bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
S
mith,
J
oseph (1805–1844)
Authors: Lasater Gayle Ann Spiers
Published: January 2012

Joseph Smith Jr. was the first “prophet, seer, and revelator” of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church. Founded as a separatist new religious movement in 19th century North America, Smith's church is now considered a mainstream Christian faith, with nearly 13 million members worldwide.
S
obrino,
J
on (
b
. 1938)
Authors: García Alberto L.
Published: January 2012

A Jesuit Catholic priest, professor and author and one of the most significant theologians of liberation, Jon Sobrino was born in Barcelona on December 27, 1938 into a Basque family during the Civil War. He entered the Jesuit Order when he was 18, and in 1957 he migrated to El Salvador. After studying electrical engineering at St. Louis University and receiving his degree in 1965, he pursued graduate theological studies at the Hochsuchle Sankt Georgen in Frankurt, obtaining his Doctor of Theology in 1975. He served as director of the Centro Monseñor Romero and as professor of Theology for over three decades (until 2007) at the Central American University in San Salvador. In March 2007 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Vatican admonished him for his teaching on the divinity and incarnation of Christ. Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle, the primate of San Salvador, prohibited him from teaching theology and lecturing in his archdiocese, which also means that he cannot teach at the Jesuit University that he was instrumental in founding. The archbishop also removed the
nihil obstat
(zeal of approval) from all his writings. The Congregation of the Faith did not, however, prohibited him from teaching, as they had with L. Boff in 1984.
Socinianism
Authors: Gomes Alan W.
Published: January 2012

The “Socinian” movement originated around the middle of the 16th century among Italian humanists who rejected a number of biblical, orthodox doctrines, including the doctrine of the Trinity and the two natures in Christ. When the Inquisition made residence in Italy unsafe, they fled to Switzerland, where they were influenced by Servetus's criticisms against the doctrine of the Trinity. Included in this group was Laelius Sozzini (Latinized as “Socinus”) (1525–1562), the man from whom Socinianism derived its name. Laelius harbored doubts about the aforementioned doctrines, and also questioned the doctrine of satisfaction, viz., the teaching that Christ's death on the cross satisfied God's wrath against sin.
S
oga,
T
iyo (1829–1871)
Authors: Olabimtan Kehinde
Published: January 2012

Tiyo Soga was a South African minister of the Scottish Presbyterian Mission. The son of an influential counselor to the Ngqika chief Sandile, among the Xhosa of Eastern Cape, he was born near Chumie Presbyterian station and had his early education in their school. The emerging colonial dispensation saw young South Africans converging in Xhosa land at this time to take up job opportunities at Port Elizabeth and other private establishments opening in the colony. Some of them used the missions' night schools to improve and position themselves for advantage in the unfolding scheme of events. This was the milieu in which Tiyo Soga was born and nurtured by mission. His leadership potential came to the notice of the missionaries, who enlisted him among the first 11 African students in the multiracial Lovedale Institute when it opened in 1841. When returning home in 1846 for a visit, the first principal of the institute, William Govan, took along the gifted Xhosa boy to continue his education in Scotland. There Soga studied theology, received ordination as the first black minister from South Africa, and married Janet Burnside, a Scot.
S
orsky,
N
il (
d
. 1508)
Authors: Paffhausen Archimandrite Jonah
Published: January 2012

The dates and circumstances of Nil of Sora are unknown, probably lost in the chaos of the Russian 16th century. However, it is known that he was well educated, and probably of noble origins. He entered the Kirillo‐Belozersky Monastery, several hundred miles northeast of Moscow, at an early age. He later traveled to Mt. Athos where he lived as a monk, imbibing the spirit of the hesychast revival. He copied, translated, and studied the spiritual writings of the great Byzantine saints, and brought back their style of life to Russia: small sketes, which consisted of a few monastic cells around a church. He refused any kind of external wealth, even adopting wooden vessels for the church, and rejected rich decoration for the temple.
Spiritual Formation
Authors: Crabtree Mara Lief
Published: January 2012

The term spiritual refers to the nature of the human spirit; the inward and unseen spirit that is part of the human person; the moral or religious nature that seeks to relate to God. Formation refers to God's loving, ongoing actions in forming an individual or faith community, to be and to become disciples of Jesus Christ. The process of formation includes an individual's growth in faith, becoming knowledgeable of and conformed to God's will, and ultimately transformed to Christ‐likeness by “renewal of the mind” (Rom. 12:2), as evidenced in loving and glorifying God, and through serving God and others.
J
ohn,
S
aint
Authors: Senior Donald
Published: January 2012

The earliest reference to John is found in Paul's Letter to the Galatians where, along with James and Cephas, he is called one of the “acknowledged pillars” of the Jerusalem church who endorse Paul's and Barnabas' mission to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:9–10). The Synoptic Gospels, particularly Mark and Matthew, identify John as the “son of Zebedee” and the brother of James (Mark 1:19–20). Both brothers receive the nickname “Boanerges,” or “Sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), which perhaps refers to their impulsive character, indicated in John's impatience with an “unauthorized” exorcist (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49) or his suggestion to Jesus that the disciples command fire to come down and consume the inhospitable Samaritans (Luke 9:54–55). John seems to be one of Jesus' closest followers. John is among the first called by Jesus by the Sea of Galilee where he is identified as a fisherman working with his father Zebedee and some hired hands (Mark 1:19–20; Matt. 4:21–22); he is also listed among the “Twelve” (Matt. 10:2). He witnesses the healing of Simon's mother‐in‐law in Capernaum (Mark 1:29) and the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51). Jesus invites John, along with Peter and James, to accompany him at the transfiguration (Mark 9:2; Matt. 17:1; Luke 9:28) and during Jesus' anguished prayer in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33; Matt. 26:37). In Luke's account Jesus directs Peter and John to prepare his final Passover (Luke 22:8). In concert with Peter, James, and Andrew, John questions Jesus about the time of the parousia (Mark 13:3). In a less favorable light, along with his brother James, he seeks a position of power in Jesus' coming kingdom, earning his Master's rebuke and the anger of his fellow disciples (see Mark 10:35–45). The brothers are promised by Jesus that they would “drink the cup that [Jesus] would drink” (Mark 10:39).
Stave Church
Authors: Whytock Jack C.
Published: January 2012

A timber‐framed and walled church construction as practiced in northwestern Europe from the 11th century using vertical planks (staves) is known as a stave church. Stave churches developed from early medieval churches or chapels, which were built out of wood with earth‐bound post construction. Humidity led to rot, thus earth‐bound post construction had certain disadvantages. This led to the next stage for wooden church construction in which the posts were set on stones, and staves or planks were incorporated vertically, rather than using horizontally placed logs. Technically speaking, this development was the stave church. A further development was to set the posts on a raised sill, thereby creating a freestanding structure. This stage also incorporated a more elaborate, internal post system (often referred to as masts) with internal rows of posts and cross‐bracing beams stabilizing the structure. Thus, according to archaeologists, there were different techniques used in building stave churches following the earlier post churches from which they were a descendent. Examples still in existence today, or reproductions, include sill beams and corner posts on stone.
S
tott,
J
ohn
R
.
W
. (1921–2011)
Authors: Bain‐Conkin Jeffrey L.
Published: January 2012

Born in London in 1921, John Stott later trained at Cambridge for ministry in the Church of England. For decades he served All Souls' Church, Langham Place, in London as curate, Rector, and Rector Emeritus. This commitment to the local parish and practical ministry continued as a major theme throughout his broader ministry to global evangelical Christianity.
Subordinationism
Authors: Johnson Keith L.
Published: January 2012

Subordinationism is a trinitarian doctrine that regards the Son and the Holy Spirit as sub‐ordinate to the Father with respect to the Father's deity. Some early Christian theologians, including Tertullian and Origen, held that the Son was subordinate to the Father because they emphasized the monarchy of the Father in the Godhead. These theologians set the stage for the important debates about subordinationism that took place in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Subordinationists argued that a fully divine Son would imperil the monarchy of the Father, and they believed that any distribution of the divine substance to more than one person would indicate that God is both divisible and subject to change. As a result, they held that any person other than the Father must be created by the Father and subordinate to him. They thus argued that the Son was begotten by the Father as the firstborn of creation before time, that the Son is thus subordinate to the Father in every respect, and that the Father is the only person of the Trinity who is God in the fullest sense. This view was rejected as heresy at the Council of Nicaea in 325, which declared that the Son is not a creature but is eternally begotten from the Father. As such, the Son is as fully divine as the Father and worthy of the same worship the Father receives. The debate over these questions continued in the decades that followed, with Arius and other Subordinationists ranged against Athanasius and other defenders of the Nicene formula. A similar debate occurred regarding the Holy Spirit, and it culminated with the Council of Constantinople in 381. Following the pattern of Nicaea, this council condemned the subordination of the Spirit as heresy and argued that the Spirit is equal in dignity and worthy of the same worship as the Father and the Son.
Suffering
Authors: Jones Clay Butler
Published: January 2012

Suffering means to endure pain or anguish, whether willingly, as in the case of martyrdom, or unwillingly, as in the case of cancer. Christians throughout history have responded to suffering in ways that differ from other religions and philosophies.
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Authors: Hartch Todd
Published: January 2012

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and its sister organization, the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT), have translated the New Testament into more than 700 languages. Under the leadership of Cameron Townsend, an American with missionary experience in Guatemala, the Wycliffe group, as it was called at first, began its work in Mexico in 1933, at a time of great religious upheaval. The secular nationalist government, heirs of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) and enforcers of a new constitution that put onerous restrictions on religious activity, had no desire for missionary activity in Mexico. Townsend therefore presented himself as a “scientific investigator” interested in the plight of Mexican Indians and decided to limit his ministry to translating the Bible into indigenous languages. He and his recruits would not preach or start churches but they would serve Indian communities in practical ways, such as providing medicine and building community gardens, while they studied the language and then translated the Bible.
S
unday,
B
illy
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

William Ashley Sunday, the well‐known traveling evangelist, was born on November 19, 1862, in a log house just south of Ames, Iowa. His father never saw him, for before his son's birth he had joined the Union Army and never came home, having died of an infection. Initially, “Billy,” as he was known, and his two brothers attended a one‐room school near their home, but given the family's poverty, he and his two brothers were soon taken to an orphanage, where he received a relatively good education.
Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022)
Authors: Vlavianos Sotirios
Published: January 2012

Symeon was a monk, recognized as a saint after his death. He was born in 949 in Galatia of Paphlagonia and died in 1022 near Constantinople. He is known as “the New Theologian.” In manuscripts he is also mentioned as “the new,” “the theologian,” “the new and theologian.” He came from a noble family and was educated in Constantinople. He was groomed for a life in politics, but when he was 27 years old, he was accepted as a novice in the Monastery of Stoudio under the guidance of Symeon the Pious (the Eulabes). Later he moved to the Monastery of Saint Mamas where he was tonsured a monk, ordained a priest, and elected as the abbot. Around 996–998 he faced a serious rebellion at his monastery and he was obliged by the ecclesiastical authorities to abandon it. He was exiled to a small town called Paloukiton, near Chrysoupolis, where he founded the Monastery of Saint Marina. A few years later Patriarch Sergios recalled him to Constantinople and offered him a bishop's see. Symeon refused and continued living as a spiritual guide of the faithful and a writer until his death. His disciple Nicetas Stethatos wrote a biography 30 years after Symeon's death, which is the main source of information about his life and teaching. Nicetas also preserved most of Symeon's writings.
Synergism
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

This is a theological term derived from two Greek words:syn(with) andergoi(works), that is, “to work with” God in terms of one's conversion to Christianity. Thus, synergism teaches that human beings are not totally dead spiritually before they convert in becoming Christians, and so they are capable of working with God, the Holy Spirit, to become Christians. They argue that the Bible words, “Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), imply that human beings cooperate in their conversion. They also contend that if human beings are entirely passive in the conversion process, then the conversion is mechanical.
S
yriac
Authors: Pannell Randall J.
Published: January 2012

Syriac (sir'ē‐ă
k
), along with biblical Aramaic, is one of the chief dialects of Old Aramaic. Syriac is “the most richly developed [Aramaic] literature” (Bergsträsser 1983: 76). As the term
Aramaic
came to be associated with “paganism” and “heathenism,” the early Church of Syria and Mesopotamia applied the Greek name
Syriac
to its Aramaic dialect.
Syriac Versions of the Bible
Authors: Amar Joseph P.
Published: January 2012

The Diatessaron (lit. “out of four”), as it is known in Greek, is a Gospel harmony consisting of a continuous narrative of events drawn from the four Gospels. It was compiled by Tatian (d. c.175), a Mesopotamian by birth, and a student of the Roman Justin Martyr, who was not only bilingual in Syriac and Greek, but bicultural as well. Although it remains a question of scholarly debate, the preponderance of evidence suggests that Tatian originally wrote the Diatessaron in Syriac and later translated it into Greek. Beyond doubt, however, is the fact that the Diatessaron was the Gospel text of choice among Syriac‐speaking Christians who referred to it in Syriac as ′
ewangeliôn damhalltê
(“the mixed gospels”) to distinguish it from the four canonical Gospels, ′
ewangeliôn damfarshê
(“the separate gospels”).
T
aylor,
J
ames
H
udson (1832–1905)
Authors: Wilson Douglas K.
Published: January 2012

James Hudson Taylor was born in Yorkshire, where his father served as a pharmacist and Methodist minister. His parents had dedicated him to Christian service even before his birth. He placed his faith in Jesus Christ at 17 and shortly afterwards committed himself to vocational ministry. The young Hudson determined to serve as a medical missionary to China, and received training in medicine and theology before departing for Shanghai in 1854 with the China Evangelization Society.
T
aylor,
W
illiam (1821–1902)
Authors: Lay Robert F.
Published: January 2012

Evangelist, author, and missionary, William Taylor served the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) in a career that spanned more than half a century (1842–1896), during which he pioneered independent evangelical missions to Australia, India, Latin America, and Africa. He was, moreover, America's first missionary bishop to Africa (Hempton 2005: 175).
T
eilhard
D
e
C
hardin (1881–1955)
Authors: Werntz Myles
Published: January 2012

Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born in Orcines, France and served in the Jesuit Order from 1913 to 1955. Teilhard studied theology in Sussex, and perhaps more significantly, paleontology at the Sorbonne. Teaching for a short time at the Catholic Institute of Paris, Teilhard ran afoul of Vatican officials over his statements regarding evolution and the nature of humanity. Consequently, most of his career was spent away from Europe, participating in archaeological digs in China, Africa, and Indonesia, briefly teaching at a Jesuit institution in New York.
Teleology
Authors: Feser Edward
Published: January 2012

Aristotle (384–322bc) held that there are (at least) four distinct and irreducible components to a complete explanation of a thing: itsmaterial cause, the particular stuff out of which it is made; itsformal cause, the specific form or essence that stuff exhibits, and which makes it the kind of thing it is; itsefficient cause, that which brought it into existence; and itsfinal cause, the end, purpose, or function it serves. Hence, to understand what a heart is (for example), we have to understand each of its four causes: that it is made out of a particular kind of muscle tissue; that its form includes the having of ventricles, atria, and so forth; that it appears during embryonic development via such‐and‐such a process; and that it serves the function of pumping blood. In its talk of final causes, Aristotelian philosophy evinces a belief inteleology, viz. the existence of goal‐directedness or purposiveness as an irreducible and objective feature of the natural world.
Televangelism
Authors: Kreider Glenn R.
Published: January 2012

Particularly in the United States, evangelical Christians have used television as a means of evangelism. They created programming and ways to broadcast them in order to spread their influence and to preach the gospel. These television evangelists have come to be known, originally somewhat pejoratively, as televangelists.
Television Ministries
Authors: Bain‐Conkin Jeffrey L.
Published: January 2012

Some Christians have always made use of innovative technologies in communications to spread their evangelistic message. Martin Luther's reforms benefited from the new printing press. George Whitefield and John Wesley utilized newspaper and cheap print in the 18th century. 19th century Protestants organized societies in the United States to publish and distribute small pamphlets, tracts, and Bibles. And 20th century radio evangelists broadcast almost as soon as radio became a mass medium.
Theological Aesthetics
Authors: Garrett Stephen M.
Published: January 2012

Theological aesthetics examines the relationship of God, faith, and theology to human perception (the imagination and sensation), beauty, and the arts. For example, how might one understand the influence of movies, mass media, and the arts on the worship life of the church? What does a theological understanding of beauty imply for the arts? What role does the imagination play in theological method? The answers to these and other similar questions begin to elucidate the complexities, issues, and multifarious content of theological aesthetics.
Theology of the Cross
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

Among Martin Luther's many theological insights and contributions is his concept of the theology of the cross (Latin,
theologia crucis
). In conveying what the theology of the cross means, Luther largely drew his insights from St. Paul, who on more than one occasion spoke of the theology of the cross, although he did not use that exact term. To the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “[T]he word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).
Theonomy
Authors: Green Bradley G.
Published: January 2012

“Theonomy” etymologically means “God's law” (
Theos
=God and
nomos
=law, in Greek). The movement or school of thought known as theonomy has generally contended that the Law of God given to Moses should still be considered to be in force, and that the Mosaic Law should be used as the law of the land in contemporary society. Associated with such advocates as Rousas J. Rushdoony, Gregory L. Bahnsen, and Gary North, theonomy contends that the civil aspects of the Mosaic Law should be seen as the standard for statecraft today. Theonomy is also often called “Christian reconstructionism,” in that it seeks to “reconstruct” all things along explicitly biblical lines.
T
heophilus of
A
ntioch (
d
.
c
.188)
Authors: Parsons Stuart E.
Published: January 2012

Theophilus was the bishop of the church in the great city of Syrian Antioch, and an early Christian apologist. He was active in the 2nd century literary confrontation between pagans and Christians. He served as the sixth Bishop of Antioch, according to the church historian Eusebius. He probably died around 188, when Maximinus became bishop.
Third Wave
Authors: Williams Joseph W.
Published: January 2012

The term “Third Wave” appeared in the 1980s and 1990s and refers to Christians who embrace the type of spiritual phenomena and charismatic gifts often associated with the Pentecostal‐Charismatic movement, but who do not identify themselves as part of traditional Pentecostal denominations (the so‐called “First Wave”) or with the Charismatic Renewal in the Roman Catholic Church and in mainline Protestant churches (the so‐called “Second Wave”). Individuals within the Third Wave affirm the validity of charismatic gifts such as healing, speaking in tongues, prophecy, and deliverance from demons. In general, however, they do not accept the traditional Pentecostal emphasis on the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a distinct experience separate from conversion, nor do they emphasize speaking in tongues as the “initial evidence” that someone has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (as do traditional Pentecostals). Coined in 1983 by C. Peter Wagner (1930–) of Fuller Theological Seminary to highlight these trends among evangelicals and other Christians within mainstream churches, the term Third Wave has come to include independent, indigenous, and postdenominational groups that also fit the above description. (When used in this broader sense, the term “neo‐Charismatic” is frequently substituted in place of Third Wave.) These groups now represent a larger proportion of the worldwide Pentecostal‐Charismatic movement than the first two waves combined.
T
homas à
K
empis (
c
.1380–1471)
Authors: Loyer Kenneth M.
Published: January 2012

Thomas à Kempis, monk and renowned ascetical writer, was born to a poor family in Kempen, near Düsseldorf (modern‐day Germany). He is widely believed to have written
The Imitation of Christ
, which has influenced Christian spirituality perhaps more than any other book except the Bible. In 1399, after his education at Deventer at the school of the Brethren of the Common Life, he entered the monastery of the Augustinian Canons at Mount St. Agnes, near Zwolle, where his elder brother John had become prior. Here Thomas began his long and fruitful life as a monk. He took his solemn vows in 1406 and was ordained priest in 1413. With the exception of one short trip to visit his dying brother (who had gone on to found another monastery), he remained in the monastery at Mount St. Agnes for the rest of his life. In all he lived there for 72 years.
T
iepolo,
G
iambattista (1696–1770)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

The last of the great Venetian religious painters and the exponent of Rococo. He began his career as a fresco painter with a fresco of
Abraham and Jacob
for the palace of the Patriarch of Aquileia in Udine, the
Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew
(1722), and the
Madonna of Mount Carmel
(1721). He also did altarpieces and ceilings. For the Udine Palace he painted an illusionistic ceiling,
The Fall of the Rebel Angels
.
Trinity and Trinitarianism
Authors: Montgomery John Warwick
Published: January 2012

The Trinity is one of the key defining doctrines of historic Christianity, held by all branches of the Christian church, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Trinitarian doctrine asserts that God is one in nature and essence and exists in three equally powerful, equally eternal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This conception of God is taught, implicitly or explicitly, in all three of the “Ecumenical Creeds” of the church: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene‐Constantinopolitan Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
U
niversalism
Authors: Harmon Steven R.
Published: January 2012

Universalism is the belief that God will ultimately grant salvation to all rational creatures. It is one of two historic alternatives within the Christian tradition to the orthodox teaching that the un‐righteous will suffer the everlasting punishment of hell, the other being the final destruction of the unrighteous (annihilationism).
UrbanII,Pope (c.1035–1099; Pontificate from 1088)
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

The family name of Pope Urban II was Otho de Lagery. He was born in about 1035 to a knightly family and received most of his education in Rheims, northern France, where later he became canon and then archdeacon. In 1070 he entered the abbey at Cluny and became grand prior there, where he remained until 1079 or 1080. Before he was elected pope in March 1088, he had been appointed cardinal bishop in Ostia (southwestern Italy) by Pope Gregory VII.
v
an
E
yck,
J
an (1390–1441)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Dutch painter, famous for his Ghent Altar, also known as the
Adoration of the Lamb
, called by Durer a “stupendous painting.” The central scene is set in Paradise representing the Heavenly Jerusalem. The altarpiece, completed in 1482, consists of three parts: a large central area and two wings which close over it, each wing painted on both sides. In all there are 20 panels, of which four on the outside of the wings are again divided into an upper and lower section. Inside the altarpiece is again divided into two. The upper panel represents Christ enthroned as the King of Heaven with the crown of this world at his feet. He is flanked by Virgin Mary on his right as the Queen of Heaven with John the Baptist on his left wearing a robe over his animal skin clothing. This is the Perpetual Sabbath of the Saints and the Heavenly City described in the Book of Revelation. In the wings, the Angel musicians appear on the right and the Angel singers on the left, flanked by Adam and Eve. The large lower panel is actually three panels in which Pilgrims, Hermits, Knights of Christ, and Just Judges worship the Lamb of God. On the exterior of the wings, the upper part contains the Annunciation, with two prophets, Micah and Zechariah, and two sibyls, Erithrea and Cumae. Below are grisaille paintings of fictive statues of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. On the altar is the Lamb of God, blood spurting from his breast into a chalice with the words “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world” and at the bottom the blood flows down toward the physical altar. Adoring the Lamb is a large crowd of more than 300 representing the elect and at the top of the panel is an aureole with a hovering dove representing the Holy Spirit. On the outside of the panel is the
Annunciation
in two small panels showing Adam and Eve with emblems of the Old Testament and the symbols of the Annunciation, as the water vessel and basin and the hanging towel. When open, the panel is 12 feet high by 18 feet wide
V
aughan
W
illiams,
R
alph (1872–1958)
Authors: Montgomery John Warwick
Published: January 2012

Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) is often interpreted from the standpoint of his quintessential Englishness, as manifested in the clear influence of Tudor music and the English folk song and dance on his work. Simon Heffer says of him that he challenges “Elgar's hitherto unquestioned supremacy as the leading composer of the English musical renaissance.”
V
ieira,
A
ntonio (1608–1697)
Authors: Macy Gary
Published: January 2012

Antonio Vieira, Portuguese theologian, was born in Lisbon but moved to Bahia in Brazil when he was 6. He entered the Jesuit Order in 1623 and for 17 years he taught at the Jesuit College and worked in the missions. In 1641 he returned to Lisbon along with his fellow Jesuit Vasconcelos in order to assure Joâo IV, the king of the newly independent Portugal, of the loyalty of Brazil. His preaching so earned the appreciation of the court that the king appointed him tutor to the infanta and preacher to the royal court in 1644. He went on several diplomatic missions for Portugal until he was sent back to the missions of Brazil by the Jesuits in 1652. There Vieira worked relentlessly to uphold the freedom of the indigenous peoples against the exploitation of the colonists. In 1654 he returned to Portugal where he successfully argued in the defense of the indigenous peoples, resulting in a new law protecting them as well as the appointment of a new governor. Vieira returned to Brazil only to be expelled by the landowners in 1661 for his work in behalf of the natives. Upon his return to Portugal Vieira was tried by the Inquisition for his prophetic writings. Vieira traveled to Rome in 1669 to request that the papacy overturn the condemnation of the Inquisition. Not only was he successful in his own cause, but also his sermons in defense of converted Jews won a wide audience, including Queen Christina of Sweden. In 1681, he returned to Brazil where he continued his defense of indigenous rights. From 1688 until 1691, he was visitor‐general of Brazil. Vieira is best known for his powerful sermons which have been collected and published, as have his letters. His prophetic works include, most notably, the
Históra do futuro
(History of the Future) and the
Esperanças de Portugal
(Hopes of Portugal).
V
ladimir of
K
iev,
P
rince (
c
.958–1015)
Authors: Kenworthy Scott M.
Published: January 2012

St. Vladimir Sviatoslavich was responsible for the baptism of Rus, the first kingdom of the Eastern Slavs (precursor of modern Russia and Ukraine).
v
on
S
taupitz,
J
ohann (
c
.1465–1524)
Authors: Posset Franz
Published: January 2012

German. Born in Motterwitz, Saxony, to a noble family. He studied at Leipzig in 1485, joined the Augustinian Order, and in 1500 earned his doctorate in theology at Tübingen. In 1503 he was elected vicar‐general of the Saxon Reform Congregation of the Augustinian Friars. His sermons treat the priority of God's mercy and sweetness. He became a friend of the humanists, and a promoter of good pastoral care. By 1506 he published in print the Constitutions of his Order at Nuremberg. He was among the founding members of the new University of Wittenberg in 1502 where he taught biblical theology. He accepted Martin Luther into his Order and made him his successor as professor in 1512. His leadership in the Order required him to travel to the Netherlands and Belgium. He became a prominent preacher and author of popular booklets on the Christian faith. He preached on Christ's passion at Salzburg in 1512 and in 1518. In 1514/1515 he may have aspired to become bishop of Salzburg‐Chiemsee. In 1515 he published a book on discipleship and the art of dying. He published his Nuremberg sermons in 1517 in Latin and in German. The humanist sodality at Nuremberg was named after him. A copy of his most successful booklet,
On the Love of God
(1517/18), was signed by Martin Luther who sent it to his mother. In 1518 Staupitz let Luther discuss his theology at the Heidelberg Disputation. He invited Luther to escape his troubles and move to the Order's facilities in Salzburg. He was at Luther's side in Augsburg when in October 1518 Cardinal Cajetan interrogated him. In 1520 Staupitz preached in Salzburg on standing up for the “Evangelical Truth.” He resigned from the office of vicar‐general in 1520, and after receiving papal dispensation to join the Benedictines in 1522, he was made abbot of St. Peter in Salzburg, after Cardinal Matthew Lang, archbishop of Salzburg, had deposed Abbot Simon. In 1520 Staupitz was requested to revoke and abjure any assumed Lutheran positions. He refused, saying that there was no need to revoke what he had never asserted. Philip Melanchthon confirmed that “Staupitz was no apostate” (that is from Luther's cause). Staupitz saved the evangelical (friendly to Luther) Augustinian Friar Stephan Agricola from further persecution in 1523. Staupitz continued to preach at Salzburg during Lent of 1523. Shortly before his death he wrote a letter to Luther expressing continued friendship, and that he wished he could meet with him for just one more hour and open the secrets of his heart to him.
Waldenses
Authors: Lee Jason K.
Published: January 2012

The Waldenses (also Vaudois or Waldensians) take their name from the region of northern Italy and southern France in the Piedmont of the Alps. The Waldenses were also called “Poor Men of Lyons” because they practiced voluntary poverty. Preceding the Franciscans by several decades, the Waldenses had similar practices of preaching and begging. However, where the Franciscans became an official order in the Roman Catholic Church, the Waldenses' relationship with the church went from uneasiness to opposition. By the early 13th century, the Waldenses were the targets of persecution and inquisition. The Waldenses survived in the Piedmont region with varying numbers in southern France, northern Italy, and western Germany. Their population waxed (through furtive evangelistic efforts) and waned (through intense persecution) for three centuries, until many of the Waldenses amalgamated into the Swiss Reformed movement in the mid 16th century.
W
eil,
S
imone (1909–1943)
Authors: Meaney Marie Cabaud
Published: January 2012

Simone Weil was born February 3, 1909, in Paris as the second child of Selma and Bernard Weil. Early on she attained the certitude that truth could be found by anyone who unremittingly searched for it. Thus her whole life as a philosophy teacher, as a writer, and even as an industrial worker in 1934 and 1935 was shaped by this search for and service to truth.
W
esley,
C
harles (1707–1788)
Authors: Loyer Kenneth M.
Published: January 2012

Charles Wesley was an Anglican priest, a cofounder with his elder brother John of the Methodist movement, and a prolific hymn writer. Born into the large family of Samuel and Susanna Wesley in the parish of Epworth, Lincolnshire, Charles studied at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a leading member of a group of devout young men who met regularly for prayer, study of the scriptures, communion, and ministry to prisoners and the sick. Derided by its detractors as “Bible Moths,” the “Holy Club,” and “Methodists,” this group eventually became known by the latter designation, a reference to the methodical way of life its members embraced. In 1735 Charles was ordained and then accompanied John on a missionary trip to Georgia, where he served as secretary to the colony's leader, J. E. Oglethorpe. Charles remained in Georgia only until 1736, when he returned to England. Like John he came under the influence of Peter Böhler and the Moravians, who impressed Charles with their emphasis on robust, evangelical faith made manifest through personal assurance of having received God's pardoning grace. Charles experienced such assurance himself on May 21, 1738, and three days later John underwent a similar “heartwarming” experience of his own. In 1739 Charles entered the itinerant ministry, in which he occupied himself with preaching, traveling, and hymn writing until he settled in Bristol in 1756. For the last seven of those years he managed to balance his work in itinerant ministry with family life, having married Sarah Gwynne in April 1749. Although his days as an itinerant ended in 1756, Charles remained active in the Methodist movement, chiefly from his home in Bristol, and then later in London, where he and his family moved in 1771.
W
ilder,
R
obert
P
armelee (1863–1938)
Authors: Patterson James A.
Published: January 2012

American. Born in Kohlapur, India, August 2, 1863, to missionary parents, Royal Gould and Eliza Jane Wilder. In 1875 the family moved to Princeton, New Jersey, because of his father's poor health. After attending preparatory schools in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Robert entered the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1881, where he helped to organize the Princeton Foreign Missionary Society in 1883. Following graduation in 1886, he attended revivalist D. L. Moody's summer Bible conference at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, where one hundred students signed a pledge to become foreign missionaries. This event laid the ground‐work for the rise of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions and its famous motto, “The Evangelization of the World in This Generation.”
Women in Early Christianity
Authors: Gillman Florence Morgan
Published: January 2012

The need for compilation of data and careful assessment about women in early Christianity came to the fore acutely in the late 19th century in the United States when the movement toward enfranchising women as well as the debate concerning the ordination of women in various Protestant denominations was gaining momentum. Feeling that the Bible was actually misused to undergird and defend modern patriarchy, and in response to those who argued against the ordination of women on the grounds that women were supposedly never leaders in early Christianity, some scholars increased examination of the biblical texts regarding women. Their work actually underscored that women, even within the patriarchal parameters reflected in the nascent churches' history, had in fact been among the most significant of early Christian figures. For example, women had been prominent Christian teachers, house church leaders, deacons, etc. Some 19th century female analysts of the Bible, however, also observed that even as the biblical texts reflected a measure of data about women, at the same time the texts, none of which scholarship judges to have been written by a female, were solely maleoriented due to their authors' patriarchal worldviews. The texts thus alsoconcealedto a great extent the actual role of women which they at the same time marginally recorded. A notable publication in this context was the two volume commentary on many books of the Bible entitledThe Woman's Bible(1895, 1898) by the suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a group of female colleagues called the Revising Committee, among them Susan B. Anthony. Cady Stanton and her committee literally went through the text of the complete Bible and cut out every passage which related to women, pasted those excisions on blank pages, and then placed their feminist commentary below each text. Because the various academic women who had training in biblical languages and scholarship at the time were adamantly unwilling to participate in Cady Stanton's project, and thereby jeopardize their university positions,The Woman's Biblewas not, even by the standards of its day, considered to be a scholarly compilation. Nevertheless, some groundwork had been laid for numerous developments in the second half of the next century regarding the women of the Bible.
Word of God
Authors: Thompson Mark D.
Published: January 2012

The expression “Word of God” is a very significant one in almost every branch of Christianity, arising as much from its prominence in the theology of the Bible as from theological reflection over the centuries. The God of Scripture is a God who speaks. The biblical meganarrative is framed at either end by the words God speaks: “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3) and “Behold I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). To take God seriously is to take God's words seriously. He has determined how he is to be conceived and what is the proper response to what he has done (Deut. 12:29–32).
Y
oder,
J
ohn
H
oward (1927–1997)
Authors: Hill Bracy V.
Published: January 2012

Theologian, ethicist, historian, pacifist. Born in Smithfield, Ohio to a family with Amish Mennonite heritage, Yoder was reared in an educated Mennonite community. Yoder attended public schools and augmented his high school education with classes from the Presbyterian school, The College of Wooster. He received a Bachelor's degree from Goshen College, studying under the influential church‐historian, Harold S. Bender, who had recently published “The Anabaptist Vision” (1944).
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith
Authors: Stewart Alexander Constantine
Published: January 2012

Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (COOLC) is the second largest African American Oneness Pentecostal denomination in the United States, following that of its parent body, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Owing to its stance on sanctification, it is also known as a Holiness church. It is distinguished from other Holiness groups in that its theology is Oneness, rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, evident by glossalalia (speaking in unknown languages), is necessary for salvation, water baptism is by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and women are not ordained to the clergy. The women are also required to dress in modest apparel and wear head coverings during worship, as a sign of submission to male headship.
V
eniaminov,
I
nnocent (1797–1878)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L.
Published: January 2012

Innocent Veniaminov (John Popov) was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest to eastern Siberia and Alaska. In 1823 Veniaminov went with his wife Catherine and family to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. His ministry from the beginning had three goals: to visit the people of the surrounding islands; to create a place where the natives could hear the word of God; and to preach in the indigenous language. He considered his first duty to teach the Bible to the inhabitants. Yet because they were scattered over large distances he also made translation a priority so that the Aleut people might read and listen to God's word in their mother tongue.
L
awson,
R
obert
C
larence (1883–1961)
Authors: Stewart Alexander Constantine
Published: January 2012

Robert Clarence Lawson, African American community activist and religious leader in the United States, was born on May 5, 1883 in New Iberia, Louisiana and was a nightclub and tavern singer before his conversion in 1913 at the Apostolic Faith Assembly (Pentecostal Assemblies of the World) in Indianapolis, Indiana pastored by Elder Garfield Thomas Haywood (1880–1931). Under the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Lawson became a general elder and founded three churches, the Holy Temple Church of Christ, St. Louis, Missouri, the Greater Park Lincoln Church, San Antonio, Texas, and the Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Columbus, Ohio. In 1918, he resigned from the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World over his views on divorce and remarriage and women in the clergy.
I
vanovsky,
P
aul (1875–1920)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L.
Published: January 2012

The Russian Orthodox monk Paul Ivanovsky was sent first as a missionary to Zabaikal (present‐day Buryat Republic) and then after studying Korean at the Vladivostok Oriental Institute, in 1906 to the Korean mission in Seoul as the second archimandrite, directing it for 6 years.
Risen Christ
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ has been the very pillar of Christianity from its beginning. It stands or falls with the historicity of Christ's bodily resurrection, that is, whether it happened as an event in history. Paul in his letter to the Corinthian Christians clearly stated, “If Christ is risen, your faith is futile; you are still in our sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). Thus, if Christ's resurrection did not occur in history, a Christian's faith is no better than no faith at all.
Alexandria
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

City in Egypt on the Mediterranean. Alexandria played an important role in the diffusion of Christianity in the Hellenistic culture of the early Christian centuries. With Athens and Antioch it was one of the three poles of Greek culture which dominated the 1st century Mediterranean world. It sheltered a strong Jewish colony and it was the center of learning, especially in theology, philology, and philosophy. Eusebius mentions St. Mark as the proto‐Evangelist of Egypt and the See of Alexandria has always been the See of St. Mark. It is today the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.
Antioch
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

City in Syria founded in 300
bc
by Seleucus I Nicator, son of Antiochus. It was the capital of the Seleucid Empire. It was the city in which the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. It became a center of Christian activity with Paul promoting the conversion of gentiles to the faith. It survived a series of persecutions and recovered under Constantine. In 390 John Chrysostom considered the city entirely Christian with few Jews and pagans. Growth of the church in the city and the evangelization of the countryside resulted in the establishment of numerous churches, especially the Great Church, with the octagonal central plan and the gilded dome begun by Constantine and finished by Constantius. John Chrysostom preached in the cathedral regularly.
B
oardman,
W
illiam
E
dwin (1810–1886)
Authors: Williams Roy
Published: January 2012

Presbyterian pastor, American Sabbath School missionary, American Home Missionary Society missionary, Secretary of the United States Christian Commission, evangelist, author, a leader of the non‐Methodist phalanx of the Holiness Movement in the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, and Germany, and a proponent of divine healing.
Canonization
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Sainthood is the highest honor bestowed by the Catholic Church. The process of conferring this honor is known as canonization which, since the 13th century, is a function reserved to the pope. Canonization confirms that the person canonized is worthy of the veneration of the faithful. This veneration is known as
dulia
(and the veneration of Virgin Mary as
hyperdulia
) while the worship due to God is known as
latria
. Specially worthy of veneration are those saints who are invoked for miraculous interventions in human lives and martyrs who have been killed for their faith. Saints are believed to possess special charisma or
baraka
and to exude an aura of sanctity. Their resting places or graves are sites of pilgrimages. Catholics make special vows when invoking their help. Saints have special graces, and patron saints are believed to watch over entire professional groups and to dispense special favors.
L
actantius,
L
ucius
C
aecilius
F
irmianus (240–330)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Latin Christian apologist. Born in proconsular Africa, he was converted to Christianity during his stay in Bithynia. At Nicomedia, he came to know the young Constantine. Once emperor, Constantine called him to Trier in Gaul and he became the emperor's counselor and friend.