bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Origen (c.185–c.253)
Authors: Kolbet Paul R.
Published: January 2012

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Origen may well have been the most influential Christian intellectual between St. Paul and Augustine. He received an outstanding education in Greek and Christian literature. His father, Leonidas, was executed as a Christian martyr in 202. Origen subsequently supported his remaining family by teaching grammar and literature. During this early period, Origen acquired expertise in classical philosophy and taught Christianity in a catechetical school in Alexandria. In addition to his teaching, he was a prodigious writer. One of his early works,De principiis(On First Principles) is nothing less than the first systematically articulated Christian hermeneutics analytically relating fundamental theological and philosophical commitments to a coherent reading of the whole Christian Bible. In this work, the basic contours of his intellectually daring spirituality are already present with its emphases on existential freedom, moral rigor, and a personally transformative spiritual reading of the Bible. Origen is without peer in shaping the Christian reading of Old Testament books. Finding profound wisdom in such ancient Jewish texts, Origen's thought would prove to be a steady, comprehensive, thoroughly intellectual rejection of both Gnostic and simplistic forms of Christianity.
O
wen,
J
ohn (1616–1683)
Authors: Anderson Jeffrey
Published: January 2012

John Owen was perhaps the most prolific and influential English Puritan. Following the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Puritans sought to continue spiritual renewal and reformation within the Church of England and the Elizabethan settlement. Spanning from roughly 1564 to 1642 (dates given by Richard Baxter and Thomas Fuller; see Cumming 1965: 288), the Puritans pursued a goal of “completing” the English Reformation by reshaping Anglican worship, introducing church discipline in local parishes, establishing a new level of righteousness in political, domestic, and economic fields, and converting everyone to a “vigorous evangelical faith” (Packer 1990: 28). Among the Puritans, John Owen, known as “the Calvin of England” (this designation was first coined by Ambrose Barns; see Toon 1971: 173), was arguably the greatest (Toon 1971).
Pachomius (c.290–346)
Authors: Smither Edward L.
Published: January 2012

Pachomius was born into a pagan family in Upper Egypt in the late 3rd century. Though ethnically Coptic, his writings show that he was competent in both Coptic and Greek. Conscripted into the Roman army as a young man, Pachomius was noticeably touched by the care of a Christian during a time of apparent difficulty. Following his release from the army in 313, he returned to Upper Egypt where he was converted and baptized.
P
alladio,
A
ndrea (1508–1580)
Authors: Whytock Jack C.
Published: January 2012

The noted Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, who greatly influenced Western ecclesiastical and secular architecture, giving rise to what became known as the Palladian style or Palladianism, was born in Padua in 1508 and died in Vicenza in 1580. Palladio began as a stonemason before studying classical literature and architecture under his mentor Trissino, a leading Renaissance scholar. It was from Trissino that he received his new name Palladio — from Pallas, a name for the Greek goddess Athene. Trissino also introduced Palladio to the great architectural history of Rome in 1541. Palladio was subsequently in Rome in 1547, when he met Michelangelo, and again in 1549.
Pantheism and Panentheism
Authors: Emerick Christopher C.
Published: January 2012

Pantheism, literally “all is God” or divine, is the term used to designate those perspectives — religious and philosophical — which identify God or the divine with the world or universe. Panentheism (meaning “all is
in
God”), in contrast, advances a strong connection between God and world but with the important ontological distinction that God transcends the world; that is, the world does not exhaust the divine being.
Paraguayan Christianity
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

The Spanish arrived in Paraguay in 1524 and founded Asuncion in 1537. The bishopric of Asuncion was created by papal decree in 1547 and the first bishop arrived in 1556. In 1588 three Jesuits reached the area, charged with pacifying and converting the Indians. After the arrival of additional Jesuit and Franciscan priests, they began large‐scale operations in the southeastern section of the country and on the eastern and southern shores of the Alto Parana River. The Jesuits soon found themselves in the role of protector of the Indians against the greed of the Spanish settlers. For this purpose they created
reducciones
or agricultural colonies where in addition to Christianization of the residents they taught them farming, arts, and crafts. Eventually the Jesuits and the Franciscans established 30 of these
reducciones
, eight of which were within the borders of present‐day Paraguay. The colonies grew powerful and wealthy and before long became a state within a state.
P
arthians
Authors: Thomas David Andrew
Published: January 2012

The Parthian Empire had its genesis around the year 247
bc
with the migration of a nomadic Scythian people called the Parni into the Seleucid satrapy of Parthia. Consolidating their power, they soon exploited the power vacuum created by the progressive downfall of the Seleucid Empire, expanding into Iran and beyond. As the political progenitor of the Parthians was one Arsaces, all subsequent monarchs are known as Arsacids, and the whole of Parthian history as the Arsacid Dynasty. Though relatively little is known about the Parthians, their empire grew to be one of the most powerful in the ancient world, stretching from Mesopotamia to Afghanistan and enduring until the advent of the Sassanians in
ad
224. While their culture and language arose from an eclectic mix of their own history and the Hellenism of their Seleucid forebears, they fashioned themselves the heirs of the defunct Achaemenids, playing heavily upon Persian identity in their political and cultural propaganda. Their government was a form of feudalism, and their monarch's use of the Persian title “King of kings” carried more than merely symbolic significance. Parthian wealth was generated primarily by trade, with tariffs from along the Silk Road generating enough income to preclude the need for heavy taxation. A light tax burden, in turn, made for a content populace that readily mobilized at a local level to defend the borders of the realm. The Parthian military, heavily comprised of horse‐borne warriors, was renowned for its swiftness and cunning. Roman historians agree that the Parthian steeds, known as Niseans for the plains upon which they grazed, were the largest, fastest, and most dependable horse of their day.
Passion of Christ
Authors: Johnson R. Kevin
Published: January 2012

The term passion is derived from the Latin,
passio
. The etymology is indicative of passivity and the chronicling or narrative of the suffering of a martyr. In the case of the Christ, the passion narrative denotes the agony that Jesus suffered at the hands of others from the time of his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem to his death and burial on Good Friday as recorded in the gospels of the New Testament.
Patrick,Saint (c.387–460/461 or 493)
Authors: Murray K. Sarah‐Jane , Zdansky Hannah
Published: January 2012

According to tradition, St. Patrick is the Apostle of Ireland. He says in hisConfessiothat he is the son of Calpurnius from the village of Bannavem Taburniae, now Kilpatrick, near present‐day Dumbarton, Scotland. His mother was Conchessa. Both were high‐ranking Britannico‐Roman citizens.
Paulists
Authors: Watts Thomas D.
Published: January 2012

The Society of Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle, popularly known as the Paulist Fathers or the Paulists, was the first religious community of men founded in the United States. The mission of the Paulists is threefold: ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and evangelization. Interestingly, these are not seen as contradictory, and represent in large measure the thinking and beliefs of their remarkable founder, Isaac Thomas Hecker. The Paulists were founded in New York City in 1858 by Hecker, in association with Augustine F. Hewitt, George Deshon, Francis Baker, and later Clarence Walworth. All were converts to Catholicism during the antebellum period of religious revival and social reform in the US. All were on individual quests that led them to Catholicism.
P
enderecki,
K
rzysztof (
b
. 1933)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Avant garde Polish composer whose atonal, serial, and electronic music explored the frontiers of liturgical music with special dramatic effects such as tone clusters, instrumental and vocal glissandi, percussive devices, and instrumental techniques such as
sul ponticello
(in which a stringed instrument is bowed near the bridge).
P
ercy,
W
alker (1916–1990)
Authors: Carson Nathan P.
Published: January 2012

Walker Percy was a philosophically and theologically oriented novelist from the American South, whose work is part of the 20th century Catholic Renascence (along with Flannery O'Connor, Thomas Merton, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and Dorothy Day). Born in 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama, to a family of established Southern gentry, Percy's short‐lived career in medicine ended in 1941 when he contracted tuberculosis. During his sanatorium recovery (1942–1945), Percy discovered writers who challenged his positivist scientific worldview, inspired him to take up a writing vocation, and led him toward an eventual (1947) conversion to the Catholic faith. These writers, whose ideas pervade Percy's novels, include (among others) Kierkegaard, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Kafka, the French existentialists, Augustine, and Aquinas. Inheriting his “Uncle Will's” large estate and having left medicine, Percy married Mary (“Bunt”) Bernice Townsend in 1946 and assumed the writing life, generating most of his work from their home in Covington, Louisiana.
Persecution and the Suffering Church
Authors: Culpepper Scott
Published: January 2012

The term “persecuted church” denotes Christian churches that have suffered overt persecution throughout the history of Christianity. The term persecution is defined in this article as the use of state or ecclesiastical power to deny the rights of persons to practice their faith through physical force, economic sanction, or legal action. While all Christians may suffer various subtle forms of persecution in contemporary societies, a majority of the world's believers in the 21st century still live in cultures and under regimes where persecution is orchestrated. Various Christian organizations emerged in the late 20th century to raise awareness in the west of international persecution of Christians. Persecution as repression of Christian life and witness is as old as Christianity itself. It has included persecution directed at Christians by people hostile to Christianity as well as persecution initiated by Christians against other Christians. Christian apologists such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian were called upon to answer these attacks in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
P
isano,
N
icola (
c
.1220/1225–1284) and
G
iovanni (
c
.1245/1250–1314)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Father and son, Italian sculptors. Nicola's first important work was Pisa Baptistery pulpit in 1250. It is a marble hexagon with small figures of Virtues standing on the capitals of columns. At the base of the central column is a group of animals and grotesque figures. Five of the sides have reliefs with scenes from the New Testament, ending with the
Last Judgment
. All the figures are Roman, including the Virgin in the
Nativity
and the Holy women in the
Crucifixion
. Nicola also designed the Shrine of St. Dominic in Bologna. Giovanni carried on his father's work in the pulpit of the Sienna Cathedral. It is similar to the Pisa Baptistery with larger reliefs. Christ does not appear serene but is in agony. The
Last Judgment
occupies two panels with Christ as the Judge between them, and below him is a cross flanked by angels with instruments of the Passion. Father and son carved many of the prophets and saints on the outside of Pisa Baptistery, one of the first examples of sculpture incorporated into architecture. Two other pulpits by Giovanni followed. His masterpiece is the one in Sant'Andrea, Pistoia (1301). It is hexagonal with five narrative reliefs, including an apo‐calyptic Christ with blood spurting from his side, standing on a lion and a serpent with the hand of God and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove above him. The
Crucifixion
scene includes the two thieves, representations of Ecclesia and Synagoga. The pulpit in Pisa Cathedral is larger and circular in form with nine reliefs, seven on the pulpit proper and two on the stair leading up to it. All the reliefs are taken from the New Testament. The tragic vehemence of the
Massacre of the Innocent
s has no parallel in the history of Italian sculpture. Of the nine supporting columns, seven represent theological virtues, Ecclesia and cardinal virtues, Christ and the four evangelists, Archangel Michael, and Samson. Giovanni also did several Madonna and Child groups, of which the most noteworthy are in the Pisa Baptistery, Arena Chapel in Padua Prato Cathedral, and Pisa Cathedral. He made a number of freestanding statues of which the best known is the
Madonna and Child
on the altar of the Arena Chapel.
Polish
C
hristianity
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

The history of Polish Christianity began in 966 when Duke Mieszko was converted through his wife, a Bohemian princess, and the first bishopric was established in Poznan in 968. The faith grew and flourished under Mieszko's son, Boleslaw I the Brave, who gained recognition as king from Emperor Otto III. The expansion of Christianity owed much to the work of missionaries from the German Empire, as well as the legacy of St. Adalbert of Prague, who was martyred at the hands of the Prussian pagans. In 1000 Gniezno, Adalbert's burial place, was made an independent archepiscopal see with three suffragan bishoprics, and Boleslaw promoted the church's organizational structure in his expanding realm. The death of Boleslaw ushered in a period of turmoil, in which the church began to disintegrate along with the kingdom. Pagan attacks on churches brought the deaths of Christians, and later conflicts between king and church led to the death of Bishop Stanislaus of Cracow. The church reestablished itself in the late 11th century, but it was not until the late 14th century that Christianity achieved the status of a national faith under King Casimir III the Great. The church was reorganized in conformity with canon law and in 1364 the University of Krakow was established. The pagan Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila became the ruler of both Lithuania and Poland following his baptism and the conversion of the Lithuanians to Roman Catholicism in 1386. At this time, German Catholics had also begun to migrate to Poland as settlers. The dynastic union of Poland and Lithuania thus created not only one of the largest states in European Christendom but also one of the most religiously diverse, with Polish, German, and Lithuanian Catholics, Slavic and Lithuanian Orthodox, as well as Jews. Polish Roman Catholicism's Golden Age encompassed both the 15th and 16th centuries. The 15th century was known as the Century of Saints. After the Confederation of Warsaw in 1573, the Church, led by St. Hosius, increased its influence by judicious reforms. In 1595 the Ruthenian Church left the Orthodox fold and submitted to Rome. The Jagiello regime was overthrown in 1572, the throne became elective and a parliament was established. In 1587 the Catholic Church was given official recognition and Protestantism was restricted. Nicholas Copernicus was among the scientists and scholars who contributed to a rebirth of learning.
Political Theology
Authors: Coulter Michael
Published: January 2012

Political theology is a branch of both theology and political philosophy which seeks to utilize theology to engage the world and provide a lens to interpret the world, specifically the arrangement of politics. This brand of political theology should not be viewed as simply political ethics, but rather a hermeneutical category grounded in theological research. Political theology seeks to question the political consciousness of theology itself and designates the field in which Christian theology should be articulated today. Under this view, salvation is seen not merely as an event that occurs in the future, but also something to be achieved politically in this world.
Portuguese Christianity
Authors: Nichols Larry
Published: January 2012

The story of the beginning of what would eventually be Portugal and an accompanying Portuguese Christianity began before the birth of Christ. The well‐known date for the arrival of the Romans to the Iberian Peninsula along with their Latin language and culture was 218
bc
. The Romans called the peninsula Hispania, later divided into territories, one of which would become Portugal to the west.
Postcolonial Theology
Authors: Bradnick David
Published: January 2012

Postcolonial theology is an academic discipline within religious thought whereby structures of power, dominant systems, and embedded ideologies are examined, critiqued, and negotiated in order to make social transformations that recognize and validate the perspectives of marginalized peoples, cultures, and identities. Secular studies in postcolonial theory have played a significant role in giving rise to this genre of theological reflection. The traditional advent of postcolonial studies came in 1978 with the publication of Edward Said's book
Orientalism
, which unmasked Eurocentric assumptions ascribed to Oriental life, thus generating a misrepresentative reality in the Western imagination that was imposed upon Eastern people. The ability of colonial groups to speak for themselves had been stripped away, wherein they were customarily the object of discourse and rarely the subject (Lazarus 2004: 9). Additionally, decolonialization in the 20th century, specifically national rehabilitation, was problematic. Attempts to revitalize state and cultural identities failed because of the continued impact of colonialism and recognized shortcomings in indigenous heritages. “Interpreters simultaneously commended and condemned their cultural heritage” (Sugirtharajah 2003: 1), and as a result of this dialectic, new forms of literary, artistic, historical, and cultural productions began to embrace the multiculturality, migrancy, and hybridity of postcolonialialism; therefore postcolonial theory “effectively became a reconciliatory rather than a critical, anticolonialist category” (Lazarus 2004: 76). Within this context postcolonial theology emerged, placing the colonized “other” at the center of theological interpretations, wherein universalistic and individualistic Western categories are confronted through “positive engagement” (Keller et al. 2004: 9). Postcolonial theology recognizes differences and allows for a multiplicity of responses, hoping to achieve a reciprocal exchange of perspectives from all voices. Postcolonial theology has expanded, seeking emancipation and authenticity for all marginalized or oppressed identities, including issues of nationality, culture, race, gender, and sexuality. Pragmatically based theologizing occurs within one's context in order to inspire awareness, critical dialogue, and integration of ideas. The primary goal of postcolonial theology is to critique hegemonic ideological constructions that make absolutist or totalitarian claims and to provide legitimacy for alternative theological views.
Predestination
Authors: Bruce James E.
Published: January 2012

Predestination is an English word which comes from the Latin verb for determining in advance,
praedestino
. The Latin itself resembles the Greek verb
proorizo
, itself a biblical word meaning to limit in advance (from
pro
‐ meaning “before” and
horizo
meaning “to limit”). The friends of the recently released Peter and John pray, in Acts 4.28, “For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” In Romans 8:29–30, Paul writes, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.” “But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7). The Letter to the Ephesians also contains uses of the verb
proorizo
: “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will” (1:5). Again, Ephesians 1:11, “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” So predestination is most certainly a biblical idea; the debate has been how best to understand it.
P
usey,
E
dward
B
ouverie (1800–1882)
Authors: Faught Brad
Published: January 2012

Edward Bouverie Pusey was a highly influential 19th century Anglican churchman whose integral role in the Oxford Movement prefigured his place as the acknowledged leader of the Victorian Anglo‐Catholics. Born in 1800 into a minor aristocratic family from Berkshire, he was educated at Eton College before advancing to Christ Church, Oxford. A highly successful undergraduate career followed, capped by his election to a fellowship at Oriel College in 1823. His contemporaries there included John Henry Newman and John Keble, with whom he soon became closely aligned.
Radical Orthodoxy
Authors: Bush Stephen
Published: January 2012

Radical Orthodoxy is a contemporary theology, influenced by Augustine and Anglo‐Catholicism, that is opposed to key assumptions and values of modern democratic societies. First and foremost, Radical Orthodoxy is opposed to secularism, the thesis that political order, morality, and society can operate without reference to God. In contesting secularism, proponents of Radical Orthodoxy hearken back to the philosophy of the Neoplatonists, medieval thinkers influenced by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. From the Neoplatonists, Radical Orthodoxy takes the notion that the whole created universe has its existence and value only because it participates in the Being of God.
Rapture of the Saints
Authors: Clark David G.
Published: January 2012

The catching up of saints from the earth by divine power to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in “the air.”
Reconciliation
Authors: Maclean Iain S.
Published: January 2012

To reconcile, or to bring about a condition of reconciliation, is to bring warring parties to peace or to change a state of enmity into one of friendship. The Christian tradition understands reconciliation as taking place between persons, between persons and God, and indeed between God and the created order. This is necessary since salvation is salvation from the results of human sin which include separation, alienation, suspicion, conflict, and finally death.
Redemption
Authors: Estes Douglas
Published: January 2012

Redemption is the act of paying a ransom for the release of a person or item, and is one of the most important and foundational themes of Christianity. Redeeming differs from purchasing in that the redeemer typically asserts some prior claim to or relationship with the person or item being redeemed, and that the redeemed person or item will be bettered in some way as a result of the transaction. After redemption, the redeemed person or item becomes the property of the redeemer if the redeemer so desires. In the ancient world, even as today, it was regular practice to redeem something of value by exchanging something else of value (often money or goods). Commonplace practices included purchasing freedom for prisoners of war, release from civil or legal liabilities, or liberty for slaves. In some instances, redemption was not considered optional but was encouraged or mandated by customs or laws.
Reformed Churches
Authors: Schirrmacher Thomas
Published: January 2012

The Reformed churches, named after their classic self‐designation as “churches reformed according to the word of God,” are a group of Christian Protestant denominations historically related by a similar system of doctrine often called “Calvinist” after the second generation reformer Jean (John) Calvin (1509–1564), even though it historically stems largely from the writings and reformation work of Martin Bucer in Strasbourg (Germany) and all first generation reformers in Switzerland like Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger (both Zurich).
Reformed Tradition
Authors: Emerick Christopher C.
Published: January 2012

The Reformed tradition derives its name from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. With roots in attempted reforms by others such as John Wycliffe (1330–1384) and Jan Hus (1369–1415), the Reformation was initiated in 1517 by Martin Luther's (1483–1546) posting of his
95 Theses
to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Two years later, Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) began reforming the church in Switzerland. The Reformed tradition traces its origins to Zwingli's reforms, but it is in the ministry and thought of a second generation reformer, John Calvin (1509–1564), that the Reformed find their greatest expositor.
Reliquaries
Authors: Bigalke Ron J.
Published: January 2012

The word relic is derived from the Latin
reliquiae
(“remains”), and in Roman Catholic tradition has reference to some object, especially a part of the body, clothes, or item of close association, which remains as a memorial of someone of religious significance. Relics are carefully preserved as objects of veneration. The bones of Polycarp were regarded as “more valuable than precious stones and more to be esteemed than gold,” therefore they were to be laid in a suitable place. Relics must be sealed securely within a reliquary and authenticated by a pope or religious authority prior to any exhibition for veneration. A reliquary may be a box, case, or shrine that houses a relic. Reliquaries are of exquisite craft and ornamented with precious metals and stones. The Chasse of Champagnat (c.1150) from the church of Saint‐Martial is ornamented in gilded copper and champlevé enamel, as Martial (the first Bishop of Limoges) was thought to be the 13th apostle, according to legend. Complex containers may resemble the relic it enshrines, or may contain other body parts, such as the Reliquary Arm of Peter (c.1230). Some reliquaries contain scenes of martyrdom (e.g. Reliquary of St. Thomas Becket, c.1195–1200) and others have been formed entirely into full‐body statues that were displayed on altars or carried in ceremonial procession (e.g. Reliquary Statue of Sainte Foy, c.11th century). Throughout the medieval era in Byzantium and Europe, both relics and reliquaries were prominent forms of artistic production. Many world religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam, have a reliquary cult. Relics may be preserved in mosques,
stupas
, or temples, to which pilgrimage becomes a means of gaining merit before God. Relic worship within Buddhism (such as the Buddha's relics) is an undisputed fact, whereas veneration is stated as a central component of Roman Catholicism. Relic worship prompted Protestants to vigorously oppose any notion of relics.
Revelation, Book of
Authors: Mueller Steven P.
Published: January 2012

The book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of St. John, has long been a source of controversy and confusion in the Christian church. Its subject matter and compelling themes have also attracted considerable attention and interest. Often improperly identified as “Revelations,” the proper title of the book is singular, as it refers to “The revelation of Jesus Christ …” (v. 1). Revelation 1:1 identifies the author as John who calls himself “your brother.” The traditional view, first found in Justin Martyr (c.140), identifies him with the author of Gospel and Epistles, though some 3rd century church fathers questioned Johannine authorship. While some have maintained that the Greek style varies too much from these other books for it to be the same author, others reply that this may be attributable to the different genres of the books. Eusebius quotes Papias (c.60–130), who appears to make a distinction between the disciple John and an elder John. Some attribute Revelation to this latter John, though the distinction is uncertain. While generally acknowledged as the last of the New Testament books, the date of Revelation is somewhat dependent on its context. It was clearly written in the face of persecution. Two options are possible: the reign of Nero (ad54–68) or the reign of Domitian (ad81–96). Irenaeus and Eusebius claimed that it was Domitian's reign, making this the more dominant view.
R
icci,
M
atteo (1552–1610)
Authors: Baker Dwight P.
Published: January 2012

Matteo Ricci, born in Italy on October 16, 1552, became a Jesuit in 1571 and later traveled as a missionary to China, where he gained a reputation as the “wise man from the West.” He died on May 11, 1610.
R
ichard of
S
aint
V
ictor (
d
. 1173)
Authors: Coulter Dale M.
Published: January 2012

Richard of Saint Victor most likely arrived at the Abbey of Saint Victor sometime during the second half of the 1140s. Although born either in Scotland or northern England, like many other scholars from Britain he made his way to Paris, which was a growing intellectual center stimulated by a large number of schools that began to emerge around the Cathedral of Notre Dame in the 12th century. After arriving at Saint Victor, Richard soon advanced through its ranks beginning with the position of master of the novices (early 1150s) who had entered the Order of Saint Victor. As master, his task was to communicate the basic program of Saint Victor that centered on moral and spiritual formation. He accomplished this task by utilizing passages of scripture in order to develop his own thoughts on the moral and spiritual life. He also composed a comprehensive “text book,” the
Book of Selections
, that offered an overview of the basic information students should learn before proceeding to more advanced levels.
Righteousness
Authors: Allen Michael
Published: January 2012

Righteousness refers to covenantal obedience or loyalty as legally depicted in the court of divine judgment. Arising from the Old Testament witness to God's covenantal stipulations placed upon Adam, Abraham, Israel, and David, righteousness described the way to follow the Lord's command (Ps. 1) and thus results in blessing and life (Deut. 30: 11–20). Righteousness also describes God's loyalty to the covenant people and to creation itself. The New Testament brings the concept of righteousness to the fore in two ways: its call for holy living and its testimony to divine justification of sinful humans, leading to great theological debate and ecclesial division.
Rolle
d
e Hampole,
R
ichard (c.1300–1349)
Authors: Condict Ellen
Published: January 2012

Richard Rolle was a 14th century English mystic and hermit, notable for the spiritual fervor and devotion of his prolific writing about the soul's love for, journey toward, and ecstatic union with God. His writings were extremely popular, treasured by unlearned laypeople and by those in religious vocations, both for the spiritual renewal he encouraged by his instruction and for the lyricism or accessibility of his language: wanting to reach a wide audience, he wrote in Latin and in English, the first English mystic to write in his native tongue.
R
osenstock‐
H
uessy,
E
ugen (1888–1973)
Authors: Emerick Christopher C.
Published: January 2012

Eugen Rosenstock was born in 1888 in Berlin to a successful banker. Though a Jewish home, Rosenstock's family observed Christian holidays like many other German Jews. Thus, his conversion to Christianity in his teens was less radical than it might have been, but later became paramount in all his academic work. After a rigorous childhood education, Rosenstock received a doctorate in law in 1909. He lectured until World War I, which served to redirect his career. During the crisis of war, Rosenstock embarked on a search for foundational realities that could reunite humanity. He developed his grammatical method, which esteems speech and discourse as the possibilities for human peace and genuine achievement. The first stages of this development were later published as
Angewandte Seelenkunde
. Also during the war, he engaged in a famous exchange concerning the relationship of Judaism to Christianity with Franz Rosenzweig, with whom Rosenstock served in the German army near the western front. The exchange is preserved in the book
Judaism Despite Christianity
.
Sabbath
Authors: Pannell Randall J.
Published: January 2012

Sabbath (Heb.
shabbōth
), according to the Old Testament (OT), is the seventh day in a sevenday week. Within the Mosaic law of the OT (i.e. the fourth commandment, Exod. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15), Sabbath is a permanent day of rest for Israel based upon the Creator's resting from his work on the seventh day. In Genesis 2:1–3, the Decalogue requires that no work shall be done by any creature on the Sabbath.
Sabellianism
Authors: Johnson Keith L.
Published: January 2012

Sabellianism is a trinitarian heresy. It stresses that God, as the one divine subject, stands above or behind three modes of appearance in his relation to the world. The first recorded proponent of this view was Noetus of Smyrna, a monk who preached a form of this doctrine in the 2nd century. The view takes its name, however, from Sabellius, a 3rd century church leader who advocated a sophisticated version of the doctrine. Adherents sought to formulate a trinitarian doctrine that maintained both the oneness of God and the deity of Christ. They worried that the use of the terms “Father” and “Son” to indicate numerically distinct persons inevitably leads to the formulation of two distinct Gods. As an alternative, they insisted that numerical distinctions within the Godhead cannot be made, and that “Father” and “Son” are names that are applied to the one God at different times, as God acts in history. As such, these names designate the modes of appearance by which the one God is revealed successively in the economy of salvation. As the one divine person, God is revealed first as the Father, the creator and lawgiver; second as the Son, the redeemer; and third as the Holy Spirit, the giver of grace. One implication is that, because the Son is a temporal mode of appearance of the one God, the Son's suffering on the cross was the Father's suffering as well. This implication led opponents to call this view “patripassianism.” The emphasis on the strict unity of God led others to call it “monarchianism,” while the idea of temporal modes of appearance has prompted the label “modalism.” A combination of the two labels, “modalist monarchianism,” has also been used.
Sanctification
Authors: Estes Douglas
Published: January 2012

Sanctification is the process of making holy; the root of the theological concept comes from the verb form of the word “holy” in the original biblical languages. Sanctification encompasses a broad range of ideas from the cleansing of ceremonial instruments (Exod. 30:26–9) to the proper use of a person by God (2 Tim. 2:21). Central to the idea is the drawing out the sacred from the profane, whether in a simple act of consecration or a progressive act of spiritual refinement. It is common to see the concepts of sanctification and holiness defined as “set apart” – the mundane source for the theological concept – but this idea of separation is misleading as it only gives half of the picture. Anything sanctified is set apart by virtue of the fact that it has first moved from the profane to the sacred, and thus it is set apart from the profane, and not the other way around – separation does not in and of itself make anything sanctified (e.g. Heb. 13:12; 1 Cor. 6:11). God is holy (integral, complete), and therefore anything that becomes as God becomes holy (integral, complete), and by virtue of this becomes distinct from the unholy (fragmented, broken) and fallen world. Sanctification is always a divine act of grace.
S
carlatti,
A
lessandro (1660–1725)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Italian composer of oratorios. He served as maestro di cappella in the San Girolamo della Carita at Rome. Later he also served as maestro di cappella at the Oratorio della Vallicella. In 1716 the pope granted him the title of Cavalieri for his services to the church.
S
chaff,
P
hilip (1819–1893)
Authors: Clarkson Craig R.
Published: January 2012

Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819–October 20, 1893) was an American religious scholar born in Switzerland and educated in Germany. Generally considered a church historian, Schaff's work was wide‐ranging and reflected a strong and abiding dedication to ecumenism.
S
chillebeeckx,
E
dward
C
ornelis
F
lorent
A
lfons (1914–2009)
Authors: Hayes Patrick J.
Published: January 2012

Edward Schillebeeckx was a Fleming and Dominican friar, professor‐theologian, and an advisor to the Dutch episcopate at the Second Vatican Council. Born in Antwerp on November 12, 1914, the sixth of fourteen children in a middle class family, Schillebeeckx was educated by French‐speaking Jesuits at Turnhout, beginning at age 11. His older brother Louis had joined the Society of Jesus and later influenced Edward toward religious life. Schillebeeckx joined the Dominicans in 1934 and professed the following year. He studied in Ghent with Dominicus DePetter, OP (d. 1971), a noted philosopher who openly rejected neo‐Thomism as an overarching system and maintained a willingness to begin philosophy from the perspective of human experience. This was to have a decided effect on Schillebeeckx, whose own theological anthropology is at once deeply historical and pastoral. Schillebeeckx pursued theological studies at Le Saulchoir, the Dominican Studium at Etiolles in France, and the Sorbonne. He taught young Dominicans at Louvain from 1943 to 1957 and was appointed to the chair in dogmatics at the University of Nijmegen the following year, teaching there until his retirement in 1983.
S
chubert,
F
ranz
P
eter (1797–1828)
Authors: Howie Crawford
Published: January 2012

A prodigiously gifted composer of both sacred music (several motets and six Mass settings) and secular music (instrumental, orchestral, operatic, and vocal, including more than 600 song settings), Schubert lived most of his short life in Vienna, apart from two brief periods as music tutor to the daughters of Count Esterházy in Zseliz, Hungary and the occasional summer walking tour in Upper Austria and the Salzburg region. After receiving his early musical education from his father, brothers, and the local church organist, he was awarded a choral scholarship at the Hofkapelle, where he was taught by the court organist, Wenzel Ruzicka, and the court music director, Antonio Salieri, and became a student at the attached Imperial Seminary. He left the seminary in 1813 and lived at the family home for about three years, studying successfully at the Imperial Teachers' Training College and then working as one of his father's assistants. During these years, in which he also continued to have regular composition lessons from Salieri, he wrote an enormous amount of music, including three piano sonatas, three string quartets, five symphonies, six operas, four Masses, several motets, a number of part‐songs and about 300 solo songs. At the end of 1816 Schubert made the move to leave home and continue his career in the more central part of Vienna. He continued to compose in all genres, made friends with artists and poets whose verses he set to music, and gradually had some of his works performed and published. But he failed to make the same kind of decisive breakthrough in Vienna achieved by his older contemporary, Beethoven. Schubert stayed in different lodgings in central Vienna until his premature death from typhoid fever in 1828.
Schuetz (Schutz), Heinrich (1585–1672)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Leading German composer, who launched the golden age of Protestant church music that lasted throughout the 18th century.
S
cofield,
C
yrus
I
ngerson (1843–1921)
Authors: Bigalke Ron J.
Published: January 2012

The youngest of seven children, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was born to Elias and Abigail Scofield, in Lenawee County, Michigan, on August 19, 1843, and he died at his Douglaston residence on July 24, 1921. His father was a farmer and lumberer, and his mother died shortly after his birth. The Scofields soon moved to Tennessee. On May 20, 1861, Scofield enlisted in the Tennessee Infantry, claiming to be in his early twenties (it was not an unusual practice for minors to join the Confederacy). He served as a private in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was decorated for his valor at the Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg) on September 17, 1862. The same year in which he received the Southern Cross of Honor, he requested release from service; he claimed to be an “alien” (i.e. from Michigan) and admitted to falsification of enlistment regulations.
Scribal Practices, EarlyChristian
Authors: Solomon Kenneth R.
Published: January 2012

One of the factors that most distinguishes Christianity from other religions of Greco‐Roman antiquity is the prominent role that literature plays in the religion. Literature is lacking from nearly every Greco‐Roman religious system during the first three centuries of Christianity, yet there is an abundance of Christian writings from the period. This suggests that Christians, unlike their religious counterparts from the surrounding world, took an exceptional interest in literature. The caretakers of this early corpus of texts were the Christian scribes. These scribes transcribed, copied, edited, and assisted in composing nearly every Christian document that has survived from antiquity. In addition to helping shape early Christianity, theses scribes and their distinct practices helped shape civilization by transforming the use and the very form of the book.
Second Century Christianity
Authors: Hartog Paul
Published: January 2012

The label “Apostolic Fathers” has traditionally been applied to Christian leaders thought to flourish in the generations immediately following the apostolic age. Key figures among those classified as Apostolic Fathers include the author of1 Clement, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna.1 Clement, possibly written in the 90sce, addresses internal dissension within the Corinthian congregation. Perhaps around 110ce, Ignatius was led as a prisoner from Antioch to Rome. Along the journey (and contemplating his own martyrdom), he was able to compose six letters to various churches and a seventh personal letter to Polycarp of Smyrna. Polycarp's own epistle to the Philippians also survives. It addresses the moral lapse of an avaricious elder, warns of false teaching, and forwards the letters of Ignatius. TheMartyrdom of Polycarpdescribes the arrest and execution of this venerated leader.
S
egundo,
J
uan
L
uis (1925–1996)
Authors: García Alberto L.
Published: January 2012

The Jesuit priest and theologian Juan Luis Segundo is considered the most original and profound of the Latin American liberation theologians. He is also one of the few contemporary Catholic systematic theologians who has consistently searched for a scriptural foundation for his theology.
S
elina Hastings, Countess of
H
untingdon (1707–1791)
Authors: Yeats John M.
Published: January 2012

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon financed and coordinated much of the Evangelical, Calvinist wing of the Wesleyan revivals. Born on August 24, 1707 into the aristocratic Shirley family, she married Theophilus Hastings on June 3, 1728. Hastings, Count of Huntingdon and peer of the realm held significant sway in the court of the newly crowned George II and had carried the Sword of State in his coronation.
Seventh CenturyChristianity
Authors: Casiday Augustine
Published: January 2012

The 7th century was characterized above all by two major events: the advent of Islam (which can be seen as a competitor in the areas of geopolitics and religion, from the 620s) and the Monothelite controversy (which for nearly 50 years dominated theological and doctrinal conversations, c.633–682). To focus on those two events is necessarily to limit the frame of reference to events in the Mediterranean world, and so to some extent to neglect the developments within those Christian civilizations beyond the old Roman Empire, such as the institutional reform and revitalization of the church in the Sassanid Persian Empire that took place during the administration of Babai the Great from 611 until his death in 628. But although it is important to be aware that Christian merchants and monks were spreading their faith into central Asia during this period, there is an important sense in which the estrangement of Christian civilizations in Africa and Asia from those in Europe is itself a result of the momentous political and religious transformations of this century. But the effects were felt in Europe, too. Indeed, it has been argued that medieval European Christendom could not have existed at all if not for the development of an Islamic power ringing round the southern and (increasingly in the course of this century) eastern shores of the Mediterranean: without Muhammad (c.570–632), there could have been no Charlemagne (742 or 747/8–814). That thesis has been debated extensively and qualified by subsequent scholars, but it remains the case that the Islamic Caliphate must be considered along with the Christian states that were beginning to proliferate in this period. Within these states, Christian culture took on different flavors. So in addition to political developments, account must also be taken of developments in theology, law, and literature.
Shenute of Atripe
Authors: McGuckin John Anthony
Published: January 2012

Also Sinouthi, Shenoute, Shenoudi, or Sinouti. Monastic saint (c.350–466) highly venerated in the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox churches. In his lifetime Shenute was one of the leading monks of Upper Egypt, and a powerful force in the monastic evangelization of the country at a time when Christianity was beginning to make its way more powerfully out of the capital (Alexandria) and areas of Lower Egypt (such as the Fayyum) where it had gained the ascendancy earlier, and into the regions of Upper Egypt, where the old religions were still powerful and highly resistant to Christianity. Shenute was an active supporter of Cyril, the powerful Archbishop of Alexandria, and accompanied him to the international Church Council of Ephesus in 431, subsequently moving on to agitate (successfully) for Cyril's vindication at Constantinople in the aftermath of the council, when for a short time Cyril had been placed under house arrest. The (highly legendary) life of Shenute tells how the saint was left in the capital without means of returning home to Egypt, and after prayer a cloud swept down to carry him back to Egypt through the air. These and many other legends about him bear out what a papyrus accidentally found buried at a crossroads in Upper Egypt also testified to, when it earnestly prayed to the gods to “prevent the entrance into the village of that magician Shenute.” His widespread reputation as a thaumaturg was part and parcel of the fact that he also spread fear and trembling among those hostile to the Christian ascendancy, never being averse to using his monks for strong‐arm missionary tactics (deconstructing pagan shrines) where necessary. He is one of the first to have advocated using the name “Jesus” as a repetitive incantation: a prayer for the Christians, doubtless, but something that must have seemed an incantation to contemporary pagans.
S
imons,
M
enno (1496–1561)
Authors: Hill Bracy V.
Published: January 2012

Parish priest, religious reformer, theologian. Credited with moving the Anabaptism of northern Germany and the Netherlands toward organization and a peace witness, Menno gave leadership after Münster and until his natural death to groups of Dutch Anabaptists which came to bear his name as Mennonites.