Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bacon, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Roger, c.1214–1294?, English scholastic philosopher and scientist, a Franciscan. He studied at Oxford as well as at the Univ. of Paris and became one of the most celebrated and zealous teache...

Augustine, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Augustine, Saint ôˈgəstēn, –tĭn; ôgŭsˈtĭn [key], Lat. Aurelius Augustinus, 354–430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and a Doctor of the Church, bishop of Hippo (near present-day An...

Angola

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Angola ăng-gōˈlə [key], officially Republic of Angola (2020 est. pop. 32,870,000), including the exclave of Cabinda, 481,351 sq mi (1,246,700 sq km), SW Africa...

Abbas, Mahmoud

(Encyclopedia)Abbas, Mahmoud mäkhmo͞odˈ äbäsˈ, mämo͞odˈ [key], 1935–, Palestinian leader, also known as Abu Mazen. He was born in Saffed, Palestine (now in Israel), but his family fled during the 1948–...

Duns Scotus, John

(Encyclopedia)Duns Scotus, John dŭnz skōˈtəs [key] [Lat. Scotus=Irishman or Scot], c.1266–1308, scholastic philosopher and theologian, called the Subtle Doctor. A native of Scotland, he became a Franciscan an...

Hume, David

(Encyclopedia)Hume, David hyo͞om [key], 1711–76, Scottish philosopher and historian. Educated at Edinburgh, he lived (1734–37) in France, where he finished his first philosophical work, A Treatise of Human Nat...

angel

(Encyclopedia)angel ānˈjəl [key], [Gr.,=messenger], bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions. Angels a...

jurisprudence

(Encyclopedia)jurisprudence jo͝orˌĭspro͞odˈəns [key], study of the nature and the origin and development of law. It is variously regarded as a branch of ethics or of sociology. Many of the major systematic ph...

modernism

(Encyclopedia)modernism, in religion, a general movement in the late 19th and 20th cent. that tried to reconcile historical Christianity with the findings of modern science and philosophy. Modernism arose mainly fr...

theosophy

(Encyclopedia)theosophy thēŏsˈəfē [key] [Gr.,=divine wisdom], philosophical system having affinities with mysticism and claiming insight into the nature of God and the world through direct knowledge, philosoph...