“Windows To Spirituality”
The Holy Bible
Eastern Christianity |
Spirituality in Eastern ChristianityRole of Christians in the Islamic cultureSee also: Christian influences in Islam |
Persecution Of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targets of persecution, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith, ever since the emergence of Christianity. Since the emergence of Christian states in Late Antiquity, Christians have also been persecuted by other Christians...
Sectarian Violence Among Christians Sectarian violence among Christians has been noted from the time of the first Christian schisms to the present day. Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of an ideology or religion within a nation/community. Religious segregation often plays a role in sectarian violence. Late antiquity Andrew...
What Is the New Covenant? The New Covenant (ברית חדשה , berit hadashah) is a biblical interpretation originally derived from a phrase in the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament in Christian Bible). It is often thought of as an eschatological (ultimate destiny of humanity)...
Shakers: Who are They? The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a millenarian nontrinitarian restorationist Christian sect founded circa 1747 in England and then organized in the United States in the 1780s. They were initially known as “Shaking Quakers” because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services. Espousing...
What Is Ecumenism? Ecumenism, also spelled as oecumenism or œcumenism, is the concept and principle in which Christians belonging to different Christian denominations work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any interdenominational initiative that encourages greater cooperation between Christians and their churches. The fact that all Christians belonging to mainstream...
Christadelphians The Christadelphians or Christadelphianism are a restorationistic and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century around the teachings of John Thomas, who coined the name Christadelphian from the Greek words for Christ...
Amish The Amish (Amisch or Amische) are an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada (Ontario and Manitoba) known for their plain dress and avoidance of modern conveniences such as cars, zippers and electricity. The Amish separate themselves from mainstream society for religious reasons. They do not join the military, apply for Social Security...
Friends of God The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founded between 1339 and 1343 during the Avignon Papacy of the Western Schism, a time of great turmoil for the Catholic...
Christian State A Christian state is a country that recognizes a form of Christianity as its official religion and often has a state church (also called an established church), which is a Christian denomination that supports the government and is supported by the government. Historically, the nations of Armenia, Aksum, Georgia, as well as the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire...
Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire groups at once. Various strategies and techniques were employed in Christianization campaigns from Late Antiquity and throughout the Middle Ages. Often the conversion of the ruler was followed by the compulsory baptism of his subjects, often resulting in genocide and ethnic cleansing of whole nations such...
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation also called the Catholic Reformation or the Catholic Revival was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and largely ended with the conclusion of the European wars of religion in 1648. Initiated to address the effects of...
![Edward VI and the Pope: An Allegory of the Reformation. This Elizabethan work of propaganda depicts the handing over of power from Henry VIII, who lies dying in bed, to Edward VI, seated beneath a cloth of state with a slumping pope at his feet. In the top right of the picture is an image of men pulling down and smashing idols. At Edward's side are his uncle the Lord Protector Edward Seymour and members of the Privy Council.[176]](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/Ed_and_pope-e1610375392851-520x325.png)
English Reformation The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. These events were, in part, associated with the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity across western and central...
One True Church A number of Christian denominations assert that they alone represent the one true church – the church to which Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission. The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, and the Assyrian Church of the East each understand themselves as the one and...
Preterism Preterism, a Christian eschatological view, interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events that happened from the 7th century BC until the first century AD, while seeing the prophecies of Revelation as events that happened...
Inquisition The Inquisition, in historical ecclesiastical parlance also referred to as the “Holy Inquisition“, was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. The Inquisition started in 12th-century France to combat religious dissent, in particular the Cathars and the Waldensians. Other groups investigated later included the Spiritual Franciscans,...
Apostasy In Christianity Apostasy in Christianity is the rejection of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian. The term apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia (“ἀποστασία”) meaning defection, departure, revolt or rebellion. It has been described as “a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity. Apostasy is the rejection of Christ by one...
Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word “feast” in this context does not mean “a large meal, typically a celebratory one”, but instead “an annual religious celebration,...
Liturgical Year The liturgical year, also known as the church year or Christian year, as well as the kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read either in an annual cycle or in a...
Abomination Of Desolation The abomination of desolation, the abomination that makes desolate, or desolating sacrilege ( מְשׁוֹמֵֽם, ha-shikkuts meshomem, abominatio desolationis) is a term found in the Book of Daniel and the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, which means literally “an abomination that desolates” or “an abomination that depopulates”. Etymology See also: Abomination (Bible) The...
Advent Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming. Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year. The term “Advent” is also used in Eastern Orthodoxy for the 40-day Nativity...
