bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Women's Ministries
Authors: Hyatt Susan Stubbs 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Two primary schools of thought have coexisted throughout church history regarding women's role in ministry and female authority in leadership. Whereas the
traditional
school is patriarchal and teaches that women are lesser than men in authority and different from men in ministerial function, the
charismatic
school favors an egalitarian posture and teaches that ministry and authority flow directly from God by his Spirit to and through both men and women without regard of gender. Although both schools claim biblical justification, they hold conflicting interpretations arising from opposing presuppositions.
Worldview, Christian
Authors: Cowan Steven B. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
As philosopher Ronald Nash explains, the touchstone proposition that provides the most basic tenet of the Christian faith is: “Human beings and the universe in which they reside are the creation of the God who has revealed himself in Scripture” (Nash 1992: 52). At the root of the Christian faith, then, is the belief that the God of the Bible exists.
Worship
Authors: Maschke Timothy 
Published: January 2012

AbstractChristians have assembled for over two millennia as God's gathered guests to receive his blessings in Christ and to respond with prayers, praises, and thanksgivings. Christian worship is often portrayed as being simply a response to God's grace in Christ, yet throughout the centuries, Christian corporate worship has encompassed four dimensions. Christian worship is initially an encounter between the triune God and his people as he comes through Word and sacraments. Second, it is the Spirit‐motivated response to his gracious presence and blessings with prayers, praises, and thanksgivings. Third, Christian worship is part of the educational (catechetical) ministry of the community by which Christians are nurtured in the faith for life. Finally, what is done in worship enables and emboldens the believer's witness to Christ in the world. These key dimensions have waxed and waned over the centuries, yet they mark God's people at worship.
W
ren, Christopher (1632–1723)
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
British architect. He began his career as a scientist, not as an architect. In 1665 he made his only trip to the continent, where he was impressed by the classical buildings in Italy. He returned just before the Great Fire of London (1666), in which the entire city, including about 100 churches and St. Paul's Cathedral, were burned down. It gave Wren the opportunity to reshape architectural history. Wren's plans called for a truly Anglican compromise between the altar and the pulpit. He built 52 churches, among them St. Bride's, Fleet Street, St. Mary‐le‐Bow, and St. Stephen Walbrook, the Lord Mayor's parish church.
W
yclif (
W
ycliffe),
J
ohn (
d
. 1384)
Authors: Hill Bracy V. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
English secular priest, philosopher, theologian, and reformer. Possibly born in late 1320s to a modest gentry family in Richmondshire (Yorkshire), Wyclif may have been ordained a priest by 1351. He was a Fellow at Merton College by 1356 and Master of Balliol (c.1360–1361). He resigned this position to accept a Balliol living, rector of Fillingham (Lincolnshire) from 1361–1368. Sub‐sequently he held the rectory at Ludgershall (Buckinghamshire) and prebendary of Aust in Westbury‐on‐Trym. Made Warden of Canterbury Hall (1365–1367) by Archbishop Islip, Wyclif was replaced with a monk by Benedictine Archbishop Langham. Wyclif's hostility toward monasticism, especially mendicants, frequently is tied to this event. Wyclif likely resided at Queen's College from 1363 to 1381, and was incepted as Master of Theology between 1371 and 1373. He was made rector of Lutterworth (Leicestershire) in April 1374 which he held till his death of a stroke.
X
avier,
S
aint
F
rancis (1506–1552)
Authors: Wilson Douglas K. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Francisco de Jassu y Xavier pursued a university education in Paris, where he met Ignatius Loyola, through whose influence, he confessed his faith in Christ in 1533. Xavier was familiar with, if not influenced by, the teachings of Martin Luther, whose disciples sought to effect change in the Catholic universities throughout Europe. A small group of men joined Xavier and Ignatius to form the original Society of Jesus. Xavier was ordained in 1537 in Venice, where his activities among the indigent and infirm were famous. The remaining 15 years of his life were given over to missionary service as a Jesuit priest.
Z
wemer,
S
amuel (1867–1952)
Authors: Cate Patrick O. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
In 1884 when Robert Wilder visited Hope College in Holland, Michigan, representing the Student Volunteer Movement, Samuel Zwemer said “yes” to the invitation for missions. While studying at New Brunswick Seminary, Zwemer along with a few friends founded the Arabian Mission. After studying Arabic in Beirut in 1890, he settled in Basrah in Iraq (1891–1896).
Z
wingli,
U
lrich (1484–1531)
Authors: Schirrmacher Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Ulrich (or Huldrych) Zwingli was the first great leader of the Swiss Reformation and a senior pastor of the church of Zurich. A priest from 1506, Zwingli was influenced by scholasticism and humanism, especially by Erasmus, whom he knew personally. In 1519 he became the people's priest at the Great Minster in Zurich and decided to reform the church according to the principle of
sola scriptura
. Zurich was the first city to introduce the Reformation successfully, in 1522–1523, and Zwingli thus became the unquestioned leader of the early years of the Swiss Reformation.
Apostolic Fathers
Authors: Scholer David M. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The Apostolic Fathers are an arbitrary collection of mostly early 2nd century Christian writings, disparate in authorship, location, and genre. The term “Apostolic Fathers” was coined in 1672 by J.‐B. Cotelier and has over the years referred to a collection of documents that have varied in content. By 1700 the basic collection was in place. In 1765 the
Epistle to Diognetus
, the fragments of Papias, and the fragments of Quadratus were added. When the
Didache
was discovered in 1873 (published in 1883), it was added.
Heresies
Authors: Oderberg David S. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The term “heresy” refers, loosely speaking, to the willful doubt or denial of a divinely revealed truth, or dogma, of the Christian faith. It is to be distinguished from schism, which is separation from the church through refusal to submit to its authority, and apostasy, which is the complete abandonment of Christianity. The term, and the concept behind it, is now found almost exclusively in Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox religion. In some of the stricter Protestant denominations, including the more conservative wing of Anglicanism/Episcopalianism, heresy is sometimes mentioned, but on the whole the idea of heresy has virtually disappeared from use among Christians. Even contemporary people, whether lay or clerical, who profess themselves to be Catholics rarely if ever speak of heresy. This says more about the present state of Christianity than about the supposed lack of importance of the concept itself, which is firmly embedded in Christianity from the time of Christ himself and continues to play a central role in serious theology.
Aesthetics, Pentecostals and
Authors: Rybarczyk Edmund J. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The Pentecostal worldview is an amalgam of pragmatism, a rather literal biblical hermeneutic, anti‐traditionalism, and an impulse toward apostolic restorationism. Each of these features has contributed toward a Pentecostal aesthetic. Most early 20th century Pentecostal congregations were comprised of people from the lower and middle classes. This meant that their financial resources were limited to pragmatic concerns (e.g. supporting the minister, paying the church mortgage, funding missionaries), so that things like art and architecture were barely on the horizon of their thinking. Biblical literalism led them to believe that aesthetics and art were secondary concerns at best. After all, the New Testament does not immediately testify to any early Christian aesthetic. And for its part, the Old Testament prohibitions of idolatry apparently precluded any serious aesthetic reflection; this characteristic the Pentecostals share with other low‐church, free‐church Protestants.
Catherine ofGenoa (1447–1510)
Authors: Scheper George L. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractCatherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno) occupies an unusual place in the annals of spirituality. At first glance Catherine appears a conventionally Catholic saint in the context of late medieval Ligurian culture, a holy woman who spent her entire adult life serving the ill and the poor in the name of Christ, practicing lifelong ascetic self‐denial, and expressing as her only worldly desire the daily reception of holy communion. The fervor of her longing to annihilate her own will and to realize in herself nothing but the will of God has led scholars such as Friedrich von Hügel and Evelyn Underhill to place Catherine in the foremost ranks of Christian mysticism.
Divine Office
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
In Christian liturgy, the daily cycle of prayer, known collectively as the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office. Early Christians developed a pattern of praying at set hours of the day, using fixed psalmody appropriate to the canonical hours and also ceremonial offering of light and incense. Monastic communities celebrated the canonical hours in a more austere fashion, with continuous recitation of the psalter, as established by the Rule of St. Benedict. The Spanish pilgrim Egeria who visited Jerusalem around 500 has left a description of the daily Divine Office in both church and monastery.
H
erman of
A
laska (1756–1837)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
For 43 years Herman faithfully served the Alaskan natives, instructing the native Koniag Eskimos and the transplanted Aleuts in the basics of the Christian faith and how to improve their lives through agriculture and simple crafts. The Russian monk aligned himself from the beginning with the Alaskan native peoples, employing the mission strategy of the Orthodox Church in establishing Christian communities among shamanistic tribes more by example than preaching. The goal was to establish a self‐governing American Church in Alaska respecting and using the native languages and creative arts and enjoying administrative independence within the community of the Orthodox churches.
I
lminski,
N
icholas (1822–1891)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Nicholas Ilminski was a Russian Orthodox missionary and linguist who graduated from the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy in 1846 and became its professor in Tatar and Arabic. Sent by the church, he traveled to Damascus, Constantinople, and Cairo to master the Turkish, Arabic, and Persian languages. He eventually became an expert in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Tatar, Mordvin, Chuvash, Cheremis, Kirghiz, Altai, and Yakut languages, as well as many other languages and dialects. Although he remained an academic and educator throughout his life, he was instrumental in helping the missionary cause through his linguistic abilities.
F
igourovsky,
I
nnocent (1863–1931)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Innocent Figourovsky was a Russian Orthodox missionary to Beijing (Peking), China, who administered the mission for 33 years. Leaving Russia in 1897, Archimandrite Figourovsky found the Russian Orthodox missions in China with no more than 500 baptized members. Six previous mission expeditions had ministered mainly to expatriate Russian merchants engaged in the tea trade and guards of the Imperial Palace (descendents of the 45 Russian prisoners taken in 1685 at Albazin), focusing on diplomatic, scholastic, and publishing activities. The reasons for the lack of evangelistic and educational progress were the insufficient financial support from the Russian government to preach in places beyond the capital, the discouragement of that government toward any effort to convert the Chinese population, and the missionaries arriving without any knowledge of the Chinese language and culture.
M
cClendon,
J
ames
W
illiam,
Jr
. (1924–2000)
Authors: Ashford Bruce Riley 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Baptist theologian, author, pastor (born March 6, 1924 in Shreveport, LA, died October 30, 2000 in Altadena, CA), McClendon is one of the most widely known Baptist theologians of the latter half of the 20th century. He was a professor of theology at various institutions, including a 12 year tenure at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (GGBTS). He is well known for his Christian pacifism and for his close working relationship with other theologians such as John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas. He published several books, including a three‐volume
Systematic Theology
. Much of his writing has appeared in anthologies such as
Baptist Roots
and
Ties that Bind
.
Persecution (Modern Times)
Authors: Schirrmacher Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Martyrdom and the persecution of Christians concerns not only the early church, but has constantly accompanied all branches of Christianity throughout its history. The history of the church is not only, but also, the history of her persecution. Of the twentieth century, Chuck Colson writes: “more Christians have been martyred for their faith in this century alone than in the previous nineteen centuries combined” (Colson 1997, xi).
Evil, Problem Of
Authors: Friesenhahn Jacob H. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe problem of evil is the logical problem posed by the reality of evil against Christian theism or against theism more generally. A person who poses the problem of evil (and other such challenges) against Christian theism is sometimes called an “atheologian,” one who engages in discourse concerning God in order to demonstrate God's nonexistence. A response to the problem of evil can be a “defense,” an argument for the logical compatibility of belief in God and acknowledgment of the presence of evil, or a “theodicy,” a “justification of God,” that provides possible reasons for why God allows evil. The term “theodicy” was coined by the philosopher G. W. Leibniz (1646–1716), one of the most significant figures in the field. One of the many ways in which the problem can be posed is to speak of the tension, if not contradiction, that exists among the following propositions: God is omnipotent; God is omnibenevolent; evil exists. Sometimes a statement of God's omniscience is added to this list. The argument of the atheologian takes up these three propositions, each arguably intrinsic to Christian theism, and makes the following type of argument: if God (as omnipotent) is fully able to eradicate evil, and if God (as omnibenevolent) is fully willing to eradicate evil, then evil ought to be eradicated, that is, ought not be present in our world — yet the world that we know seems full of evil. Therefore, God is either not omnipotent (somehow limited in power) or not omnibenevolent (less than fully willing of the good). The Christian seems faced with four unpalatable alternatives: (1) if God is willing to eliminate evil but cannot, then God is not omnipotent; (2) if God is able to eliminate evil but unwilling, then God is not omnibenevolent; (3) if God is both able and willing to eliminate evil, then evil ought to be eliminated — yet evil is still present in the world as we know it; and (4) if God is neither able nor willing to eliminate evil, then God seems neither omnipotent nor omnibenevolent — thus not really “God” at all. The Christian theist seems pressed to abandon God's omnipotence and/or omnibenevolence. The argument concerning the problem of evil in this basic form may go back to the Greek philosopher Epicurus (c.342–270bc) or one of his followers, such as the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius (c.100–55bc). The argument from evil is commonly regarded as the strongest of all the arguments that can be made against Christian faith and enjoys a prominent place in debates concerning Christian theology. The argument can be presented as a full, logical disproof of the Christian doctrine of God, or it can be presented (more modestly) as providing strong evidence against belief in the Christian God.
Riches and Christianity
Authors: Rhee Helen 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The issue of riches and Christian faith is as ancient as the New Testament and reaches farther back to the Old Testament. As frequently noted, Jesus' teachings in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) demanded a kind of discipleship that barred any competing commitment to peoples or things other than himself, including money, property, and possessions. From the very beginnings of the Christian movement, how to deal with riches formed an important aspect of Christian discipleship and was thought to express “an essential articulation of our faith in God and of our love for our fellow humans” (Johnson 1981, 16). Christians claimed that the Christian attitude toward and use of wealth was a critical identity marker that distinguished Christians from non‐Christians. Regardless of how one theologized riches and poverty, Christians had to grapple with and respond to the “clear” call of the social (material) responsibilities of the gospel. This entry examines the ways in which Christians interpreted, applied, communicated, and struggled with what they thought they understood as the Christian principle and mandate regarding wealth. It first proceeds with Jewish and Greco‐Roman backgrounds of early Christian teachings on riches and mainly focuses on the New Testament teachings; it then treats the subsequent interpretations and applications of those teachings in a broad historical development.
S
tephan of
P
erm (1340–1396)
Authors: Gallagher Robert L. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Stephan's mission was to the Zyrian people of Perm, a nomadic Finnish tribe in the Ural Mountains, northwest of Siberia, Russia. He grew up in Veliki Ustyug in northwestern Siberia during the Mongol period. At 25 Stephan entered the monastery of St. Gregory of Nazianzus in Rostov to learn Greek and patristics and become a missionary to Siberia. Thirteen years later he left the monastery and traveled north to live among the Finno‐Ugric Zyrian tribes at Ust‐Vim.
Theology of the Heart
Authors: Atwood Craig D. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe French Catholic author Pierre Poiret coined the phrase “theology of the heart” in a 1690 work,La théologie du coeur, which enjoyed a wide circulation among German Protestants in the 18th century. Poiret drew upon a long history of Christian spirituality in formulating his notion of a theology of the heart, which is rooted in individual experience and nonrational modes of knowing. Advocates of “heart theology” find precedence in the Bible for the idea that the heart, rather than the head, is primary in matters of faith.
T
olkien,
J
ohn
R
onald
R
euel (1892–1973)
Authors: Imbert Yannick 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
English. Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892, of Arthur Tolkien, a bank clerk, and Mabel Suffield. He was an Oxford professor of Anglo‐Saxon from 1925 to 1945, and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 until his retirement in 1959.
Anaphora
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Etymologically, anaphora means an announcement or an offering lifted up. In Christian liturgics, its sense is established by Hebrews 13:15 and 1 Peter 2:5 as a religious sacrifice. In Eucharistic theology, it connotes the act of offering the Eucharist, the formulary used in the act, the material offered, the priestly prayer during the act, and the liturgical veil covering the species. It may also be used to designate the part of the Eucharist from the kiss of peace to the Communion or the final doxology.
Communion of Saints
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Communion of the Saints is the literal translation of the Latin phrase
communio sanctorum
.
Communio
is a translation of the Greek term
koinonia
, an intimate participation or sharing or bonding, while
sanctorum
refers to the spirit of holiness or holy persons and things. Christianity is a religion of relationships which involves bonding or rebonding, first with God and Jesus Christ through baptism and the Eucharist, then vertically with fellow believers of all times and places through love and compassion or charity. The bonding agent is the Holy Spirit which not only unites the believer with the past and the present in time but also with heaven and earth in space.
Divinization Or Deification
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The doctrine of divinization appears in 2 Peter 1:4: “So that through these you might become partakers in the divine nature.” It has become one of the central theses of Byzantine Orthodoxy that through faith in Jesus Christ human existence is sublimated and transmuted so that it becomes a mirror image of the divine. For the Greek Fathers Christ is the paradigm of humanity deified, summarized in the dictum: God became human that we might become divine. Christians participate in Christ's divinity, and thus attain a more authentic humanity. This participation called methexis is a gift of grace. Divinization is both Eucharistic as well as personal and operates effectively on both levels.
N
orris,
J
ohn
F
ranklyn (1877–1952)
Authors: Hopkins Jerry B. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

John Franklyn Norris was born to Warner and Mary (nee Davis) Norris on September 18, 1877, at Dadeville, Alabama. In 1881 his family moved to Hubbard, Hill County, Texas. Upon finishing secondary school, Norris entered Baylor University in 1898 and finished his degree in 1902. He continued his education in 1902, attending Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, finishing a master of theology degree in 1905. In that same year Norris moved back to Texas where he became the pastor of the McKinney Avenue Baptist Church in Dallas. He resigned from McKinney Avenue in 1907 when he became editor of the
Baptist Standard
. From 1907 to 1909 Norris was instrumental in bringing the Texas Baptist newspaper war to a conclusion. Norrris also helped abolish racetrack gambling in Texas. In 1909 Norris sold his financial interest in the
Baptist Standard
to a group of influential Baptists, including George W. Truett. Also in 1909 he accepted the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth where his tenure as pastor extended from 1909 to his death in 1952.
Rules, Monastic
Authors: Kurian George Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The rule is the constitutional document of a religious order. In the early days, monks did not have written rules. They looked to great monks as their models. Athanasius'
Life of Anthony
served as the template for a monastic life, although it did not have a set of rules, obedience to which was mandatory. Coenobite communities imposed conditions regarding the times and duration of prayer, ascesis, meditation, or contemplation, and labor, so that they would be exercised in harmony; episcopal authority intervened only in certain situations in the form of a tacit
nihil obstat
. Pachomius'
Precepts
were intended to preserve the traditions of the primitive church and monastery and, through Jerome's translation, they exercised great influence both in the West and East. In Cappadocia, an ascetic movement had to be content with a court episcopate. But Basil was able to mediate a
via media
through his
Moral Rules
drawn from the New Testament. A commentary on these Rules, the
Asceticon
, answered specific questions regarding monastic conduct. All these documents were translated into Latin and formed the ground‐work for two of the most famous Rules in the West, the
Institutes
of John Cassian and the
Instituta
of Rufinus (a translation of the
Regula
of Benedict).