Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
Proselyte, from Greek /proselytos, is used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a newcomer to Israel; a sojourner in the land, and in the New Testament (Strong's G4339 ) for a convert to Judaism from Paganism. It is a translation of the Hebrew word /ger (Strong's H1616 ).

Two kinds of proselyte in Judaism
There are two kinds of proselyte:
 Ger tzedek (righteous proselytes, proselytes of righteousness, religious proselyte, devout proselyte)
 Ger toshav (gate proselyte, proselytes of the gate, limited proselyte, half-proselyte)
A righteous proselyte was a Gentile who had converted to Judaism, was bound to all the doctrines and precepts of the Jewish economy, and was considered a full member of the Jewish people.

A gate proselyte was a "resident alien" who lived in the Land of Israel and followed some of the customs.

Proselytes in early Christianity
The "religious proselytes" spoken of in Early Christian writings were righteous proselytes, as distinguished from gate proselytes.

References
References

Related pages
Proselytism

Other websites 
Petrine Proselytes 
Catholic Encyclopedia: Proselyte
Jewish Encyclopedia: Proselyte
Free Online Book: 'The Path of the Righteous Gentile' 
Proselyte in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

Biblical people
Judaism
The Twelve Apostles, (somebody sent forth/sent out)  were men who, according to the Synoptic Gospels and Christian tradition, were chosen from among the disciples (students) of Jesus Christ for a mission. Judaism had an office known as apostle (שליח)". 

The Gospel of Mark states that Jesus Christ initially sent out these twelve in pairs, to towns in Galilee.
Twelve Apostles of Jesus 
According to the list occurring in each of the Synoptic Gospels (, , ), the Twelve chosen by Jesus near the beginning of his ministry, those whom also He named Apostles, were
Simon: called Peter (Grk. petros; Aram. kēfas; Engl. stone) by Jesus of Nazareth, also known as Simon bar Jonah and Simon bar Jochanan (Aram.) and earlier (Pauline Epistles were written first) Cephas (Aram.), and Simon Peter, a fisherman from Bethsaida "of Galilee" (John 1:44; cf. 12:21) Simon/Peter - Andrew's brother (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14)
Andrew: brother of Peter, a Bethsaida fisherman and disciple of John the Baptist, and also the First-Called Apostle. (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14)
James - John's brother, son of Zebedee, Boanerges, son of Thunder (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:17; Luke 6:14)
John son of Zebedee, called by Jesus Boanerges(an Aramaic name explained in Mk 3:17 as "Sons of Thunder") - James' brother (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:17; Luke 6:14)
Known as the only apostle who was not martyred, and also has his own Gospel in the New Testament.
Philip: from Bethsaida "of Galilee" (John 1:44, 12:21) (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14)
Thaddeus: "Judas, son of James", (Matthew 10:3, Acts 1:13, Luke 6:16, John 14:22). Lebbaeus/Judas/Juda - , Simon's brother (Matthew 10:3; 13:55; Mark 3:18; 6:3; Luke 6:16; Jude 1:1)
Bartholomew: in Aramaic "bar-Talemai?", "son of Talemai" or from Ptolemais, some identify with Nathanael. (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14)
Thomas: also known as Judas Tomas Didymus - Aramaic T'oma = twin, and Greek Didymous = twin (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15)
James: commonly identified with James the Less  - Matthew's/Levi's brother, son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; 27:56; Mark 2:14; 3:16, 18; 6:3; 15:40, 47; Luke 5:27; 6:14-15; 24:18; Acts 1:13; 4:36).
Matthew: the tax collector, some identify with Levi son of Alphaeus - Levi - James' brother (James the less) (Matthew 10:3; 27:56; Mark 2:14; 3:16, 18; 6:3; 15:40, 47; Luke 5:27; 6:14-15; 24:18; Acts 1:13; 4:36) and author of the Book of Matthew
 Simon the Canaanite: called in Luke and Acts "Simon the Zealot", some identify with Simeon of Jerusalem -, Thaddeus' brother (Matthew 10:4; 13:55; Mark 3:18; 6:3; Luke 6:15)
Judas Iscariot: the name Iscariot may refer to the Judaean towns of Kerioth or to the sicarii (Jewish nationalist insurrectionists), or to the tribe of Issachar; (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:19; Luke 6:16)
 He was replaced as an apostle in Acts by Saint Matthias
It should also be noted that while the "Twelve Apostles" refer to the twelve who followed Jesus during his lifetime (and later Matthias in place of Judas Iscariot), Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) can be considered as another apostle. Notably, he begins many of his epistles with "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus", or some variant. The original twelve were apostles sent out to the Jews, whereas Paul has the unique role of being the apostle to the gentiles after Christ's resurrection and ascent.

The identity of the other apostle of the twelve, traditionally called St. Jude, varies between the Synoptic Gospels and also between ancient manuscripts of each gospel:
 Mark names him as Thaddaeus
 Some manuscripts of Matthew also identify him as Thaddeus
 Some manuscripts of Matthew name him as Lebbaeus
 Some manuscripts of Matthew name him as Judas the Zealot
 Luke names him as Judas, son of James or in the KJV: "Judas the brother of James"
The Gospel of John, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not offer a formal list of apostles, but does refer to the Twelve in , , and . The following nine apostles are identified by name:
 Peter
 Andrew (identified as Peter's brother)
the sons of Zebedee (plural form implies at least two apostles)
 Philip
 Thomas (also called Didymus (, , ))
 Judas Iscariot
Judas (not Iscariot) ()

The individual that the Gospel of John names as Nathanael is traditionally identified as the same person that the Synoptic Gospels call Bartholomew, and most would agree that the sons of Zebedee is likely to be a reference to James and John, while Judas (not Iscariot) probably refers to Thaddaeus, also known as St. Jude. Noticeably missing from the Gospel of John are James, son of Alphaeus, Matthew, and Simon the Canaanite/Zealot.

The Disciples of Jesus Christ

Related pages
New Testament

References
Navarre RSV Holy Bible. Four Courts Press, Dublin, Ireland, 1999.
 William F. Albright|Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
 Carson, D.A. "The Limits of Functional Equivalence in Bible Translation - and other Limits Too." The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God's Word to the World. edited by Glen G Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, Steven M. Voth.
 Carter, Warren. "Matthew 4:18-22 and Matthean Discipleship: An Audience-Oriented Perspective." Catholic Bible Quarterly. Vol. 59. No. 1. 1997.
 Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
 "Fisher's of Men." A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature. David Lyle Jeffrey, general editor. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992.
 France, R.T. The Gospel Acording to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985.
Manek, Jindrich. "Fishers of Men." Novum Testamentum. 1958 pg. 138
 Eduard Schweizer|Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
 Wuellner, Wilhelm H. The Meaning of "Fishers of Men". Westminster Press, 1967. ( :) G woz 'ere)
Other websites 
Catholic Encyclopedia: Apostles
Jewish Encyclopedia: Apostle and Apostleship
Apostles.com:  Biographies of Christ's Apostles
Fishing in first century Judea 
The fishing economy in Galilee
OrthodoxWiki: Apostle
Apostle  in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
Oriental Orthodoxy means the group of Eastern Christian Churches that accept only the first three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus — and do not accept the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. These Churches are also called Old Oriental Churches. Oriental Orthodox churches are different from the churches that call themselves Eastern Orthodoxy.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the spiritual leader of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. This is because the Pope of Alexandria is also Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy See of St. Mark the Apostle.

The spiritual leadership is not understood in the same sense as among the Eastern Orthodox Churches to the Church of Constantinople. It is in the spirit of respect and honour for the Apostolic Throne of Alexandria. It does not give any special rights to the Church of Alexandria.
History 
The schism (division) between Great Church Orthodox and Catholic and the Oriental Orthodox Churches happened in the 5th century after the Council of Chalcedon.

Bibliography 
 Betts, Robert B., Christians in the Arab East , Lycabbetus Press (Athens, 1978)
 Charles, R. H. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, 1916. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, .

References

Other websites 
 Website on the unity between Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches
A dogma is something that should not be disputed or doubted. Most often, this means the basic beliefs and doctrines of a religion.  What a majority of followers of an ideology or any kind of organization believe in can also be a dogma. 
 
In the context of religion, the term has a neutral meaning. Outside of religion for most people the term means something negative, because it accepts only a particular point of view. If someone disputes a religious dogma, they can be accused of heresy.

In Christianity, the Resurrection of Jesus is a basic dogma.

References

Other websites 
Dogma - Catholic Encyclopedia
Dogma - Strong's N.T. Greek Lexicon

Christian theology
Dogma is belief accepted by a religion or ideology as the only correct one.

Dogma could also mean:

Dogma (movie), a movie written and directed by Kevin Smith
Dogma 95, a manifesto about filmmaking aesthetics
Dogma (band), a thrash metal band
Dogma (Game), a freeware fighting game
Dogma (movie company), a Bukkake movie company
"Dogma", a social-commentary track by rock band KMFDM
Dogma (bar), a British pub chain
A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious group or creed officially accepted by the state.

The term state church is used in context with Christianity, and is sometimes used for a specific national branch of Christianity.

Christian countries 
The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion (by denomination):

Roman Catholic 
Jurisdictions which recognize Roman Catholicism as their state or official religion:
 Costa Rica
 Malta
 Monaco
 El Salvador
 Liechtenstein
 Vatican City (Theocracy)
 Some cantons of Switzerland (state religion):
 Appenzell Innerrhoden (declared "religion of the people of Appenzell Innerrhoden")
 Aargau
 Basel-Country
 Bern
 Glarus
 Graubünden
 Nidwalden
 Schwyz
 Thurgau
 Uri

Old Catholic 
Jurisdictions which recognize an Old Catholic church as their state religion:
 Some cantons of Switzerland (Christian Catholic Church):
 Aargau
 Basel-Country
 Bern
Eastern Orthodox 
Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their state religion:
 Greece (Greek Orthodox Church)

Protestant

Anglican 
 England (Church of England) established by law; plus, unestablished, the world-wide Anglican Communion

Lutheran 
 Denmark (Church of Denmark)
 Iceland (Church of Iceland)
 Finland (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland)

Presbyterian 
 Scotland (Church of Scotland) established by law
 Scotland assorted Free Presbyterian churches, unestablished.

Reformed 
Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their state religion:
 Some cantons of Switzerland (Swiss Reformed Church):
 Aargau
 Basel-Country
 Bern
 Glarus
 Graubünden
 Schwyz
 Thurgau
 Uri
 Zürich

Other Christian 
 Zambia
 Samoa
 Solomon Islands
Islamic countries 
Countries which recognize Islam as their official religion:
 Afghanistan (State religion)
 Algeria (State religion)
 Bahrain (State religion)
 Bangladesh (State religion)
 Brunei (State religion)
 Egypt (State religion)
 Iran (State religion)
 Iraq (State religion)
 Jordan (State religion)
 Kuwait (State religion)
 Libya (State religion)
 Malaysia (State religion)
 Maldives (State religion)
 Mauritania (State religion)
 Morocco
 Oman (State religion)
 Pakistan (State religion)
 Qatar (State religion)
 Saudi Arabia (Religion of the Kingdom)
 Somalia
 Tunisia
 United Arab Emirates (Religion of the Emirates)
 Yemen

Sunni Islam 
 Algeria
 Malaysia
 Maldives (as state religion)
 Pakistan (as national-sanctioned religion)
 Saudi Arabia (as state-sanctioned religion)
 Somalia (as State Religion)
 Bangladesh (as state religion)

Shi'a Islam 
 Iran (Theocracy)
Buddhist countries 
Governments which recognize Buddhism as their official religion:
 Bhutan (Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism)
 Cambodia (Theravada Buddhism)
 Laos (Theravada Buddhism)
 Kalmykia, a republic within the Russian Federation (Tibetan Buddhism - sole Buddhist entity in Europe)
 Thailand (Theravada Buddhism)
 Tibet Government in Exile (Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism)
 Myanmar - written in the 1974 constitution
 Sri Lanka (Theravada Buddhism)

Hindu countries 
There are no Hindu countries presently, all Hindu majority countries are secular, with Hinduism not listed as the state religion. Nepal was the world's only kingdom state with Hindu monarch, but the Constitution of Nepal 2015 constitution clearly states it is a secular country. Nepal also declared cow as national animal with advanced animal protection rights such as cats and dogs, cow slaughter is also forbidden.
Others 
 Israel is defined in several of its laws as a Democratic Jewish state, but has no state or official religion, "Jewish" being treated as a nationality. In other countries the term "Jewish" means either adhering to the Jewish religion (Judaism), or a Jew by descent (inheritance) or both.

Ancient state religions

Egypt and Sumer 
The concept of state religions was known as long ago as the empires of Egypt and Sumer, when every city state or people had its own god or gods.

Persian empire 
Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted from 226 until 651.

Greek city-states 
Many of the Greek city-states also had a 'god' or 'goddess' associated with that city.
Roman Religion and Christianity 
When in Rome, the office of Pontifex Maximus was reserved for the emperor, failure to worship him as a god was sometimes punished by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were persecuted, because it was against their beliefs to worship the emperor.

Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other heretical and schismatic groups, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380 by the decree De Fide Catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.

Han Dynasty Confucianism and Sui Dynasty Buddhism 
In China, the Han Dynasty (206 BC—220 AD) advocated Confucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service.
States without any state religion 
These states do not profess any state religion. Countries which officially decline to establish any religion include:
 Armenia
 Australia
 Azerbaijan
 Canada
 Chile
 People's Republic of China (China)
 Colombia
 Czech Republic
 East Timor
 France
 India
 Ireland
 Japan
 Kenya
 Lithuania
 Mexico
 Nepal
 Netherlands
 New Zealand
 Nigeria
 Philippines
 Portugal
 Republic of China (Taiwan)
 Romania
 Singapore
 South Africa
 South Korea
 Switzerland
 Turkey
 United States of America

Established churches and former state churches in Europe 

In 1967, the Albanian government made atheism the "state religion". This designation remained in effect until 1991.

Finland's State Church was the Church of Sweden until 1809.

In France the Concordat of 1801 made the Roman Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran churches state-sponsored religions, as well as Judaism.
In Hungary the constitutional laws of 1848 declared five established churches on equal status: the Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Unitarian Church. In 1868 the law was ratified again after the Ausgleich. In 1895 Judaism was also recognized as the sixth established church. In 1948 every distinction between the different denominations were abolished.

The Church in Wales was split from the Church of England in 1920 by Welsh Church Act 1914; at the same time becoming disestablished.

Former state churches in British North America

Protestant colonies 
 Plymouth Colony was founded by Separatists.
 Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was founded by Baptists.
 Province of Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers.
Catholic colonies 
 When New France was transferred to Great Britain in 1763, the Roman Catholic Church remained under toleration, but Huguenots were allowed entrance where they had formerly been banned from settlement by Parisian authorities.
 Province of Maryland was founded by Irish Catholics in a state known as recusancy, but was stripped of this independence during the English Civil War by Roundheads—much as it was in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
 Spanish Florida was ceded to the Great Britain in 1763, the British divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic Residents.

In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at the Revolution, about 1776; this is the date of legal abolition.
in 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows:
"Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged. To do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles."
From 1780 Massachusetts had a system which required every man to belong to a church, and permitted each church to tax its members, and did not require that it be a Congregational church. This was objected to, as in practice establishing the Congregational Church, and was abolished in 1833.

Until 1877 the New Hampshire Constitution required members of the State legislature to be of the Protestant religion.
The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 disestablished the Anglican church, but until 1835 the NC Constitution allowed only Protestants to hold public office. From 1835 to 1876 it allowed allowed only Christians (including Catholics) to hold public office. Article VI, Section 8 of the current NC Constitution forbids only atheists from holding public office. Such clauses were held by the United States Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, when the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with First and Fourteenth Amendment protections.

Religious Tolerance for Catholics with an Established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was lost to Spain in 1781.
Religious tolerance for Catholics with an established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was returned to Spain in 1783.

State of Deseret 
The State of Deseret was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years.

Related pages
 Secular state
 Theocracy
 Freedom of religion

References 
 https://mysocialbliss.com/encyclopedia-of-religion-communication-and-media/

Other websites 
 

Religion
The term Mass is used for different concepts, in different fields of study:

Physics
Mass, a physical quantity describing the amount of matter in something (everything it is made of)
Thermal mass, a mass which absorbs heat

Religion
Mass (liturgy), the main worship service of many Christian churches
Mass (music), a piece of music for choir, which is sung during the religious service. The text of this is usually from a religious setting

Music and theatre
Mass (movie), a Tollywood movie starring Akkineni Nagarjuna
Mass (theatre), a 1971 musical play by Leonard Bernstein based on Roman Catholic liturgy
Mass (band), a post-punk band who recorded for the 4AD label
The Mass (band), an American jazzcore band

Placenames and geography
Mass., an abbreviation for the U.S. state of Massachusetts
Landmass (also land mass)
Medicine and health
Body mass index, a health indicator to do with to human body weight and height
Muscle mass, a bodybuilding term to do with the configuration of muscles in a person's body
MASS, the common acronym for sports nutrition company Muscle And Sports Science
Mass (medicine), a tumor

People
Isaac Mass, a Franklin County, Massachusetts politician
Mass, another name for electronic musician Peter Harris, more commonly known as Blu Peter

In the plural form, the masses, can mean: 
 The working class or the people ("the masses"). See also multitudes. Masses are disorganized, as opposed to classes (see class consciousness).
Hoi polloi (or "the masses"), a term that usually refers to ordinary, simple people (not important people like rulers and aristocracy)
The Masses, a Socialist magazine
An adjective describing a large amount of something, as in: 
mass production
mass transit
mass communication
mass education
mass marketing
mass media
mass murder
mass suicide
weapons of mass destruction
mass burial
mass hysteria
mass storage
In music the word mass is used for a piece of music, to be sung by a choir. The Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches use this. There are two very broad kinds of masses: Those using the Ordinary are not linked to the Church calendar, they use the same pieces (and words) throughout the year. The Proper covers the parts of the mass that vary through the year. At the start, masses were sung in Latin or Greek. Examples of masses not in English include the Deutsche Messe by Franz Schubert or A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms. 

The usual words that are set to music are known as the Ordinary. These are the words of the service which are the same every day. The Ordinary consists of five parts: Kyrie (Lord have mercy upon us….), Gloria (Glory be to thee….), Credo (I believe in God the Father….), Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy….) and Agnus Dei (O Lamb of God…).
The words of the mass that are not from the Ordinary are called the Proper. These are words that may change in the service from day to day. The Proper consists of the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory and Communion. There are also some words which are special for particular feast days.

In the Renaissance period church composers set the words of the Ordinary mass to music. This music was normally polyphonic: the different sections of the choir (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) all had musical lines which shared the melody and were of equal importance. The words of the Proper were not composed to special music. They were sung to plainchant.

During the last two centuries many composers have written masses which were not meant to be sung in a church service: they are written as concert pieces. Some of them are quite long and fill a whole concert program. Some of the most famous masses are those by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Dvořák, Verdi, Bruckner, Fauré and Vaughan Williams.
Related pages
 Requiem
An Ecumenical Council (also sometimes Oecumenical Council) or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the church of the whole world who have come together to discuss matters of Church doctrine and practice.

The word is from the Greek language "", which means "inhabited", and was originally an other name for the territory of the Roman Empire, because the earliest councils were all called in by Roman Emperors. In later times it was used in the sense of "world-wide" or "general."

List of ecumenical councils

The first seven Ecumenical Councils

The period of Christianity from the First Council of Nicaea (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea (787) is called the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.
1. First Council of Nicaea, (325) adopted the Nicene Creed.
 2. First Council of Constantinople, (381); changed the text of the Nicene Creed into present form.
 3. Council of Ephesus, (431); proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (Greek Η Θεοτόκος, "God-bearer" or more commonly "Mother of God").
 4. Council of Chalcedon, (451); declared the doctrine of monophysitism to be wrong and adopted the Chalcedonian Creed. This and all following councils are not recognized by the Oriental Orthodox Communion.
 5. Second Council of Constantinople, (553)
 6. Third Council of Constantinople, (680–681); affirmed that Christ had both human and divine wills.
 Quinisext Council (= Fifth and Sixth) or Council in Trullo, (692); this council is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church as a part of the Third Council of Constantinople, but is rejected by Catholics.
7. Second Council of Nicaea, (787); restoration of the veneration of icons and end of the first iconoclasm. It is rejected by many Protestant denominations, who instead prefer the Council of Constantinople of 754, which condemned the veneration of icons.
Further reading
 Tanner, Norman P.  The Councils of the Church, .
 Tanner, Norman P.  Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, .

Other websites 
 The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Select Online Resources
 All Catholic Church Ecumenical Councils - All the Decrees 
 The Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils 
 Council in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
 Catholic Encyclopedia: The 21 Ecumenical Councils
 Catholic Encyclopedia: General Councils
 Ecumenical Councils
 All Catholic Church Council Decrees including Trent and Vatican II

Church councils
Camille Saint-Saens (French: Camille Saint-Saëns) (born Paris 9 October 1835, died Algiers, 16 December 1921) was a French composer, pianist and organist. He was one of the greatest composers of his day. He composed lots of music of different kinds. Among his best works are his Symphony no 3 (with organ) , Piano Concerto no 2, Violin Concerto no 3, Cello Concerto no 1, the opera Samson and Delilah and the Danse Macabre. His most popular work, however, is the Carnival of the Animals. Saint-Saens hated being thought of as “the composer of the Carnival of the Animals". He said he had only written it for a bit of fun and he did not want anyone to perform it. Today it still remains one of the most popular pieces for children.
Life 
Three months after Saint-Saens was born his father died. Saint-Saens was often ill with tuberculosis when he was very small and this carried on throughout his life. He was brought up by his mother and his aunt. this illness still didn't hold Saint-Saens back. at the age of two his aunt taught him the piano. When he was ten he played piano concertos by Beethoven and Mozart at a public concert, playing everything from memory. He was very good at school and was interested in lots of subjects including science and philosophy. In 1858 he published some duets for harmonium and piano and he used the money to buy a telescope.
He studied music at the Paris Conservatoire and was a brilliant student, although he did not win the Prix de Rome. He soon became known as a composer, pianist and organist and he made many friends, among them Gounod, Berlioz and Rossini. Liszt thought he was the greatest organist in the world. Like Liszt, Saint-Saëns was often very kind to other composers and helped them to become known by playing and conducting their music. He was the first person to conduct Liszt’s symphonic poems in France. He himself wrote symphonic poems such as Le Rouet d’Omphale (1871) and Danse Macabre (1874). The idea of music which describes a story was quite a new idea at that time. He also helped people to like Bach whose music had been forgotten for a long time.
In the 1860s his fame spread and he also did some teaching at the École Niedermeyer which educated young musicians for church music. His pupils included Faure, Messager and Gigout who all became lifelong friends. He also founded the Société Nationale de Musique which helped new music to be performed. Faure, Cesar Franck and Lalo were all members. The society gave first performances of works by Saint-Saens, Chabrier, Debussy, Dukas and Ravel and others.

Saint-Saens married a 19-year-old girl. The marriage was not a success. They had two sons who died within six weeks of one another: the baby from an illness and the two-year-old from falling out of a fourth floor window. Saint-Saens blamed his wife and they eventually divorced.
For many years Saint-Saens travelled all over the world as a famous musician. Eventually he became less popular in France, but in England and the United States he was still very much admired. He played for Queen Victoria and spent some time studying original manuscripts of Handel in the library of Buckingham Palace. He was awarded the title of Doctor by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and was made a Commander of the Victorian Order because he had composed a march for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. He died in Algiers in 1921. His funeral was in the cathedral there, and his body was then taken back to Paris where he was given a state funeral at the church of Madeleine.

His music 
Saint-Saens was more famous in the concert hall than he was in the theatre. He wrote 13 operas, but only one of them is still regularly performed: Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah). One of the arias from this opera, Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix, is especially famous.
Saint-Saens wrote many concertos, symphonies, sonatas and chamber music. He often uses the style of dance music and creates a happy atmosphere by repeating certain patterns. His music is late Romantic, but based on the classical traditions rather than following the style of Wagner like many other French composers were doing at the time.
 Camille Saint-Saëns' "Organ-Symphony" (together with works of Debussy and Fauré). Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra.

20th-century French composers
Romantic composers
French pianists
French organists
1835 births
1921 deaths
Fly to the Sky (hangul:플라이 투 더 스카이) is a South Korean R&B group of two. Its members are Korean American Brian Joo and South Korean Fany (also known as Hwanhee; Korean: 환희 Chinese: 歡喜; meaning "delight"). Since their 1999 debut single "Day by Day," they released six albums. Although they were marketed as teen idols, the duo later changed their image and style with their third album Sea of Love in 2002. With their future albums, the duo became known as R&B artists and are known as the first R&B duo of South Korea.

Career

1999-2001
The duo started in late 1998 by Korean record company SM Entertainment. A friend of Brian Joo signed him up for auditions with Brothers Entertainment without his knowledge. while he was going to Holy Spirit High School, a Roman Catholic school in New Jersey. As for Fany, a staff member working for the company recommended him to audition at a school festival. 

Their first appeared on television on December 9, 1999. Their first album Day by Day sold over 250,000 copies.
Their second album The Promise was released in 2001. The album hit #2 on the charts, but it quickly slipped from the charts. In the same year, they had their first concert with singer Kim Jo-Han.

2002-2004
The duo released two albums during this time. Their third album Sea of Love was released while Joo was at New Jersey going to Rutgers University, so Fany performed the songs by himself. The album featured "Condition of My Heart" which was written by American singer Brian McKnight.

Their fourth album, Missing You came out around the time when his manager died in a car crash. Fany was especially shocked by his death, because he had been in the same car with his manager just hours before the incident.

Gravity, as their fifth and last album, came out by SM Entertainment. Their contract to the company ended soon after the release.
2004-present
Fly to the Sky signed on with PFull Entertainment after their first contract ended in 2004. They wanted a smaller label that cared less about money. Fly to the Sky recorded their sixth studio album Transition in January 2006.

The duo started their first tour in Korea called "Fly To The Sky: 2006 The Twice Tour". Starting from Jamsil Arena in Seoul in May 2006, they had concerts in major Korean cities like Busan, Daegu, Junju, and Kwangju.

When Transition became popular, Fly to the Sky made a special edition, which had more music videos, deleted scenes and the more songs titled "Hwan Sang (Illusion)," "Hot and Cold," and "When I Say."
Since 2006, the duo has appeared many times in variety shows. Fany appeared on Korean television drama "Over the Rainbow" during summer of 2006, and Brian released his solo album The Brian in December 2006. They became more popular but some critics and fans said they were compromising their image as artists.

Discography
Day by Day (1999)
The Promise (2001)
Sea of Love (2002)
Missing You (2003)
Gravity (2004)
Transition (2006)

Awards

References

Other websites 
The websites are in Korean.
PFull Official Website
Fly to the Sky's official website at ilikepop.com

Interviews
FLY TO THE SKY Two voices, Two attractions, Four wings that soar once again 
Fly to the Sky returning with sixth album Transition
2006 interview with Melon.com

R&B bands
South Korean musical groups
1998 establishments in Asia
1990s establishments in South Korea
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer. He is  best remembered as the author of the classical and influential vampire novel Dracula. A vampire is a kind of monster associated with death and the Devil.
Life 
He was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent—then as now called "The Crescent"—in Clontarf, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker (born in 1799; married Stoker's mother in 1844; died on 10 October 1876) and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (born in 1818; died in 1901). Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland and attended the Clontarf parish church (St. John the Baptist) with their children where both were baptised. Until he started school at the age of seven—when he made a complete, surprising recovery—Stoker was sick. During that time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he became a normal young man. He excelled as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin (1864–70), from which he was graduated with honors in mathematics. He was auditor of the College Historical Society and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society". In 1876, while he was employed as a civil servant in Dublin, he wrote theater reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theater led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theater, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker
. Through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours he got the chance to travel around the world.
They had one son, Irving Noel Stoker, who was born on 31 December 1879.

Dracula 

He earned his money by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale Dracula which he published in 1897. Before writing Dracula, Stoker spent eight years researching European folklore and stories of vampires. Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as collection of diary entries, telegrams, and letters from the characters, as well as fictional clippings from the Whitby and London newspapers. Stoker's inspiration for the story was a visit to Slains Castle near Aberdeen. The bleak spot provided an excellent backdrop for his creation.
Dracula has been the basis for countless movies and plays. The first was Nosferatu directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlock. Nosferatu was produced while Florence Stoker, Bram Stoker's widow and literary executrix, was still alive. Represented by the attorneys of the British Incorporated Society of Authors, she eventually sued the filmmakers. Her chief legal complaint was that she had been neither asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty. The case dragged on for some years, with Mrs Stoker demanding the destruction of the negative and all prints of the movie. The suit was finally resolved in the widow's favour in July 1925. Some copies of the movie survived, however, and Nosferatu is now widely regarded as an innovative classic. The most famous movie version of Dracula is the 1931 production starring Bela Lugosi and which spawned several sequels that had little to do with Stoker's novel.
Stoker wrote several other novels dealing with horror and supernatural themes, but none of them achieved the lasting fame or success of Dracula. His other novels include The Snake's Pass (1890), The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), and The Lair of the White Worm (1911).

Bibliography

Novels 
 The Primrose Path (1875)
 The Snake's Pass (1890)
 The Watter's Mou'  (1895)
 The Shoulder of Shasta (1895)
 Dracula (1897)
 Miss Betty (1898) 
 The Mystery of the Sea (1902)
 The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903)
 The Man (AKA: The Gates of Life) (1905)
 Lady Athlyne (1908)
 Snowbound: The Record of a Theatrical Touring Party (1908)
 The Lady of the Shroud (1909)
 Lair of the White Worm (1911)

Short story collections 

 Under the Sunset (1881)
 Dracula's Guest (1914) Published posthumously by Florence Stoker
Uncollected stories 
 Bridal of Dead (alternative ending to The Jewel of Seven Stars)
 Buried Treasures
 The Chain of Destiny
 The Crystal Cup (1872)- published by 'The London Society'
 The Dualitists; or, The Death Doom of the Double Born
 The Fate of Fenella (1892), Chapter 10, "Lord Castleton Explains" only.
 The Gombeen Man
 In the Valley of the Shadow
 The Man from Shorrox'''
 Midnight Tales The Red Stockade The Seer Non-fiction 
 The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (1879)
 A Glimpse of America (1886)
 Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906)
 Famous Impostors (1910)

Related pages
 Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (film adaptation of The Jewel of Seven Stars'')
 Bram Stoker Award

References and notes

Other websites
Other websites 

 Bram Stoker cultural Heritage visitor centre , Dublin
 "Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula" 
 h2g2 article on Bram Stoker
 Bram Stoker's brief biography and works
 The Lair of the White Worm - dedicated site (film and novel)
 20 Common Misconceptions and Other Miscellaneous Information

Online texts 

 Full text of Dracura at the Project Gutenberg in various formats.
 Bram Stoker Full text and PDF versions of most of Stoker's works.
 Bram Stoker Books in HTML format.

1847 births
1912 deaths
Irish novelists
Writers from Dublin
Criss Angel (born Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos, December 19, 1967) is an American illusionist, stuntperformer, and musician. He has done many illusions. Examples of these include walking on water, making an Asian elephant vanish and then reappear several episodes later, and floating between two buildings. Angel has had a television program on the American network A&E called Criss Angel Mindfreak. The program has stunts and street magic, as well as public service announcements about scams that are popular around the United States. 

Angel was the guest host of the March 8, 2010 version of WWE Monday Night Raw.

References

Other websites 
 Official Criss Angel website
 Official Criss Angel Mindfreak website at A&E
 Official Criss Angel MySpace profile
 
 Videos of Criss Angel 

1967 births
Living people
Entertainers from New York (state)
American magicians
The group has released three Japanese and six Korean albums. Their fourth Korean album, Mirotic was released in 2008. It  has sold over 550,000 copies. It is their most successful album. Before that, the 2006 album O-Jung.Ban.Hap. continued to chart in 2007 along with the group's 2005 album Rising Sun. Their first Japanese album Heart, Mind, and Soul performed modestly. It peaked at #25 on the Oricon Chart. The album sold less than 20,000 copies. Their second album Five in the Black did better. The album peaked at #2 and sold over 26,000 copies in its first week of release. The third album T also peaked at #2 and sold 30,003 copies on the first day of its release.

TVXQ has an official fan club, called "cassiopeia", in Korea. The number of people of this fan club makes it the biggest in the world. There is also a big fan club in Japan.

Members

Discography
Discography

 Korean studio albums
 Tri-angle (2004)
 Rising Sun (2005)
 "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. (2006)
 Mirotic (2008)
 Keep Your Head Down (2011)
 Catch Me (2012)
 Tense (2014)
 Rise as God (2015)
 Korean Mini-Albums/Extended Plays
 Hug (2004)
 The Way U Are (2004)
 Christmas Gift from Dong Bang Shin Gi (2004)
 2005 Summer (2004)

 Japanese studio albums
 Heart, Mind and Soul (2006)
 Five in the Black (2007)
 T (2008)
 The Secret Code (2009)
 TONE (2011)
 Time (2013)
 Tree (2014)
 With (2014)

 Japanese compilation albums
 Best Selection 2010 (2010)

Japanese singles 
1st Single - Stay With Me Tonight 2005/4/27

2nd Single - Somebody To Love 2005/7/13

3rd Single - My Destiny 2005/11/2

4th Single - 明日は来るから 2006/3/8

5th Single - Rising Sun / Heart, Mind and Soul 2006/4/26

6th Single - Begin 2006/6/21

7th Single - Sky 2006/8/16

8th Single - miss you /O-Jung.Ban.Hap. 2006/11/08

9th Single - Step by Step 2007/1/24

10th Single - Choosey Lover 2007/3/7

11th Single - Lovin' you 2007/6/8
12th Single - SUNMER~Summer Dream/Song for you/Love In The Ice~ 2007/8/1

13th Single - Shine/Ride On 2007/9/19

14th Single - Forever Love 2007/11/14

15th Single - Together 2007./12/19

16th Single - Purple Line 2008.01.16

17th Single - Two hearts / WILD SOUL（CHANGMIN） 2008/2/6

18th Single - Runaway / My Girlfriend（YUCHUN） 2008/02/13

19th Single - If...!? / Rainy Night（JUNSU） 2008/02/27

20th Single - Close to you / Crazy Life（YUNHO） 2008/03/05

21st Single - Keyword / Maze（JEJUNG） 2008/03/12

22nd single - Beautiful you/千年恋歌 2008/04/23

23rd single—どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？ 2008/07/16

24th Single - 呪文-MIROTIC 2008/10/17

25th Single - Bolero / Kiss The Baby Sky / 忘れないで 2009/01/21

26th Single - Survivor 2009/03/11

27th Single - Share The World / ウィーアー！ 2009/04/22

28th Single - Stand by U 2009/07/01

Special Single - COLORS ～Melody and Harmony～ / Shelter JEJUNG & YUCHUN 2009/09/30

29th Single - BREAK OUT! 2010/01/27

30th Single - 时ヲ止メテ 2010/03/24

31st Single - Why?[Keep Your Head Down] 2011/01/26
32nd Single - Catch Me [If You Wanna] 2013/01/16

Awards and achievements 
In 2008, TVXQ made the Guinness World Records for having the world's largest official fan club. Cassiopeia, the band's official fan club, is claimed to have more than 800,000 official members just in South Korea, more than 200,000 official members in Japan (BigEast) and more than 200,000 international fans (iCassies). They also made Guinness a second time in 2009. Aside from having the world's largest fan club, the group was also listed as the most photographed celebrities in the world. From the day of their debut to March 19, 2009, the five members are estimated to have been photographed about 500 million times in magazines, albums jackets, and commercials, etc. The total figure includes individual photos as well as group pictures.

Other websites 

 Korean official website  
 Japanese official website
 Chinese official website 

South Korean boy bands
J-pop bands
K-pop music groups
2003 establishments in South Korea
Ayumi Hamasaki ( Hamasaki Ayumi; born October 2, 1978) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and former actress. She is also called Ayu by her fans, and called the "Empress of Pop" because her music is very popular in Japan. She was born and raised in Fukuoka. When she was fourteen, she moved to Tokyo and began her career as an actress in 1993. In 1998, she was signed to the label Avex Trax and released a number of singles that were successful. In 1999, she released her first studio album A Song for XX which was very successful and made her popular in Japan.

Because she changes her appearance and artistry very often, she is popular in other parts of Asia like China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Many of her songs are used in commercials and advertisements. She often appears in some of these.
Before she joined Avex Trax, she released a single and an album both called Nothing From Nothing. But these did not become popular. Since she debuted in 1998 with "Poker Face," Hamasaki sold more than 50 records in Japan. This puts her as one of the highest ranking singers in the country. She holds many records as a female singer. These include the most number-one hits and highest sales.

Personal life 
Hamasaki dated Tomoya Nagase (a singer and actor) since her short acting career. They announced they were dating in 2001. Six years later, there were rumors that Hamasaki and Nagase were going to get married. But on July 13, 2007 Hamasaki said that they had broken up. She did not say why, but she said that they will stay as friends.
In 2008, Hamasaki revealed that she had become deaf in her left ear. This was because of tinnitus or Ménière's disease. She said that she had the condition in 2006 and that problems with her ear started in 2000. Hamasaki stated that she wants to continue singing. She said that she would "not give up" on her fans and that "as a professional", she wanted to "deliver the best performance for everyone".
January 1,2011, to marry a fan club site Ayumi Hamasaki 'TeamAyu' reported the fan.

Discography

Studio albums 
 1999: A Song for XX
 1999: LOVEppears
 2000: Duty
 2002: I Am...
 2002: Rainbow
 2004: My Story
 2006: (miss)understood
 2006: Secret
 2008: Guilty
 2009: Next Level
 2010: Rock 'n' Roll Circus
 2010: Love Songs
 2012: Party Queen
 2013: LOVE again
 2014: Colours
 2015: A One
 2016: Made in Japan
 2023: Remember You

EPs 
 Nothing from Nothing
Compilations 
 2001: A Best
 2003: A Ballads
 2007: A Best 2 (White/Black)
 2008: A Complete ~All Singles~
 2012: A Summer Best
 2013: A Classical
 2015: Love Classics
 2015: Winter Diary: A7 Classical

Singles 
 Nothing from Nothing
 Poker Face
 You
 Trust
 For My Dear...
 Depend on You
 WHATEVER
 LOVE ~Destiny~
 TO BE
 Boys & Girls
 A
 Appears
 Kanariya
 Fly High
 vogue
 Far away
 SEASONS
 SURREAL
 AUDIENCE
 M
 evolution
 NEVER EVER
 Endless sorrow
 UNITE!
 Dearest
 A Song is Born (with Keiko Yamada)
 Daybreak
 Free & Easy
 H
 Voyage
 &
 Forgiveness
 No Way to Say
 Moments
 INSPIRE
 CAROLS
 STEP You/is this LOVE?
 fairyland
 HEAVEN
 Bold & Delicious/Pride
 Startin'/Born to Be...
 BLUE BIRD
 glitter/fated
 Talkin' 2 Myself
 Together When...
 Mirrorcle World
 GREEN/Days
 Rule/Sparkle
 Sunrise/Sunset ~LOVE IS ALL~
 You Were.../BALLAD
 MOON/blossom
 crossroad
 L

References

Other websites 

 
 Ayumi Hamasaki Fanclub "TeamAyu"

 

1978 births
Living people
Singers from Fukuoka Prefecture
Love Generation () was a dramatic Japanese television series on Fuji Television. It first aired in Japan from October 13 1997 to December 22, 1997 every Monday. It had a very high rating of 30.8%. It features music by Cagnet.

Cast
Katagiri Teppei - Takuya Kimura
Uesugi Riko - Takako Matsu
Takagi Erika - Norika Fujiwara
Katagiri Soichiro - Masaaki Uchino
Mizuhara Sanae - Junna Risa
Yoshimoto