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Aaron

Aaron   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
1,315 words

The figure of Aaron, his ancestry, and his rise to priestly prominence is treated rather tersely in the Bible. Though

Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
(1756–1836)US Democratic Republican statesman. After losing the presidential election to Jefferson in 1800, Burr was elected Vice-President. He was defeated in the contest for the governorship of New ...
abacus

abacus  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
An ancient device for performing arithmetic calculations by sliding beads along rods or in grooves. Despite the spread of electronic calculators and computers, the abacus is still widely used in the ...
abduction

abduction  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
An inference process widely used in artificial intelligence, particularly in expert systems and rule-based systems. In diagnosis, for example, there may be a rule like “if measles then red spots” so ...
abortion

abortion  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
There is no actual prohibition in the Bible against aborting a foetus. Nevertheless, in the unanimously accepted Jewish consensus, abortion is a very serious offence, though foeticide is not treated ...
Abraham

Abraham   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
1,820 words

(Heb., Avraham

Heb., Avram)

is the name of the progenitor of the Hebrew people. At first he is called

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
(1809–65)US Republican statesman, 16th President of the USA (1861–65). His election as President on an anti‐slavery platform antipathetic to the interests of the southern states helped precipitate ...
Absalom, House of

Absalom, House of   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
822 words

The only reference to the phrase house of Absalom in the Dead Sea Scrolls appears in Pesher Habakkuk (1QpHab v.9),

academies

academies  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
Are societies or institutions for the cultivation and promotion of literature, the arts or science, or of some particular branch of science such as medicine, for example, the Académie de ...
Acanthus

Acanthus  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
(family Acanthaceae)A genus of shrubs and perennial herbs, most of which are xeromorphic and have spiny leaves. Some species are cultivated as ornamentals. The upper lip of the corolla is lacking. ...
Acontius, Jacobus

Acontius, Jacobus (1520–1567)   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
543 words

(also Jacob; Ital, Giacomo Aconcio; c.1520–1567), one of the most influential proponents of the idea of toleration

Acquaviva, Claudio

Acquaviva, Claudio (1543–1615)   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
570 words

(Lat., Aquaviva; 1543–1615), fifth general of the Society of Jesus, 1581–1615.

A younger son of the Neapolitan duke

Acronius, Ruardus

Acronius, Ruardus (1611)   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
593 words

(d. 1611), prominent theologian in the Netherlands and defender of the Reformed faith.

Before joining ranks with the Reformation

acrostic

acrostic  

Reference type:
Overview Page
Subject:
Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Classical studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media studies, Music, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Society and culture
A poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words. The word is recorded from the late 16th century, and comes via French from Greek akrostikhis, ...
Acts of a Greek King

Acts of a Greek King   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
308 words

The scroll fragment Acts of a Greek King (4Q248), previously also Pseudohistory, is now called Historical Text. It is approximately

Acts of Supremacy

Acts of Supremacy   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
686 words

By giving control of the English church to the monarch, the Act of Supremacy of 1534 (26 Henry VIII,

Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
2,130 words

is the second volume of a two-volume work, Luke-Acts, which relates the story of the early church in ways

Acts of Uniformity

Acts of Uniformity   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
668 words

These acts represent the successive efforts of Edward VI and Elizabeth I to impose a standardized form of Protestant worship

Adam

Adam   Reference library

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
History, Ancient history (non-classical to 500 CE), Religion
Length:
1,603 words

In the literature and religion of the Hebrew scriptures, Adam plays almost no role. The story of his transgression and

Adiaphora

Adiaphora   Reference library

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2005
Subject:
History, modern history (1700 to 1945), Religion
Length:
2,370 words

A concept derived from the Stoics, adiaphora denotes conditions in life that are neither virtues nor vices and thus tend

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