Sexual Abstinence Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, financial, philosophical, moral, or religious reasons. Asexuality is distinct from sexual abstinence; and celibacy is sexual abstinence generally motivated by factors such as an individual’s personal or...
What Is Asceticism? Asceticism (exercise, training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their practices or continue to be part of their society, but typically adopt a frugal lifestyle, characterised by the renunciation...
![Lent celebrants carrying out a street procession during Holy Week, in Granada, Nicaragua. The violet color is often associated with penance and detachment. Similar Christian penitential practice is seen in other Christian countries, sometimes associated with fasting.[20]](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/Holy_Week_procession_in_Granada_Nicaragua-520x390.jpg)
What Is Lent? Lent (Quadragesima, ‘Fortieth’) is a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, mortifying the...
Christian Dietary Laws This article covers Christian Dietary Laws. In mainstream Nicene Christianity, there is no restriction on kinds of animals that can be eaten. This practice stems from Peter’s vision of a sheet with animals, described in the Book of Acts, Chapter 10, in which Saint Peter “sees a sheet...
Fasting And Abstinence Of The Coptic Orthodox Church Of Alexandria This article covers Fasting and Abstinence of The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Copts (Christians of Egypt), who belong mostly to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, observe fasting periods according to the Coptic calendar. These fasting periods are exceeded by no...
What Is Christian Vegetarianism? Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. The three primary reasons are spiritual, nutritional, and ethical. The ethical reasons may include a concern for God’s creation in general – especially given climate...
Fasting And Abstinence In The Catholic Church This article covers Fasting and Abstinence in The Catholic Church. The Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one’s intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from...
Prayers For Enlightenment We have collected some of the best prayers for enlightenment to use in request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith. Enlightenment is the “full comprehension of a situation”....
Antichrist Bousset believes that there was among the Jews a fully developed legend of Antichrist, which was accepted and amplified by Christians; and that this legend diverges from and contradicts in important points the conceptions found in the Apocalypse. In composition anti has different meanings: antibasileus denotes a king who fills an...
Spiritual Warfare Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. It is based on the biblical belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene in human affairs in various ways. Various Christian groups have adopted practices to repel such forces,...
Early Christianity Early Christianity, or the Early Church, covers the period from its origins (c. 30–36) until the First Council of Nicaea (325). This period is typically divided into the Apostolic Age (c. 30-100) and the Ante-Nicene Period (c. 100-325). The first Christians, as described in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible, were...
What Is Antichrist? In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist or anti-Christ is someone recognized as fulfilling the Biblical prophecies about one who will oppose Christ and substitute himself in Christ’s place. The term (including one plural form) is found five times in the New Testament, solely in the First and Second Epistle of John. The Antichrist is announced as...
Prayer To Saint Michael The Prayer to Saint Michael usually refers to one specific Catholic prayer to Michael the Archangel, among the various prayers in existence that are addressed to him. From 1886 to 1964, this prayer was recited after Low Mass in the Catholic Church, although not incorporated into...
![The Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece, where the Delphi Inscription was discovered early in the 20th century.[104][105]](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/The_Temple_of_Apollo_at_Delphi-1-520x347.jpg)
Chronology Of Jesus A chronology of Jesus aims to establish a timeline for the events of the life of Jesus. Scholars have correlated Jewish and Greco-Roman documents and astronomical calendars with the New Testament accounts to estimate dates for the major events in Jesus’s life. Two main approaches have been...
Anno Domini The terms anno Domini[a] (AD) and before Christ[b] (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means “in the year of the Lord”, but is often presented using “our Lord” instead of “the Lord”, taken from the full original phrase “anno...
Love Of Christ The love of Christ is a central element of Christian belief and theology. It refers to the love of Jesus Christ for humanity, the love of Christians for Christ, and the love of Christians for others. These aspects are distinct in Christian teachings—the love for Christ is a reflection of his love for his followers. The theme...
New Testament Places Associated with Jesus This article covers the New Testament Places Associated with Jesus. The New Testament narrative of the life of Jesus refers to a number of locations in the Holy Land and a Flight into Egypt. In these accounts, the principal locations for the ministry of Jesus were Galilee and Judea, with...
![The Maestà by Duccio, (1310) depicting the life of Christ, with 26 central scenes devoted to the Passion and Resurrection.[1]](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/Maest_001_duccio_siena_duomo-520x491.jpg)
Life Of Jesus In The New Testament This article covers the Life of Jesus in The New Testament. The four canonical gospels of the New Testament are the primary sources of information for the narrative of the life of Jesus. However, other parts of the New Testament, such as the...
Prayers Of Praise From The Bible We have collected some of the best Prayers Of Praise From The Bible to use in request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith. The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía,...
Thanksgiving In The Bible This article covers Thanksgiving In The Bible. Thanksgiving contains a sincere belief and a genuine declaration of God’s Unity. For the one who has eaten an apple and then uttered, All praise and thanks be to God, proclaims through that thanksgiving that that apple is a...