bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
H
esychasm
Authors: Foltz Bruce V.
Published: January 2012

The Greek word
hesychia
means stillness, rest, quietness, and tranquility. Thus, in its broadest sense, Hesychasm as the characteristic spiritual orientation of the Eastern Church refers to the quieting of thoughts, passions, and desires — especially employing
nepsis
, mindfulness or watchfulness, toward them — in order to draw near to God in a prayerful, contemplative manner, consonant with the admonition in Psalm 46 (45, LXX): “Be still and know that I am God.” Though often associated with the spirituality of Mt. Athos, it has earlier origins in the monastic domains of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, and Cappadocia; it received some of its most import‐ant formulations in the monastic centers of Russia and other Slavic lands; and it is readily identifiable throughout the whole of Orthodox spirituality to this day. Its great compendium is the five‐volume
Philokalia
, a collection of spiritual writings from the 4th to the 15th centuries, first compiled in 1782 by SS. Macarius of Corinth and Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, and later translated into Slavonic by St. Paisy Velichkovsky (1792) and into Russian by St. Theophan the Recluse (1876–1890).
H
ilton,
W
alter (
d
. 1396)
Authors: Condict Ellen
Published: January 2012

Walter Hilton was a late 14th century Augustinian canon who settled in his later years at the Priory of Thurgarton in Nottingham, England. Little is known of the life of Hilton, but it seems he was first a layman, trained as a canon lawyer, then a solitary recluse before joining the religious community under ecclesiastical rule. The obscurity of Hilton's personal life is a reflection of the major themes of his work; his humility and gentle self‐effacement are products of the maturing of faith he calls his readers to, a process of recognizing the truth of the soul's condition and replacing its innate self‐centeredness with an interior resting in the truth of Christ. Conveying his personal spiritual experience is not Hilton's intent. He goes so far as to assert that he did not practice the art of contemplation himself, though his writing makes evident that he had experience with the deep spiritual joy he describes.
Historiography, Christian
Authors: Bain‐Conkin Jeffrey L.
Published: January 2012

Not only written by the winners, history also usually demonstrates the winning. The early examples of Christian historiography revealed such an approach. The first historical accounts of the church — besides canonical and extra‐canonical works — were written during Constantine's attempt to unite Christianity into a public religion for his Roman Empire. These histories recounted forgotten heresies and defeated sects. Church history would remain a tool of institutional Christianity for centuries.
H
odge,
C
harles (1797–1878)
Authors: Rios Christopher M.
Published: January 2012

A conservative Presbyterian theologian and enduring figure at Princeton Theological Seminary, Charles Hodge's staunch defense of Reformed theology shaped a significant portion of American religion well into the 20th century. Hodge was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Hugh Hodge and Mary Blanchard. In 1812 he moved to Princeton and entered the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), graduating in 1815. Hodge entered Princeton Seminary in 1816, graduating in 1819.
Holiness Movement
Authors: Lay Robert F.
Published: January 2012

Holiness is the central attribute of God and fundamental to a relationship with God, a requirement fulfilled only in Christ (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:15–16). As a way of Christian living, “holiness” describes a worldwide movement with millions of adherents who strive to live according to the biblical pattern, and who testify to Christ's redeeming power over sin. Marked by varying degrees of separation from the world, Holiness believers also hold that guidance by the Holy Spirit supersedes ecclesiastical control. This way has been promoted by camp meeting organizations, institutionalized in church denominations, and conveyed by independent Holiness teachers and evangelists.
Homosexuality
Authors: Williams Howell
Published: January 2012

Since the founding of Christian churches, theologians, congregations, and religious professionals have discussed and regulated sexual ethics. In the 20th century, however, Christians confronted a new type of sexual identity: homosexuality. Churches have long debated issues and expressions of human sexuality, but the term “homosexuality,” which describes attraction and sexual behavior between people of the same sex, is relatively modern in western history. Late 19th century German psychologists first classified homosexuality as a type of pathological disorder. It was not until the second half of the 20th century that individuals and social groups adopted the term “homosexuality” as a descriptor of sexual orientation and identity. Early homosexual groups in the United States and in parts of Europe challenged pejorative medical and social‐scientific understandings of same‐sex desire. At first they began meeting secretly to share common experiences of police harassment and public discrimination. Later they extended the conversation to educating their communities about homosexuality and critiquing homophobia, or a person's irrational fear, even hatred, toward homosexuals.
Hope
Authors: Doyle Dominic
Published: January 2012

The desire for a future, difficult, yet possible good; in theological terms, the graced movement toward union with God that is offered through God's unrestricted mercy and achieved through God's omnipotent help. Hope is the signature virtue of a people who consider themselves pilgrims “on the way” to fulfillment, and so desiring complete happiness with God, but still subject to suffering and death, and so in need of God's help.
H
opkins,
G
erard
M
anley (1844–1889)
Authors: Veith Gene Edward
Published: January 2012

English poet, born in Stratford, Essex, on July 28, 1844. His father, Manley, ran an insurance company and was an amateur writer, publishing nonfiction and a volume of poetry. His mother, Kate, published a memoir of her life. Gerard was the oldest of eight children.
House Churches
Authors: Tucker J. Brian
Published: January 2012

House churches refer to the use of domestic structures for temporary religious purposes within the early Christ‐movement. These structures were not architecturally transformed into church buildings but continued to function as households. The biblical material provides textual evidence of this type of gathering within the earliest period of the Christ‐movement, though no archaeological evidence has been uncovered, primarily due to the fact that these structures were unchanged architecturally. The Pauline communities, built primarily on household conversions, were structured in this manner (1 Cor. 1:16; 16:15) and Paul alludes to community gatherings taking place in houses (1 Cor. 16:19; Rom. 16:5; Philem. 2). In the book of Acts, written later than Paul's letters, one finds recollections of the early Jesus‐movement following a similar pattern: building on household conversions (Acts 16:15, 34; 18:8) and temporarily meeting in houses (Acts 2:46; 5:42). Also, there is textual evidence that the second generation of Christ‐followers, for example in Laodicea, continued to meet in private homes (Col. 4:15).
H
utter,
J
acob and the Hutterites
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

Jacob Hutter was born in about 1500 in the Puster Valley in Tyrol (then South Germany). His church reforming ideas had more in common with the radical reformers than with Martin Luther. He was one of the Anabaptists (rebaptizers in Latin), who rejected infant baptism, and so he and his followers had themselves rebaptized.
Hypocrisy
Authors: Spiegel James S.
Published: January 2012

The terms “hypocrite” and “hypocrisy” derive from the Greekhypokrisia(alsohypokrisis), which means “to play a part on stage.” Jesus Christ appears to have been the first to use the term as a moral pejorative, chastising the Pharisees for their sham righteousness (Mart. 6:2–5 and Matt. 23:25–27), moral inconsistency (Luke 13:10–17), and moral complacency (Matt. 23:23–24). But paradigm cases of hypocrisy are those involving pretense, as a person puts on a show of being better than she really is. Thus Aquinas conceives hypocrisy as “a lie told by the signs of outward deeds.”
Impeccability
Authors: Bigalke Ron J.
Published: January 2012

Impeccability is the characteristic of being unable to sin not simply the mere absence of sin. The doctrine could refer to the entire Godhead, but more often it is specifically attributed to the earthly life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Impeccability is a theological term derived from the Latin phrase
non potuit peccare
which means “unable to sin,” whereas peccable means “able not to sin” (
potuit non peccare
).
Indulgences
Authors: Schirrmacher Thomas
Published: January 2012

Indulgences (Latinindulgentia) are the full or partial remission of temporal punishment. They are a Roman Catholic practice, based on doctrines, developed in medieval times. Originally, the indulgence was received in return for acts of piety and social concern, and then increasingly for money given to a good cause. Luther's repudiation of the practice initiated the Reformation in central Europe.
Inquisition
Authors: Oderberg David S.
Published: January 2012

The term “inquisition” comes from the Latin “inquiro” = “inquire into”, “collect evidence.” It refers to an ecclesiastical tribunal set up by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages for the combat, suppression, and punishment of heresy.
Irenism
Authors: Bigalke Ron J.
Published: January 2012

Irenism (from the Greek for “peace”) is an ideology begun in the period of the Protestant Reformation as ecclesiastical and political interests were debated and dialogued. Irenic movements intend to resolve theological disagreements by way of consensus and generally devalue divergences. Irenics is in contrast to polemics (although it is possible to have a spirit of both). Theological literature of the late 17th century is primarily either irenic or polemic. The practice of polemics is by means of debates, dialogues, and refutations of the beliefs and/or practices of those outside the boundary (pale) of a doctrinally orthodox church, but who are insistent on being regarded as Christian. The practice of irenics is by means of debates and dialogues of Christian doctrines with other Christians who are doctrinally orthodox, but with whom there is reasonable theological disagreement. An irenic individual may be regarded as affirming a balanced approach to debated questions.
I
saac,
H
einrich (
c
.1450–1517)
Authors: McElwain Randall D.
Published: January 2012

A native of Flanders, the composer Heinrich Isaac combined musical traits from Flanders, the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Germany into an international Renaissance style. Isaac was closely associated with the Medici family, the most powerful family of the Italian Renaissance. He taught the children of Lorenzo the Magnificent, including Giovanni di Lorenzo de'Medici, the future Pope Leo X. During his years with the Medici family, he composed Italian songs, motets, and masses. With Savonarola's rise to power in 1494, the Medici family was banished from Florence and Isaac was forced to seek employment elsewhere. In 1497 he was appointed court composer under Emperor Maximilian I at Vienna and Innsbruck. The last 20 years of his life were spent in this position, although he continued to visit Florence, where his wife came from.
J
acob of
S
arugh (451–521)
Authors: Amar Joseph P.
Published: January 2012

Jacob is considered by many to be the finest Syriac poet after Ephrem himself. He was born in Kurtam on the Euphrates River and became a rural bishop (“Chorepiscopus”) of Batnan of Sarugh in 519. He produced a large number of
mimrê
(“metrical homilies”) composed in hemi‐styches of 12 syllables, a great number of which are as yet unpublished. Most deal with biblical topics presented in strikingly creative ways. The exegetical influence of Theodore of Mopsuestia is an obvious legacy of Jacob's education at the Persian School in Edessa. Jacob favorite topics include biblical themes, liturgical celebrations, and the ascetical life. His approach is essentially pastoral; he writes on the Virgin Mary and the saints as models of evangelical virtue and discipleship.
J
affray,
R
obert (1873–1945)
Authors: Poston Larry
Published: January 2012

Robert Alexander Jaffray was a Canadian missionary to China, Indochina, and Indonesia with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Jerome,Saint (331?/347–420)
Authors: Hamilton Mark W.
Published: January 2012

Best known for his Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate (391–405), Jerome also was a prolific writer of letters, biblical commentaries, sermons, and theological tracts, as well as a translator of many Greek works into Latin. As a child of the Constantinian age, he helped unify the emerging Catholic Church by contributing to its emerging creedal and theological language.
JohnDamascene, Saint (c.676–c.750)
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

St. John Damascene was born in about 676 of wealthy, pious parents and baptized as John Mansour in Damascus, Syria. In ecclesiastical circles, he is also known as John of Damascus. His father held a high‐ranking civil service position as chief financial officer for Abdul Malek, under the Muslim caliph.
J
oseph of
V
olokalamsk (1439–1515)
Authors: Paffhausen Archimandrite Jonah
Published: January 2012

Saint Joseph of Volokalamsk, or Iosif Volotsky, sometimes called “the Father of Medieval Russia,” was an influential figure in early Russian theology and ecclesiology. He was born into a wealthy family of
votchinnik
, large estate owners with legal rights over their populations, who owned a village in Volokalamsk Principality. Joseph was tonsured as a monk at Borovsk Monastery in 1459, where he attempted to introduce stricter monastic discipline. Failing in this, and disappointed with the laxity at several other monasteries, he went on in 1459 to found the important Volokalamsk Monastery near Moscow, and established a charter emphasizing stringent obedience to the abbot and strict observance of monastic rules.
JustinianI(483–565)
Authors: Laing Jacqueline
Published: January 2012

Byzantine emperor, born in 483 at Tauresium in Illyricum (now Skopje, Macedonia). He is best remembered for his codification of laws, military acumen, ecclesiastical contribution, and encouragement of Christian architecture. In the Orthodox Church he is regarded a saint, whose feast day falls on November 14th.
K
eble,
J
ohn (1792–1866)
Authors: Faught C. Brad
Published: January 2012

Born into an England presided over by King George III, John Keble became a leading churchman in the Victorian age and a central figure in the history of the Oxford Movement. Hailing from Fairford in Gloucestershire, Keble's father, also named John, was a saintly rural vicar, staunchly High Church in religion and firmly Tory in political conviction. His influence over the younger Keble was decisive.
K
nox,
J
ohn (1514–1572)
Authors: Whiting Michael
Published: January 2012

Known as the “Thundering Scot,” Knox was born around the year 1514 in the small town of Haddington east of Edinburgh. Educated in theology at St. Andrews University, he was ordained as a priest in 1536. Lollard and Hussite dissent had spread to Scotland in the previous century, and by the time Knox began studies at St. Andrews the works of Protestant reformers had penetrated coastal ports. By 1541–1542 Knox had “converted” to the new faith. During a brief period of toleration, he developed a reputation as a catechist and became an armed escort for a Protestant preacher, but the ruling Regent soon broke peace with England to realign traditional ties with Ultra‐Montanist France. The execution of a Protestant preacher incited retaliation and resulted in the assassination of the archbishop of St. Andrews. Knox eventually joined revolutionaries at the castle during a truce and reluctantly became its preacher. In 1547 surrender was made to the French and Knox was enslaved on board a French galley.
K
oinonia
Authors: Hayes Patrick J.
Published: January 2012

A theological term for the church that designates a move toward unity even while affirming difference. In Greek, it conveys an idea that does not translate precisely into English and so can mean “being of one mind,” “fellowship,” “partnership,” “participation in,” “communion.” Different versions of the New Testament translate koinonia variously. The patristic era linked koinonia to baptism, which becomes an entryway into the common life of the church and binds the baptized to Christ. The medievals stressed the Eucharist. Conciliarist tendencies in the 14th and 15th centuries opened the way toward an imprecise, if well intentioned, development in the relations carried on between the pope and bishops. Vatican II employs the term koinonia or communion in several of its documents and is taken as a decisive ecclesiological key. Koinonia is often used to express ecumenical relationships that exist already or are on their way to forming a bond, such as pulpitsharing agreements like those of the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, both in America. For some, however, the true threshold of koinonia is whether two ecclesial communities or churches may engage in
communio in sacris
. It is still an open question whether that threshold is an ultimate goal of koinonia or whether it comes as a recognition of koinonia already having been established or sought. In this respect, the notion of koinonia has been criticized by some as a panacea, or even a valueless term, perhaps because it has been used so frequently that it can no longer sustain the aspects of authentic difference it was meant to carry. Current theology of koinonia denies that it is a sociological concept, nor one derived from ethics, but one suggestive of the church as a reflection of the divine koinonia — the interrelatedness of the Triune Being‐in‐Love.
K
raemer,
H
endrik (1888–1965)
Authors: Poston Larry
Published: January 2012

Hendrik Kraemer was a Dutch ecumenical leader, professor of Comparative Religions, missiologist, and missionary to Indonesia.
L
atin
A
merica, Catholic Lay Movements In
Authors: Mallimaci Fortunato , Donatello Luis Miguel
Published: January 2012

The Catholic lay movements (CLMs), which represent the church in action, are characterized by dynamism and creativity. Though they may be based in different dioceses of the Catholic Church, these movements function with relative autonomy. One of their central features is, unsurprisingly, their engagement with the search for social cohesion and a sense of identity among the poorer people in Latin America. “The option for the poor” is not merely a rhetorical formula of the CLMs but has its basis in the Bible. Fundamental to the movements are the different social sectors that were victims of successive processes of exclusion in the continent — workers, peasants without land, indigenous peoples, and women.
Lebanese Christianity
Authors: Childers J. W.
Published: January 2012

The origins and development of Lebanese Christianity are bound up with the history of the Maronites, by whose name the historic Lebanese Church is generally identified. The Antiochian Syrian Maronite Church is Uniate Catholic, having accepted the authority of Rome since the time of the crusades. It comprises about 20 percent of Lebanon's population and includes many other Maronite Christians worldwide. In the modern period Maronite scholars have been instrumental in making western scholarship aware of the resources of the rich Oriental Orthodox traditions, especially the Syriac. Lebanon is presently home to many different Christian groups but the Maronite Church is by far the largest.
L
iszt,
F
ranz (1811–1886)
Authors: McElwain Randall D.
Published: January 2012

One of the most forward‐looking musicians of the Romantic era, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt excelled in various musical pursuits. As a composer he developed new compositional techniques; as a pianist he formed a new style of pianism; as a conductor he tirelessly promoted the music of his contemporaries; as a teacher he influenced most of the leading pianists of the next generation; and as a Christian Liszt fought a lifelong battle to balance his worldly ambitions and spiritual aspirations.
L
ord's
P
rayer
Authors: Gagnon Robert A. J.
Published: January 2012

The Lord's Prayer has exerted an enormous influence on Christian civilization for the simple reason that it is the only model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray. This prayer, then, and not the recently popularized “Prayer of Jabez” (1 Chr. 4:9–10), is entitled to the preeminent place in the church's prayer life, not merely as a rote verbatim liturgical recitation but as a pedagogical tool for teaching people the epitome of Jesus' teaching and specifically
what
his followers should and should not desire and ask for in their prayer life.
Mandylion
Authors: Jothen Peder
Published: January 2012

The Mandylion is a cloth imprinted with the image of Christ's face and is the first Christian icon. In the Orthodox tradition, it is the “icon not made by human hands.” The earliest mention of this image is in the
Doctrine of Addai
(5th century).
M
aritain,
J
acques (1882–1973)
Authors: Coulter Michael
Published: January 2012

Jacques Maritain (1882–1973) is regarded as one of the most important Catholic intellectuals of the 20th century. Born in Paris, the son of Paul Maritain and Geneviève Favre, Maritain studied at the Lycée Henri IV (1898–1899) in Paris and pursued degrees in philosophy and the natural sciences at the Sorbonne (1900–1902). At the Sorbonne, or University of Paris, Maritain met his future wife Raissa Oumansoff, a Russian Jew. Together Maritain and Raissa attended lectures by Henri Bergson, an important Catholic intellectual at the Collège de France, that led to their 1906 conversion to Catholicism.
M
ason,
L
owell (1792–1872)
Authors: McElwain Randall D.
Published: January 2012

The American music educator and hymnist Lowell Mason was born in Bedford, Massachusetts on January 8, 1792, and died in Orange, New Jersey on August 11, 1872. Mason began directing choir and organizing singing schools at the age of 16; at the age of 20 he took a position as organist and choir director at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia. An early example of his lifelong social activism was his successful effort to admit black children to the Sunday School program he directed in Savannah.
Maximus the Confessor (580–662)
Authors: Foltz Bruce V.
Published: January 2012

St. Maximus the Confessor has long been seen within the Byzantine tradition as both its greatest theologian and its most important philosopher, and his significance is now becoming increasingly recognized in the West. Maximus was a Byzantine aristocrat, once serving as head of the Imperial Chancellery under the Emperor Heraclius in Constantinople. In 614, he entered the monastery at Chrysopolis, across the Bosphorus from Constantinople, where he became its abbot. Persian incursions into Anatolia and the great siege of Constantinople caused him to flee the area in 626, first to Crete and Cyprus, and finally to Byzantine North Africa in 630, where he did some of his most important writing. It was here that he was drawn into the Monothelite Controversy, theological successor to the Monophysite Controversy that had earlier split the unity of the church with its claim that Christ had only one nature. Conceding the Chalcedonian teaching that affirmed two natures, both divine and human, the Monothelites maintained rather that Christ had only one will, a divine will but not a human will, a view that was favored by the Emperor and by the Patriarch of Constantinople as a sensible compromise, and who both sought to restore the unity lost in the Monophysite Controversy. Maximus strongly opposed the Monthelite view, which still seemed to compromise the humanity of Christ, and entered into a famous debate at Carthage with the former Byzantine Patriarch, Pyrrhus, in 645. Maximus prevailed in the debate, convincing even Pyrrhus, and went to Rome in 647, where he served as advisor to the Lateran Council of 649, which affirmed Chalcedon against the Monothelites. For this, he was arrested by the Emperor, Constans II, and brought to Constantinople in 653 for a series of interrogations and trials. For his refusal to recant, he was tortured, hence his designation as “confessor.” According to tradition, the appendages by means of which he had defied the emperor, his tongue and his right hand, were both severed from his body. After this mutilation, he was sent into exile in the Caucasus Mountains, probably in Georgia, but he died soon thereafter, most likely from his injuries.
Mechthild ofHackeborn (1241–c.1298)
Authors: Grimes Laura M.
Published: January 2012

Mechthild of Hackeborn was a nun and mystic of the medieval German monastery of St. Mary at Helfta. She entered the house as a 7 year old child oblate, joining her elder sister Gertrude of Hackeborn. Gertrude soon became the abbess; after Mechthild grew up she became choir director and chantress and was called “the nightingale of Christ.” Mechthild had mystical experiences from childhood, but only after her sister's death in 1291 did Mechthild begin to reveal her visions. Two other members of the community then compiled them, at first without her knowledge, into theLiber specialis gratiae, orBook of Special Grace. The work was initially composed of five books of Mechthild's visions, preceded by a brief biographical notice. Then two additional books were written expanding on the holy deaths and posthumous glory of Gertrude of Hackeborn and Mechthild herself. The book was most influential through its Middle English adaptation,The Book of Gostlye Grace. (The title change derived from an incorrect expansion of the manuscript abbreviationsp., forspecialis, tospiritualis.) Caroline Walker Bynum sums up some of the characteristics of Mechthild's spirituality as evident in theLiber. Mechthild's visions are much more vivid, poetic, and affective than Gertrude's and, to some tastes, therefore more beautiful. She has a keener sense of emotional identification with Christ's suffering and of the theological significance of the crucifixion. Her personal asceticism appears (at least in this account) to have been somewhat harsher. She seems to have been a more tender counselor to others than Gertrude (Bynum 1982: 212–213).
Mediator, Christ As
Authors: Estes Douglas
Published: January 2012

A significant archetypal image in the Bible is Christ as mediator. In the ancient world, a mediator would act as a negotiator between two parties or between a deity and a people group, especially in times of disagreement or crisis. The parties deemed the mediator impartial, and the type of mediation performed was broadly defined — the mediator could act as negotiator, interpreter, arbiter, witness, advocate, guarantor, ambassador, proclaimer, or some or all of these roles. A legal context is often in view in many ancient examples. Mediation between deity and people was very unusual; most ancient religions bridged the gap either through a divine herald (such as the Greek Hermes), through disinterested demigods (such as in Gnosticism), or through a complex cultic system at the whim of a capricious deity (such as in pagan faiths). In early Hebrew society, the concept of mediator carried special significance as a go‐between for God and people; Moses was viewed as the greatest human mediator (Deut. 5:5). Mediation was a part of the messianic expectation, even predating Moses' example (Job 9:32–33). The New Testament portrays Jesus as the one and only true mediator between God and people (1 Tim. 2:5).
M
elanchthon,
P
hilipp (1497–1560)
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

Born in Bretten, Germany in 1497, as Philipp Schwartzerd (black earth), the Reformer later adopted the Greek equivalent “Melanchthon” at the urging of his great‐uncle Johann Reuchlin, a renowned scholar. As a prodigy, not yet 13 years of age, he entered Heidelberg University and obtained his baccalaureate only two years later. At age 17, Tübingen University conferred a master's degree on him, and he lectured there in the classics. In 1518, at the age of 21, he met Martin Luther who persuaded him to join him and the faculty at the university in Wittenberg. Here he initially taught Greek, and under Luther's guidance, earned the
baccalaureus biblicus
in 1519 and soon became a prominent theologian, although he was never ordained.
M
endelssohn,
F
elix (1809–1847)
Authors: Nichols Larry
Published: January 2012

Felix Mendelssohn was born in 1809 in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of a banker, Abraham Mendelssohn. His father later changed his surname to Mendelssohn Bartholdy. His mother was Lea Salomon. Mendelssohn's grandfather was the great German‐Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn.
M
ercy
Authors: Doyle Dominic
Published: January 2012

Compassionate sorrow in response to another's misery and the heartfelt desire to remove it; more simply, what love looks like when it encounters suffering.
M
esopotamian Christianity
Authors: van den Berg Heleen Murre‐
Published: January 2012

Christianity, which has been in Iraq from its earliest times, has played several important roles in its history. Northern Mesopotamia saw the growth of early Christianity around what today is Arbil, while southern Mesopotamia saw Christian churches flourish in Basra. The center of the Church of the East between the 5th and 8th centuries was Seleucia Ctesiphon, not far from Baghdad, to which city it moved when the Abbasids made it their capital in 749. Today Baghdad is the center of the largest Christian church in Iraq, the Chaldean Church, although sectarian violence has induced Christians once again to leave for the safer regions of northern Iraq. Continuous emigration makes any figures necessarily outdated; before the fall of the Baath regime in 2003 the percentage of Christians in Iraq was estimated at about 3 percent of the population (c.550,000 people). Roughly 50 percent of these belong to the Chaldean Church, 30 percent to the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East, 15 percent to the Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic Church, while the remaining 5 percent are distributed between the smaller Orthodox churches and the Latin, Protestant, and evangelical churches. The census for the year 1951, however, gave a figure as high as 6.4 percent of the population, suggesting a gradual decline due to emigration over the second half of the 20th century. Present rates of emigration make observers fear for the complete disappearance of Christianity from Iraq.
M
etzger,
B
ruce (1914–2007)
Authors: Bigalke Ron J.
Published: January 2012

An internationally distinguished textual critic, and scholar and translator of the Bible, Bruce Manning Metzger was born the son of Maurice and Anna Metzger in Middletown, Pennsylvania, 9 February 1914, and died of respiratory failure at the University Medical Center at Princeton, 13 February 2007. At the time of his death, he was New Testament professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned a bachelor's degree in Greek and textual criticism from Lebanon Valley College in 1935. In 1938, he earned a bachelor's in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in 1939. His 46 year career at Princeton began during the years 1938–1940, wherein he was teaching fellow in New Testament Greek at Princeton. He continued to teach and study, earning a Ph.D. in Greek and Latin classics from Princeton University in 1942. From 1940 to 1944, he was instructor in New Testament, and appointed assistant professor from 1944 to 1948, associate professor from 1948 to 1954, and professor from 1954 to 1984. In 1964, he was named the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature. Metzger received several honorary degrees in America and overseas. He was awarded the D.D. from St. Andrews, the D.Theol. from Muenster, Germany, and the D.Litt. from Potchefstroom, South Africa. He married Isobel Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of John Alexander Mackay, the third president of Princeton Theological Seminary.
Missionary Aviation
Authors: Buss Dietrich Gotthilf
Published: January 2012

Missionary aviation has been an arm of the church since the 1920s. The oldest continuous service was started by the Australian Inland Mission when it launched the Flying Doctor Service in 1927. Dr. K. St. Vincent Welch was the first flying doctor. He flew a DH50 and in the first year logged 20,000 miles in 50 flights serving 255 people. Renamed the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1955, the program had by 2007 grown to a fleet of 31 Beechcraft that operate from 13 centers. The 1920s saw many individuals take to the air in support of Christian work. Notable among these was Episcopal bishop Harry R. Carson who flew in Haiti.
M
offat,
R
obert (1795–1883)
Authors: Maclean Iain S.
Published: January 2012

A Scotsman, born on December 21, 1795 at Ormiston, sent by the London Missionary Society (LMS) to southern Africa in 1817. He became a pioneer missionary and linguist among the Tswana and Ndebele, and so a Bible translator. After acceptance as a missionary by the LMS, in 1816 he set out for South Africa. Prevented by political intrigue from traveling to Great Namaqualand, north of the Orange River, he returned to the Cape Peninsula and studied Dutch at Stellenbosch. He also traveled to other LMS stations with Dr. George Thom, another LMS missionary later to become a Dutch Reformed minister and educationalist. When permission came to cross the colonial frontier, he left Cape Town in October 1817, reaching Great Namaqualand and the peoples of Jager Afrikaner. After extensive travels in the region north of the Orange River, he returned to Cape Town in 1819, discovering there a deputation of two LMS missionaries, Dr. John Philip and John Campbell, prepared to investigate allegations against the LMS. Moffat joined them as the Dutch interpreter, but the deputation's work was halted by the outbreak of the Fifth Frontier (or Xhosa) War on the eastern frontier of the colony. On the return to Cape Town, Moffat's fiancée Mary Smith had arrived, and they were married in December 1819. The LMS persuaded Moffat to move from Namaqualand and so the Moffats arrived at Dithakong in 1820 to work among the Tswana.
Monasteries
Authors: Peters Greg
Published: January 2012

The institution of monasticism is not unique to Christianity and there are also monasteries outside of the Christian tradition. Generically, the word “monastery” applies to any place where men and/or women pursue a monastic lifestyle. Etymologically, the wordmonasterionis derived frommonos(“alone”) because originally a monk lived in a hut or a cave away from others and was known as an anchorite, from the Greek wordanachōreō, meaning “to separate oneself, withdraw.” By the 4th century, groups of monks were living together in communal dwellings, being referred to as coenobites, from the Greekkoinobiosmeaning “dwelling in community.” It is common practice today, though not etymologically necessary, to refer only to those structures where men and/or women are living in community as “monasteries.” Current canon law of the Roman Catholic Church proscribes that “A religious community must live in a house (domo) legitimately constituted under the authority of the superior designated according to the norm of law; each house is to have at least an oratory in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved so that it truly is the center of the community” (C 608). That said, most monasteries today in the Roman Catholic Church are called either “abbey,” “independent priory,” “dependent priory,” or “mission,” depending on its juridical status and purpose. Again, the term “monastery” is used sparingly even in canon law documents. By relying exclusively on the etymological root of “monastery,” there are several distinct types throughout Christian history.
Monastic Orders
Authors: Peters Greg
Published: January 2012

This schema was followed around the year 1000 by other Anglo‐Saxon authors, including Aelfric and Wulfstan of York. In a letter to Wulfstan, Aelfric says that there are three orders in the church of God:
laboratores
,
bellatores
, and
oratores
. The first produce food, the second defend the land against hostile incursions, and the third order, those who pray, include priests, monks, and bishops who choose to function as spiritual knights to always serve the church, preach the Catholic faith, and defend the holy gifts against the infidels (Whitelock et al. 1981: 252). Wulfstan in his own works also used the same tripartite division as Aelfric. A continental reference to this tripartite division is first found in a poem of Adalbero of Laon (d. 1090): “The house of God which is thought to be one is therefore triple. Now [some] pray, others fight, and others work” (Constable 1995: 284).
Moral Theology
Authors: Laing Jacqueline
Published: January 2012

Moral theology is the study of how man must live in order to achieve his highest end, which is union with God. It is a species of theology, the study of things divine, and is distinct fromdogmatictheology by virtue of its focus. Whereas dogmatic theology concentrates upon doctrines and articles of faith, moral theology relates, more specifically to the actions of human beings and their relations to God. Moral theology naturally involves a discussion of ethics and the natural law, since this law is recognized also by divine revelation. It is not, however, co‐extensive with moral philosophy, since its subject matter derives generally from revelation and theological sources.
M
ore,
H
annah (1745–1833)
Authors: Crouse Jamie S.
Published: January 2012

Despite humble beginnings as the daughter of a village schoolmaster, Hannah More rose to become on of the most prominent women in England during her time. Her career took many forms, from educator to bluestocking and socialite, poet and playwright to political activist to social and moral reformer. She was the fourth of five daughters born to Jacob and Mary More in 1745. The More daughters were educated well in order to become teachers, and it was as a young teacher at her sister's school that she composed her first play,
The Search after Happiness
(1762). Her interest in the stage took her to London in 1773, where she was introduced to such notables in the literary scene as David Garrick, Dr. Johnson, Edmund Burke, Horace Walpole and the Bluestockings. She wrote several dramas as well as poems and ballads that launched her to celebrity status, but she became disillusioned with the stage, the fashionable world, and the fame she had gained.
Mormonism
Authors: Smith David E.
Published: January 2012

Mormonism was born in early 19th century America. Although distinctly American in certain ways, it has become a global religious movement. The Mormon story begins with Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844). As a child in upstate New York, Joseph was confused by the multiplicity of Christian denominations. When he was 14 years old, he prayed about which church to join. At this point, he began to have a series of religious experiences that he claimed were divine revelations. God reportedly told Joseph not to join any of the existing churches because they had all become theologically corrupt. Joseph was to start a new church that would represent the restoration of true Christianity. In 1830 he and his followers founded what they would eventually call the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints (LDS), the mainstream version of Mormonism. It was this version that flourished in Utah under the direction of Brigham Young and his successors in the late 19th century and afterwards. At the turn of the 21st century, the LDS Church claimed a global membership of over 10 million. Other smaller varieties of Mormonism emerged after the death of Joseph Smith, the most significant being the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints, with its headquarter in Independence, Missouri.
M
uggeridge,
M
alcolm (1903–1990)
Authors: Watts Thomas D.
Published: January 2012

Malcolm Muggeridge was a British author, journalist, satirist, and later in life Catholic convert and Christian apologist. His father was a prominent Labour Party councilor and, for a brief time, member of parliament. He attended Selhurst Grammar School and Selwyn College at Cambridge University, graduating in 1924 with a degree in natural sciences. He began his career as a teacher in India, later in Egypt, and at various times at the John Ruskin Central School, Croydon, where his father was chairman of the governors. He married, and later began his long journalistic career, first with the
Manchester Guardian
.
M
üntzer,
T
homas (1488/89–1525)
Authors: Blakeley James J.
Published: January 2012

German. Sixteenth‐century, radical reformer, revolutionary, theologian, and leader of the rebels in the Peasants' War. Thomas Müntzer was born in Stolberg in central Germany in 1488 or 1489. He studied at the University of Leipzig in 1506/07 and received the M.A. and a lower degree in biblical studies from the University of Frankfurt on the Oder during the winter semester of 1512/13. He was ordained in the Halberstadt diocese and the town council of Brunswick nominated him to a beneficed altar at St. Michael's Church.
M
urillo,
B
artolomé
E
steban (1617–1682)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Spanish painter, native of Seville. His earliest paintings are from 1645 and include the
Angel Kitchen
(1646),
Flight into Egypt
(1649), and
Holy Family with Bird
(1650). Murillo's paintings of the Virgin with Child popularized this form of painting and his most favorite theme was the Immaculate Conception. He avoids gory scenes such as martyrdoms, with the exception of the
Martyrdom of St. Andrew
. His crucified Christ is not shown on Calvary but rather as part of a vision and his
Prodigal Son
is the closest he comes to suffering and pain.
Music, Early and Medieval
Authors: Yardley Anne Bagnall
Published: January 2012

Music has been an integral part of Christian worship throughout its history. This history is woven together with that of the liturgy; much of the same source material provides the basis for our understanding of both music and liturgy. Very little actual music can be reconstructed from before the 10th century when adequate forms of musical notation were devised. From early sources, however, we can gain insights into the philosophical understanding of music in early Christianity as well as the occasions and types of music adopted by the early Christians and the place of music in Christian worship. The fluidity of the early liturgy, the variations due to geographical location, and the lack of musical notation often leave the scholar with more questions than answers.
Negro Spirituals
Authors: Johnson R. Kevin
Published: January 2012

Negro Spirituals, sometimes referred to as
corn ditties
and
work songs
, are rhythmic American folk songs commonly associated with African‐American church congregations in the South. These songs originated in the United States before the abolition of slavery in 1865 and their lyrics contained codes denoting a slave's personal relationship with God and reliance on God for deliverance from a life of oppression.
Neo‐Orthodox Theology
Authors: Montgomery John Warwick
Published: January 2012

A hugely influential Protestant school of thought between World Wars I and II, neo‐orthodox theology was associated particularly with the names of Karl Barth (1886–1968) and Emil Brunner (1889–1966). The viewpoint, also known as “crisis theology,” has continuing (though considerably less) impact today, its disciples being found especially in Scottish and Swiss Protestant theological faculties.
Ninety‐Five Theses
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J.
Published: January 2012

“Out of love and zeal for the elucidation of truth, the following theses will be debated … in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So began the Ninety‐five Theses that Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, on October 31, 1517, reportedly tacked to the door of All Saints Church (also known as the Castle Church) in Wittenberg, Germany.
N
orth African Christianity
Authors: Culpepper Scott
Published: January 2012

Christianity in North Africa was characterized by strong perseverance under persecution, controversies over ecclesiastical concerns, and a rich theological heritage that has disproportionately influenced the development of western Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity. North African theologians such as Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, and Augustine of Hippo strongly shaped the Latin tradition of Western Christianity. At the same time, the Greek tradition of Eastern Christianity was influenced by North African theologians and pastors from Alexandria such as Athanasius and Origen. Inspiring stories of courage in the face of Martyrdom, such as the anonymous tale of Perpetua and Felicitas, have inspired the devotion of Christians to the ultimate degree throughout the ages. Though Christianity in North Africa was eclipsed by the Muslim influence that dominated the region after the 7th century, North African Christians have made significant contributions to the shape and course of Christianity.
N
orwegian Christianity
Authors: Kurian George Thomas
Published: January 2012

Christianity was introduced into Norway about 900 in the Oslo‐fjord region through missionaries from the Bremen‐Hamburg archbishopric in Germany. It became the official religion of the country under King Hakon the Good (935–960), who received a Christian education as a youth in England. Over the next century, the pagan influences died out and were replaced by the Catholic Church.
Ontology of the Church
Authors: Chan Simon
Published: January 2012

The nature or being of the church needs to be understood as an issue concerning God's relation to the world, more specifically, the relation of nature and grace. Reformed theology in general has tended to keep an absolute distance between Creator and creation. The church viewed as a part of the created order is therefore also ontologically distinct from God. Consequently, the unity of Christ and his church is usually explained in legal terms, as seen in federal theology. In such a context, a sociological model is all that is needed to explain the nature of the church. For example, the metaphor of the body of Christ is understood at best as a reference to the social dynamics and interpersonal relationship in the Christian community. This distancing may be due to its strong emphasis on divine sovereignty. There is concern that too close an identification of God and church would undermine the Protestant principle ofsolus Christus(Bloesch 2002), or give the church a power it does not possess. The church, therefore, should be seen as no more than an “echo” of the trinitarian life (Gunton 1989).
Orality and Literacy
Authors: Baltrip Ryan
Published: January 2012

Throughout history, forms and styles of communication have changed and impacted the way we live and think. In the 2,000 plus years that Christianity has existed, orality and literacy have been the dominant forms of communicating thoughts and ideas and have allowed Christianity to flourish. Orality is the primary means of sharing messages and meanings through verbal expression and emphasizing the spoken word; literacy relies primarily on the written word to communicate. Christianity, as a religion, was birthed in an oral culture, which allowed it to grow rapidly. However, Christianity quickly adapted to the written word and embraced literacy as a means of spreading the Gospel. Today, Christianity continues to share its message through new ways of communicating
Oratorio
Authors: Johnson R. Kevin
Published: January 2012

A large‐scale multi‐movement musical composition originating in the 17th century Baroque era for chorus and soloists. Libretti for oratorios are generally religious or are based on a specific biblical text, character, or story. The term
oratorio
originated in theme as a means to describe the dramatic texts that were set to music and sung in the
oratory
(or “chapel for prayer”) of St. Philip Neri (1515–1595).