Eastern Christian Monasticism Eastern Christian Monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East and Eastern Catholicism. Eastern monasticism is founded on the Rule of St Basil and is sometimes thus referred to as Basilian. History Christian monasticism began in the Eastern Mediterranean in Syria, Palestine and Egypt where the Desert...
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Tigrinya: ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, after Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. History See also: Timeline of Orthodox Tewahedo Origins Tewahedo (Ge’ez: ተዋሕዶ täwaḥədo) is a...
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, Yäityop’ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in sub-Saharan Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates back centuries, and has a current membership of about...
Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy (or Eastern Orthodox Christianity) is one of the three main branches of Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or “canonical“) Eastern Orthodox Church is organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. In the 21st century, the number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen; there also exist autocephalous...
Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church (ʿīdtha kaldetha qāthuliqetha; الكنيسة الكلدانية al-Kanīsa al-kaldāniyya; Ecclesia Chaldaeorum Catholica, ‘Catholic Church of the Chaldeans’) is an Eastern Catholic particular church (sui juris) in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syriac Rite in the Syriac language, it is part of Syriac...
Church Of Christ (Latter Day Saints) The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Smith’s newly published Book of Mormon, and thus its establishment...
Mormons The “Book of Mormon” being published, its peculiar doctrines, including those just set forth, were preached in western New York and northern Pennsylvania. Those who accepted them were termed “Mormons”, but they called themselves “Latter-day Saints“, in contradistinction to the saints of former times. The “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day...
Common Ground Between Islam And Christianity For many, Islam and Christianity have little in common. More than a few Christians misperceive Islam as a religion of the sword and of oppression, while many Muslims see Christianity as permissive and rampant with sin. Yet, much of this misperception arises from the...
The Angel Lailah The angel Lailah or Laylah ( לַיְלָה) is an angel in some interpretations in the Talmud and in some later Jewish mythology. Etymology The name Lailah is the same as the Hebrew word for “night” laylah לילה. The identification of the word “night” as the name of an angel originates with the interpretation of “Rabbi Yochanan” (possibly Yochanan ben Zakkai c. 30...
Christianity And Paganism This article covers the relationship between Christianity and Paganism. Paganism is commonly used to refer to various religions that existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as the Greco-Roman religions of the Roman Empire, including the Roman imperial cult, the various mystery religions, religions such as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and more localized ethnic religions practiced both inside and outside...
The Church The term church (Anglo-Saxon, cirice, circe; Modern German, Kirche; Swedish, Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to render the Greek ekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which the New Testament writers denote the society founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The derivation of the word has been much debated. It is now agreed that it is derived from the...
Woman Of The Apocalypse The Woman of the Apocalypse (or woman clothed with the sun, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον, gynē peribeblēmenē ton hēlion; Mulier amicta sole) is a figure described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation (written c. AD 95). The woman gives birth to a male child who is threatened by a dragon, identified as the Devil and Satan,...
Two Witnesses In the Book of Revelation, the two witnesses (δύο μαρτύρων, duo martyron) are two prophets who are mentioned in Revelation 11:1-14. Christian eschatology interpret this as two people, two groups of people, or two concepts. The two witnesses are never identified in the Christian Bible. Some believe they are Enoch and Elijah, as in the Gospel of Nicodemus,...
Seven Trumpets In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are sounded, one at a time, to cue apocalyptic events seen by John of Patmos (Revelation 1:9) in his vision (Revelation 1:1). The seven trumpets are sounded by seven angels and the events that follow are described in detail from Revelation Chapters 8 to 11. According to Revelation 8:1–2 the angels sound these...
Seven Seals The Seven Seals of God from the Bible’s Book of Revelation are the seven symbolic seals (σφραγῖδα, sphragida) that secure the book or scroll that John of Patmos saw in an apocalyptic vision. The opening of the seals of the document occurs in Rev Ch 5–8 and marks the Second Coming of Christ and the beginning of The Apocalypse/Revelation. Upon the Lamb of...
Prophecy Of Seventy Weeks The Prophecy of Seventy Weeks is the narrative in chapter 9 of the Book of Daniel in which Daniel prays to God to act on behalf of his people and city (Judeans and Jerusalem), and receives a detailed but cryptic prophecy of “seventy weeks” by the angel Gabriel. The prophecy has proven difficult for readers, despite having been...
Events Of Revelation The events of Revelation are the events that occur in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. An outline follows below, chapter by chapter. Chapters One The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to John. Two Main article: Revelation 2 John addresses the church of Ephesus to repent from having abandoned their first love, or...
Millenarianism Millenarianism (also millenarism), from Latin mīllēnārius “containing a thousand”, is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which “all things will be changed”. Millenarianism exists in various cultures and religions worldwide, with various interpretations of what constitutes a transformation. These movements believe in radical changes to society...
Apocalypse Explained Apocalypse, from the verb apokalypto, to reveal, is the name given to the last book in the Bible. It is also called the Book of Revelation. Although a Christian work, the Apocalypse belongs to a class of literature dealing with eschatological subjects and much in vogue among the Jews of the first century before, and after, Christ....
Shield Of The Trinity The Shield of the Trinity or Scutum Fidei (Latin for “shield of faith“) is a traditional Christian visual symbol which expresses many aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity, summarizing the first part of the Athanasian Creed in a compact diagram. In late medieval Europe, this emblem was considered to be the heraldic arms of God (and of the Trinity). Description...