Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Acts of the Apostles

(Encyclopedia)Acts of the Apostles, book of the New Testament. It is the only 1st-century account of the expansion of Christianity in its earliest period. It was written in Greek anonymously as early as c.a.d. 65, ...

patriarch, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)patriarch pāˈtrēärk [key], in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,...

Salem, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Salem sāˈləm [key] [Heb.,=peace], in the Bible, royal city of Melchizedek, traditionally identified with Jerusalem. ...

Salmon, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Salmon sălˈmŏn [key], in the Bible. 1 Father of Boaz. An alternate form is Salma. 2 Place, probably the same as Zalmon. ...

Roses, Wars of the

(Encyclopedia)Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later assoc...

Bel and the Dragon

(Encyclopedia)Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha. It was written possibly in the 1st cent. b.c. as a response to Gentile ...

U , letter of the alphabet

(Encyclopedia)U, 21st letter of the alphabet, corresponding to the Greek upsilon [Gr.,=u without the aspirate]. Until the late Middle Ages the capital was V, the minuscule u, no distinction being made between the c...

Titus , in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Titus, in the Bible, early Christian, a missionary and friend of St. Paul. According to later tradition he was a bishop in Crete.

Browse by Subject