bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Secularization ofEuropean Society
Authors: Green Todd 
Published: January 2012

AbstractUntil the mid 19th century, the term “secularization” referred either to the transfer of ecclesiastical property from the church to secular authorities (as was the case during the Reformation or the French Revolution) or to the relinquishing of orders by monks or nuns. In its contemporary usage, the term generally indicates a decline in the influence of religion in a given society. This decline is usually studied on one of two levels – the decline in religious beliefs and practices, or the decline in the public role of religion. The study of secularization has been a particular concern for scholars seeking to understand the changing role of religion, especially Christianity, in European society from the Enlightenment to the present. This entry provides an overview of the scholarship on the secularization of European society since the 1960s, with particular attention given to contributions from sociologists and historians.
M
cPherson,
A
imee
S
emple (1890–1944)
Authors: Streett R. Alan 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Flamboyant preacher and founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church. Aimee Kennedy was born in Ingersoll (Ontario), Canada, on October 9, 1890, the only child of James and Minnie Kennedy. Her mother was an active member of the Salvation Army and Aimee followed in her mother's footsteps. Aimee was converted under the preaching of evangelist Robert Semple, whom she married at the age of 17. Within two years they had left for China to serve as missionaries. Less than three months after their arrival, Robert was stricken by a fatal illness, leaving Aimee a widow with a 1 month old daughter, Roberta.
Serbian Christianity
Authors: Murdzhev Pavel 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe first encounters of the Serbian tribes with Christianity, brought by missionaries ordained by Emperor Heraclius of Byzantium in the 7th century, did not have lasting results. Most of the tribes, especially from the Upper Moesia inland, remained connected with the traditional Slavic polytheism. The second attempt at Christianizing the Serbs took place during the reign of Basil I (867–886) and did not have very different results. The process paralleled the first Serbian attempts at political consolidation under the supremacy of Constantinople in the course of the second half of the 9th century, which again had only limited success. Serbian historiography attributes the completion of the Christianization process to St. Sava (1173–1236), the most venerated and celebrated of Serbian saints. Prior to this point, Christian church organization in the lands inhabited by Serbs — Duklja or Zeta (today's Montenegro), Zahumlje (today's Hercegovina, with the city of Dubrovnik), Travunija (Trebinje, part of today's Bosnia and Croatia), Pagania (today's eastern Dalmatia with the islands), Bosna (Bosnia), and Rascia (today's Sandžak) — was part of either Byzantine, Roman, or Bulgarian church organization. The spread of Christianity among the Serbs, as well as other Slav nations, was crucially affected by the invention of the Slavonic script, i.e. Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet, around the middle of the 9th century and the liturgical literature created in Bulgaria. The first dioceses in Serbian lands after the crisis of the 7th century were centered within the ancient towns of Naisus, Belgrade, Sirmium, and Branichevo, as well as the bishoprics of Ras, Ston, Lipljan (Ulpiana), Prizren, and Velic, reestablished and consolidated by the Bulgarian emperors Peter I (927–970) and Samuel (997–1014).
Seventeenth Century
C
hristianity
Authors: Bruce James E. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Seventeenth century Christianity is less well known, and much less studied, than the century of the Reformation preceding it, or the century of Enlightenment following it. The 17th century is rightly characterized as a century of war and of cultural upheaval. Yet the century's violent pangs saw the birth of the modern world, with new and lasting approaches to science, philosophy, politics, and the arts.
Shahapivan, Council Of
Authors: Hovhanessian Vahan 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe Council of Shahapivan was the first Armenian Church council of which the minutes were recorded in Classical Armenian and they are preserved in many manuscripts. This council was convened in the year 444, in a time of political and social turmoil in Armenia. For centuries, Armenia had been a buffer zone between two super‐powers, the Roman and Persian Empires. This allowed these two powers to exercise tremendous influence on the political and social life of the Armenians. In 387, Armenia was divided into two semi‐autonomous kingdoms – Byzantine Armenia and Persarmenia – with the major part of Armenia falling under Persian rule. Disagreements between the local princes and the king of Armenia, during the late 4th and early 5th centuries, further aggravated the political situation, thus enabling the Persians to exercise stronger influence over affairs in Armenia. Furthermore, Persian pressures to impose Zoroastrianism on the Armenians and the persistence of immoral and pagan practices were just a few of the many serious concerns that the Armenian Church had to face during this time.
S
hakarian,
D
emos (1913–1993)
Authors: Streett R. Alan 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Demos Shakarian was a wealthy California dairy farmer who founded the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI), an organization of Christian businessmen with chapters in 132 nations. In 1905 Shakarian's parents left their homeland of Armenia and migrated to America, settling on the edge of Los Angeles where other Armenians had put down roots. The Shakarians, who were Presbyterians, were greatly influenced by the fledgling Pentecostal movement, which had its beginnings at the Los Angeles Azusa Street revival of 1906. They, along with many other Armenian believers, fully embraced Pentecostalism.
Shakers
Authors: Baker Dwight P. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or Shakers as they were commonly called, was an early and long‐lived flowering of the wave of utopian communities, some religiously based and others not, that flourished in the new United States during its first century. In the mid 19th century, Shaker communities spread widely from Maine through New England, New York, Ohio, and Indiana, to Kentucky. Only one Shaker community remains active today.
Shepherding Movement
Authors: Musch Leslyn 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The Shepherding or Discipleship Movement was a fast‐growing, controversial movement birthed in the early 1970s. The counterculture of the 1960s produced a generation that came of age under the influence of communal “hippie” living, mind‐altering drugs, and rejection of responsibility, authority, and moral norms. Concurrently, many mainline denominations had begun to embrace the rationalism of modernity that rejected much of the supernatural nature of Christianity, thus creating a spiritual hunger satisfied by the Charismatic Renewal. While many within this renewal stayed in their denominational churches, many others adopted a vagabond approach to Christianity, wandering from church to church and conference to conference, never committing to a local church. This, combined with the masses of new Christians coming out of the morally bankrupt counterculture, created an enormous number of unchurched, biblically illiterate, immature Christians who desperately needed biblical teaching and even the most basic life‐skills training. It was this need that led to the rise of the Shepherding Movement.
Signs and Wonders
Authors: Lee‐Barnewall Michelle 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The phrase “signs and wonders” (Hebrew ‘ôtôt ûmôp
e
tîm) first appears in Exodus 7:3 in reference to the plagues that God brings upon Egypt to free the Israelites. A “sign” carries a significance beyond the sign itself. In the Hebrew Bible the combination of “signs and wonders” often refers to the spectacular displays of God's power in the plagues and the Exodus, and is intimately tied to God's redemption of his people (Deut. 4:34, 6:22, 7:19, 26:8, 29:3, 34:11; Neh. 9:10; Ps. 135:9; Jer. 32:20–21). The phrase also appears in Isaiah and Daniel (Isa. 8:18; Dan. 4:2; 6:27).
Sin
Authors: Doyle Dominic 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The deliberate refusal of God's grace and the willful choosing of moral evil that separates the person from God and thus damages human life and community; more briefly, disordered love of self that prevents love of God. Dubbed the only empirically verifiable doctrine in Christianity, with its central symbol of the cross, the Christian notion of sin names humanity's self‐inflicted suffering, both personally and collectively, and its profound alienation from the source of all being and goodness.
S
ingh,
S
adhu
S
undar (1889–
c
.1929)
Authors: Ridington Morgan Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
While Thomas is the apostle most associated with India, the most prominent Christian of Indian birth, Sundar Singh, more closely mirrors the life of the Apostle Paul. Born in 1889 into a devoutly religious family, Sundar Singh pleased his parents by becoming well versed in the Sikh and Hindu religions. His mother's death, however, threw the studious young man into a spiritual crisis. A planned suicide was only averted by a personal visitation by Jesus, in which he received the peace he previously lacked. Though fulfilling his late mother's wishes to become a sadhu (holy man), Singh's pursuit of Jesus Christ and adoption of a life of holiness and asceticism permanently alienated him from his family. Like Paul, Singh spent most of his life traveling. He made three significant missionary journeys beyond southern Asia, including China, Malaysia, and Japan in 1919, Australia, England, and the United States in 1920, and Europe in 1922.
Sistine Chapel
Authors: Bigalke Ron J. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The Sistine Chapel is located in the Vatican Palace and named for Pope Sixtus IV. Baccio Pontelli drafted the architectural plans. From 1473 to 1481, Florentine architect Giovanni dei Dolci supervised its construction. The chapel is rectangular in shape, and the measurements correspond to the dimensions of the Solomonic Temple. Vasari indicated that Sixtus IV summoned Sandro Botticelli to Rome in 1481, and commissioned him with the responsibility of leading the artists who would fresco the walls. Botticelli enlisted the assistance of prominent Cortonan, Florentine, and Umbrian artists. Cosimo Roselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino (Vannucci), and Luca Signorelli assisted Botticelli in completing the wall paintings.
Sixteenth Century Christianity
Authors: Whitford David M. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The 16th century was an era of tremendous upheaval, change, and renewal within the church. While the church in the West in 1500 had broad diversity in both worship style and theological expression, it was also one church following the Bishop of Rome. In 1600, Lutherans, Calvinists, followers of Menno Simons, the Church of England, and many others all competed with, and against, Rome for adherents. The ramifications of the events of the 16th century are still felt in the Church today.
S
mith,
C
harles
W
ard “Chuck” (
b
. 1927)
Authors: Buss Dietrich Gotthilf 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Chuck Smith was born in 1927 to Charles and Maude Smith in Ventura, California. He is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California, and founder of the Calvary Chapel church movement. In 2007 some 1,400 churches are affiliated in the Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowships (CCOF). Of these, 350 are outside the United States. Church affiliation requires adherence to the “Calvary Chapel Distinctives.”
Snake Handling
Authors: Streett R. Alan 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Snake handling is an aberrant practice, which is a by‐product of the 1906 Pentecostal outbreak on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. After reading the words, “They shall take up serpents … and it shall not hurt them” (Mark 16:18), former bootlegger‐turned‐preacher, George Went Hensley, aka “Little George,” carried a rattle‐snake box into his pulpit. By faith, he reached in and lifted out the venomous rattlesnake, proving that he literally believed God's Word. He then challenged his congregation to do the same. The year was 1910. News of the event spread throughout the hills of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern Tennessee, and before long, others were also picking up serpents. The practice continued for ten years until one of the faithful died of a snakebite. Feeling pressure from both neighbors and law enforcement, Hensley moved to Harlan, Kentucky.
Sobornost
Authors: Higgins Paul 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Sobornost
— which has been translated into English as “community,” “catholicity,” “harmony,” “organic unity,” and “togetherness,” among other things — first appears as a theological term in the writings of Alexei Khomiakov and Ivan Kireevsky, the founders of the Slavophile movement, though its origins can be found in the 9th century. SS Cyril and Methodius and their disciples translated the Greek words for “Catholic church” in the Nicene‐Constantinopolitan Creed as the Slavonic “subornaia tsruki,” where the adjective “suborna(ia)” signified “conciliar,” derived from the noun “subor” — council, church — and was related to the verbs “subrati,” “beru,” and “sobirat” — gather, gathering, to bring together. In old Slavonic literature, the word “subor” connoted various kinds of councils, but was also often used as identical with the church (
ecclesia
) of Christ or with a particular assembly of believers or their meeting place (Sabev 1993: 263–266).
Sociology of Religion
Authors: Sharp Douglas R. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The disciplines associated with the social sciences are generally identified as anthropology, history, geography, psychology, sociology, economics, political science, law, and education, in short, those disciplines that investigate the subjective and objective aspects of human life and interaction, the structures and settings in relation to which such interaction takes place, and the mutual influence occurring among actors and between actors and their environment. The sociology
of religion
is a subfield within the larger field of sociology.
S
oloviev,
V
ladimir (1853–1900)
Authors: Kenworthy Scott M. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Russian philosopher and poet Vladimir S. Soloviev (also transliterated Solovyov or Solov'ev) was born in Moscow. His father Sergei, one of the foremost Russian historians, was professor at Moscow University. After finishing Moscow University, Vladimir studied at the Moscow Theological Academy (a fairly unusual move for someone not from a clergy family). While researching in the British Museum he had a vision of Sophia (divine wisdom), which led him to Egypt where he had another vision (and nearly died at the hands of Bedouins). In 1878 he delivered a series of lectures on “divine humanity” (alternately translated as “God‐manhood” or “the humanity of God”) to an audience that included Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. He received his doctorate in philosophy from St. Petersburg University in 1880 with a thesis on
The Critique of Abstract Principles
. He was deeply influenced by German Idealism, particularly Schelling.
S
olzhenitsyn,
A
leksandr (1918–2008)
Authors: Werntz Myles 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Best known for his criticism of Soviet ideology. He was born in Kislovodsk, Russia, in the wake of the Russian Civil War. Following World War II, he was imprisoned in Siberia for criticism of Stalin in personal correspondence, followed by nearly a decade of internal exile. His continued outspokenness against communism resulted in his deportation in 1974, although he was allowed to return in 1994.
Sophia, Sophiology
Authors: Foltz Bruce V. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractSophia is a Greek word commonly translated as “wisdom,” and in the Septuagint Old Testament it translates the Hebrew “Hochmah.” In the so‐called “Wisdom Books” of the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, The Wisdom of Solomon, and in some lists, Psalms and the Song of Songs), Sophia is the Divine Wisdom, sometimes personified as a beautiful woman (Prov. 8:1–9:6; Wisd. of Sol. 7:22–29). In these, and other books of the Old Testament, meanings of Sophia range from the skillfulness that yields practical success, to the precepts of virtuous living, to the deep principles of divine creation and governance that underlie and rule the cosmos, along with the human ability to apprehend these principles and live in accordance with them. But underlying all these senses is the insistence that true wisdom comes from God (Sir 1:1: “All wisdom comes from the Lord, and is with Him forever”), implying both that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7, 9:10), and that this genuine wisdom makes foolish the wisdom of the world, even while it seems to the world itself like folly (1 Cor. 1:18–23). In the New Testament, St. Paul associates the divine wisdom with Christ (1 Cor. 1:24), who in the Prolog to the Gospel of St. John is said to be the eternal Logos, by whom all things were created, the source of light and life. Sophia is often discussed in patristic writings, where it begins to be associated not just with the Son, but with the Holy Spirit as well. Subsequently, some of Christendom's greatest churches, especially in the Greek East (e.g. in Constantinople and Thessalonica), were named Hagia Sophia, or The Holy Wisdom of God, and dedicated to Christ. Eventually, in Russia (e.g. in Novgorod and Kiev), churches of the Holy Sophia began to be dedicated to the Theotokos, the Mother of God, i.e. the Virgin Mary. Meanwhile, parallel to these developments, there arose Gnostic, hermetic, and kabbalistic traditions of speculation concerning Sophia, reemerging much later in Germany in the theosophical mysticism of Jacob Böhme, which was in turn taken up into the thought of Franz von Baader and F. W. J. Schelling.
Soteriology
Authors: Estes Douglas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Soteriology is the study of salvation; the term comes from the original Greek word for salvation found in the New Testament. Soteriology is one of the main subsets of systematic theology: while theology proper (the study of God) is the foundation, soteriology is the heart of theology since it explains how people can know and relate to God. Since the Christian view of salvation is wholly tied to the person and work of Jesus Christ, soteriology is strongly related to Christology (the study of the messiah). Soteriology is critical for theology in that salvation is a basic and fundamental need of all people.
Soul
Authors: Feser Edward 
Published: January 2012

AbstractTwo competing conceptions of the soul have influenced Christian thought, one tracing back to Plato (429–347bc) and the other to Aristotle (384–322bc). For Plato, soul and body are distinct substances. Strictly speaking, a person is identical with his soul, and the body is merely a temporary prison in which it is housed. Not only is the soul (or at least its rational part) immortal, but it existed before its union with the body. For Aristotle, by contrast, a soul is just the form of a living thing, and since only form and matter together constitute a substance, only the human soul and human body together constitute a complete person. A corollary of this is that when the body dies, the person dies as well.
S
outheast
A
sian Christianity
Authors: Hunt Robert 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The history of Christianity in Southeast Asia can be characterized as a movement from Christianity as a colonial religion toward its emergence as a fully indigenous Southeast Asian religion related to Christianity worldwide. The principal features of this movement are the empowering of local church leaders, the emergence of indigenously initiated Christian movements, and most importantly the full engagement of the Christian community and its witness in the local cultures, societies, economies, and politics of Southeast Asia.
Spanish Christianity
Authors: Eaton Kent A. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractEarly Christian missionaries carried their faith to the Iberian Peninsula late in the first century. That the apostle Paul was among the first to arrive finds support in his intended itinerary (Rom. 15:24; 28) and is confirmed by other early Christian sources such as Clement (I Clem. 5), Chrysostom (Homily 2 Tim. 4:9–13), and the Muratorian Fragment. In contrast, stories of the apostle James' purported ministry in Spain appeared in the 12th century. For example, in Jacobus de Voragine's (c.1230–1298)Golden Legend, a medieval collection of nearly 200 saints' lives, the author citesJohn Beleth(1135–1182) as his source. The story mentions James' initial unsuccessful ministry in Hispania and the subsequent miraculous journey of his remains following martyrdom back to Santiago de Compostela in a ship guided by angels. The alleged relics of James did, however, establish this Galician city as an important pilgrimage destination.
S
peer,
R
obert
E
lliott (1867–1947)
Authors: Patterson James A. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
American. Born September 10, 1867 and raised in Huntington, Pennsylvania, the son of Robert and Martha Speer. Following a two year pre‐paratory course at the Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, he enrolled in 1885 at the College of New Jersey in Princeton. In 1887 he signed the Student Volunteer Movement pledge during a campus visit by recruiters John Forman and Robert Wilder. During the following summer Speer met revivalist D. L. Moody at Northfield, Massachusetts, which heightened his interest in the SVM. After his graduation from Princeton in 1889, Speer spent a year itinerating as an SVM recruiter and saw 1,100 college students commit to become foreign missionaries. Along with Wilder and John R. Mott, he epitomized the spirit the early SVM and its optimistic watchword, “The Evangelization of the World in This Generation.”
S
pener,
P
hilip
J
acob (1635–1705)
Authors: Maschke Timothy 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Born on January 13, 1635, in the Alsatian village of Rappoltsweiler. As the father of Pietism, his most famous work,
Pia Desideria
, continues to influence Christians who deeply desire more than a formal approach to spirituality. His mother introduced him to Bible reading and his favorite book, his father's copy of Johann Arndt's
True Christianity
. He read Puritan writers who criticized traditional Christianity as being cerebral, lacking in true holiness, and genuine morality. His pastor, Joachim Stoll (1615–1678), was his lifelong mentor, becoming his brother‐in‐law after marrying Spener's oldest sister.
Spirituality
Authors: Crabtree Mara Lief 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe foundation of Christian spirituality is faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ; his sacrifice, death, and resurrection. The Christian's life is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ; expressing the beliefs and practices that evidence faith in Christ's completed work of salvation. Spirituality consists of both the inward understanding and the outward expression of beliefs and practices that evidence one's faith in Jesus Christ.
H
ilarion,
S
aint (
c
.291–371)
Authors: Heintz Michael 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Hilarion was a Palestinian monk of the 4th century. Epiphanius of Salamis (d. 403
ce
), who had known him personally, had praised him in a letter that is no longer extant but was known to Jerome, whose
Vita Hilarionis
(composed c.391
ce
) is the principal source of information regarding Hilarion. Sozomen (d. 447/448
ce
), himself educated by monks in Palestine, mentions Hilarion in his multivolume
Historia
(at 3.14 and 5.10 and 15); while it is possible that he drew upon Jerome's earlier
Vita
, his own training by Palestinian monks might account for his knowledge of the traditions surrounding Hilarion.