central Asia Minor, or to inhabitants of the Roman province of Galatia i...

Valentinus

(Encyclopedia)Valentinus văləntēˈnəs [key], fl. c.135–c.160, founder of the Valentinians, the most celebrated of the Gnostic sects (see Gnosticism) of the 2d cent. The little that is known of his life is fou...

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

(Encyclopedia)Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), sometimes called Campbellites, a Protestant religious body founded early in the 19th cent. in the United States. Its primary thesis is that the Bible alone shou...